Airdate: October 29, 2003

Guest Starring: Sarah Thompson
Mercedes McNab
Jonathan Woodward
Leland Crooke

Written By: Ben Edlund

Directed By: Bill Norton


Teaser

Wolfram & Hart. Lorne is schoomzing celebrities over the phone, getting them parts and furthering their careers. He comes to his favourite blonde, Harmony, in search of Angel. She tells him he’s on his way back from a mission but warns that he’s in a mood. Lorne’s nursed Angel from moods since he’s known him, but them sees Angel coming in, covered in Gunn and giving off a really bad vibe. Wes asks if the new stun grenade worked, he gives it to Wes: obviously it didn’t, he’ll have Fred look at it. Angel’s in no mood to talk to Lorne and shuts the door on him. Lorne gives some instructions to his assistant before going to his office and dropping the façade. He sits down in front of a vanity mirror, exhausted. He’s rubbing his temples when his reflection turns to him, concerned. Lorne’s ignoring his reflection, it tells him to slap a band-aid on and go back out there with a smile. He wants Lorne out there now and counts to nine. It tells him during the countdown that the show stops for no one, they’re counting on him. Lorne smashes the mirror, screaming at it to shut up. For a moment, the reflection matches his, before it begins to sing. Lorne looks disgusted before going back out there and singing that jolly tune himself.

ACT I

Angel’s apartment. Angel’s finishing a shower when Eve comes in: she had a key. He makes her give it to him. She noticed he took a long time in the shower, was he having some “gentleman’s time?” He does need release after all. He informs her that it’s just cleaning himself of demon gunk; she reminds him that they had a seven-thirty meeting. He grabs some clothes.

In the elevator, she asks him how’s it going. He doesn’t know, given that he has to question every move he makes, so as to not fall into the Senior Partner’s plans. At least he can still kill what goes bump in the night, which goes well whit her “needing release” comment earlier, he bottles everything up. Angel denies it, and the door opens to a gigantic skull. He punches it, but it’s just an employee carrying a huge Halloween decoration. The whole office pit is filled with decorations, for the Wolfram & Hart Halloween bash. Lorne comes down, he sent a bunch of memos to Angel about this, who seems to have forgotten about it. it’s the biggest bash of the year, that’s what the meeting with Eve was about. The snafu is that none of the right people, important people, are coming, meaning that the party will be a bust. Angel’s fine with that, he wasn’t crazy about the party to begin with. Lorne loses it: it’s not about good and evil, it’s about partying. He calms down, Angel may not be in the best of moods and suggests that they talk about it later. Angel, confused, agrees.

In the lab, Fred asks Wes if Angel was mad. Wes says he had the right to be, they sent him out with a defective weapon. Wes admits that techno-mystical hybrids are tricky, but Knox thinks it’s simple: it’s either the spell or the robot. But neither side thinks the fault is at their end. Lorne comes in and asks if they’re coming to the bash, but Wes and Fred didn’t even think about it. Lorne’s exasperated already, it’s so hard to have fun at W&H. Knox really thinks they should go and stats regaling them a story from the previous year, Lorne cuts him short. Both Fred and Wes want to work on the stun grenade and Lorne loses his temper again: isn’t there anyone else who can work on it? Knox steps forward, he can. Problem solved and he’ll see them in Angel’s office shortly.

Gunn’s office, Lorne comes in, he needs his “big gun” to turn Angel around on the party situation. Gunn’s confused, they do? Lorne says that Angel may be the boss but Gunn’s up and coming. It’s time for him to stake out his territory and keep it staked. Gunn’s a bit busy but he will get tot that. Lorne will see him in Angel’s office shortly then.

Angel’s office. The whole gang, including Spike and Eve, are assembled. Lorne comes in, late, stressing how important the party is. Gunn agrees: they have to show the big bads that they’re here to stay and if the party’s a dud, they lose face. And right now they need all the face they can get. Angel gets that, but everyone coming to the party is evil and they don’t know how many of them hold grudges against them or each other. Lorne tells him not to worry, after all, he used to run Caritas, where they catered to the good, bad and ugly, but they all played nicely while they were there. Eve adds that that’s the ethical tightrope they have to walk now, and he employees, evil or not, have worked hard. Halloween is like Christmas at W&H; it’s a moral booster and harmony, who’s brought Angel some blood, says moral stinks. According to her, they all think he sucks, and they’re sweating it, wondering if they’re the next ones to be fired or killed. And because he’s killed employees, clients, and potential clients, the RSVP list is only one-fifth the size of last year’s. They feel he’s throwing the part so he can slaughter them all. Angel relents, he won’t get in the way, but Lorne needs him to make it happen.

Company Limo. They’re going to see Archduke Sebassus, nobledemon from below who commands forty legions. He’s pure royal bloodline, and crown jewel of the underworld jet set. If he comes, they’ll all come flocking by and they’ll be in business. Angel sees that this means a lot to Lorne, personally. Lorne says he may not have superhuman strength or knowledge about quantum physics and the mystical studies, but he’s on Angel’s team. PR he can do. Angel says he did agree to this and Lorne tells him he won’t regret it, but to let him do most of the talking, Angel only has to sit down and smile.

Sebassus’s Manor. Sebassus, a horned, regal looking demon, is sitting high atop his throne. He’s kept tabs on Angel but preferred Angelus’s work. A slave pops open a cork from his arm and refills the archduke’s drink with his blood. Lorne says they were deeply saddened when Sebassus declined their invitation and pokes Angel to agree with him. Sebassus offers them a drink, Angel won’t take it but Lorne does, for courtesy’s sake. Sebassus will attend the bash, because of his long-standing acquaintance with Lorne. They show themselves out and Aroid, one of Sebassus’s personal guards, thinks it’s a trap. But Sebassus is in the mood for intrigue, they will be “appropriately dressed.” a wall pulls back to reveal a collection of swords and battleaxes.

ACT II

W&H. the party is on, if somewhat awkwardly. Lorne has employees mingling together. Fred and Wes are watching Lorne in awe. Lorne comes to them pleading that they have to liven up the party. Harmony’s the only one on the dance floor, but they’re wallflowers. The problem is that they’re sober, they should be drunk by now

Lorne enters Angel’s office, who’s reluctant to mingle. He’s busy anyway…watching hockey. Lorne snaps, he can’t work this ship of fools by himself. He holds his head and then reverts to his cheery self. Angel’s concerned.

Lorne’s showing Angel to all the important people and the dance floor is now full. Harmony wants Spike to dance with her, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Spike wonders what he’s doing there anyway and so does Angel. When Spike comments on how dead the party is Lorne tells him it wouldn’t kill him to be positive. Then the Archduke makes his appearance and people kneel to him. Lorne wants Angel to be nice to him. And he is, being very personal, falling over backward for him. Lorne takes him away before he overdoes it more. Nearby, Fred and Wes are drunk. Gunn tells Lorne that the party just might work out, he wished he had Lorne’s energy though. Lorne lets him in on a secret: he had his sleep removed. Gunn thinks that’s great.

Artohd is confident that Angel is setting up his trap, Sebassus is unconcerned, they won’t expect his team to be armed, and if they try anything, they’ll be slaughtered.

Eve’s impressed with the way Angel handled Sebassus, she didn’t think he had it in him. He says it was just an act, he thinks. She rubs it in that he was going for the cheap seats, but then so’s her dress. Lorne jokes about the sexual tension and tells them to get a room. A short time later, Eve and Angel are in his office, kissing passionately.

In the washroom, Artohd is occupying a stall when something bangs on the door. It rips it off and takes him off the seat and kills him.

ACT III

The party’s in full swing, everyone having a good time, especially Lorne. Sebassus is unmoving, and has one of his aids find Artohd. Fred and Wes are still drunk but they realize that they didn’t drink enough to be drunk. They find Gunn, who’s peeing all over the place. And when Spike comes in, all cheerful, they know something’s terribly wrong. They connect the dots: it’s Lorne’s doing. They bring him in to Angel’s office to find him grinding Eve behind a couch. Spike is happy for them. It’s obvious they’re under the spell, one that each time Lorne says something, it happens. Lorne says he didn’t do anything and Eve doesn’t understand, Lorne’s only an empath demon. Gunn recalls about Lorne having his sleep removed. Lorne says he had to do it, with all the handholding, schmoozing and hoaring, he couldn’t keep up. Angel, hiding his shame, orders Wes and Fred to find Lorne’s sleep and for Gunn to see if anyone else is under the spell, assuming he can stop peeing long enough. Angel and Eve stay in the office and resume their previous activity. Spike gives them a thumbs up.

Meanwhile, Sebassus has found the remains of Artohd, spread across the bathroom stall.

Drunkenly, Fred and Wes stumble in the enhancement room. Fred is having a wonderful time, they should do this more often. Wes suggests that they should be better friends and she agrees readily. She gives him a big hug, and says they can share stuff be confidants. She asks him what he thinks of Knox.

Sebassus storms in Angel’s office, weapons out. How dare he attack one of his own? His weapon can kill all of Angel’s friends and place him in a coma for a week. Angel says he didn’t kill him, but Sebassus doesn’t believe him and orders Angel to get dress: he has a public execution to attend.

Angel, Lorne and Eve are escorted to the now empty dance floor, a demon’s body lying on the snack table, murdered. Angel doesn’t know what’s going on but he’s not behind it.

Fred finds Lorne’s bottled sleep while Wes reads the catastrophic effects of long-term sleep deprivation in empaths. Lorne can now affect people’s destinies, instead of merely reading them. And if you sever an empathy from his subconscious long enough, it can manifest itself.

Lorne says it’s all his fault, he’s controlling people somehow. Sebassus points his weapon at Lorne when a bloated, muscled version of Lorne drops down from the balcony level.

ACT IV

Spike loves Mega-Lorne’s suit as he knocks over one of Sebassus’s people. The drink slave breaks his chain and run. Mega Lorne won’t listen to Lorne and knocks him over. Angel tells Sebassus to run as he’s punched by Mega-Lorne. Gunn is also unsuccessful. Mega-Lorne heads for Sebassus, but Angel runs to him and fights Mega Lorne again. Fred and Wes arrive, the former toting a gun-like weapon and fires it at Lorne. He’s been given his sleep back and promptly fall asleep, mega Lorne collapsing in a shower of blue dust and petals. Fred and Wes look uneasily at each other, obviously sober now.

Daytime. The party lobby is being cleaned up, people thinking that it was even better than the last time. Knox comes in, telling Fred he fixed the stun grenade, though he doesn’t know why he did it last night. Fred wished he was here last night, Knox asks her out for some coffee.

Wes and Angel have set Lorne on a couch in Angel’s office. Wes describes how it punched it way from Lorne’s body and was trying to act out physically what Lorne normally deals with. Eve’s about to leave but Angel thinks they should talk. She says it’s not the first time she’s had sex under mystical influence, she went to U.C. Santa Cruz after all. Wes leaves too when he sees Fred and Knox having coffee, as well as a good time. Gunn comes in, fresh from having explained the situation to Sebassus and they actually enjoyed bloodsport at their social functions. They’re okay. Angel says they’re not, they focused so much on the problems outside that they didn’t see the ones inside. They can never forget that W&H is trying to change them. Lorne rouses a bit, he’s sorry. Angel says it’s okay, Lorne mumbles that it’s hard being the host of the party. Angel tells him not to be. Lorne falls asleep again.


Summary by Dannyboy