Welcome to Rewatching Angel, the part of the blog where I rewatch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off: Angel. Each Tuesday evening, you’re invited to join me as I attempt to rediscover what made me love these shows so many years ago.

Hero

• Kids, this is basically the episode of Angel that lets us know in no uncertain terms that this isn’t high school anymore. Not sure what I mean? Stay tuned…
• Cordelia is insistent on Angel Investigations having a commercial to get their name out there.
• She films an ad using Doyle that doesn’t turn out great.
• So then he goes down to check on Angel.
• Angel confesses to Doyle about everything that happened with Buffy when she came to town. That she wasn’t just there for five minutes.
• He also tells Doyle about the Oracles telling him about the forces of darkness gathering. Something big is coming.
• Doyle fills Cordelia in. She says that they can’t keep secrets from each other.
• Which makes him rethink the whole thing where he keeps his demon side hidden from Cordy.
• He’s about to tell her the truth when he’s hit with a vision.
• Cut to a couple of seemingly harmless demons who are running and hiding from what looks like an army.
• Has the Initiative already moved into LA?
• Angel and Doyle go check out the building where the vision showed him this clan of hiding demons were staying.
• They find them hiding in some kind of cellar under the building.
• These demons explain that they’ve been trying to leave the country. They’re on the run from the Scourge.
• They believe that Angel is a prophesied Promised One who will save them from the Scourge.
• What’s the Scourge?
• Glad you asked! Doyle knows them. Says they’re death.
• Doyle flashes back to a demon like him named Lucas telling him all about the Scourge. They’re a group of pure blood demons who have it in for half breeds like Doyle.
• Back then, Doyle refused to help fight off the Scourge. That’s when he got his first vision, showing him how the Scourge attacked and wiped out his people.
• He checks it out to make sure the vision wasn’t fake. He comes across a handful of bodies that met a violent end.
• Doyle calls Cordelia to help them out by going to the docks to secure a ship.
• Cordelia is having trouble with the idea of helping a group of demons. Doyle helps her open her eyes a bit.
• One of the demon kids takes off. He doesn’t believe in any prophesy. He doesn’t want to stick around and wait to die with everyone else.
• As Doyle is heading back with the kid, they come across the Scourge marching through the streets.
• Doyle lures the Scourge away to give the kid a chance to escape.
• Angel makes the Scourge think he wants to be a part of them, even though they consider vampires the lowest of the half breeds.
• He breaks Doyle’s neck… but it’s okay… he’s in demon form when it happens. So it doesn’t count.
• The kid finds Doyle and they follow the others to the ship.
• One of the demon leaders at the ship lets it slip that Doyle is half demon, too.
• The demons are sold out to the Scourge by the first mate of the ship.
• They unveil a machine that is designed to destroy anything with human blood.
• They display its power by using it on the ship’s first mate.
• Doyle and the kid arrive at the ship. Cordelia slaps him for not telling her the truth about himself.
• She can’t believe he thinks she’d care about that.
• Then she tells him to ask her out for dinner already.
• And just as he’s about to, Angel arrives.
• And the Scourge show up a few seconds after…
• By now they’ve figured out that Angel was lying. He doesn’t really care about their cause.
• The Scourge are lowering their weapon into the cargo hold where all the half breeds are.
• Angel manages to kill one of the Scourge before joining Doyle and Cordelia to figure out how to shut the thing down.
• Angel realizes that he has to shut it down, but it’ll kill him in the process.
• Instead, Doyle punches him and throws him off the landing so he can’t reach the machine.
• He kisses Cordelia and transfers some kind of light with the kiss.
• Then he leaps over to the machine. He shuts it down, but it incinerates him in the process.
• And just like that, a main character is gone.
• In their grief, Angel and Cordelia watch Doyle’s commercial.
• Body count: Humans – 1; Scourge Demons – 1; Half-Humans – 1