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: Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald, Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan, Andy Hallett as The Host, Gerry Becker as Nathan Reed, Michael Dempsey as Irv Kraigle, Mik Scriba as the parole officer

Original air date: April 24, 2001

Written by: David Greenwalt

Directed by: James A. Contner

Lindsey McDonald is sleeping in his apartment and wakes to his alarm clock, which he shuts off with what remains of his right arm. Lindsey gets ready for work, including putting on his prosthetic hand. When Lindsey goes into his closet to choose a tie he looks at a guitar sitting at the bottom of the closet, then shuts the closet door.

In another home somewhere in L.A. a man is greeting his family at breakfast. The entire family heads out for school and work. The man is reading the front page of the newspaper as he collects some last minute things for his son and daughter but, instead of grabbing the vitamins he grabs a large kitchen knife before walking out the door.

At the Hyperion Cordy has a vision that slams her into a bookcase. It’s the man stabbing himself in the eye with the kitchen knife. The vision knocks her to the floor and she begins to sob as Angel and Wes ask Cordy what she saw in her vision. Cordy can’t answer. She’s over come with grief and just starts crying while Angel tries to comfort her.

At Wolfram & Hart Nathan Reed is meeting with a room full of lawyers, including Lindsey and Lilah, discussing a case. Nathan asks about Angel and Lindsey starts a rant about what Angel is doing. Lilah tells Nathan that Angel is back with Angel Investigations and that Angel is improving and has been spending very little time trying to kill anyone remotely connected with Wolfram & Hart. Nathan also announces that on Friday Lilah and Lindsey’s division (Special Projects) will be re-evaluated. Nathan ends the meeting and Lilah needles Lindsey. When their division is re-evaluated it means that either Lindsey or Lilah will be promoted and the other will be cut - literally. Nathan asks to speak to Lindsey. Nathan gives Lindsey a friendly warning about professional behavior. Nathan doesn’t want Lindsey spouting off about Angel during meetings in front of Lindsey’s co-workers. Nathan also tells Lindsey that he’s made an appointment for Lindsey and cleared Lindsey’s calendar. Nathan gives Lindsey a card with an address on it and sends Lindsey on his way. Lilah is standing in the hall and sees, but can’t hear, Lindsey’s private discussion with Nathan. Lilah looks worried.

At the hotel Cordy is still shocky after her vision. Cordy’s trying to explain the vision to Wes, Gunn and Angel. Cordy felt that the man in her vision wasn’t crazy even though he was acting crazily. Wes asks Cordy where the man was but Cordy only knows that the man was in a nice kitchen in his house. Wes suggests they start looking at hospitals and after Gunn makes a smart-ass remark Gunn gets ‘volunteered’ for the job. Wes is going to check out the morgues while Angel hits the streets and looks for any new demons that might be in town. Before he leaves Angel asks Gunn to keep an eye on Cordy.

Meanwhile Lindsey is in an examination room. Dr. Melman comes in, introduces himself to Lindsey and instructs the nurse to give Lindsey a sedative. Lindsey is a little confused and asks the doctor for an explanation. Dr. Melman explains that Wolfram & Hart funds a great deal of the clinic’s work, including primary health care for all of the Wolfram & Hart employees. The clinic also performs some less publicized procedures. Lindsey’s still worried so Melman tries to reassure Lindsey by telling him that the firm is very happy with Lindsey’s work which is why the firm arranged to have Lindsey’s name moved to the top of the transplant list. Dr. Melman tells Lindsey that he is going to give Lindsey a new hand. During surgery the doctor attaches a new hand and, as surgery ends, a red robed skeletal creature apparates in the operating room. The creature sprinkles something over the sutures which magically disappear and the scar nearly disappears, leaving a very thin red line where Lindsey’s new hand was attached. The red robed creature turns to leave and disapparates.

At the hotel Cordelia is trying to keep busy by cleaning while Gunn is trying to track down the mystery man from Cordy’s vision. Gunn isn’t having any luck. Angel returns and asks Gunn how Cordy has been. Gunn responds that Cordy grunted once earlier and then she started cleaning. Wes returns, also with no news. Angel thinks they’ll have to ask Cordy for more information but none of them wants to do it, so Wes assigns the job to Angel. Angel tries to talk to Cordy but she’s absorbed in her cleaning. Angel tells Cordy that they need more help because they haven’t been able to turn up a lead. Cordy apologizes to Angel and guesses that the mystery man is probably dead by now. Cordy asks Angel what he wants her to do. Angel suggests that Cordy look into her vision again and that might bring a clue. Cordy closes her eyes, goes back to her vision, and tells Angel what she sees. Cordy realizes that the mystery man had kids - she remembers cereal bowls on the table and a book bag. Cordy realizes that there is a name on the book bag - Delancy School. Angel tells Cordy that the name of the school is a good clue and asks if she remembers anything else. Cordy doesn’t, she just starts crying. Cordy tells Angel that she just keeps seeing the vision over and over. Angel hugs Cordy and tells her that Wes and Gunn will investigate the new clue first thing in the morning, and that Cordy should get some rest.

The next morning Lindsey is sleeping when he is woken by his alarm clock. Lindsey is marvelling at his new hand. This morning Lindsey is able to turn off his alarm clock with his new right hand. Lindsey goes through his morning routine but, when he looks in the closet for a tie Lindsey is distracted by his guitar on the floor. Lindsey stops long enough to play the guitar for awhile.

At Wolfram & Hart Nathan Reed is introducing Lindsey to a client, Mr. Kraigle. Lilah approaches and she is introduce to Mr. Kraigle. Nathan directs Lindsey and Lilah to his conference room for their meeting with Kraigle but before they go in Lilah stops Lindsey and points out that his operation was pretty expensive. Lilah estimates that the cost of the shaman alone was nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Lilah gives Lindsey a warning - even though the operation might make Lindsey think that he’s going to be promoted in tomorrow’s division review, Lilah isn’t going to give up without a fight. During the meeting with Kraigle, Kraigle is freaking out about being sued for giving people cancer. Lindsey and Lilah have cooked up a fake company that will take the fall for giving people cancer but, oopsie!, the company is going bankrupt so Kraigle’s company is in the clear. Kraigle is clearly impressed with Lindsey’s and Lilah’s maneuvering and asks Lindsey if he’s been writing all of their ideas down. Lindsey looks at the tablet he’s been scribbling on and only one word has been written on it, over and over: “kill.” Without his awareness Lindsey’s new hand has been writing ‘kill’ all during the meeting. Lindsey is a little freaked by this and quickly excuses himself from the meeting.

That evening at his apartment Lindsey is trying to get his hand to write again but isn’t having any luck. Lindsey even tries poking his hand with a letter opener but his hand won’t write. Lindsey looks at his hand and asks “who are you?”

The next afternoon at the Hyperion Angel gets a delivery of lunch. Cordy asks what is going on because Angel doesn’t eat food, especially not soup and salad. Angel confesses that he couldn’t remember what Cordy liked to eat so he ordered a little bit of everything. Cordy just tells Angel, “I love you” which makes Angel grin from ear to ear. Cordy tells Angel that he should smile more often. Suddenly Cordy has a ripple vision, like an aftershock. She realizes that the mystery man was happy about his eye, that it was new. Gunn and Wes enter the lobby and announce that they may have identified the mystery man: Joseph Kramer. Kramer’s two kids didn’t go to school yesterday and their mother told the school that she was taking the kids out of the country. Angel asks if they were able to get an address and Wes and Gunn already checked it out. The house was empty, no trace of anything personal that might have belonged to the Kramers. Gunn noticed that the house had been cleaned from top to bottom, even the carpet. Gunn did find a piece of molding that still had blood on it from the pantry. Wes tells everyone that they are at a dead end and he, Gunn, and Cordy look pretty dejected. Angel tells them that there’s only one thing they can do now. Cordy realizes what Angel has planned and her only response is, “Oh, God.” None of them want Angel to sing at Caritas but there doesn’t appear to be any other way to find Kramer and his family.

As they arrive at Caritas Cordy is advising Angel to sing something really short and Angel tells her he was thinking about singing “Stairway to Heaven.” Wes tells Angel to not joke about something like that. Unfortunately someone is already on stage singing and Gunn, Wes, and Cordy are pretty impressed with the singer’s skill. It’s Lindsey, and he’s good. The Host walks over to greet the gang and tells them that Lindsey used to come in to Caritas all the time before someone cut off his hand. While Gunn, Wes, Cordy, and everyone else in the bar marvel at Lindsey’s singing Angel is not impressed and is frankly surprised that the entire bar applauds when Lindsey is finished. The Host walks over to Lindsey and congratulates him but Lindsey wants to cut to the chase - what does The Host see? Cordelia interrupts and compliments Lindsey on his singing, as do Wes and Gunn. Lindsey asks The Host what Angel & Company are doing at Caritas. The Host tells Lindsey that his path and Angel’s have converged. The Host explains that Lindsey and Angel are working on the same case and it’s come together in a “buddy movie kinda way.” Gunn is a little incredulous and asks if Angel and Lindsey are really supposed to work together. Lindsey can’t believe that he’s supposed to work with the guy that cut off his hand to find out why his replacement hand wants to kill things (see AtS 1.22, “To Shanshu in L.A.”). The Host tells Lindsey that he just sees what he sees, it’s up to Lindsey what he does with the information. As Lindsey leaves Lindsey tells Angel that if he sees Angel outside the club Lindsey will kill him. The Host tells Angel that he hopes Angel can overcome his hatred of Lindsey because Lindsey is the one with all the clues. Angel has a brainstorm - the guy in Cordy’s vision just got a new eye and Lindsey just got a new hand. Wes suggests that they figure out where the transplants took place. Gunn thinks they should follow Lindsey but Angel thinks they might be better off following Lindsey’s new hand. Angel reaches over and picks up the glass that Lindsey was holding with his transplanted right hand. And there are some very clear fingerprints on that glass.

At Wolfram & Hart Lindsey goes into the office to search for clues to his ‘evil hand’ in Nathan Reed’s office. Lindsey logs on to Nathan’s computer and does a little digging. Lindsey takes a quick look at Lilah’s file before searching for the Fairfield Clinic, the place where the transplant took place.

At the Hyperion Angel returns with information about who the fingerprints belong to, a Bradley Scott who served time in prison for embezzlement and was paroled last month. Cordy looks Scott up for his life pre-prison. Wes and Gunn want to know how Angel got the information. Angel tries a song-and-dance but Wes and Gunn don’t buy it. Finally Angel confesses that he hired a private detective who has a friend on the police force. Wes and Gunn counter that they are supposed to be the private detectives with a friend on the police force, but Angel reminds them that their friend on the police force was fired (see AtS 2.15 “Reprise” and 2.16 “Epiphany”). Cordy has discovered that Scott worked at Wolfram & Hart.

Back at Wolfram & Hart Lindsey is leaving the building when he sees Lilah going through files in the file room. Lilah is selectively removing papers from the files and putting them in her handbag. Interestingly, Lilah keeps a very large gun in her bag.

Lindsey goes to a man’s apartment and knocks on the door. When the man answers the door Lindsey tells him that he just wants to talk. The man is a little suspicious and checks the hallway after Lindsey walks into his apartment. The man tells Lindsey it’s an occupational hazard, being a parole officer and all. Lindsey tells the man that the conversation is completely off the record, but Lindsey wants to know what the man can tell him about where Wolfram & Hart get their body parts. The man wants to know the code and Lindsey tells him he doesn’t know a code but is willing to pay for the information. The man smacks Lindsey across the room. The man threatens Lindsey with a gun and wants to know why Lindsey is there. Lindsey tries to explain but is interrupted by a window shattering. The man shoots at Angel, who’s thrown a rock through the window. The man grabs Lindsey around the neck and drags him to the window. As the man leans out the window Angel slips a noose around his neck and disarms him. Lindsey wants to know why Angel is there and Angel replies that he just saved Lindsey’s life. Lindsey is really pissed and wants to know why Angel isn’t trying to kill Lindsey right now. Angel tells the man that he’s going to loosen the noose and the man is going to spill everything that he knows about Scott. The man tells Angel that he’s not going to say anything because Wolfram & Hart can do a lot worse than kill him. Angel vamps and asks the man why Angel want to kill him when Angel can live off of him for a month or more. The man spills his guts: when Scott was paroled Wolfram & Hart arranged for Scott to be his parolee. The man took Scott to some address.

At the Hyperion Cordy is crying at her desk while Wes and Gunn sneak a peek through the office door. Gunn asks Wes if Cordy’s vision hangovers are lasting longer and longer with each new vision. Gunn thinks Cordy can’t rest mentally until the case is solved. Wes tells Gunn that the previous year a demon gave Cordy non-stop visions and they overwhelmed her. Cordy wound up in a hospital going out of her mind (see AtS 1.22, “To Shanshu in L.A.”). When Wes and Gunn hear Cordy talking to her self they both get a little concerned that Cordy might be going crazy again. Wes and Gunn burst through the office doors to find Cordy talking to Angel on the phone. Angel asks Cordy, Wes, and Gunn to wait at the office.

In the meantime Angel and Lindsey are driving across town. Angel relates to Lindsey what Cordy saw in her vision. Lindsey wants to know why Angel doesn’t fight with his enemies any more but Angel ignores the question and tells Lindsey that he’s young, has a good job, a new hand, but still isn’t happy. Angel and Lindsey arrive at a travel agency and Angel opens the trunk and asks the parole officer, who is bound and gagged in the trunk, if this is the place he took Bradley Scott. The parole office can only nod, so Angel grabs and axe and slams the trunk shut. Angel and Lindsey walk across the street and try to guess what kind of security Wolfram & Hart might have put in the building. Angel thinks the direct approach might work the best, so he throws his axe through a window and Angel and Lindsey take out the four goons guarding the place. Inside it looks like a travel agency, except for the trap door in the floor. Lindsey and Angel go downstairs to find a dozen or so humans, men and women, in large tanks being kept alive for spare parts. Many of the them are missing body parts. Angel sees a large symbol on the wall and tells Lindsey that the Pockla, a group of demon healers, blessed the room. The Pockla are capable of regenerating flesh but probably haven’t perfected the process on humans which is why some of the transplants aren’t healing properly. Lindsey turns and recognizes Bradley Scott, the man whose hand Lindsey has. Lindsey realizes that he and Scott started at Wolfram & Hart at about the same time. Scott summons enough energy to say “kill” and Lindsey asks who Scott wants killed. Scott replies “kill . . . me.” Lindsey asks Angel what he’s supposed to do but Angel tells him that it’s Lindsey’s call. Angel breaks the glass of the chambers with 2 living, whole people and helps them out of the chambers. In the meantime Lindsey turns off the life support for the remaining tanks. Angel sends Lindsey upstairs with the 2 surviving people, then opens gas tanks spilling gas into the basement room. Upstairs Angel lights some paper on fire and drops it down the stairwell, the runs out of the building. The fire ignites the gas and the building blows up.

The next morning Angel, Wes, Gunn and Cordy are talking in the hotel lobby and Angel asks Cordy if she has any after effects from her vision. Cordy admits that the visions are starting to ‘take their toll.’ Gunn, Wes and Angel look concerned and Cordy tries to convince them that the vision hangovers are part of the job.

Meanwhile Nathan Reed is holding a meeting at Wolfram & Hart with Lindsey and Lilah in attendance. Nathan is about to drop the bomb on Lilah and she reaches for her handbag, probably to get out the gun that she keeps in there, but Lindsey stops her. Lindsey tells Lilah that the partners chose him, and that Lilah didn’t have what it takes. . . an evil hand. Lindsey goes a little mental and takes a gun from the security guard before shooting the guard in the foot. Lindsey then shoots at glass behind Nathan’s head, blaming his evil hand the whole time. Lindsey tells Nathan that, if Lindsey had done the choosing, Lindsey would have picked Lilah. Lindsey tells everyone in the room that Lilah has files on everyone in the room, including Nathan. If anything bad were to happen to Lilah, the contents of those files might get to the Senior Partners and then who knows what would happen! Lindsey tells them that Lilah is the person that they should have in charge of Special Projects, especially since Lindsey has some “evil hand issues.” Then Lindsey tells Nathan that he’s quitting the firm. As Lindsey leaves the room he does take one second to grab Lilah’s ass with his ‘evil hand.’ Lilah watches Lindsey leave and is pretty shaken up by the whole scene.

That evening Lindsey is packing up his truck getting ready to leave town. Angel is there to tell Lindsey that things don’t always turn out the way we expect. Angel asks Lindsey what he’s going to do next. Lindsey tells Angel that Lindsey’s not willing to admit that he learned some kind of lesson because, frankly, it didn’t happen. Angel just wants to say good bye and not to return. Lindsey tells Angel that Angel can have the place. As Lindsey is getting into his truck he tells Angel that the key to Wolfram & Hart is to make •them• play •your• game, not the other way around. Angel thanks Lindsey for the advice and tells Lindsey not to drive too fast. Lindsey gets in his truck, starts the engine, and drives off at top speed. As the truck pulls away Angel can see the sign he put on the tailgate. . . “Cops Suck.”

Summary by Kirsten.