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.

Parting Gifts

• Angel visits the Oracles again. He wants them to bring Doyle back.
• They won’t. Because it would nullify his noble death. They warn him not to come back with such a selfish request.
• But Angel still needs a connection to the Powers that Be. The Oracles let him know that soon all will be made clear.
• In an alley in the city, a demon in horrible clothes is being run down by someone on a motorcycle.
• Glenn Quinn is still in the opening credits. Does that mean they’re bringing him back?
• Don’t hold your breath.
• At the office, Angel and Cordelia are both dealing with the loss of Doyle.
• Cordelia leaves abruptly on a commercial audition.
• As she’s leaving, the demon we saw running down the alley storms in looking for Angel’s help.
• The demon’s name is Barney. He clearly knows nothing about vampires, assuming that Angel should be sleeping in a coffin at this time of the day.
• At Cordelia’s audition, she’s having a hard time getting through it because she’s still pretty torn up by Doyle’s death.
• And then she has one of Doyle’s brain splitting visions.
• Now we know what the glow was passing between them when they kissed.
• I think she ruined her audition.
• Motorcycle guy is still riding around town.
• Barney says this guy has been following him since Phoenix. He’s an unstoppable demon assassin.
• Angel is suspicious of Barney. Why would he be followed that tenaciously?
• Barney explains he’s an empath, so he uses his feeling reading abilities when gambling.
• Cordelia returns to the office and, without saying a word, walks up to Angel and kisses him.
• She was trying to pass on the visions.
• The vision was of an ugly, gray, blobby thing…
• Angel goes to check out Barney’s apartment. The assassin is waiting for him when he gets there.
• Oh… it’s just Wesley.
• Remember him? Buffy’s replacement Watcher when Giles was fired last year. Seems he’s pretending to be tougher than he was after they blew up the high school.
• Angel easily disarms him. Turns out Wesley is no longer a Watcher. Because he was fired.
• He’s calling himself a rogue demon hunter.
• Wesley says that Barney is leaving a trail of corpses. He’s collecting special powers from people.
• They’re ambushed by a different demon.
• I’m confused. Is this the demon that Wesley has been hunting? Is this a demon that’s hunting Barney?
• Barney talks to Cordelia about her grief. Being an empath, he can’t help feeling her feelings.
• Angel comes back and brings Wesley with him.
• Cordelia immediately kisses him, trying to give him the visions. Seems like a better kiss than the last time they tried it.
• So it appears this other demon is what Wesley was hunting. It is apparently after Barney for his empathic abilities.
• Wesley finds the demon in a book. It has a horn that steals life force.
• Angel has a good idea where to find the demon. He goes to where the demon is hiding out.
• Turns out, his life force stealing horn is gone.
• Barney gets Cordelia to reveal that she gets visions now.
• He makes a call. He’s got the demon’s horn. And tells the person on the other end of the phone that he’s found something even better.
• So, turns out Barney’s the bad guy after all.
• He wants her eyes. The eyes of a seer will fetch a good price in an auction.
• Wesley followed Angel. He translates the demon’s language, who reveals that Barney is the demon who stole the horn.
• Barney knocks Cordelia out. When she wakes up, she sees the gray, blobby thing from her vision.
• Angel recognizes the sculpture that Cordelia had drawn from her vision. They find that, they find Cordelia.
• At the auction, Cordelia is up for sale. In a bidding war, one demon kills another.
• There’s a representative from Wolfram & Hart there. She bids $30,000 and wins Cordelia.
• She wants Cordelia’s eyes extracted. Just as Barney’s about the extract her eyes, Angel and Wesley arrive.
• Wesley frees Cordelia while the Wolfram & Hart rep gets away.
• She’s not happy about Angel’s involvement.
• As Barney and Wesley fight, Barney gets the upper hand. But then Cordelia stabs him in the back with the demon horn. And his life force is sucked out.
• As Wesley prepares to leave Angel’s place and they say their goodbyes, he decides to stay and have breakfast.
• Guess we’ve got a new series regular, huh?
• Body count: Demons – 3