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.

Awakening

• The sun is blotted out.
• Local news tries to make sense of things, but they’re stumped.
• Fred is working on research to bring back the light, but she needs Wesley’s help…
• Who happens to be gone at the moment.
• Gunn complains that he and Gwen both took off.
• Meanwhile, Connor tells them they’re wasting their time with the research since “the answer is among us,” looking at his father.
• Angel is in the office with Lorne, singing and attempting to be read.
• Whatever Angelus knows about this Beast and its plan, Angel is clueless.
• Cordelia attempts to make Connor see this difference, but Connor still believes that Angel and Angelus are one and the same.
• “Believe me, you’ve never met Angelus.”
• So Gunn starts thinking maybe it’s time to meet Angelus.
• But Cordy says that the only way for that to happen is for Angelus to return is for Angel to lose his soul, which would require a moment of perfect happiness, an emotion that’s running low these days.
• Lorne comes up with nothing in the reading.
• Angel can’t understand why he doesn’t have a memory of Angelus encountering the Beast, when he remembers every other atrocity that Angelus has committed.
• Kinda the point of that curse, that he feels remorse for all of it.
• Elsewhere, Wesley bursts into some mystic lair and informs the mystic that he needs a soul extracted.
• Angel comes out of the office and tries to begin a pep talk, but Connor interrupts and goes all Connor on him.
• You know, blaming Angel for everything… my life sucks because of you.
• Angel just tells him to get over it.
• Wes walks in with Wo-Pang, the mystic who can allegedly extract Angel’s soul and then restore it once they find out what Angelus knows.
• Angel’s a little pissed that Wesley would bring in a dark mystic, but Wes convinces him that it will only be temporary.
• Wesley says that every precaution will be taken, but Angel warns him that he has no idea what Angelus is.
• He only knows Angelus from books.
• Angel tells him to get rid of the shaman.
• Then he goes out into the courtyard to be alone.
• Of course, Cordelia follows him.
• She tells him he made the right call refusing to allow Angelus to surface once more.
• As they talk, she convinces him that Angelus can think like the Beast.
• This convinces Angel that they need to build a cage to hold him in case something goes wrong.
• Once the cage is built, Angel tells Connor that he’s not the enemy he likes to believe he is, but if this works, he will be.
• He tells Connor that no matter what Angelus says or does, that isn’t his father.
• Angel is strapped down to a table in the cage and Wo-Pang locks himself inside with him.
• Nearby, Wo-Pang has a glass jar that will what holds Angel’s soul.
• The shaman begins the ceremony, but then his eyes turn red and he whispers to Angel, “Time to say goodbye,” before pulling out a knife to attack.
• Angel is able to break free in time to stop Wo-Pang from beheading him.
• The shaman reveals he serves the Beast.
• When they start talking about interrogating him, Wo-Pang plunges a knife into his own chest.
• They remove his robe and find that he is tattooed with some kind of scripture in another language.
• Wesley is able to translate something about a weapon that was forged centuries ago that can kill the Beast.
• Cordelia has a vision of a sword that just happens to be somewhere beneath LA.
• Wesley apologizes for making the wrong call, and Angel appreciates the fact that this is the first time he’s heard him apologize for anything.
• Underground, they question the coincidence of the sword being in LA.
• Cordelia explains that she get the impression that it can be accessed from hundreds of points all over the world.
• They have to get through a passage with tons of straps hanging down with bells attached.
• They make a sound, booby trap… with wooden stakes, of course.
• When they get to the other side, they find a dead end…
• But Wesley discovers the way to open the doorway.
• Angel and Connor work together to keep the door open while Wes and Cordelia get through.
• Then they decide to split up…
• Angel and Cordy split off and she apologizes for making a mess of things with Connor.
• The two of them find a well lit room and discover the dimensional hub that’s housing the sword.
• But taking the sword triggers another trap.
• Angel is able to save Cordelia from being incinerated and they escape just in time.
• Cordelia is suddenly upset that they could have died without her telling him that she’s truly sorry for what happened with Connor.
• She says she wanted to be with Angel instead.
• They kiss and make up.
• The kiss is interrupted by Connor and Wesley…
• The kid runs off and Angel goes after him.
• They wind up in another room with lots of traps and end up duking it out.
• Why does it always end in fisticuffs with these two?
• Connor tells Angel that she was his… meaning Cordelia.
• Cordelia walks in and says, “No, she wasn’t.”
• This causes Connor to storm off again.
• The rest of them return to the hotel with the sword to show it off to Fred and Gunn.
• Now they just need to locate the Beast.
• Fred has been hitting the books and it seems that the only way to kill the Beast and restore the sun is to stab the brain with the special sword.
• But this will release a lot of pent up energy that could kill the bearer of the sword.
• Angel’s about to head out to find the Beast, but instead the Beast breaks down the hotel’s door.
• That’s convenient.
• You know what… a lot of this has been awfully convenient.
• Making up with Wesley…
• Magic sword right where it’s needed…
• Cordelia’s apology…
• It’s like Angel’s having a perfect day.
• Angel orders everyone to leave so he can focus on the fight and not their safety.
• The Beast catches the blade and breaks it.
• Connor shows up just as the Beast is about to crush Angel’s neck.
• Connor puts up a decent fight and is mostly a distraction so Angel can use a shard from the sword and shove it into the Beast’s skull.
• Worth mentioning: when the Beast compares Connor to Angelus, Connor says his name is Angel.
• And it looks like Angel and Connor have finally made up.
• The Beast is dead and the sun has returned…
• More perfect day scenario stuff.
• When all is said and done, Angel and Cordelia make with the smooches.
• And after the perfect day, Angel experiences that one moment of perfect happiness…
• As Angel’s soul leaves his body, he cries out for Buffy.
• Then Wo-Pang reveals that illusion has become reality.
• And Angelus, lying strapped to the table inside the cage, just laughs.
• The camera pulls out and we see Angel’s glowing soul inside Wo-Pang’s jar.
• Body count: No one died because it was all an illusion.