"Inside Out"
Written & Directed by: Steven S. DeKnight
Angel confronts Cordelia about her actions and she laughs at how long it took them to figure it out. He doesn't think she's really Cordy, but before he can forcefully find out where the real Cordelia is, Connor dropped through the glass roof to help Cordy. Angel ends up shot by a tranquilizer dart and Connor knocks the others out, allowing him to escape with Cordelia. Gunn returns to the hotel and is stunned to find out the latest news about Cordelia. The gang brainstorm and figure out what happened. They figure that ever since Cordelia found her memory again, the beast master's been wreaking havoc in Cordelia's form and going unnoticed. Everything from the murder of Manny and the Svear priestesses to Angel's false re-ensouling and Lilah's death was all at her hands.
Connor leads Cordy into an empty building where they can stay and she convinces him that the others are all out to hurt her and her baby. Connor vows to protect her and their baby at any cost. After a night of no luck of finding Cordelia or Connor, Angel returns to the hotel and talks with Wesley. They discuss Lilah's death and who they should talk to for answers. The Powers that Be are ruled out, but Angel has someone else in mind who can help them. Cordelia continues to break down Connor's trust of Angel and despite his doubt that the others are the enemy as well, Cordy doesn't let him think too much about it and reminds him of their "special" status.
Angel goes to Skip for answers about Cordelia and at first, Skip seems to be completely clueless about Cordelia's return and why the PTB wouldn't have warned them. As they talk, Angel suspects Skip is part of a conspicuous act to keep them in the dark and protect whatever it is that Cordelia's doing. Confirming his suspicions, a blade rises from Skip's arm and the two start to fight. Cordelia continues to motivate Connor to comply with her with her lies and reminders of their baby. Worried, Cordelia suggests they do something to speed up her pregnancy and bring the baby to life immediately. Angel finds himself at a serious disadvantage with Skip's attitude change and strength but finally, Angel gets the upper hand and removes Lorne's blade extension and one of his horns in the process.
Angel returns to his dimension with Skip and suggests they bind him to their dimension before he wakes. Connor rescues a young girl from a vampire attack, but then knocks her out and brings her unconscious form to Cordelia. Cordy again convinces Connor that the girl's death will help their greater purpose and he has to trust her, not his own heart. After Skip wakes up, trapped by a magical circle, Fred and Angel convince him to talk by threatening to expose him to the Sphere of the Infinite Agonies. Skip tells them that the Cordelia they're dealing with is the real Cordelia, she's just not in control of her own body. Cordelia didn't ascend to a higher plain because she was a good deserving soul, it was because she was a part of the plan all along.
Meanwhile, Cordelia begins chanting for a ritual while Connor brings water to their frightened captive, Anna. A voice reaches out to Connor and then a vision of Darla appears before him. Darla claims to be sent by the Powers and after explaining what kind of person she was and why she wasn't a part of his life, she tries to convince him that killing an innocent is the wrong choice. Skip explains that and lets them all know that all the big events in their lives are connected and designed for a much bigger purpose. He goes on to explain that Connor was born for the very purpose of bringing this baby into the world and that whatever is inside Cordelia is just using Cordy as a vessel for it's creation and she probably won't survive it. He accidentally tells them a ritual to find Cordelia and begins to panic as the gang move into action to prepare for stopping the birth before it happens.
Connor expresses his fears to the vision of Darla about the other's wanting him and Cordy dead, and she continues to make an effort to talk him out of doing the wrong thing. Gunn tries to reassure Fred that even though it appears their future is out of their hands, they always need to act as if the decisions are theirs because the may never know when the decision really is theirs. After Wesley and Lorne locate Cordelia in the meatpacking district of down, Angel arms himself and prepares to leave. He refuses to let any of the others go with him, unable to let them carry the burden of killing Cordelia.
Darla coaches Connor as he starts to free the young girl, but Cordelia catches him and realizes that someone--Darla--is talking to him, trying to turn him away from her. Connor finds himself in the middle as Darla and Cordelia fill his head with opposing suggestions until Connor can't take anymore and sides with Cordelia, grabbing the girl and dragging her into the other room. Cordelia quickly slashes the woman's throat with a butcher knife as Connor sees the woman as Darla and stares at the scene before him, reality hitting him. Then, lying on the ground, Cordelia has Connor coat his hand in the dead woman's blood and place it on her stomach. The bloody print is soaked into Cordy's skin, her labor begins and everything begins to shake around them and the city.
The circle around Skip is broken and he sets off an attack on the others, throwing them around and beating them all up badly. Angel arrives at the factory, intent upon destroying Cordelia before she can have the baby, but Connor stands in his way. Angel and Connor fight with each other while Cordelia struggles with labor. Wesley shoots at Skip, but bullets have no effect until Wesley spots the opportunity to shoot Skip in the side of the head where his horn once was. With one final shot, Wesley sends Skip falling to the ground. After tossing Connor aside, Angel raises his sword to kill Cordelia but a bright light sends him and Connor flying back. The being using Cordy's body rises in the form of a full-grown and nude woman. Angel raises his sword again to kill this being, but on sight of her, he drops to his knees with Connor, awestruck by her beauty.
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