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: Elisabeth Rohm as Kate Lockley, Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald, Andy Hallett as The Host, Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan, Sam Anderson as Holland Manners, Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce, Thomas Kopache as Denver, Julie Benz as Darla

Original air date: February 20, 2001

Written by: Tim Minear
Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr.

Angel is walking down the hallway of an abandoned building and hears bleating nearby. Angel enters a room off of the hall and turns on a light to find wall-to-wall goats. Apparently this was the source of the bleating. Angel goes through a second door to find two men preparing some sort of ritual sacrifice. These guys look to be new at it because one of them is reading detailed instructions from a pre-packaged kit. One of the men looks for a pre-blessed ceremonial dagger but can’t find it. Angel, standing behind the men, tells them that they have a lot of goats in the other room. When one of the men notices that Angel has their pre-blessed ceremonial dagger Angel buries the blade of the dagger into the wall and bends it. One of the men asks Angel what he wants Angel tells the man he wants to know what Wolfram & Hart has the two men worshipping. When neither of the sacrificers answers Angel vamps out and grabs both men by the neck pinning them to the wall. The men tell Angel that they’ve been paid to sound out a Latin prayer and sacrifice a room full of goats. If they don’t get the job done by midnight something is gonna get real pissed. Angel says “good” and starts to trash the room ruining any chance of completing the ritual by midnight.

At the “Angel Investigations” office Gunn is inspecting Stephanie Sharp’s head and not finding any trace of the third eye that used to be there (see AtS 2.14, “The Thin Dead Line”). Wes’s charm worked miracles. Unfortunately Francine Sharp, Stephanie’s mom, tells Wes, Gunn, and Cordy that Francine and her husband believe that there are no such things as demons, therefore the AI team must be pulling some kind of scam. Francine and her husband have no intention of paying their bill for removing Stephanie’s third eye. Cordy is outraged that the Sharps aren’t going to pay their bill but Wes stops her from chasing Francine Sharp down. Wes figures that it’s easier for the Sharps to think of the AI team as con-artists than to accept the fact that Stephanie was a host for a Skilosh demon. Wes thinks that the Sharps may change their minds if given enough time but Cordy’s worried about the bills that need to be paid now. Gunn thinks he can do more good walking around the neighborhood instead of hanging around with Wes and Cordy so he heads out. Wes, by the way, is in a wheelchair after being shot (see AtS 2.14, “The Thin Dead Line”).

At Wolfram & Hart people are very nervous. It’s two days before the seventy-five year review and people are very antsy, including Lilah Morgan. Lindsey, however, is relaxed and decides to have some lunch. Lilah gives Lindsey some reading material, everything she was able to find about the firm’s last review. Apparently the last seventy-five year review was pretty brutal. Half of middle management was sacked, with real sacks. Lilah tells Lindsey to read the material carefully because, as co-chairs of their division, both of their butts are on the line in this review. It doesn’t help that two of their biggest errors, Darla and Drusilla, are still on the loose. Lilah asks Lindsey if he’s heard anything from either Darla or Drusilla but Lindsey reminds Lilah that two vampires as strong as Darla and Drusilla need time to recover from being set on fire (see AtS 2.11, “Redefinition”). Lilah is very concerned that if she and Lindsey don’t pass this review both of them are dead, and she wants Lindsey to take the situation more seriously.

Meanwhile Angel is telling Kate Lockley about dark rites and rituals being performed all over town to a whole range of demons, deities, and gods. Kate doesn’t understand why Angel has his knickers in a knot over this and Angel tells Kate it’s important to him because it’s important to Wolfram & Hart. Angel wants Kate’s help on this but Kate’s not interested. Angel suggests that Kate arrest them for slaughtering animals without a permit but Kate can’t do squat. Kate’s on desk duty until a hearing on Friday. Apparently Captain Atkinson (see AtS 2.14, “The Thin Dead Line”) has filed a complaint against Kate because Angel beat the crap out of Atkinson when Angel was de-zombifying some cops. Kate tells Angel that Internal Affairs has been looking for a reason to get rid of Kate. Kate doesn’t think explaining that Atkinson was raising zombies is likely to give IA a positive impression of Kate or her work. Kate is also worried that a favor she did for Angel is going to come back and bite her on the ass. After all, Wolfram & Hart did have Angel arrested for breaking into their offices and Kate let Angel go just a few short hours before thirteen Wolfram & Hart lawyers turned up dead in Holland Manners’s wine cellar (see AtS 2.10, “Reunion”). The big question in Kate’s mind is why the suspects didn’t have to break •into• the wine cellar but they did have to break •out.• Kate suspects that Angel was the one who locked the lawyers in the wine cellar with Darla and Drusilla.

Lindsey returns to his apartment and apologizes for being late and for not coming home during lunch, explaining that things are crazy at Wolfram & Hart with the upcoming review. He asks his guest, Darla, how she is feeling. Darla replies that she feels stronger, but only because Lindsey found her in a sewer, brought her to his place, and has been nursing her back to health ever since. Lindsey tells Darla that Drusilla told Lindsey where he could find Darla, but he’d explained that once before. Lindsey tells Darla that he will never abandon her and Darla caresses Lindsey’s face. Lindsey gives Darla some human blood although Darla complains that the blood is cold. Lindsey excuses himself to take a shower and, after Lindsey leaves the room, Darla rolls her eyes, tosses off a blanket, and gets up from the couch. Looks like Darla’s been faking the severity of her injuries. Darla rifles through Lindsey’s briefcase, finds the file on the seventy-five year review, and starts to read while she has something to eat, er, drink.

Angel stops by Caritas and tells The Host that the two of them need to talk. Caritas is so busy that The Host isn’t sure that he can squeeze Angel on stage but Angel tells The Host that he’s not there to sing. Angel tells The Host that something is coming but The Host kinda figured that, what with all the Wolfram & Hart lawyers hanging out in the club. Angel asks The Host to tell him what The Host read from the lawyers but The Host invokes a kind of demon reader-readee privilege. The Host is more than willing, however, to spill what he overheard in the men’s restroom. The Host explains that the entire L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart have a review every seventy-five years and the review will be taking place on Friday. The Host also guesses that people aren’t as upset by the review as they are by the reviewer, something evil and dark that has everyone worried. . . a Senior Partner. Angel wants more information about the Senior Partner so that Angel can take the Senior Partner out. The Host tells Angel that all of the rites and rituals that Angel has stopped in the past few days mean next to nothing. The Host refers to them as the acts of nervous children trying to score some last-minute brownie points before ‘daddy’ shows up. Angel just wants to know what the Senior Partner “is” and whether or not it can be killed. All The Host knows is “The Band of Blacknil” and “Home Office,” but doesn’t know what either means. It’s just some phrases The Host keeps picking up from the Wolfram & Hart suits. Before Angel leaves The Host tells him that the Wolfram & Hart lawyers would really like to see Angel dead. Just to emphasize the point several of the lawyers give Angel some very icy glares.

Back at the Hyperion Angel is doing some serious research, going through all the books that are available to him. Unfortunately Angel isn’t finding anything useful. So Angel goes to another source - the new Angel Investigations. Angel barges into the office, heads straight for a bookshelf, and doesn’t bother to greet either Wes or Cordy. Angel grabs a book off of the shelf but, before he can leave, Cordy snatches the book out of Angel’s hands and reshelves it. Cordy stands in front of the book but Angel isn’t dissuaded and tells Cordy, “Don’t make me move you.” Wes can’t stand this anymore so he stands up and tells Cordy to give Angel the book so that Angel will leave. Cordy shoves the book into Angel’s chest and Angel leaves without a backward glance. Wes gingerly sits down in his wheelchair as Cordy angrily rants about Angel’s downward spiral of not caring about anyone or anything other than taking out the Wolfram & Hart lawyers. Wes tries several times to interrupt Cordy and finally gets her attention. Wes needs to be taken back to the hospital as he’s pulled several stitches.

The next day one of the members of Internal Affairs asks Kate if she has anything to say in her defense. Kate simply says she was doing her job. One of the IA guys is concerned because Kate has withdrawn from her co-workers and she has taken on the odd and weird cases that occur in the precinct. The IA guy thinks it might have something to do with Kate finding her father’s body after his death and the fact that no arrests were ever made (see AtS 1.15, “The Prodigal”). The IA panel thinks it’s odd that Kate didn’t take any time off after her father’s death and they don’t believe that Kate has grieved after her father’s death. The panel tells Kate that she will be given psychological services as part of her severance package, and Kate’s being fired from the force. Kate is devastated, especially when the panel asks for Kate’s gun and badge. She hands both over and leaves the room.

That night Angel stops at a bookstore looking for Denver (see AtS 2.2, “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?”), a bookstore owner who helped Angel about fifty years ago. Denver is surprised because Angel hasn’t aged a day. Denver tells Angel that Angel, a vampire trying to fight a demon to save humans, Denver believed that there must be good in the world. Angel bursts Denver’s bubble and tells him that Angel left the demon in the hotel with all of the humans. Angel gets Denver back to the task at hand: Denver doesn’t know where the “Home Office” might be, but he’s pretty sure the Senior Partner is a Kleynach demon. Denver explains that many dark or evil beings manifest as a Kleynach demon because the Kleynach doesn’t have to be conjured as long as they have the Band of Blacknil, a simple ring that is a power source for the Kleynach to come to this reality and go back to it’s own. Angel asks if he could use the ring to go to the Senior Partner’s Home Office. Denver figures out that Angel is going to try to go to the Home Office and destroy all of the Senior Partners. Denver tells Angel the ring will probably do the trick, but the hard part will be killing the Kleynach, but Denver knows how Angel can do it. Denver tells Angel that he will need a glove blessed by the powers of light to kill the Kleynach and Denver just happens to have it. Denver is in the process of giving the glove to Angel when Denver is impaled on a sword that goes all the way through Denver and into Angel. As Angel and Denver collapse to the floor Angel sees that Darla wielded the sword, and now she has the glove. Darla tells Angel the ring is all about power, not vengeance, then she kicks Angel in the head.

In the meantime Wes is in his apartment with Virginia. Wes is trying to impress upon Virginia how important it was for him to stand up to Angel but Virginia thinks Wes could have done it figuratively instead of literally. Virginia is just realizing how dangerous Wes’s job is. Virginia can handle the demonic and mystical but is having a problem coping with guns and bullets. Virginia asks Wes if he feels like he’s actually doing good and if he’d consider giving up his work. Wes asks if Virginia could stay with Wes if he did give up his work. Wes realizes that Virginia is ending their relationship.

Kate arrives at her apartment with a box of things from her desk and heads straight for the liquor. As Kate is drinking she knocks all of her citations and awards from the police department off the wall and starts to cry.

Across town at Wolfram & Hart Lilah arrives with two bodyguards who escort her to the building. Well, they try. Angel knocks the bodyguards unconscious and tells Lilah that he wants Lilah to get him into the building. Lilah has to use her thumbprint to access an elevator and Angel is with her.

Wes calls the AI office and tells Cordy that he won’t be coming in tomorrow because he’s not feeling well. Wes suggests that Cordy get out for the evening and have some fun. Wes tells Cordy that things are going to get better and Cordy promises to call him tomorrow to find out if he’s feeling better. As Cordy is leaving the office the phone rings. It’s Francine Sharp and she wants to pay AI for their work eliminating Stephanie’s third eye. Cordy volunteers to stop by the Sharp home on Cordy’s way home to pick up the check. As Francine hangs up the phone she tells a demon that Cordy is on her way and the demon snaps Francine’s neck.

In a Wolfram & Hart conference room several mystics are circling a symbol on the floor as Wolfram & Hart lawyers look on. Nathan Reed, Lilah and Lindsey’s superior is impatient because Lilah hasn’t arrived yet and to make matters worse there’s a vampire on this floor. Lilah shows up with Angel and, while Angel is distracted, Lilah elbows Angel in the stomach. Lilah runs one direction and Angel runs the other with security and Lindsey after him. Angel manages to evade both Lindsey and security and scans the room. Angel finds what he’s looking for and walks toward a woman as he uncorks a bottle of holy water. Angel spins the woman around, rips off her wig and throws holy water in her face. It’s a vamped out Darla wearing the glove she stole from Denver. As Angel and Darla fight over the glove the Senior Partner apparates in the middle of the symbol on the floor. Angel manages to wrest the glove from Darla and several security people hold Darla to the floor and try to stake her, with Lilah egging them on. This pisses Lindsey off so he hits Lilah. Lindsey stops security from staking Darla and lets her run off. Angel lunges at the Senior Partner grabbing him by the throat as both Angel and the Senior Partner fly through a pane of glass into the night air. The Senior Partner dies and Angel falls fifteen stories to the pavement below. The Band of Blacknil has survived so Angel grabs the ring and puts it on.

Behind Angel an elevator appears with Holland Manners. Holland congratulates Angel on killing the Senior Partner. Angel is a little confused because Holland is dead (see AtS 2.10, “Reunion”), but Holland explains that his contract with Wolfram & Hart extends beyond his natural death. Holland asks Angel to join him in the elevator and Holland presses the button for the Home Office, which will be a one-way trip. The elevator begins to descend as some very evil musak plays in the background. Holland asks Angel what Angel’s plan of killing the Senior Partners will accomplish, in the long run. Angel tells Holland that it will be an end and that nothing else matters. Holland disagrees and tells Angel that there must be some small speck of caring left in Angel, otherwise Angel would never have started this suicide mission. Holland talks about a sacred prophecy (the Shanshu) in which Angel was supposed to prevent an apocalypse (see AtS 1.22, “To Shanshu in L.A.”) and Holland thinks that it’s probably good, in the long run, that all the people Angel would have saved would die in the next apocalypse. Angel recognizes Holland’s thinly veiled ploy and Angel tells Holland he’s not going to win. Holland agrees - the plan was never to •win.• This gets Angel’s attention and Angel wants to know why Wolfram & Hart fights. Holland tells Angel that Wolfram & Hart doesn’t fight so they don’t have to worry about who wins and who loses. Regardless of what Angel does or doesn’t do in the Home Office, Wolfram & Hart will continue in some form. Holland tells Angel that Wolfram & Hart was there during the Inquisition, during the Khmer Rouge, when the very first caveman clubbed his neighbor to death, because Wolfram & Hart is in the hearts and minds of every single soul on the planet. And it’s that presence that makes Angel’s destiny so difficult. According to Holland the world doesn’t work even though evil exists, the world works •because• evil exists.

The elevator arrives at the Home Office and Angel steels himself for facing the Senior Partners. The elevator doors open and Angel is back where he started - outside Wolfram & Hart’s building. Holland tells Angel this is where evil is. Evil is in every person because, if it weren’t, all of the people would be angels. Angel is devastated and drops the glove in the elevator. With tears in his eyes Angel walks away and sees anger, resentment, and evil in the people he passes. In her apartment Kate takes a handful of pills with a vodka chaser. Wes sits alone in his apartment. Cordy heads off to the Sharps to collect their fee.

When Angel arrives at the Hyperion Kate is leaving a message on the answering machine. The drugs and alcohol are having an effect on Kate and she’s rambling on about Angel not caring but it won’t matter because Kate won’t feel a thing.

In his rooms Angel senses Darla, she’s come for the Band of Blacknil. Angel drops the ring on the floor and Darla lunges to pick it up. Angel asks Darla if she really wants the ring or if she wants his kiss. Angel and Darla start to kiss but Darla thrusts Angel away telling him not to tease her. Angel tells Darla he just wants to feel something. Angel pushes Darla on top of a desk and, as they kiss, Angel and Darla get undressed. Darla starts to laugh which pisses Angel off so he throws Darla through glass doors to his bedroom. Angel picks Darla up off of the floor, they start kissing and fall back on the bed. Angel and Darla shag like bunnies. Later, Angel is awoken by the sound of thunder and Angel grimaces in extreme pain.

Summary by Kirsten.