Starring: David Boreanaz as Angel, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and J. August Richards as Charles Gunn

Guest starring: Andy Hallett as The Host, Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce, Matt Champagne as Gene Rainy, Darby Stanchfield as Denise, Mike Hagerty as the bartender

Original air date: February 6, 2001

Story by: Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt
Teleplay by: David Greenwalt
Directed by: Bill Norton

Angel is alone in his suite at the Hyperion while, across town, Cordelia and Wesley are sorting through boxes in their new offices. Most of the boxes and the furniture were left by the former tenants and Wes figures that when the new agency goes under they’ll just leave their stuff behind, too. Cordy tells Wes to keep optimistic - they can keep the office open for at least 20 minutes with all of their money pooled together. Wes wonders if they can run Angel Investigations without Angel and Cordy thinks that they can, especially since she still has visions. Cordy is trying to keep a positive mental attitude, even after she stands up into the bottom of a hanging plant. Gunn comes in the office and announces that he’s finished putting flyers on car windshields and has covered over 10 blocks. Cordy thinks it’s just a matter of time before clients start calling until Gunn discovers that the phone doesn’t work. Wes crawls under a desk to look at the wires thinks he’s found the problem. Wes touches the wires and, oops!, the lights go out. Not an auspicious start to the new agency.

Once day breaks Angel settles down to sleep but is awoken by noise in the lobby. Angel meanders downstairs to find out what is going on and finds The Host singing the American National Anthem. Loudly. The Host is blown away by the amazing acoustics in the lobby but Angel just glowers at The Host. Angel wants to know why The Host is singing in his lobby. The Host replies that he thought Angel might want to know that the world is going to end tomorrow night. Angel asks The Host for an explanation and then waits (impatiently) for The Host to explain. Unfortunately for Angel, The Host rambles on about wanting a cup of coffee, why did Angel fire the rest of his team, oh, Cordelia’s so hot. Angel keeps his temper in check, thankfully, and finally gets The Host to explain what happened. Apparently the night before (Wednesday) was pretty typical until a newcomer comes in and starts to sing. The Host expected that he would just read the guy’s aura, no big. But when the guy starts to sing The Host gets knocked out. . . . literally. The Host collapsed at the bar and was unconscious. When The Host came to the guy was gone. Didn’t even wait around for a reading. When the guy was singing The Host read that he had no future after 10 p.m. Friday night. Nothing. Nada. Zip. The icing on the cake is that no one else has a future after 10 p.m. Friday, either. The Host wants Angel to find this guy and stop whatever it is he’s going to do to stop the world. Angel asks why The Host came to him. The Host answers that Angel’s a champion, plus all the other champions The Host knows are either out of town or dead. The Host thinks that Angel doesn’t want to work with him because of those past couple of ‘missions’ were bad news for Angel (see AtS 2.6, “Guise Will Be Guise”). The Host thinks that the world ending should be a big enough problem that Angel will trust The Host and help him out. Angel wants to know why the guy left Caritas before The Host gave the guy his reading. The Host thinks it’s because the guy chickened out, didn’t really want a reading. Angel thinks a better explanation might be that the guy just likes singing karaoke and that he doesn’t know anything about The Host and his talent for reading auras. The Host suggests looking at other karaoke bars to find out who this guy might be, unless of course Angel has a full agenda of getting lawyers killed (see AtS 2.10, “Reunion”) or setting girls on fire (see AtS 2.11, “Redefinition”).

At a university in town the guy from Caritas is looking at a white board full of symbols while two other students look on from an observation room. The two other students are arguing about whether the guy (Gene) can solve a time paradox. The male student thinks that Gene isn’t that smart and the paradox can’t be solved, while the female student. Val believes that Gene is a genius and can figure the problem out. Val goes into the lab and talks with Gene, who’s struggling to solve the time paradox. Gene wants to “carve out” one instant of time and move it out of the time-space continuum, essentially freezing the moment forever. Gene is struggling to solve the math so that he can prove his theory will work. Gene’s girlfriend, Denise, comes into the lab to talk about her and Gene’s upcoming first anniversary dinner. The conversation is short and somewhat strained before Denise and Val leave.

Meanwhile Angel and The Host are searching karaoke bars and Angel’s a little frustrated. After seventeen bars they still haven’t found the guy they are looking for. The Host and Angel strike up a conversation with the bartender who tells them that the bar gets some graduate students who are regulars. Angel tells the bartender they are looking for a man in his 20s who sings sad songs and the bartender thinks it might be “the kid.” The bartender doesn’t know the kid’s name but one guy comes in relatively regularly and sings very depressing songs. The Host asks the bartender to sing a couple bars of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” so that The Host can read the bartender’s aura and pick up the picture of “the kid.” When the bartender starts to sing The Host immediately knows that “the kid” is the guy they are looking for. After complimenting the bartender on his singing The Host and Angel get the name of the kid’s university.

At the university lab Gene is working into the wee hours of the morning and still having no luck isolating a chunk of time. Gene leaves the lab pretty disappointed with his lack of progress, and completely unaware that he is being watched by some icky looking demons. After Gene leaves the lab the demons come out of hiding. The first demon tells the second that Gene is “the one” and the two demons go over to Gene’s white board and change some of the equations. As the equations change one demon comments that humanity arose out of nothing and it’s going to return to nothing.

The next morning Gunn, Wes and Cordy are at their offices. Cordy’s trying to be upbeat as she arranges candles throughout the offices to compensate for their lack of electricity, while Gunn and Wes sit like lumps next to the desk. Gunn tells Cordy to stop trying to be optimistic and Wes suggests that Cordy join them in a group wallow. Virginia stops by with some champagne to congratulate the team on their new offices and notices their suicidal like depression. Gunn tells Virginia not to tell them there’s no where to go but up because there’s always more down. Virginia suddenly remembers that she has a client, a rich one, for them. Apparently one of Virginia’s friends’ family is being harassed by a demon and they would love to have someone make the Wainakay demon go away. Especially since the demon has already killed the eldest son in the family. Cordy’s excited because they now have a job that will pay them money.

In the meantime Gene arrives back at the lab and sees the corrections the demons made in his equations and gets very excited. He tinkers with the settings on some of the machines, flips a switch and, voilá!, Gene can use his machines to extract a drop of liquid mercury out of the present time-space continuum. Gene is so excited by his success that he screams, “YEE HA!” and runs out of the lab and through campus, leaving his experiment running.

At Gene’s university The Host and Angel arrive at the library. Angel’s a little miffed with The Host because The Host nearly got both of them killed 4 times driving over. Turns out The Host didn’t know how to drive until he got behind the wheel of Angel’s car and Angel couldn’t drive because he was cowering in the back seat out of the sunlight. Angel tells The Host to stay in the stacks while Angel goes to the desk at the library and gets a stack of books. Back at the stacks Angel hands the yearbooks to The Host so that The Host can look through them for their grad student. Unbeknownst to either Angel or The Host they are being watched by the demons from Gene’s lab.

On campus Val and Denise are having coffee. Denise tells Val that she is going to break up with Gene on the night of their one year anniversary. Denise tells Val that she feels lonely when she’s with Gene. Denise’s plan is to have dinner with Gene, have some sympathy “it’s over” sex and then dump him. Denise doesn’t see any other way out of her relationship with Gene. Denise doesn’t think that their love is the kind that lasts. What Denise and Val don’t realize is that Gene has overheard their entire conversation.

Meanwhile The Host and Angel are looking through yearbooks when The Host finally spots a picture of Gene. Angel takes the yearbook to the front desk to find out where Gene’s lab is. As Angel is getting directions to Gene’s lab from the guy at the front desk, Angel is attacked from behind by one of the demons from Gene’s lab.

When Gene arrives back at his lab he’s very upset from overhearing Denise’s plans to break up with him after dinner that night. Gene looks at a picture of he and Denise then looks up at his still-running experiment. Gene says to no one that he’s going to give Denise the kind of love that lasts.

In the library Angel and the demon are fighting pretty brutally. The Host distracts the demon for a moment by speaking in a demon language, then The Host hurls a book at the demon. The demon evades the book and it hits Angel right in the face knocking him down. At last Angel gets the upper hand in the fight and the demon stops, says something in his language, then runs away. Angel asks The Host what the demonic conversation was. Apparently The Host told the demon that he and Angel were peaceful and then later the demon told Angel and The Host that they would not stop “the Golden Child, the for whom we have waited.” The Host tells Angel that he was attacked by a Lubber demon, a fringe group of demons who await some sort of messiah who will eradicate all humans from the earth. Angel thinks that Gene has hired the Lubber demons as protection which is why the Lubber demon attacked Angel. But Angel still doesn’t know how Gene is going to kill all the humans. Angel and The Host head out to Gene’s lab to find out.

Meanwhile Gene is in the basement of his apartment building with a lot of the equipment from his lab. Gene is hooking up some very large machines while he hums “All By Myself” to himself. When Gene makes a last connection between the machines, they start to hum.

On campus The Host and Angel have found Gene’s lab - empty. No equipment whatsoever. Just “Jack,” who is also looking for Gene and his missing equipment. Angel asks Jack what Gene was working on and Jack explains that Gene was trying to solve a time paradox. A way to isolate particles from their time-space continuum into a new, unique universe. In short, stopping time. Angel asks how Gene’s equipment works and Jack explains that the equipment would focus energy within a field and, provided you could generate enough energy, anything within the field would be put in its own separate reality where it would stand still. But, if the field wasn’t aligned properly the field would continue to grow until it consumed everything. . . literally. Angel asks Jack who has the keys for the lab and Jack replies that only Gene has the keys and The Host notices that there was no forced entry into the lab. Jack doesn’t know •why• Gene would ‘steal’ his own equipment but Angel thinks the better question is •where• would Gene take his own equipment.

In his apartment Gene has arranged pieces of equipment in his bedroom around the bed. Gene straightens the covers on the bed, places a red rose on the comforter, then leaves the room. In the dining area he sets the table, lights a couple candles, then goes into the kitchen.

Angel and The Host are driving towards Gene’s place. Luckily Angel’s driving this time. During the drive The Host tells Angel that the brooding is getting a little old and a little stale. The Host also tells Angel that the reason Angel’s been brooding so much lately is that Angel’s heart is no longer in the fight. Angel tries to tell The Host that Angel has no idea what The Host is talking about but The Host doesn’t buy it. Point blank The Host asks Angel if the world were to end right now, would Angel be sorry. Angel doesn’t answer which is all the answer The Host needs. The Host asks Angel if the realization that Angel wouldn’t care much if the world ended right now is a “good” place to be. The Host reminds Angel that Angel pushed his friends away and went from being a champion of the helpless to someone who hunted down and punished the guilty. The Host wants Angel to spill his guts and tell The Host everything so that The Host can help Angel get back on his path. The Host starts to hum which kind of annoys Angel. Finally Angel starts to talk. Angel tells The Host that his problem is that he’s screwed. No matter how hard Angel tries Angel doesn’t think he’ll be able to atone for over 100 years of evil deeds. To complicate Angel’s path to redemption the entire L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart is working to bring Angel down. It’s no wonder that Angel’s going a little bit nuts. Angel’s still angry that Wolfram & Hart took Darla’s chance at redemption away from her and Angel tells The Host that it’s his responsibility to hunt Darla down and kill her. And for an encore Angel plans on eliminating Wolfram & Hart. Angel knew that Gunn, Wesley and Cordelia couldn’t cope with his plans, and that’s why Angel fired them. Angel tells The Host that being fired and working on their own is better than working with Angel. The Host tries to lift Angel’s spirits by telling him that things are going to change, unless they don’t stop Gene in which case Angel will be frozen in time in his crappy mood forever. As Angel is driving a Lubber demon steps in front of Angel’s car, but Angel can’t stop quickly enough and he hits the Lubber demon. The demon goes flying over Angel’s car and, once the car stops, Angel and The Host jump out to check on the Lubber demon. The Lubber demon is dead, but a bunch of his friends are crawling out of the shadows ready to attack Angel and The Host.

Meanwhile Gene has put the finishing touches on the diner table, including a gift for Denise. When there’s a knock at the door Gene opens it, and it’s Denise. Denise walks into the apartment and Gene wishes her a happy anniversary.

At the Bointon’s palatial estate Gunn is removing his axe from the back of the Wainakay demon. And while Wes and Gunn are being congratulated by the Bointon family patriarch, Wes doesn’t believe that the Wainakay demon acted alone. According to Wes the demon was hired to kill the Bointon’s eldest son Derek, by someone in this very room! Wes does an excellent impression of Sherlock Holmes as he reviews the evidence he’s collected and his deductions in a roomful of Bointon family members. Wes has deduced that Aunt Helen was responsible for hiring the Wainakay demon and, when Aunt Helen is accused, she runs to the door to make her escape. Luckily Cordelia moves faster than Aunt Helen and Cordelia stops Aunt Helen before she can leave the room.

Across town the Lubber demons are fighting with Angel while The Host looks on. Angel easily takes out several of the demons, even though the demons are armed. Two demons try to attack The Host but they stunned when The Host sings a very high note. While the Lubber demons are paralyzed from the note The Host knocks both of them out. Angel finally takes out the last of the Lubber demons so he and The Host get back into his car and head toward Gene’s apartment.

In Gene’s apartment he and Denise are having a very strained, uncomfortable conversation as they try to work their way through dinner. During a particularly long and uncomfortable lull in the conversation Denise thanks Gene for her anniversary gift, a necklace. Gene tells Denise the necklace made him think of her. After they finish dinner Gene and Denise go into the bedroom. Denise finds the rose that Gene left on the bed and she tells Gene the gesture was “sweet.” Gene apologizes for the clutter in the room and Denise tells him that the clutter suits him. Denise slowly undresses and she and Gene begin to make love.

Angel and The Host arrive at Gene’s apartment building and Angel asks The Host where a time-stopping machine would most likely be hidden. The Host thinks it might be over there - where the Lubber demons can guard it. Yup. There are a bunch of Lubber demons guarding the basement of the building.

Upstairs, in the middle of lovemaking, Gene has pressed a button to activate the time-stopping device. Beams of light surround Gene and Denise which coalesce into a bubble effectively removing Gene and Denise from the time-space continuum. Downstairs a Lubber demon is standing near some of the equipment which powers Gene’s device and the Lubber demon is adjusting the program’s controls. The bubble surrounding Gene and Denise doesn’t stop growing, it continues to grow swallowing up several floors of the apartment building and spilling over into surrounding buildings.

Angel has finally reached the basement of Gene’s apartment building and is fighting with several more Lubber demons. Angel has to move quick - the bubble that stops time has reached the basement and has stopped one of the Lubber demons in mid-air. Angel lunges across the basement floor and unplugs the machine, reversing the time bubble which shrinks until it eventually disappears. Upstairs Gene is a little surprised that time didn’t stop and pretty devastated when Denise tells Gene that they “have to talk.”

Later Gene is apologizing to both Angel and The Host. Gene had no idea he was jeopardizing the whole world with his time device. Gene tells Angel and The Host that he didn’t want Denise to leave. The Host signals Angel to give Gene some words of comfort but when Angel starts to sound morose The Host interrupts and tells Gene that you can’t just stop life. Life goes on, sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse. The Host uses his singing as an analogy. Sure singing one note for a very long time is impressive, but it gets boring. It’s the changes of notes that make music interesting. Unfortunately neither Gene nor Angel seem to agree. Gene offers both Angel and The Host a beer. While Gene is in the kitchen The Host congratulates Angel on connecting with a human. Angel understands where Gene is coming from, after all Angel doesn’t have a good track record with women, either. Angel admits to The Host that he probably left Cordy, Wes, and Gunn “in the cold” when Angel fired them. Angel thinks that he made it hard for all of them.

Of course at the new Angel Investigations office there’s a party going on. Big celebration, by candlelight, for their first paying case. Cordy, Wes, and Gunn are dancing with a room full of people but stop when a timid-looking man walks in the office. The man asks for help and wants to know which one of the three of them is Angel. Wes looks at Cordy and Gunn then tells their new client “it’s just a name.”

Summary by Kirsten.