Mel's Synopsis

Wesley's had another sleepless night. The prophecy sits before him, mocking and frightening in its simplicity and unchanging state...and Connor, in a crib a few feet forward, begins to cry. A long moment passes, where Wes' mind clearly begins hitting on a few wrong notes...he closes his book...rises, taking a few steps to stand before the crib--

"Jeez, Wes," Angel says, coming in, "Don't you know what you're supposed to do?"

Wes blinks, and it's a moment of uncertainty-- is he dreaming? Angel, oblivious, and very...energised...continues by saying that one is supposed to pick up babies when they fuss. Wes apologises, blaming lack of sleep. Angel notices, commenting that Wes looks like Hell-- "Not the fun one, where they burn you with hot pokers for all eternity, but the hard core one. You know; Nixon and Britney Spears." So chipper is he-- and thirsty "I could drink a horse!"-- that Wes notices...Angel blames the quake, which reminds Wes of the whole "no insurance" issue. Angel says he'll just move to another room...and this train gets broken by the faint strains of an acoustic guitar with a woman's voice in accompaniment. It seems Lorne is seeing a client in the garden, and Angel takes Connor out into the lobby to listen. Wesley follows.

As the client-- Kim-- continues, Lorne reads her fear, and tells her to continue. In the covered area of the lobby, Connor begins to cry in Angel's arms...to distract him, Angel takes the boy to the weapons closet (giving Wes pause) and shows Connor his daddy's favourite broadsword. And just when Wes thought it was safe; an idea occurs to Angel-- Connor shall soon be crawling. Ergo...the place must be baby-proofed! Hand-off to Uncle Wes ("Take him.") ...who looks like he has no idea what to do with a baby, but nervously seems to enjoy it all the same. Angel tells Connor it's okay, it's just his Uncle Wes, who loves him bunches but is just...English. (Point to the undead Irishman...) Enter Fred on a cell phone, talking debating the merits of Texas vs California with Gunn...who promptly walks in. After a too-cute good morning-- and a dry aside from Wes about the good use of company phones--

"Chain `em up!"

All eyes to Angel, still on the baby-proofing kick...who then comments on how Connor likes Wes...who says he likes Connor too...and would like to take the boy to the park sometime soon...just the two of them. Angel says to count on it, but conversation is interrupted by Lorne, coming in and asking them to come out to the garden.

Kim is introduced to AI, and is told by Lorne to take her very pretty song from the chorus. It stays pretty-- up until the last line, where her face becomes demonic and green saliva pours from her mouth. "Catchy finish, huh?" CREDITS

In the lobby, Lorne is telling of how Kim was in med school, then instead opted to be a singer. Gunn comments about who needs more doctors when you've got singing demons. While Kim says that the demon part is new, Angel, glass of blood in hand, begins giggling over singing demons and flying nuns. Kim continues about the band she'd hooked up with, how mellow they were...Angel, however, in a fierce, barely-controlled kinda way, mentions about how he likes nuns, and wonders about how the flying nun flew, and other things which seem utterly unrelated to the subject, yet in a manner that REALLY seems disturbingly familiar...

Kim, meanwhile, mentions the changes that her new band was going through-- seventh fingers, external spines, and so on, not to mention the heavy beyond-industrial trash funk. Fred and Wes determine through an analysis of the green saliva that she'd been infected with a bacterium by wraithers; demons who can temporarily appear human. It's an easily treatable condition, and Lorne says he'll get her some of the mystical antibiotic she'll require. Gunn wonders why the demons would opt for musician guises-- Angel pipes up it's "for the chicks!" But he wants to go take them out-- Kim provides the location and Wes offers the info that the wraithers must be killed. Wes dispatches Angel, Gunn, and Fred to do that, leaving Lorne with the baby while Wes goes off with "something to take care of." He leaves, and Fred brings up calling Cordy and Groo-- just in case of injury while killing wraithers. Angel vetoes that plan, saying a couple demons-- even three, which Kim points out-- is a piece of cake, and seems very anxious for a little kick-ass. We watch as he demonstrates a few moves...

...and we find ourselves watching a vampire-- restrained by Justine-- being beaten up for practice by one of Holtz' vigilante band. It starts to make progress against the human, Justine beats it down, and Holtz, post-fracas, comments that he doesn't like it. Oh, not the fighting, he doesn't like tea in "cotton" (styrofoam) cups. Justine promises to rectify the problem...and confesses she's unsure about killing humans-- even if they are aligned with Angel. Holtz says that people, even "evil people who help vampires" are different for her...and we see a small knife being eased from his sleeve as he speaks...but Justine says that if they chose Angel, they're enemy soldiers.

"So," Wesley says, from off-screen, "I guess that makes it alright."

Holtz turns and greets Wes, calls Justine on her rudeness, and comments that Wes is in the throes of a difficult decision. And the knife leaves Holtz' sleeve...cutting an apple...a slice of which he offers to Wes. (Jeez-- foreshadowing much?) A look at Wes, then...

The rehearsal space. Demonesque guys playing gods-awful noise (nothing there to be classed as music, nope...) with a couple of leather-clad women dancing... and then the window is broken. Nope, not a bar fight, not the A&R guys, just Angel, Gunn and Fred come to kill them. (and not pay for the window, no matter what the band says.) The drummer manages to tick Gunn off by calling first "ride" on Fred-- and gets a backhand for his remark. Fred leads the groupies to safety, and Gunn begins to advance on the cowering demons. He tells them to "take it like a demon" but doesn't see exactly what they're so afraid of until he turns around.

Angel.

In full game face.

Snarling.

To Gunn's shock, Angel leaps at the three wraithers, and fights with a viciousness and lack of control that reminds us of bygone days when Angelus had no roommate...Gunn gets into the action a bit, killing one wraither with a crossbow, but Angel's the force behind this assault, fighting with abandon, without control, and with what appears to be enjoyment. After tearing the arm clean off one of the demons in the process of killing him, Angel declares "That was fun."

Before that can be fully processed, we're back to Wes in Holtz' lair, expressing his desire for no one to get hurt. They have the traditional "Angel is bad/_Angelus_ is bad, _Angel_ is good" argument, which Justine interrupts by saying that Angel is a vampire, end of discussion. And, she continues, advancing on Wes with Holtz' apple knife, she bets that Wes is there to stab them in the back. Wesley quietly asks her who she lost, throwing her off, and is then told by Holtz that she'd lost her twin sister. "You lost family," Wes says, still in that quiet, gentle, disarming way. "I'm sorry." He takes a step closer. "Angel, and the people I work with, are my family. And when I say I don't want anyone to get hurt--" and in a swift move he grabs her by the throat, holding her knife hand well away from them both. "I mostly mean them." A pause where we see a madness in Wesley's eyes that sends the soul freezing and screaming in terror...then Wes says he doesn't stab people in the back. Holtz says that Wes is an honest man; and as the ex-Watcher allows the knife to be pulled, Holtz continues that he trusts Wes...and vice versa. Wes says it's funny, he doesn't-- but Holtz cuts to the heart of the problem-- he's aware of the prophecy, and that Wes knows that his friend will kill his own child. And that if Wes doesn't stop it...Holtz will. And Wes, with the weight of the world on his shoulders and desperate fear in his heart, face, and mind...is all too easy for Holtz to man ipulate. Holtz says he won't let an innocent child be killed...but he won't endanger other innocent lives unless he's forced to. "How long do I have?" asks Wes, in a quiet, shaken voice somewhere between that of a desperate adult and a lost child. Holtz offers him a day..._one_ day, and says that he trusts Wes to do the right thing. And if not, everyone will get hurt. Agony in his eyes, Wesley leaves.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Lorne is telling Connor a story of the Rat Pack et al. coming to his club-- with stuffed animals as visual aides. Angel, Fred and Gunn return home, the latter two still somewhat freaked about Angel's tearing the wraithers apart. As Lorne tells Angel how good Connor's been, Angel heads right for a big glass of blood...and when Lorne suggests that Connor needs some "papa love", Angel replies that Connor needs a lot of things. "All day. Every day." Lorne's explanation is cut off by Angel reciting a litany of what the baby needs, "I've got a kid who cries, pees and moans and never gives me a moment to myself." Trying to calm Angel fails, Connor cries, and Angel explodes, yelling at Connor to shut up! "Don't yell at him," Fred cries, "he's just a baby!" "If he keeps it up he's not gonna be a baby for long!" And he throws his glass of blood against the wall, where it shatters, leaving blood dripping everywhere. Fred picks up the baby while Gunn tells Angel to get a grip _right now_.

And as he stares at the blood and the wall and his friend and his son...Angel realises there is something _very_ wrong. COMMERCIAL

We're back where we left, with Angel saying that something's not right. Everyone's noticed, and Lorne asks when Angel's started drinking so much blood...a few days ago, Angel recalls. It's pig's blood, from the usual source, but the last batch seemed so much more tasty...Gunn tracks the progression-- drink the blood, be hyped, take it out on the demons...then he crashed, grabbed another drink, and started throwing things-- Fred comments on how the effect has been similar to her aunt on Southern Comfort, and despite Angel's objections about vampires having to drink something red, Lorne believes someone might be spiking his drink. Fred suggests finding out.

(_Sundown, you better take care...if I find you've been creeping `round my back stair..._)

Wesley, still agonising, is walking. A residential street, at night, and he sees a boy rushing to greet his father, who receives him with a warm hug...both go up to the mother for a kiss hello...and his eyes speak volumes at this scene that is to him both so painful and alien. Still, he walks...and rolls his eyes at the rather obvious way Justine is following him. She just wants to talk...then assures him she's alone, that he doesn't know she's there. And wants to talk about Holtz. "Holtz? Great guy. Not overly tall," Wes points out, then asks bitterly if this is the part where she offers to help him behind Holtz' back. She asks if he believes in anything, or is it all a big scam to him? "You're a soldier," he answers. "A fight to the death kind. I respect that. You work for a man you think is noble and good, I respect that. Trouble is, he's not." "You work with a vampire." "Who in fact _is_ noble and good. Quirky, but there it is." He then points out that Holtz wants revenge, no matter his stirring speeches about justice. And that he'd kill anyone in his way. Justine doesn't believe that, saying that he doesn't know what Holtz has done for them. "It sounds like a nice cult." "He gave you his word," Justine says, coming ever closer. "He'll keep it. You're the one who's blind." He asks how so, and she replies it's what he's about to do to his friend...she imagines it must be easier for him to hate Holtz than to hate himself. "There's enough to go around for both him and me." With a final admonition to be careful, Wes walks on. We stay with Justine... "You _are_ being careful," Holtz says from behind her. "I didn't even hear you leave."

Back at the hotel, Fred is examining the blood sample. Gunn offers to let Angel hold the sleeping Connor, but Angel doesn't think it's such a good idea right now. Fred, meanwhile, finishes her examination...and has found the pig's blood contains the blood of a Human. More specifically...it's Connor's. Angel can feel it, and, more to the point...the past couple of days the baby has been smelling like food..feeding him the blood so he'll get a taste and want more...

Lilah sits at the bar with a drink, gazing into the mirrored wall across from her... when she suddenly hisses like cat, and comments that even though she can't hear him, she's beginning to be able to feel him when he's near. She turns...and the "him" addressed is, of course, Angel. She asks how he found her-- seems her assistant's lips become loose after his arms are broken. He then tells her there are so many things he could do to her. "With transfusions I could keep you alive indefinitely." All that expertise in the subject...Angel demands to know how she could feed him his own son's blood. She claims it's her job. Angel orders whiskey and tries to get Lilah to talk to him like a person...she tells him that she's had to be better, smarter and quicker than every man at her firm-- not as a feminist thing, but in order to survive. The devil's bargains she's made have been stuck to, and as such she's comfortable, if not always safe. Her mother, who doesn't recognise her anymore, has the best room at the clinic, and she gets up everyday, puts on her "game face" and does what she has to. When Angel points out that after some point, the game face can't be taken off, Lilah laughs at Angel attempting to touch some "buried spark of decency" in her. She's _earned_ the game face, and doesn't want to be human, if Angel's the poster boy. "Is that how you `help your helpless'?" She's not helpless, and in fact is glad Angel stopped by-- she was a little down and aimless, and now realises that her purpose is to make the rest of Angel's eternal life miserable. "Shall we drink to that?" "You back-stabbing traitorous bitch." And enter Sahjon, coming to berate Lilah for selling him out to his sworn enemy. "Sworn enemy," Angel says mildly. "Really? Have we met?" Angel gets the clue that Sahjon's behind all this, and that he's the one who brought Holtz back...but has no idea who Sahjon is or why he hates Angel. He remains in the dark even after Sahjon timeshifts out...and Lilah, going back to her drink, points out that she thinks Angel's just made him madder.

Back at the hotel...Wes enters the lobby, empty but for Connor. He grabs a diaper bag and a few toys...and Lorne comes in. Wes says he's taking Connor-- to his place. for the night. they're going to the park in the morning. Angel knows. Fred and Gunn are on a food run. Lorne says Angel didn't mention that Wes was taking Connor...but Angel was a little distracted earlier. Lorne starts to get to tell about the discovery, gets as far as "Then when he got back from killing the wraithers--" before Connor, now in Wes' arms, begins to cry. Wes tries to calm him, humming a lullaby... and Lorne reads him. Wes puts the baby down, carefully...slowly...then lunges after Lorne, who flees into Wes' office. Wes catches him on the floor, they wind up tumbling over the desk, Wes on top of Lorne, striking him twice across the face, then knocks Lorne out with a small statue to the skull.

Wes goes back out into the lobby, picks up Connor and the bag...and Angel comes home. The stress is getting to Wesley, and he says that Fred and Gunn went for food, Lorne had to go out, and he's taking the baby for the night, which Angel says is "probably a really good idea." Wes asks if Angel wants to say good-bye...which the vampire does while the man's heart breaks. Angel gives advice on checking on the baby, then asks if Wes has ever heard of Sahjon, which he hasn't. Wes is asked to research before taking off...then Fred and Gunn come home, ask about Lorne, Wes' story is getting thinner, he's getting more and more anxious...finally, he says that he's got better references at his home, and Connor's getting sleepy...he'll research there. Angel reluctantly surrenders the boy, Wes says he'll see everyone "tomorrow"...and, after being asked by Angel, says that there's an ER 1 minute from his home.

And Wesley escapes into the night.

In the lobby, Angel says that it's going to be the first full night without the kid...it'll be good for them both, he says as he arranges stuffed animals in the crib...Gunn, not fooled, says they'll all stay up with him. "Really? Thanks. He's just a little guy..." Moaning from Wes' office overlaps Angel's interrupted assertion that the boy will be fine...Fred asks if someone's in there...

And through the front door walks Daniel Holtz.

And company.

Through _every_ door. COMMERCIAL

We're back where we left. Holtz is informed silently by a follower that Connor isn't there. The vampire hunter and Angel then have a barely civil conversation-- when Angel asks if they're there to fight or should tea be made, the battle begins. Angel and Gunn do the most damage, but Fred gets a shot or two in with a crossbow.

Things get interesting as Gunn and an opponent or two move into Wes' office... and as they do so, we see a green hand land on the desk from underneath...and as Gunn finds himself in bad odds, Lorne uses the power of his voice to hurt the eardrums of all present (not to mention the power of his knee to render one bad guy unconscious) allowing Gunn to take out the other.

In the lobby, the fight is ending...and Holtz takes advantage of the distraction to take his leave. None of Our Heroes is hurt, but all are concerned for the baby-- and Wes-- since Holtz has taken off. Lorne comes into the lobby, looking pained. Angel says for him to sit down, that they'd gotten him good...and Lorne tells them what happened. That "they" didn't do this to him, Wesley did. Angel looks at him in incomprehension as the Host reluctantly continues...Connor's crying and Wes' tune... the reading and the meetings with Holtz...and Wesley's intent. "He's not taking the baby overnight. He-- he's taking the baby away. For good."

And the horror dawns in Angel's eyes.

Wesley, for his part, is hustling out of his apartment building, carrying Connor and a few other things to his car in a rush, as he's hitting on all discordant notes. He's near-panic, near-madness, and too far from escape, which is the _only_ thing on his mind. Just by looking he has no plan beyond _away_.

Unfortunately, as he's loading the last of Connor's things into his car, the plan changes.

From the park across the way comes a battered and hurt Justine. Though she's doubled over in pain, Wes still pulls a pistol and aims it at her-- while still holding Connor-- and says she's close enough. She collapses to the ground, he advances on her, weapon drawn. She, crying, tells him he was right about Holtz...and that he didn't keep his word. Wes puts the gun away, she stands and they approach each other. She says Holtz went after the baby, and when she challenged him, he assaulted her... she vows to kill him for it. She then says Wes has to get out of there, as she collapses against him. He says he has to get her to hospital..."No, " she sobs, "I just need--"

And with a violent motion, Holtz' knife slides into her hand...and slits Wesley's throat.

As he falls to his knees, she takes the baby and leaves him to bleed.

For his part, Wesley can only watch in betrayal and agony as she escapes with the boy in his own car...until finally, warm blood slicking his fingers as he tries desperately to staunch the flow, he falls completely to the ground. COMMERCIAL

Angel is on the warpath, Gunn refuses to believe what Lorne read, and Wesley isn't answering anything. The wounded are still lying on the floor, and Angel's trying to think...he knows that Holtz knew Connor wasn't there-- he was stalling. "And buying Wesley some time to get away," Lorne finishes. Angel knows Holtz is the key; he wants Holtz. And if he finds Wesley with him...Gunn tries to get Angel to calm down, and it nearly leads to violence between them-- only Fred getting bodily between them prevented it. She points out the important thing now was finding Connor. Angel manages to "convince" some of Holtz' people to give up that information. Fred and Gunn realise that they'd better find Wes before Angel...Lorne opts to stay at the hotel in case he comes back-- ready with a baseball bat.

On a street somewhere else, there seems to be a group of SWAT or Special Forces or commandos staging for an assault. A black truck rolls up, and Lilah gets out. She receives a report from the mission leader, who first lost, then found, Holtz. They give Lilah a current location, and the group heads out...including Angel, who knocks out two members of the team and steals a humvee.

Looking out the window of another vehicle, we see Holtz step into the street, calm as can be. Turns out, that's because it's Justine in Wes' car, with Connor in the back, in a car seat. Holtz tells Connor that he is his father, and Justine his mother. He follows by telling the baby that his name is Stephen Franklin Thomas and that they'll be raising him on a ranch in the middle of nowhere (i.e, Utah.) Escape is thwarted, however, by Lilah's commandos who back Holtz into a corner. Angel grabs a fleeing Justine, forcing her back toward Wes' car. Holtz keeps hold of Connor, saying that if anyone moves, he'll kill the boy. Lilah tells Holtz to give her the baby, Angel says not to. Lilah finds it amusing that he'd rather the fanatic get Connor than her. She then explains her firepower advantage, and Angel points out that, if she was going to use them, she'd have done it all ready; she wants the boy alive. "Something we all have in common," Holtz declares...incorrectly. Sahjon, who appears just then, wants Connor dead, the agreement he had with Lilah. She, however, wants Connor alive, and decides to alter the deal...and tells her people to ignore Sahjon, as he's impotent in this dimension. Holtz tries to leave, Lilah won't have it, and Angel attacks a commando, taking his weapon and pointing it at Lilah, who tells her people not to shoot. After all, as Angel points out, bullets won't kill _him_...but if he fires he'll kill them, starting with Lilah. Angel turns to Holtz, who says that Connor would be dead before he hit the ground, which Angel knows. So...Holtz is leaving, because with him, Connor gets to live. If anyone tries to take him, the boy dies. And it's Angel's turn to agonise, and we can see the heart being torn inside him as he speaks again.

"Take him."

Sahjon protests, but Holtz is almost breathlessly happy. "I will take good care of him," he promises Angel. "As though he were my own son. He'll never even know you existed. Don't come after me," he warns. "...you will though, won't you." He looks down at the baby in his arms, pain lacing his voice. "Maybe I should just..." and his hand goes toward Connor's neck. "No. Please," Angel pleads. "Take him."

Would that it were that simple, as Sahjon takes that moment to utter an incantation...which opens a rip through space-time. To the darkest of the dark worlds, Quor'Toth. And unless someone kills Connor, he's going to expand the rip until it swallows them all. He expands it once...and Lilah gives the order to kill him. Angel aims his weapon and says no...and Holtz acts.

Shoving Justine out of the way, Holtz takes Connor and leaps through the rip. Angel tries to stop them, but is hit in the chest by a bolt of red lightning as Holtz and Connor pass through, and hits the ground hard.

This, however, takes care of Sahjon's problem. Closing the rip, he wishes them all a good summer, and disappears.

Angel, barely able to kneel, stares at the now empty spot in horror, as Justine staggars away and Lilah complains about paperwork. When asked by her mission leader if they shouldn't do something about Angel, Lilah replies "Yes we should. We should let him suffer." And walks away.

And Justine, in Wes' car, drives away.

Leaving Angel falling from his knees onto the flame-strewn ground.

Alone.

"Connor..."

But the boy is beyond anywhere he could hear. THE END

Mel's Review

The Bottom Line

Wow.

Or, perhaps more accurately, ow.

A beautiful, painful episode, featuring standout performances by Alexis Denisof, David Boreanaz, Keith Szarabajka, and Laurel Holloman, as well as writer David Greenwalt and director Terrence O'Hara.

Continuity: Picking up from "Loyalty", Wes is heading further and further toward the edge, starting with a few wrong notes and reaching a discordant crescendo that's silenced only by a knife across the throat. Cordelia and Groo are still on vacation, doing things Angel _really_ doesn't want to know about. Angel's increase in blood consumption hits a peak and drops off sharply when he realises just why it's so tasty... Angel and Sahjon have a confrontation...and Angel has no idea who Sahjon is, or why the demon hates him. Sahjon and Lilah work together...until she makes a new plan and he gets a solution to his problem.

Relationships: Fred and Gunn are still incredibly cute, and it's nice to see that the best way to piss him off is to threaten her. Holtz and Justine...the sparkage from last week gets played out a bit here, as her devotion to him gets cast into a new light. Wesley's relationships with his friends have all been badly wounded. Shattered, as far as the tie with Angel is concerned; some hope remains for the rest of them. Wes' interactions with Justine and Holtz are very interesting, however. First Wesley manipulates Justine to take her weapon, then Holtz gets to Wes. Justine then tries to get beneath Wesley's (emotional) guard on the street, then manages to get close enough to him to cut him and take the baby. It's a study in positioning, disarming, and manipulation on many levels, and it's hard to say who gets screwed up worse, Wes or Justine.

Characters: Simple ones first: Sahjon. Guess he's not as impotent as we thought, but no one can get from him just what it is he has against Angel. Hmm...

Fred and Gunn both continue to delight me. They're adorable together, t hey'll both fight to defend each other and their friends, and neither will believe that Wes betrayed them, even in the face of Lorne's reading. They also try and calm Angel, then, when that fails, both realise that they'd better find Wes before Angel does. Let's hear it for unswerving loyalty.

Since we've mentioned him, let's talk about Lorne. Still on baby-sitting duty-- not that he seems to mind overmuch-- his reluctance to tell Angel about Wesley plays into his reaction next week. Nice, especially given that Lorne was the one most physically injured by Wes' flight. (Speaking of, what is it with Watchers and statuary? Is that a taught skill; hit the opponent in the head with them? Ms. Post, Giles, and now Wes have all used that... ;)

Lilah...dear. The more you insist there's no "buried spark of decency", the more you deny that anything you do bothers you, the easier it is to think there is something in there that's unhappy. Still, it's interesting to see that she wants the boy alive too...until Sahjon opens up the Rip, of course. Self-preservation's a bitch, and Lilah gets left with a mountain of paperwork...and, of course, a suffering Angel, which is just the way she likes him.

Justine is a lady with a problem. She's been rather obviously screwed up from the beginning, not that any of Holtz' band _isn't_ suffering some kind of trauma. But while she'll kill vampires without a blink, she still is uncomfortable with the idea of killing a human. A familiar philosophy to those of us who've heard Buffy talk about it. But she's also loyal to Holtz and the cause, who'll do whatever he asks...including kill. She played Wes like a fiddle in the last scene with him, turning his own trick against him, not to mention using his greatest weakness-- the "damsel in distress"-- to get him right where she wanted him. Anyone who wasn't screaming at Wes not to put the gun away, or to get the hell outta there clearly wasn't paying attention.

Holtz uses people, manipulates them to get what he wants. The way he's set things, Wes either dies or winds up the fall guy. Wesley was right when he said the vampire hunter would kill anyone standing in his way. Yet I truly believe, in his own, twisted way, he wanted to save Connor. As a replacement for the son he lost to Angelus, as a way to make Angel pay with the same pain Holtz himself knew. But his plan seemed to involve taking Connor, raising him as his son, and, most of all, he didn't want to kill the baby. The way he responded to Angel's pleas not to kill the boy... it shows, hearteningly, that there might still be something human in him. Whether that can stay in the Quor'Toth is unknown...

Angel....at the beginning of the ep, he was damned scary, shading to Angelus with the giggling, the nonlinear conversations, and the manic attitude (not to mention the reveling in giving pain to the wraithers before killing them) culminating in the tantrum, where he realises there was something wrong. Clearly, Human blood acts like a stimulant for vampires, a shot of epinep hrine or cocaine or pick your poison-- it inflames the violent instinct, and the fact that it was his own son's blood made matters worse. His scene with Lilah, telling her that there are so many things he could do to her was somewhere between Angelus and a _royally_ pissed off Angel...more the latter, actually. And the dawning horror and rage he feels after finding out Wes took Connor...that was a father enraged. And at the end...his pleas to Holtz were heartbreaking, and at the end, his anguish was palpable. In fact, that entire scene was a masterpiece, with Angel's emotions all over his face, without even saying a word. Fantastic job.

And now, we come to Wesley. What was his biggest mistake? _NOT TELLING ANYONE ABOUT THE PROPHECY_. Wes, sweetie, we know that last time you translated a big prophecy you worried everyone for nothing. We know that you were trying everything you could to disprove it, and we know you were so scared you couldn't think straight. We even know you have massive daddy issues, and that you just wanted to protect Connor and Angel both. But if you'd just said something...

*sigh*

Interesting to note, that when Angel realises that Connor's in danger (though Wes doesn't know he knows) and Wes wants to take Connor "for the night", Angel says it's probably a really good idea. If Wes had told them all about the prophecy, Angel's ultimate reaction would likely have been to hand the boy off to one of them, and say "take him. Don't let me find you, don't come back until someone else calls you."

But, of course, Wes doesn't realise this, can't bring himself to say anything, and manages to get himself into an untenable position.

That said, he really does do the best he can. When he can't disprove the prophecy, he tries to get Holtz to back off, manages to at least (he thinks) get time to maneuver, and opts to simply remove Connor and himself from the field. He even allows Angel to say good-bye, in a scene that hurt anyone not made of stone. (Not to mention singing in front of Lorne-- can we say "subconscious desire to be caught"?) Still, I doubt Mr. Preparedness even had a coherent plan beyond getting away-- where he'd have ended up is anyone's guess, though my money's on Sunnydale. (Who better to protect Connor than a Slayer? Plus, where else in the States does Wes know anyone?) He'd do anything to protect the people he loves-- and has just betrayed-- and that comes back to haunt him. His fatal flaw-- overprotectiveness, especially of innocents and women. In a way, though, his awareness of self-hatred and his willingness to embrace a Devil's bargain-- remember Holtz and the apple?-- is reminiscent of Lilah's speech about her own agreements...she seems more in it for the pieces of silver, however. And for Wesley, I think we know that no well-intentioned deed will be going unpunished...

Best Moments: I can't pick-- the entire episode qualifies. But here's a few:

The description of Hell-- multileveled as it happens, which is a running theme throughout the rest of the season.

Holtz, Wes, and the apple.

The entire scene between Holtz, Wes, and Justine in Holtz' lair. Incredible dynamic as we watch, powerless, as Wes makes one of the worst decisions of his life...but the only one he could possibly make under the conditions.

Angel's tantrum about Connor.

Wes watching the happy family on the street as he walks. It is such a beautiful yet foreign scene to him...heart-rending.

Immediately followed by Wesley saying that there enough hatred for Holtz and himself.

"There are so many things I could do to you." Knowing, as we do, what Wes is about to do...we begin to realise just how much trouble Wesley is in...

Wes coming to take Connor. He's losing it more and more as the scene progresses, and it's just beautifully done.

Angel saying good-bye to Connor. We know it's for the last time, Wes knows...Angel doesn't. _Pain_.

The entire scene leading up to Wes being slashed-- if you weren't screaming at him or staring in knowing horror the entire time, you weren't paying attention.

Angel pleading with Holtz to take and not kill Connor. ::sniffles::

The last scene, of Angel on the ground.

Questions and Comments: The offer of the apple to Wesley; yes, it casts Holtz as the serpent, trying to corrupt him, but interestingly, it can be taken a step further. The apple was from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Wes could've used that knowledge; a certainty he's lost over the past bit of the season. But he refrains, betrays everyone and everything he loves in an attempt to protect both Angel and Connor, and gets his throat cut for his trouble.

Wes also says he'll be seeing everyone "tomorrow". "Tomorrow" is the season finale's title...

SunSpeak