Perri's Review

Plot:
Cordelia has once again been relegated to research work, and is consoling herself by being snarky about the online database she's discovered, as Wesley contributes his own snarking that does not help Cordy's mood. Their snipe-fest degenerates until it is interrupted by a resigned and bemused Angel and, a moment later, a client. And wow, this guy looks like he's been through a wringer. Joey MacNamara needs some help, first staying vertical. Second finding his brother Jack, who has been kidnapped by demons. And a finger sent as proof of possession.

The two brothers weren't close, Joey tells the gang, and he has no idea why the demons took Jack, except that he was in over his head with some bookies, and Joey refused to pay him off. Angel agrees to take the case (big surprise) and heads out to shakedown the bookie, leaving Cordy and Wesley to (bigger surprise) do research. Angel finds the bookie in the middle of a poker game, and escorts him into the alley to talk. One hefty bribe later, the bookie reveals that Jack was taken a place under Beachwood Canyon. Meanwhile, Cordy and Wesley and Cordy's shiny demon database identify the demons that took Jack -- Howlers.

Angel is already under the canyon and meeting the Howler's face to ugly face. One fight scene with the blue-skinned, red-suited demons later, the demons give up that sold Jack... to a high-ticket building catering to a well-dressed crowd. Angel breaks in and finds what looks like a trendy nightspot; after a close encounter with a smooth brunette, he finds the main attraction -- a Roman style fight ring, with demons duking it out to the death as everyone else cheers and places bets. And again I say, 'Ick'. He spots his target, Jack MacNamara, across the room; unfortunately, he also finds Joey and finds out it's a set-up -- and Angel is meant to be the latest contender in the ring.

Angel returns to groggy consciousness on the floor of a cell, populated by other demons, all wearing cuff-like bracelets. The guys who run the joint inform Angel that the bracelets are restraints, forcing the demons to stay in a certain area; they only come off after the 21st kill in the ring. Back at the office, Cordy and Wesley are getting seriously wigged, since neither their client nor Angel can be found. Wesley heads off for his own bookie interrogation. And Angel makes his first contact with his fellow prisoners, interceding in a bullyfest, which wins him more enemies than friends. But any escape attempts get abruptly canceled when one leaves a demon disintegrated on the ground when he tries to cross the red line. Which leaves Angel on the evenings card.

Wesley's interrogation is surprisingly successful; judicious application of a crossbow leads him and Cordelia to the fight site. In the crowd, the stunning brunette from the previous night asks about Angel and his soul; behind stage, a demon tries to give Angel some fighting tips, which he refuses. He doesn't want to kill anyone. A fairly brilliant ruse by Cordelia, pretending she and Wesley are cops about to make a bust inside, gets them tickets inside, to see Angel fighting the good fight, entirely on the defensive, until the unhappy ringmaster toss a knife into the mix and the only defense becomes offense. As Wesley, Cordelia and the brunette look on, Angel makes his first kill in the ring, and walks off in deep self-loathing.

Needless to say, the demons backscenes are decidedly unenthused by Angel's success, especially when he tries to convince the others to stop fighting. Outside, Wesley and Cordelia are retreating, but Cordelia snagged Angel's best hope -- one of the bracelets, suitable for Wesley to experiment on to find the key. Back at the ring, Jack runs some salt into Angel's wounds, giving Angel the chance to grab him. But the hostage attempt is singularly unsuccessful; the other demons refuse to help, and Joey kills his own brother rather than give in to Angel's demands for freedom. Angel gets knocked out again, and wakes up in a plush office, reigned over by the brunette fight fan; she introduces herself as Lilah Morgan, an associate for Wolfram and Hart. She can get Angel's freedom -- on the condition that he forgets about the fight ring. She tries to sell him on the concept of compromise, but Angel refuses the, ah, seductive offer. He goes back to the fight ring.

At in Angel's apartment, Wesley's experiments continue in spite of Cordy's chatter. The cuff is "Half-magic, half-medieval technology" -- and all explosive when handled carelessly. The situation back with the caged demons isn't any less explosive; Angel has to fight that night -- fight Trepkos, a demon who is looking at Angel as his 21st kill.

Cordelia finally gives Wesley the break he needs to beat the cuffs, and both of them head for the fight ring with key in hand. But the ringmaster is already introducing Angel and Trepkos for their fight. Angel has one last chance to try to convince Trepkos that there's a better way to freedom, but Trepkos refuses to listen. The fight commences, with Angel decidedly on the losing end. Using Cordy as a distraction, Wesley breaks into the ring and into the demon cages, presenting his key -- which is promptly filched by Cribb, one of the louder demons. The fight turns really deadly for Angel when wooden staffs get tossed into the mix. Angel takes a staff in the stomach, then suddenly has the upper hand, with the broken staff as a stake at Trepkos' heart. Which he throws away.

Trepkos, not surprisingly takes instant advantage and the balance shifts quickly. Trepkos pulls Angel close for the final kill... and stops. The two stare into each others' eyes, then Trepkos turns to face the crowd, which quiets. Then he walks away, leaving Angel to collapse. Furious, Joey orders his guards to kill both of the competitors, even when Wesley appears to hold a gun on him. But, newly-freed, Cribb and the others race into the fight. To no one's surprise, they win handily, defeating the guards. Lilah slips out as Wesley loses the gun -- and Cordelia catches Joey from behind, tipping him into the ring. Trepkos and Cribb can take a cue; as Cribb slips a bracelet on Joey wrist, Trepkos throws him out of the ring, and past the red line. Bye-bye, Joey.

The demons help Angel out of the ring and presumably deliver him to Wesley and Cordelia, who congratulate themselves on their successful rescue. Then, of course, it sinks in that they just rescued a bunch of demons....

Characters:
Angel has got to start being a little less trusting of strangers -- at least half the trouble he's run into in L.A. has come find blindly walking to traps in the interest of the greater good. Oy. His prompt transformation into Spartacus was no surprise; my only comfort is that he didn't turn into martyr boy and let himself get killed right off. Once again, Wesley proves that he is at his best the laboratory. Which is not to say that he's helpless outside; his performance against the bookie was jaw-droppingly competent. But his real strength is still in research and development, and there, no one's better.

Cordelia finally gets to strut her stuff again, and she is on. From snarking to Wesley to competently using the demon database to her inspired performance at the ring (the cop riff was priceless and snagging the bracelet just as cool), she is basically unstoppable. In fact, she was Wesley function as effectively as a team as the Scooby Gang ever managed. These two are getting pretty damn dangerous.

The demons were an interesting lot -- none of them adverse to fighting for their lives, but none of them particularly enthused about it, either. Kate should have met them to rediscover the world of gray in Evil Things. Trepkos and Cribb were particularly nicely performed -- Cribb amused me, and Trepkos made his final gesture of not killing Angel look properly cool rather than melodramatic -- not an easy thing to do.

Lilah looked to be pretty typical for the W&H crowd, although she had considerably more style than the male members, as did the other female lawyer we saw. Best Moments:
Cordelia and Wesley bickering and Angel's expression as he watches. I'm perilously close to liking Wesley, if only because he's coming close to matching Cordy verbally. And poor Angel, having to put up with both of them.

Cordelia's priceless cop routine. Give the girl free rein and she can talk her way in or out of anything!

Cordelia smugly handing the cuff to Wesley and his very real appreciation of her skill. These two can get along sometimes! Wesley working on the cuff. At least they learned, and were ducking for cover by the end of the work.

Cribb's disgusted "Gimme your wrist . . . loser." as he releases Angel.

Angel, Wesley and Cordelia realizing what they just did as the demons wander off into the night.

Questions and Comments:
Wardrobe slipped up; at one point during the final fight, the bloody hole in the stomach of Angel's shirt migrates from his left side to his right side, then back in the next shot.

< giggle > David must have been having flashbacks; this was a blow-by-blow (if you'll excuse the phrase) takeoff on the glut of fight movies in the late 80's and early 90's: Bloodsport, Death Match, and Best of the Best 2 -- in which David was an extra. I'm not objecting to the plot rehash, by the way -- I've seen Bloodsport more times than I'm going to admit to. And I would be more surprised if someone hadn't thought of doing this. < g >

SunSpeak

Kiki gives her running commentary as she watches the episode:
"Loving the stuff about the Demons database ---and I *should've* seen that set-up with the businessman-looking guy coming. But I didn't. I refuse to feel like I should've, because I was enjoying the ep, and I'm sure there were clues, but sometimes, I just don't want to pay attention that closely.

I did like that he bribed the one guy instead of beating the crap out of him. Again.

Love the staple-gun maneuver. Heee.

I've seen the brunette somewhere before, but I can't remember where...

Oh, god. Cordy deserves an Emmy. *snerking a lot* She can so act! look at that! Cagney & Lacey time! :>

Poor Angel... He's so not happy about this.... < whimper >

Cordy & Wes are a good team. Smooth move with the bracelet.

Oh, wow. Darren killed his own brother. Didn't see *that* coming... eeeeep!

Lilah Morgan --- Lilah? Morgan? As in le Fay? Hmm. Interesting.

She named her horse Keanu? Oh, dear. *g*

Angel knows something about slavery, now, doesn't he.... either to his own demon or to his conscience.

I know the actor behind the demon mask there.... the voice is *really* familiar.... And darnit, Wesley, you couldn't keep a better grip on the thing?

Stick-fighty bits are always fun.

Gosh, Miss Morgan looks almost sorry that Angel's gonna get dead. Almost.

Ooo, moment of truth thing --- didn't kill the other demon.... .... the one who sounded familiar saw it...

(what's Wesley planning for Darren?)

Ow. I hate boxing, have I mentioned that? Ow.

Well, this is no fun ... ooooo! Gun in Darren's face ---

Everyone runs for it, cool!

It's a rumble! Wheeee!

"Gimme your wrist. Loser." *g*

Ooo, Yay, Cordy!

Ooooo, dusted Darren. Neat. I like. Hehehehehehehehee. :>

'I could've taken you.' Well, yeah, but that's not the point.

'Well, actually, didn't we set a bunch of demons free?'
'Well, technically, yes.'
< snerk > Good to see that got acknowledged... which doesn't make it any less cloudy an ethical issue... *g*

I liked this one. Wheee." --Kiki

"Angel was okay, and Wesley no longer makes me want to leave the room all the time. Progress (or saturation) is being made." -- Dawn

"Nothing terribly coherent at this time except . . . .Wesley ROCKS!!!! Thank you thank you thank you. Between the stuff we got in I've Got You Under My Skin and his taking on the bookie for Angel's sake (and winning!) Wesley is finally coming into his own. And this has nothing to do with how adorable Alexis is in person. Honest!" -- MB

"Loved the Cordy/Wesley interaction and teaming up -- bickering all the while. Seems their attraction of Buffy days has finally turned into a friendly animosity. (Wow. What an oxymoron I've just created!)" --MB

"Much MUCH testosterone in this episode. And a not too original plot with the fight to the death thing (although, at least Wesley acknowledged that it's been around a long time). But it's funny... I didn't mind! Cuz David looked good and I *still* adore how he moves. He looks so sexy when he just walks into a room. And Mark Massa kicked ass! Literally!" -- MB

"And the Wolfram and Hart stuff was intriguing.... although I predicted she was a lawyer (and I figured out it was a set-up about 2 minutes before they revealed it was a set-up). Still, much fun and great 'gang' teamwork and stuff. And I loved that they called themselves on letting demons go. *snerk*" -- MB

"Oh, wow. Darren killed his own brother. Didn't see *that* coming... eeeeep!"
"Gotta confess, I did. And knew it wasn't gonna be pretty."
"Having made the conscious decision *not* to watch Gladiator Angel, I only saw the first 2 1/2 minutes, and so saw the bruised guy stagger in and say that his brother had been killed. Based on those 2 1/2 minutes and the previews, I figured that out. *shrug*"
"I got to him saying that something took his brother and so he came to Angel, and the first thing in my brain was 'who told you he could help?' so I smelled the bigtime set up from there, settled down with some chocolate and waited to see him get pummeled. ;) -- Kiki, Val, Amy, & Julie

"Lilah Morgan --- Lilah? Morgan? As in le Fay? Hmm. Interesting."
"Now, *her* I didn't see coming, either the belonging to W&H part or the buying Angel part. *Nice* scene. And while we're dissecting her name, Lilah = one of the more common variants of "Lilith" used to name demonesses when the author wants to drop you a small clue but doesn't want to tell you right away that the character is a demoness..." --Kiki & Val