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.

The House Always Wins

• Cordelia watches Angel watching Connor going after a vampire.
• She’s begging Angel to find a way to get her out of there, but he can’t hear her.
• Connor easily dusts the vampire (with a little help from dear old dad).
• Angel says he knows he’s being watched, which perks Cordy up…
• But he’s really talking to Fred and Gunn.
• Angel decides it’s time for the three of them to go on a little retreat.
• …To Las Vegas.
• Angel does some name dropping…
• Turns out he knew Bugsy Siegel back in the day.
• They’re thinking that Lorne is probably playing at some out of the way, low profile kind of place, based on his appearance.
• But he’s high profile at the Tropicana.
• Fred figures that no one is freaking out because they all assume it’s make up, like the Blue Man Group.
• Then she turns to Angel, who confirms that only two of those guys are demons.
• Lorne makes his way through the crowd and gets random guests to sing along with “Lady Marmalade”.
• He passes right by his friends… and it hurts their feelings.
• Lorne meets one girl named Vivian who tells him she’s about to head to Paris where she’s been accepted to culinary school.
• Backstage, Angel’s still name dropping… the Rat Pack.
• The reality of everything is that Lorne is being held prisoner… used for his ability to read audience members’ futures.
• After the show, he points out which people have impressive futures, which allows the casino owner to hand out chips for a special game, basically leveraging their futures.
• Angel slips a note to one of Lorne’s backup singers, asking her to get it to him to let him know that he’s there to see him.
• While Fred and Gunn play blackjack, Angel is grabbed by a couple of the casino’s goons.
• They think he’s just a stalker… but then his vampire face comes out.
• While he’s outside, Angel saves Vivian from being hit by a car.
• She’s in a sort of trance and says she needs more quarters so she can “play to win.”
• Fred and Gunn head backstage again and Fred gets into costume as a Lornette so she can get to Lorne.
• Lorne tells Fred it’s about time they cracked his code about “Fluffy”.
• He explains what the casino owner is using him for.
• Meanwhile, Angel goes to confront the people running the Spin to Win game and the owner insists that Angel play and throws him one of the enchanted chips.
• But Angel’s not interested in playing and tosses the chip… onto the table.
• Which activates the chip and when Angel loses, he’s under the same trance as Vivian.
• The casino owner is pretty psyched when he finds out Angel is a vampire with a soul who’s slated to be a major player in the apocalypse.
• He tells his right-hand man to put in a call to that weirdo law firm in LA.
• Fred, Gunn, and Lorne are making their escape and ask Angel to help, but he’s busy playing the slot machines.
• While trying to get to the car, Lorne further explains that DeMarco, the owner, sells people’s futures on the black market to anyone who wants to change their own destiny.
• Gunn confronts Lorne, thinking he sold Angel out.
• Lorne explains that he tried telling DeMarco no the first time, and in response, DeMarco killed one of the Lornettes right in front of him, which he would do every time Lorne said no.
• Gunn goes back to get Angel, but he’s only interested in playing the slots.
• Unfortunately, while Gunn is talking to Angel, DeMarco’s goons have grabbed Lorne and Fred.
• Cordelia is on high, frustrated that she can’t do anything to stop her friends from being killed.
• Then she manages to somehow cause Angel to win his slot machine, which is enough to interrupt DeMarco from killing Fred and Gunn.
• He has Angel brought to him and wants to know how he won.
• Angel just says he put a quarter in the slot and pulled the lever.
• But seeing Fred and Gunn in danger wakes Angel up.
• DeMarco’s right-hand guy is accidentally shot and killed.
• And Lorne manages to shatter the orb holding all the destinies, freeing all the prisoners.
• Back at the hotel, the team walks inside and finds a confused Cordelia standing in the lobby.
• She has no idea who any of them are…
• Body count: Vampires – 1; Humans – 1