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.

Inside Out

• Cordelia asks what finally tipped Angel off.
• Two words: “My sweet…”
• Angel takes the thing using Cordelia’s body by the throat and demands to know where the real Cordy is.
• Just then, Connor drops in to save the freakin’ day.
• Stupid kid…
• He manages to take down the entire team and rescues Not Cordelia.
• Gunn returns to the hotel from his mission with Gwen and they fill him in on Connor and Not Cordelia.
• The team realizes they woke this thing up with Lorne’s spell back when they recovered from their collective teenage dream.
• They piece together everything that Not Cordelia has had a chance to do and everything she’s done in secret since the Beast’s arrival in LA.
• Meanwhile, Not Cordelia continues to turn Connor against the others.
• Wes suggests going to the Powers That Be to find out more information about what has been masquerading as Cordelia.
• But Angel isn’t optimistic that the Powers would be willing to help.
• Then Angel suggests going to someone who’s been in the middle of everything this whole time…
• Connor moves Not Cordelia into a new hiding place as she continues to drive a wedge between him and Team Angel.
• Angel makes his way to a shady dungeon and meets up with Skip…
• You know… he was guarding that fire prison in Season 3… then he guided Cordelia on her journey to become half-demon so she could keep the visions… then he was there to send Cordelia off as she ascended to a higher plane…
• Guy’s all over the place.
• Skip thinks he’s breaking the news to Angel that Cordelia’s ascended to become a higher being and is shocked to learn she’s back…
• Because no one just comes back from being a higher being.
• Skip tells Angel he guided her to the higher plane… and Angel figures he’s either been played for a dupe like the rest of them, or he’s in on it.
• Skip laughs and extends a blade from his arm, revealing he’s not a dupe.
• They begin to fight and Angel’s having a harder time than the last time they fought.
• Skip tells Angel that the worst part of the whole gig was having to take a dive when Angel freed Billy from the fire box.
• Not Cordelia tells Connor that their baby is going to change the world, and will change everyone’s attitudes toward them.
• Then she tells him there’s a way that they can bring out the baby now instead of waiting.
• Back to the fight… Angel manages to tear off a couple pieces of Skips armor-plated hide and knocks him out.
• Then Angel draws Skip back into our dimension inside the hotel.
• Elsewhere, Connor stakes a vampire, saving a girl in an alley, only to knock her out himself and deliver her to Not Cordelia.
• Not Cordelia is convincing Connor that it’s okay that this girl has to die in order for their child to be born.
• Team Angel binds Skip to this dimension and threatens him with something called the Sphere of Infinite Agonies if he doesn’t tell them everything he knows.
• So he spills…
• Cordelia is in there somewhere… she’s just not in control of her body anymore.
• And here’s where the layers unravel, kids…
• Wes comes to the conclusion that Cordelia becoming a higher being was all a part of this thing’s plan.
• Skip gets sarcastic and says, “No, Cordelia was chosen to be a higher being because she’s a radiant saint.”
• Not Cordelia begins some evil ritual while Connor spends time with their victim… who is very obviously scared.
• She’s begging Connor to let her go.
• Then Connor sees an apparition of his mother… Darla.
• She tells him the Powers have sent her to give him a message.
• It’s actually a really beautiful scene between the two of them.
• Skip goes on… Everything that’s happened has led to this.
• Lorne leaving Pylea; Gunn’s sister turning into a vampire; Fred reading from the wrong book; Wes’ relationship with Lilah; two vampires having a child…
• “An impossible birth to make one possible.”
• Angel figures out that until it’s born, it’s still vulnerable.
• Skip says the only way to stop it from happening is to kill Cordelia.
• And even if they don’t, Cordy will be drained of her life force in childbirth… which means she’ll either die or become a vegetable.
• Darla goes on… telling Connor that he can stop this and he knows it’s the right thing to do.
• Lorne and Wes are able to track down where Not Cordelia and Connor are hidden away and Angel goes off on his own.
• Angel doesn’t want anyone else there… he knows what he has to do and it’s killing him.
• Connor is about to free the girl, but Not Cordelia comes in and convinces him to stop listening to the ghost of his mother.
• She convinces Connor that Darla is a vision brought forth by Angel…
• Connor gives in to Not Cordelia and drags the girl into the other room to be slaughtered.
• Just before Not Cordelia attacks with a cleaver, Connor sees Darla instead of the innocent girl, begging once again for him not to do this.
• But it’s too late… Not Cordelia strikes and innocent blood is spilled.
• Not Cordelia appears to be in labor and tells Connor to hurry and he dips his palm in the girl’s blood, then leaves a handprint on Not Cordelia’s pregnant belly, which is then absorbed.
• An earthquake hits in that moment, breaking the circle holding Skip at the hotel.
• Angel arrives to try and stop the birth, but Connor fights him.
• The rest of the team try to take on Skip, but he’s bulletproof…
• Then Wes spots a hole in his head from where Angel removed a piece of his armor earlier and is aim is true.
• No more Skip.
• Angel gets the upper in the fight with Connor and is about to kill Cordelia.
• He tells her he’s sorry… but he’s too late.
• Blinding light bursts out of Cordelia and we see the silhouette of something that looks like it’s got lots of tentacles…
• But when the light fades… no tentacles.
• Just a naked Gina Torres.
• Angel attacks for a split second, then drops his sword before dropping to his knees.
• Body count: Vampires – 1; Humans – 1; Demons – 1