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 Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco

• A security guard enters an area that could be dangerous.
• I mean, there’s a sign on the fence that says DANGER… speaks for itself.
• He hears some strange noises and runs into an employee he knows.
• But then that employee is thrown by an unseen assailant.
• And the security guard is brutally murdered in silhouette.
• Throughout the season so far, we’ve seen someone pushing a mailcart around the offices of Wolfram & Hart.
• He’s noticeable because he is clearly a retired luchador wearing a mask with the number 5 on the forehead.
• Over in Angel’s office, Gunn walks him through signing some paperwork that stops some evil with the push of a pen.
• Angel misses getting his hands dirty.
• Numero Cinco walks in and overhears Wes talking about how three people have had their hearts torn out…
• This causes him to turn and walk out without finishing the mail job.
• So when Angel tries to catch up and give him something he didn’t pick up, Numero Cinco throws Angel through the glass and back into his office.
• Clearly, something set off the retired wrestler…
• The back and forth with the team about the alleged fight between Angel and Cinco is hilarious.
• Especially Spike’s contributions.
• Angel, Gunn, Wes, and Spike head out to figure out what could be taking people’s hearts.
• Wes determines the killings are somehow connected to the Day of the Dead.
• They find another body with his heart missing.
• Then they find the creature that did the killing.
• They fight, but can’t put a dent in the monster.
• Back at the office, everyone is in research mode trying to figure out what this thing is, but Angel’s anxious to get back out there to finish the fight.
• Spike, meanwhile, is getting curious about the old Shanshu prophecy.
• Wesley determines that the demon is Aztec in origin and is called Tezcatcatl.
• It appears every 50 years and last time, it was stopped by five brothers.
• All but one of those brothers was killed.
• The surviving brother? Numero Cinco.
• When Angel goes to visit Cinco, he says he threw him through the window because he didn’t want to be dragged back into the fight against the Aztec demon.
• Cinco tells his story…
• He and his brothers were luchadores known as Los Hermanos Numeros.
• But they didn’t just fight in the wrestling ring.
• Cinco is hesitant to talk about the Aztec demon because it killed all of his brothers.
• He tried to get back into helping people on his own, but he missed them.
• Eventually he was approached by Holland Manners to come and work for Wolfram & Hart.
• Angel gives him a hard time for quitting the good fight… for not caring anymore.
• Cinco then takes Angel to a wrestling venue where Los Hermanos Numeros are mocked.
• Wes and Gunn continue researching Tezcatcatl and determine that it’s taking the hearts of heroes.
• Apparently Angel is next on his list.
• It pins Angel to the hood of a car with its sword and gets ready to cut out his heart, but stops.
• Probably sensing that Angel’s heart isn’t beating.
• Angel’s offended, feeling rejected because the demon didn’t take his heart.
• Gunn goes to track down a potential contract, thinking the demon may have made some kind of deal to come back every 50 years.
• Wes confronts Angel about his heart condition…
• He points out that Angel has lost hope that the work they’re doing is still good… still heroic.
• Gunn is able to find a record of the deal Tezcatcatl made.
• Turns out he’s always returning to search for a talisman he once possessed.
• When Gunn describes it, Angel realizes Cinco has it.
• Angel confronts Cinco in a cemetery, needing to get the talisman away from the demon.
• If the demon gets his hands on the talisman, it will have the power of the Aztecs’ sun god.
• Cinco reveals that he swallowed the talisman, in hopes that Tezcatcatl will kill him to get it back.
• Angel stops the demon from getting the talisman, but not before the demon mortally wounds Cinco.
• During the fight, somehow, the other brothers are resurrected and join in to take down the demon.
• Working with the brothers, Angel is able to stab the demon’s heart, killing it again.
• Before Cinco dies, he tells Angel that the talisman is actually in his thermos.
• The brothers take Cinco to join them in the afterlife.
• Angel gives the talisman to Wes so he can lock it up somewhere safe.
• Later, Angel returns to Wesley’s office and decides to take a look at the Shanshu prophecy again.
• Body count: Humans – 3; Demons – 1