Previously on Angel: He abandoned a hotel, cracked under the pressure, refused to help Wolfram & Hart, fired his staff, and generally sent out a nice engraved invitation to Angelus.

Also, Darla got made, Wesley got shot, and Kate started to lose it.

Teaser:

Angel tippy-toes into darkened room, where he finds...goats? Lots of goats. And a couple of numbskulls with a Sacrifice-It-Yourself Kit. Sponsored by W&H, naturally. He beats the place up (kind of perfunctorily, if you ask me), and we cut to the credits.

Act One:

AI's staff is removing a the third eye from the back of a cutie-pie's head. Unfortunately, the parents don't appreciate it. Demons don't exist, ergo having one give you a third eye is impossible, ergo removing it a scam. (The third-eye scam. In the repertoire of all the best con artists.)

Gunn wanders off to fight something that's not a stupid parent despite promises that things will pick up.

Speaking of up...Lindsay and Lilah (boo, hiss) are discussing the upcoming "review." It seems to be scaring everyone except Lindsay. Lilah gives Lindsay a packet on the last 75-year review. Apparently last time, almost everyone was sacked--and they used real sacks. Did I mention Lindsay doesn't care? We'll stand on our record, he says. Lilah freaks. Their record sucks! Including Dru & Darla, who nobody's heard from. (Well, they were set on fire.)

Angel tries to enlist Kate in his campaign against whatever's going on. Kate, unfortunately, is in the process of getting her butt kicked over the zombie thing. She's preparing to get fired--and Angel's not her favorite person anyway, since she's figured out who locked the doors on the W&H "tasting" party.

Lindsay comes home. Sorry I'm late, he says to...Darla, who's recuperating on his couch. They have a quasi-romantic moment (eeek!), then he goes off to wash off the day's grime. (Pause for me to have a moment.) Darla gets up, obviously feeling much better than she seemed just seconds ago, and starts to go through Lindsay's things.

Lorne's bar. Angel rushes in, desperate for help. Something's coming, and it has something to do with the W&H lawyers clustered at a nearby table. Lorne's read them, and isn't supposed to tell, but...

Friday, something big is coming. The 75-year review...and the reviewer is one of the senior partners. Cue scary music.

Act Two:

Angel pumps Lorne for more info. Lorne makes veiled references to Angel going wacko. Forget that, can the senior partner be killed? Maybe, since if you manifest in this dimension your form can usually be destroyed. It's using a Band of Blacknel. There's also some mention of a "home office," which might be the senior partners' source...and, oh yeah, they hate Angel.

Angel goes through every reference book he has with no luck. Then he barges in on AI's new offices. Boy, is he unwelcome. Angel snags a book and when Cordy tries to get it back, threatens her. (!!!) Wes tells her to give him the book and leave. "I don't even know what you are," she says in disgust. "I'm a vampire, look it up."

Wes stands up to Angel. Literally. Which rips out his stitches. Oh, and Cordelia makes a random reference to why Angel shouldn't have sex. I wonder why.

Kate's IA hearing. Which I won't even talk about because it's too depressing. Suffice it to say, she's fired and they suck.

Angel, meet Denver. Again.

Denver's life was changed for the better after their last encounter. Of course, Angel has to tell him it didn't turn out well. The senior partner is a Claymation--excuse me, Cleynac demon. Using the Band of Blacknel. The ring might also take Angelback to the home office. Can we say suicide mission?

To kill the Cleynac, you need a glove/gauntlet-type thing. Denver happens to have picked one up at a yard sale (He's been using it as an oven mitt). He offers it free, since Angel changed his life.

And is about to do so again. He makes an "ugh" noise and pitches forward. Angel takes a step towards him-and is impaled on the sword coming out of Denver's stomach. Wielded by Darla, who insults him, takes the gauntlet, and leaves.

Act Three:

Wesley, rebandaged, is being semi-scolded by Virginia. She hadn't realized how dangerous his work was. Could he ever give it up? He asks if she could be with someone who could. "This is difficult for you, isn't it?" he says. "I just don't like to see you hurt." "No, I mean breaking up with me." Oww...

Kate comes home, starts in on the liquor, and takes out a wall of trophies.

W&H: Lilah arrives, with bodyguards. Who Angel takes out. What does he want? Her hand. Ulp.

He uses it to get onto the elevator. Sadly, it's still attached to her arm.

Cordy gets a call from Wesley. He won't be in tomorrow. He's going to stay home and wallow--not that he's telling he that. And she should go out--but wait, she has no friends anymore.

Just as she starts to leave, she gets an odd call from the third-eye girl's mom. Could she come out now and pick up a check? She writes down the address on a message pad.

Mom hangs up and tells a creepy demon type someone is coming. Then he kills her.

W&H are summoning Senior Partner dude. Lindsay is looking for Lilah. And a vampire's on the floor.

Angel and Lilah come in. Lilah hits Angel in the sword wound, and Angel ducks away, scanning the crowd. He lunges for a woman, and throws holy water at Darla, making her vamp out. The guards target her. She has the gauntlet. They fight as the Senior Partner materializes.

"Stake the bitch!" Lilah says. Lindsay punches her and rescues Darla.

Angel gets the gauntlet and takes a flying leap at the Senior Partner, both of them go out the window.

Darla runs off. Lilah glares.

Angel hits the ground with the ring and gauntlet, and what's left of the Senior Partner. He puts the ring on. Hears an elevator ding. Sees a blinding white light. And...commercials.

Act Four:

Holland is waiting in the elevator, applauding Angel's accomplishments. Yes, it's him. Yes, he's dead, but his contract with W&H apparently goes longer than that. Angel "hops" in the elevator.

And, we're going...uh...down. Duh.

Elevator music--we knew that was evil!--while Holland quizzes Angel on his plans. Blah, blah, apocalypse, and the usual. We may not have been here, but we've definitely done that.

"You're not gonna win." Holland looks surprised. "Well, no, of course we're not." "Then why fight?"

"For us there is no fight. We go on. No matter what...we're in the hearts and minds of every single being...the world doesn't work in spite of evil...It works because of us."

And they get to the source of all evil...sorry, wrong show...Earth. LA.

Everyone's evil. Such is, well, life. That's what people are.

The gauntlet falls to the floor. Angel stumbles out and into the streets.

Meanwhile, Kate goes for the pills. This is not going to end well.

More brooding montage. People being bad to each other, people being lonely and hurt.

Wesley hugging his pillow.

Cordy going off to get creamed. (Wasn't she leaving way before this? Maybe the cab took a while to get there.)

Angel walks into the hotel to hear a message from Kate, calling to blame him before she dies. He turns the machine off.

He walks into his room and finds Darla waiting. He gives her the ring. When she grabs for it, he jumps her. He just wants to feel something "besides the cold."

So they have sex and he beats on her a bit. Because "nothing matters."

Then there's a lightning strike, and we se a familiar scene. Angel jolting up from a sound sleep. Lighting, thunder, look of agony, credits. Yow.