Airdate: November 17th, 2002

Special Guest Star: Andy Hallett

Guest Starring: Stephanie Romanov
Daniel Dae Kim
Vladimir Kulich

Written by: Steven S. DeKnight
Directed by: Vern Gillium


Teaser

Angel and Lorne are arguing in the lobby, Angel doesn’t want to assault Cordy with a million questions so soon after she’s regained her memory; Lorne wants to know if she remembers anything about what Wolfram & Hart sucked out of his head. Angel wants to wait a few days, when she’s more herself. Gunn and Fred can’t sound off on either side, they have to leave for a case: a woman hearing spookies in her pipes. Gunn does take his favourite axe just in case. Angel uses that as an argument: if that’s the worse they have to worry about in terms of cases, then they can afford to wait.

At Connor’s factory place, Cordy’s watching an old movie, while he bought her some snacks. She assures Connor she won’t revert into amnesia/action Cordy, he tells her she wasn’t that bad. Cordy jokes that she was a real hoot with all the panicking, screaming and running around like a nut, and thanks him for everything he’s done. She hasn’t slept since she regained her memories; every time she closes her eyes she sees something, deep down, clawing its way up. Connor tells her it’s a dream, but she insists she can taste the blood of all it’s going to kill and no one will be safe. It’s coming and no one can stop it, she wants to warn Angel but the words won’t come out, she wonders why she can’t tell him. She can feel it, the thing, in her dreams: it’s almost here. A different voice answers her “I know.” It’s a huge rock demon, with horns; it grabs her. Cordy wakes up from the dream, gasping. Connor comes rushing, she cries on his chest.

ACT I

Lorne is on another call, snakes, but of the garden variety. Angel wonders if they’re still demonic, slow day at the office.

At the weird sounds house, the owner is telling Gunn and Fred that the sounds are horrible, they can’t sleep at night, but it’s only been a week. Fred says it should be easier to convince the spectre, if it is a spectre, to leave. The owner leaves them to it and they enter the spacious and expensive bathroom. It’s the kind of place Gunn imagines them moving into one day. Fred is less than thrilled at the prospect; he goes on that it doesn’t mean right away, just one day. They hear a groan in the pipes, coming from everywhere. The mirror breaks and rats are in the medicine cabinet. The rats are everywhere, coming out of the sink and toilet, the fixtures. Fred and Gunn scream and run, and have to force the door open. The owner looks at them, Fred tells her to call an exterminator.

Wes comes home after having fought a swarm of bugs only to find Lilah there, dressed like a schoolgirl with glasses and pigtails. Wes asks her why she’s dressed like that, but isn’t that what he likes, a girl with big brains and a tight little body? After she finishes her little southern girl playacting, she asks him if it turned him on, watching Fred up there in front of all those brainiacs. He says her theories deserve attention, but Lilah could see that he was giving more than just the theories attention. But she doesn’t care about his crush; because she knows whose bed he’ll be crawling into. After a long kiss he ask if she thinks she knows him, she says “more than she ever will.” They make out; Wes has Lilah keep the glasses on.

Gunn and Fred, returning to the hotel, need a bath after that rat fest, but she wants to take hers alone. He tries to understand, she doesn’t want to do this, which confuses Gunn more. They need a meaningful conversation; it’s what happens between two people who love each other. He asks her what she wants from him, she just says "nothing", and Gunn takes that the wrong way. They sleep on opposite sides of the bed, they haven’t even touched each other, she finishes that thought for him, since they murdered professor Sydell. He says he did that, he couldn’t let her do it, it’s not who she is, it’s not her. She asks if it’s in him, he answers that it is now, she runs off.

More calls keep coming in at A.I., Lorne wonders if they couldn’t get some help, from Cordelia. Connor comes in, Angel reassures him that the spell wore off and thanks him for not letting him hurt Cordy. Connor bets she would have staked him, she tough. He says proudly that Cordy’s staying with him, Angel says that’s good, she needs a place where she can feel safe, and in a couple of days everything will be back to normal. Connor says he should talk to her. Angel says it’s not a good time after everything she’s been through. Connor pleads with him, and Angel can see the seriousness in his eyes.

At Connor’s, Cordy is mad at the boy wonder, but Angel tells her they’re all worried about her. She is glad to see him; he makes her feel like nothing’s spiralling apart. He asks her if she’s all right, after the way she left the hotel. She says she does love him and always will, but when she got her memories back, everything came rushing in. she wanted to tell him but it was too much, what she remembered as a higher being, she saw his past as Angelus. He’s never tried to hide who he was, but she lived it too as a higher being, seen him enjoy it. She loves him, but can’t be with him, it’s too soon. Then she starts convulsing, her eyes turning white: it’s a vision. We see something clawing it’s way up. She tells Angel it’s coming, it’s coming now.

ACT II

Cordy is now in bed, this vision wasn’t a normal one, a Niagara compared to lawn sprinkler. Connor thinks she should rest, but she insists it’s okay and takes his hand. What she saw was something big, powerful, clawing its way up from the bowels of the Earth to slaughter them all. But she doesn’t know where it’s coming, and it won’t stop, not until they’re all dead. She thinks she knew more as a higher being, Angel thinks it’s time to get Lorne to read her.

A.I. is swamped with calls of demonic activity, and no Fred around. Lorne asks Gunn if he and Fred are okay, Gunn doesn’t know, she might speak more to Lorne. Lorne tells him she loves him, but finding out she was sent on purpose to Pylea by someone she trusted is something she has to deal with. Gunn says uncertainly that Sydell got what he deserved, when something hits the door. Gunn opens it: it’s a sparrow. But suddenly it’s The Birdz outside, and Gunn closes the door as dozens more hit the hotel, some splattering. Not the inspiring harbinger they’re looking for.

There’s apprehension at Wolfram & Hart as Lilah is pissed, someone is trying to muscle in on their apocalypse. She finds Angel waiting in her office: obviously the Vampire Detectors leave to be desired these days. She tells him he’ s not getting anything out of her this time, Angel didn’t think so but Gavin however was more accommodating. She sees Gavin, bound and gagged on her couch; Angel didn’t even get the chance to torture him, as he wouldn’t stop talking. Angel tells her what he got from Gavin: W&H is trying to decipher what they took out of Lorne’s head, they hundred of psychics working on it, but each time they peel back a layer, their brains explode. Now he wants to know what she has on this coming thing, but she says that info is still protected in there, they can’t get to it. Angel can smell that she’s afraid of what’s coming and maybe they help each other. He sees now that that thing caught them by surprise too, he makes her see that it’s a win-win for her if she helps him out: he takes this thing out, W&H is grateful to her for making sure their plans can go on. And if he fails, well the only way that happens is if this thing kills him, so she still wins. It’s up to her to play it smart.

Cordy is pacing restlessly in Connor’s apartment, and gets ready to go out when he sneaks up on her. She’s got a stronger feeling of where it might be coming; she was going there alone. Connor reminds her she’s not a higher being anymore. She knows she’s not, she wanted to come home, to be human again, but doesn’t remember how. Is she on vacation or was she kicked out? She has to find out if she was sent to stop it, Connor won’t let her go alone, she finally agrees to let him come.

Cordy and Connor are walking the alleys, she doesn’t really know where she’s going, but she feels she has a purpose now. She finds the place familiar and realizes that this is where Connor was born. All of a sudden the big horned rock demon (The Beast) bursts out from under the pavement.

ACT III

Connor attacks the Beast with his sword; the Beast deflects the blows with his arm and throws Connor away. The Beast picks Cordelia up by the throat and Connor attacks again. The Beast drops Cordy and again throws Connor aside. Cordy scrambles away as the Beast moves it cloven feet closer to her. Connor, beaten and bloody, screams at it to stay away from her. It chuckles and leaps away. Cordy moves to help Connor.

Gunn is on the phone trying to find Fred while Lorne keeps fielding manifestation calls. Gunn decides to drive around to see if he can’t find her and Lorne joins him but Wes comes in. Gunn tells him Fred’s not her, but then Wes didn’t ask about her but does wonder now where she is; Gunn tells him it’s none of his business. Lorne tells them to save it for after the Chuck Heston plague-a-thon, Wes too has noticed the rise in paranormal activity. He suggests pooling their data, Gunn tells him off, he’s going to look for Fred. Angel stops him: if they don’t stop this thing it won’t matter where any of them are. They’re looking now over at the hard copy files that Lilah handed over to Angel. He doesn’t quite trust her on this but she’s got an interest in stopping this apocalypse before it ruins theirs. The plan is: figure out what the info means, then stop what’s coming by whatever means necessary. As the calls keep coming in, Angel has Lorne map out the location of those calls, see if they’re concentrated in any one area. Whatever Cordy saw, whatever’s happening, the answer is in those pages. Some time has passed at A.I. but they’re no closer to the answer. Pieces of glyphs and archaic languages jumbled together. Random words like: heat, fallen, shrine, flesh. Gunn thinks they ought to take a step back, but Angel says what’s coming is coming now. Then Gunn puts two of the sheets together: they match. They keep going until all the sheets are in place and the pattern emerges: a square with an X. It’s the Eye of Fire: Ancient alchemical symbol for fire and destruction. Lorne has also finished plotting the locations: the phenomena on the map produce a square.

Fred, at a diner, is being cut off from her tenth cup of coffee. The waitress asks her to call him (Gunn), he must be worried sick. She says she wouldn’t know what to say, the waitress sees the way he looks at her, he’d do anything for her. She knows, the waitress tells her to cheer up, whatever’s going on can’t be that bad, as long as she has love. Then the ground starts to shake, a small earthquake.

At Connor’s, Cordy is patching him up. He wants to stop it, but Cordy isn’t letting him go anywhere. He admits he’s never been this badly beaten before, not even in Quor’Toht. Cordy says he got hurt because of her, because she thought she had a grander purpose, that she could make a difference. He says that if it tries to hurt her again, they’ll find a way to kill it.

Angel draws a precise X in the square, the centre is the focal point of the disturbances. Another small earthquake rattles the hotel. Gunn knows the area, the old Kimble Building has a club on the rooftop: The Sky Temple. Lorne’s heard of it, a hangout for models, actors, Wes makes the leap that it’s the shrine of the flesh. Angels goes into action, the plan now is simple: if it’s alive they kill it, if it’s not, they bury it. He throws Wes a crossbow, he’s in.

Angel, Wes, Gunn and Lorne arrive downtown, to the rooftop club. The Beast is there, massive and imposing, it’s killed everybody and arranged them in a square. And he’s holding a body.

ACT IV

The Beast drops the body with the rest, they all go at it, Angel attacking with a sword, the rest covering him. The Beast easily withstands the blows and knocks out Angel. Gunn throws at it his hubcap axe, the Beast grabs it, crushes it, and throws it back at him. Angel comes back at it with hatchets, hits it again and again, the Beast pushes him off. Gunn and Lorne fire their crossbows at it, the Beast deflects with his arm, and both arrows hit Angel. They reload, the Beast throws Angel on them, pinning them down. Gunn lunges at it with the sword, he gets a few blows before the Beast pushes him away. Wes gets out two pistols and fires, the Beast is more curious, Wes empties the clips. The Beast isn’t fazed, Wes digs out the shotgun and fires in successive shots. This chips off some bits off the Beast but Wes gets too close and he gets thrown aside by the Beast. Angel comes back at him, taking out the arrows: they’re just getting started. He comes back with a vengeance and fights it hand-to-hand, the Beast pushes him off, Angel regains his balance and vamps out. He keeps fighting it ferociously, gets it down to its knees and gets tries to stab one of the Beast’s eyes with his retract-a-stake. The Beast holds it off several inches away, breaks it, and stabs Angel’s neck with it. Angel reverts, in great pain and bleeding profusely. The Beast teases him “Do you really think she’s safe, with him?” then tosses him from the side of the building. It goes to the middle of the square of bodies, punches down, and the bodies ignite in the Eye of Fire pattern. The blast knocks everyone off their feet. The Beast ascends in the pillar of fire, the others cautiously make their way out. Angel, on the ground, removes the stake from his neck, alive but wounded.

From Connor’s place the pillar of fire reaches to the sky and turns into a rain of fire. Cordy and Connor don’t know what’s happening, Connor blames himself since this must be the Beast’s doing. He wonders if it’s here because of him: it chose the place where he was born to come through the earth. She knows it’s not him, and caresses him. They kiss. After that, he asks why, she says she doesn’t think it matters and he’s never had anything real: childhood, family, friends. If it’s the end, she wants him to have something that is real.

From all around, the crew and even Lilah watch the rain of fire, except Angel. He’s on a rooftop and watching Connor and Cordelia making love.


Summary by Dannyboy