Reunion

Written by Tim Minear & Shawn Ryan
Directed by James A. Contner

Dianne's Synopsis | Celli's Review | SunSpeak

We open with Gunn hauling Angel into the hotel lobby. Gunn found the boss stumbling from Darla's hotel, injured [after having survived the Trial] and incoherent [part shock, part exhaustion, part Taser]. The first clear words they get from him are that Darla's "dead", that she was "forced to drink", and then that Drusilla's in town.

As Wesley and Cordelia freak (and Gunn is confused), and the crew start assembling the story from the little buggy parts that he's given them, Angel moves into hyper mode and starts digging frantically through his office. Coming up with a stake, he announces that at the very least he can spare Darla from waking up a demon once more.

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[credits]
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We come back to see Wesley working away on the computer while Gunn plays catch-up with the vampire family tree (and does what every fan has been doing for the past week and having a moment of weirdness over how complicated it gets once Darla becomes her own "great-granddaughter" <g>).

Angel reemerges and starts swigging blood straight from the carton while he gathers all their info: the sun just set, she could come to anytime before sunrise; Lindsey's assistant says he's "in a meeting", but no one's seen him all day. Angel decides to head out to Lindsey's apartment and have it out... and refuses to let any of the gang come with him.

So Angel kicks down the door... to find the apartment Lindsey so graciously invited him into standing empty. The realtor says Lindsey moved out yesterday, and she's to forward all mail to his office.

As he leaves, the realtor asks if this is about "the cousin... the sweet but very odd English girl". Apparently Drusilla told the realtor she was "having a baby", was busy planning a "nursery", and wanted her daughter born "near the stars." Understanding dawns in Angel's face as he mutters to himself that "Of course, Dru would want the ritual."

Cut to a deserted greenhouse with a sizeable skylight -- through which the stars are "singing" to Dru. Darla is formally laid out on a table with flowers, while Lindsey stands by looking uncomfortable. Dru is saying how much "grandmother" loves this place... leading to a perfect moment when Lindsey asks in confusion if Darla can hear them, and Dru (of all people!) turns to him with an *Are you stupid?* look and reminds him: "She's dead!" (Although, she allows, "Just for now.")

Enter Lilah and Holland. He addresses Dru very formally, asking if she needs anything, and telling her that if she does she can come to them -- sadly however, they have another engagement to attend to. Lindsey, eyes fixed on Darla's peaceful face, doesn't want to go, but Holland hustles him out. As they leave, Drusilla starts arranging Darla's arms across her chest while singing to herself the rhyme about the lamb in the blackberry patch that we heard in "Lie To Me". [Ed. -- Can I say again how much I *love* the continuity on this show??? ;-]

Back at the home office, Cordelia's printed out a list of every local cemetery, mausoleum, and funeral home. Angel insists Dru will want an actual burial --(Wesley points out it's unnecessary; Angel shrugs: "Dru's a classicist")-- so they should concentrate on the cemeteries. (Angel: "Ones with a view of the stars." Cordelia: "So, only _outdoor_ cemeteries then?" ;)

Between the need for dirt, Dru's love of gardens, and her "nursery" talk, Gunn suggests maybe what she meant was a plant nursery. Cordelia's off to check for one "up high" with a connection to W&H.

Cut to a view from the top of one of LA's skyscrapers -- on the roof of which is perched the greenhouse we saw earlier. Angel's arrived alone, and finds the place where Darla was laid out covered evenly with fresh dirt. He pushes the dirt away and lifts a linen veil to find her lying there, still 'dead'. He looks at her for a moment, pulls the stake from his pocket, then centers it over her chest, steels himself... and is knocked over the back of the head with a shovel wielded by Dru.

During the ensuing fight scene, Darla comes to, gasping. But when Angel turns with the broken shovel handle in hand to stake her, she's gone. When he turns back, she's got him by the throat, and is holding him a few feet off the ground. Dru seems to be the only happy with the sitch.

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Dru breaks the moment and they're off into a fight again. It's unclear where Darla's loyalties lie, however, she thrashes both Angel and Dru when they interfere with what seems to be her main objective -- getting away. At one point Angel has Darla cornered, stake upraised, but a plaintive "Angel?" from her stalls him long enough for Dru to interfere once more. Ultimately, Darla runs to the edge of the rooftop and jumps off. Angel looks down some 30-40 stories after her, but can see nothing. When he turns around, Drusilla is also gone.

Angel storms back into the office, telling everyone to gear up *now*. As they do so, it becomes evident that he has absolutely no idea where either Dru or Darla is. Wesley points out that random cruising about a city of several million is not a helpful plan, and Mr. Taciturn (but he's just going by "Angel" now) reveals that -- in the absence of any other leads, he plans to hit W&H. Cordelia then points out that a direct frontal assault on W&H -- with their vampire detectors, armed guards, etc. -- is suicidal. Angel's undeterred, and Gunn is with him. Cordelia and Wesley are left with nothing to do but follow.

Holland comes right into Lindsey's office, already talking. Holland praises Lindsey for the work he's done, invites Lindsey to his house for a wine tasting party that night, and encourages the admittedly date-less Lindsey to form "healthy" attachments out side the office. As he turns to leave, he comes face-to-face with Dru, who was sitting in the shadows.

He's thrown a moment, but recovers. Dru is worried about Darla ("the building was quite high, you see"), but Lindsey reassures her. She then announces that "Angelus" is on his way and "is very cross". Just then Lindsey gets a call from security -- there's a vampire on the premises. He opens the door to find Darla there. 

She's still not really composed, and grabs him, holding her face to his throat and muttering "warm". Lindsey is definitely enjoying the attention, until Darla flings him bodily away (and across the room). She reaches to Dru and hand in hand they flee the room. Holland calls down to security that they are to be allowed to leave without incident, then emphasizes to Lindsey (who's still in a tangled heap on the floor) "*healthy* attachments."

Cut to the Angelmobile, screeching through the streets of LA. Cordelia starts having a vision -- a man holding a gun -- and tells them to turn around, it's in the other direction. All three of them try to get Angel to turn around -- Cordelia finally waving her stake at him -- and he finally gives in.

Meanwhile, on another street, Darla is beating the $%&!@# out of Dru, throwing her into oncoming traffic, and finally demanding to know "Why?" Darla's anger at having been vamped is mitigated by Drusilla's sobbing protest that she thought Darla _wanted_ "to be saved". As Darla comforts Dru, a guy in a pickup -- who wants to use the traffic lane they happen to be in, and gets snotty about it -- suddenly finds himself Darla's first meal. Then, hand-in-hand, the two vamp-chicks head out shopping.

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In a garage somewhere, to heavy-metal music and in front of an altar straight from "Satan Worshippers' Depot", a late-teens guy is cradleing a gun and preparing to offer his "worthless" life [Ed.-He has a point, you know...] to Morgok. The team walks in, and Cordelia warns them that the guy is on the edge and should be handled with care. In response, Angel picks up the boombox and lobs it at the guy's head, takes the gun away, informs him that Morgok "couldn't find his way to his spiny hump with a road map", and tosses the gun in a handy bucket of oil. Problem solved; Angel's ready to move on.

The crew protests, pointing out that TPTB must have had a reason to send them there -- the guy still needs help, maybe they were even deliberately derailing his attack on W&H. But Angel brushes them off, insisting he has "more important things to do".

In a shop, Darla and Dru are trying on clothes, looking for all the world like girls playing dress-up. Dru announces with surprise that she's "ringing ... all over!" -- at which point Darla calmly pulls the forgotten (and ringing) cellphone from Dru's cleavage. 

It's Holland, who is pleased to hear that Darla is feeling "herself" again. He has heard they've been "naughty" -- at which point we see the dead sales clerk on the floor at their feet -- and suggests that they should perhaps try "a massacre". They're delighted at the thought, but continue shopping for the moment -- stepping over the dead sales clerk to demand service from a live, but crawling (wounded? terrified? both?) one. When she only whimpers, Darla gives her neck a quick snap as well.

Back at W&H Holland, Lindsey, and Lilah are sitting in the office, pleased at how this chain of events should keep Angel busy and out of their hair for some time-- as Angel crashes in through the window. He grabs Lindsey by the collar and demands to know where Darla & Dru are, when Holland introduces himself. Within moments, security has arrived, _en masse_ and armed with stakes. 

When Angel points out that he's still fast enough to kill Holland if he wants to, Holland acknowledges this, but shrugs it off -- Angel doesn't kill humans. Neither is he disturbed when Angel maintains that he "doesn't qualify" as human. When Angel confronts Holland with his recklessness attitude towards innocents, Holland simply responds: "And yet... I can't seem to care." 

Holland continues to condescend to Angel, essentially taunting him about the lives that Darla and Dru will take, with promise that W&H are just toying with him (had they wanted him dead he'd be gone already), and with having to hurry on to the more important business of a wine tasting at his home -- to which, he makes very clear, Angel is not invited.

Downstairs Angel is handed off to the police, as Lindsey lets him know that "The firm may not want you dead, but I'm cool with it." Pushed into the back of the squad car, Angel finds himself sitting next to Kate. She tells him two clerks were just killed and one of the killers matches Darla's description. Kate doesn't think she can stop them, but she thinks Angel can, so she lets him go.

Lindsey arrives at the Manners home with flowers for Holland's wife. In the cellar, he joins a group of ten or twelve W&H employees gathered around Holland. Holland is praising the group for having worked hard on this project and for having impressed the partners, and he singles out Lindsey and Lilah for special notice.

Then he pauses, as he sees Darla and Drusilla enter the room. His wife apparently was kind enough to invite them in ...and according to Dru she tasted like "clover and honey". As they both go vamp-face, Darla announces that they're there to give Holland just what he wanted: a massacre.

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Angel's lurking about the clothing shop crime scene.

Lilah sits down hard, the other lawyers look equally nervous. Holland pointedly reminds Darla what they've done for her, but Lindsey is the only one who seems unconcerned... even proud of Darla. As the vamps prowl about the room, Holland makes a last ditch effort at 'spinning' the situation in terms of all they've done for Darla, but -- as Dru aptly puts it -- "Grandma won't eat the double-speak."

Lurking about the crime scene, Angel discovers a customer still huddled in terror in a changing room. She says she probably got lucky because they had to leave in a hurry to go to their "tasting" party.

Dru is picking up vibes from the cellar -- echoes of the air raid shelter it was originally built to be. Then she picks up the huddled fear of the people in it now. Darla agrees, she feels fear from everyone there -- except for Lindsey. From him she gets "nothing". When she questions him he admits he doesn't want to die, but "I guess I don't mind".

Angel arrives at Holland's open door, to see his wife in a crumple pile on the floor. She just manages to beg "Help us!", which is apparently enough to let him in.

In the cellar, Dru turns in happy surprise, announcing that "Daddy's home." Darla turns to greet "Angelus" as he enters. Dru is disappointed because "it's _not_ Daddy... it's never Daddy." Angel makes eye contact with Lindsey, then apologizes to Darla for not getting to her in time. She teasingly asks for a good-bye kiss from him; he responds that she'll get one... but not tonight.

Both Holland and Lilah plead with him for help, as he backs away -- Holland even pointing out that "people will die!" As he reaches for the doors, Angel responds: "And somehow, I can't seem to care." As he bolts the door from the outside, locking everyone inside, Dru is delighted: "*Daddy!*" We see Darla go for Holland's throat, and the muffled screams follow Angel back up the stairs.

In the office, the crew is stunned at what he's done. Gunn says he's gone too far; Cordelia disgustedly asks if he plans to stop them only "after they've killed everyone you don't like"; and Wesley points out that they all share some blame and should have spoken up sooner. "Right now the three of us are all that's standing between you and real darkness."

Angel agrees. And fires them all.

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Celli's Review

This was a really good episode, even with the painful stuff at the end. And the beginning. And all the way through. I think I'm turning into an angst addict. :)

Continuity: Okay, Angel's in so much pain Gunn has to practically carry him in. Then two seconds later, he's hopping around, searching for a stake, and not even flinching when Wes grabs him? WUWT?

Lindsay moved--maybe a little more expensive than doing the uninviting spell, but it does the trick.

Demon question. When you make someone a vampire, you allow a demon to enter their body. When you stake a vampire, you kill the demon. Right? So, is it a different demon residing in Darla now, or what?

Characters/Relationships: Angel's bit about "resisting" in the beginning is a nice reflection on his past...and a comment on his relationship with Darla. Did you notice his hands were shaking a little when he went to stake her the first time?

Cordy, Wes, and Gunn are at the end of their rope when it comes to trying to control Angel. I feel better about being frustrated with their characters all this time, because *they're* frustrated too.

I totally did not believe Cordelia when she was waving the stake at Angel. It didn't work for me at all.

Way to go Gunn, figuring out the nursery! We'll make a private di--uh, gumshoe out of you yet.

I like how Darla beat the crap out of Angel *and* Dru. Never let something like self-preservation stand in the way of revenge.

Lindsay just doesn't care at all anymore. At this point, I think Darla's well-being is the only thing that matters to him. Check his face when she grabs him at the door of his office--if she drained him right now, he'd die happy. And he's proud of her when she threatens Holland.

"She's a classicist." "She's a loony." <g> Angel has a look that I think I've seen Tina wear sometimes. Trying to channel Dru *hurts*!

I hate Lilah. A bunch. 'Nuff said.

Questions and Comments: How did they do that scene with Julie being buried? That totally creeped me out. I kept trying to breathe for her. And I'm glad her white dress didn't get any dirt on it. Or blood, after she jumped off the building. They must've pulled the fabric out of a spaceship that crash-landed in Smallville.

When they turned around to follow Cordy's vision, did you see the skid marks in *exactly* the same place? This was obviously not Take 1.

Ignoring all the interesting symbolism of Darla sticking her hand down Dru's shirt...watch the background while Holland's talking on the phone. Then tell me what Christian Kane is doing. Winking? Twitching??

Why doesn't Holland have security at his home? And when did Darla have time for a perm?

Best Bits:

Gunn and the family tree. <g>

"I was at the only meeting Lindsay MacDonald had today."

Loved the speech about "waiting for the bodies to pile up." And Gunn's response--"You had me at 'let's gear up.'"

Holland signing his own death warrant. Creeps you out, but it's still good.

"The firm may not want you dead, but I'm cool with it." I have mentioned that I love Lindsay, yes?

Rating: 4 stars. Not a perfect episode, but close enough for me. Lots of action, lots of plot, lots of character moments, right up until they drop you down a mineshaft at the end. Twice, no less!