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| Episode 16, Season 1 Title: "The Ring" Written by: Howard Gordon Directed by: Nick Marck Original Air Date: 29 February 2000 Teaser: 
Angel Investigations. Cordelia is researching a demon database on the internet. Its name is Demons, Demons, Demons, and she is surprised to find the law firm Wolfram and Hart amongst the site listings. Cordelia sarcastically suggests to Wesley that there should be a demon-dating agency, which she titles Archfiend.org. Wesley prefers his traditional research, which causes the usual argumentative banter between the two. Angel, entering, asks if they need a counsellor. He tells them that there is a client in the office. His name is Darin MacNamara. He suffered a terrible beating, and he informs them, that his brother Jack is missing. He received a package this morning, which contained a severed finger. He tells Angel that the kidnappers are not humanƒ literally.
Act I: 
Darren is on the sofa in the office, showing Angel pictures of his brother. He tells them that Jack had a gambling problem, for which Darin regularly paid off debts owed. However, sick of the regularity of paying out, Darin had told his brother to go to hell this time. Angel gives him a notepad to jot down what he remembers, saying he will start with the bookie, Ernie Nellins.
Ernie is playing poker in the back room of Shots, the bar he works from. When Angel walks in and tosses down the photo of Jack, Ernie pulls a gun. Angel quickly subdues him, telling Ernie that he is looking for Jack. They go out into the back alley where Angel offers a bribe. Ernie reluctantly tells Angel of a place in Beachwood Canyonƒ under it actually. Angel leaves and upon arrival at the canyon, enters a wide drainage pipe, using a flashlight to guide him. Back at the office, Cordy is inputting DarinÍs description into the computer. Wesley is still trying to argue that book research is just as fast, when Cordy cuts him off saying she found a match. The description fits a Howler Demon. Angel is searching inside the tunnel, when two Howler demons attack him. When he beats them up, they tell him that Jack was sold. Following the lead Angel goes to a private warehouse in an industrial area, which is teeming with life tonight. Hordes of well-dressed couples are entering the building. Sneaking through a window Angel enters. Browsing through a bar area, he catches a $5000 marker with the name Cribb on it, before it slips to the floor. Handing it back to the pretty woman who dropped it, she thanks him. Angel continues through the building until he comes to a balcony. It overlooks an arena where two demons are fighting to the death, cheered on by the well-dressed onlookers. He spots Jack in the crowd, and follows him through a curtain. Quickly confronted by Jack and his guards, Angel realises it is a set-up. He tries to fight, but is subdued by electric prods, which stun him. Jack comments that Angel will be a crowd pleaser as he has ïattitudeÍ. Act II: 
When Angel recovers, he is in a cell with a demon, with whom he tries to communicate. Unsuccessful, even though he has tried several languages, he gives up.
Jack enters and explains to the new prisoners what the rules are. They all have metal wrist cuffs, which will prevent them from crossing the red lines on the floor, and in the ring. Jack tells them the only way to remove the cuff is by dying, or winning twenty-one fights. Angel informs Jack that he is not killing anyone.
Back at the office, Cordelia and Wesley are starting to worry, since Angel has not checked in. Contacting Kate has not helped, and they cannot reach Darin, which is strange, as he should be waiting for news. Wesley decides to retrace AngelÍs steps, beginning with Shots, the sports bar. In the underground cells of the club, the demons are eating breakfast. Cribb, the local bully demon, steals food from Mellish, one of the weaker demons. Angel steps in and he argues with Cribb, which embarrasses Mellish, who does not want to appear weak. Later Angel is talking to Mellish, when Jack and his men return. One of the demons, discovering he has to fight, runs across the line. This incinerates him instantly, leaving Jack short one warrior. He chooses Angel as a replacement. At Shots, Ernie and his goons are in the middle of beating a man up. Wesley walks in and asks Ernie for information. When he does not provide it, Wesley pins his hand to a wall with a mini-crossbow bolt, catches ErnieÍs gun, and demands answers. In the balcony of the arena we discover the woman, who Angel met in the bar, talking to Darin. She tells him she heard a rumour that Angel has a soul. She then places even money on Angel. Underneath, in the cells, Angel is still vowing he will not kill. Mellish is trying to give him advice for the fight, but Angel will not listen. They leave for the ring, and when the fight begins, Angel is in defense mode. Outside the club, Cordy and Wes look for a way in. Cordelia has an idea and approaches one of the couples. She pretends to be a detective, on a raid with her partner. The grateful couple hand over their tickets and leave, while Cordy and Wes enter the club. The fight in the ring continues, with the crowd starting to show their displeasure. Cordy and Wesley enter the balcony and spot their missing client. They then notice Angel in the ring. Wesley explains the fight rules to Cordelia, telling her that Octavian matches have existed for centuries, and of the wrist cuffs that control the combatants. Cordy sees Darin set one of the cuffs onto the rail over the arena, before he tells the sentries to throw knives into the ring. Angel, under attack, has no choice but to kill his opponent. He leaves the ring slowly to chants from the crowd. Act III: 
The next fight is between Cribb and Mellish. As they pass Angel in the tunnel he asks Cribb not to go for the kill, if they all band together they can escape. Cribb replies that he will kill Mellish quickly.
Cordelia and Wesley meanwhile, have left the club. They need to decide on their course of action. Wesley muses that ancient sorcerers made the cuffs, to which Cordelia suggests that he ïget the ancient key.Í Wesley explains it would be easier if they had a cuff to work on, and is impressed when Cordelia reveals the one stolen from the balcony. Back in the cells, Jack is taunting Angel for his lack of participation in the fight. When he states that the outcome was the same regardless, Angel grabs him through the barrier, dragging him to the prisonerÍs side. Holding Jack hostage, Angel demands that a guard gets Darin. When he arrives, Angel tells him to free all the hostages. Darin simply shoots his brother, nullifying the threat. The shots pass through Jack and into Angel. When the sentries pass over the line, and hit him with the cattle prods, the pain is too much, and he passes out. When he comes to, he is in an office, with Lilah Morgan, the woman whose betting slip he had recovered. She tells him that his cuff is gone and he is free to go, as long as he forgets about everything he saw. Angel refuses the deal, and must go back to the cells. In AngelÍs apartment, Wesley is attempting to open the cuff, using a cross between magic and technology, assuming a current will open it. However, his estimation of the current is too high, and he is knocked off his chair by the blast. Angel returns to the cells, to the amazement of the other demons. Darin announces AngelÍs battle with Trepkos, a demon at his twenty-first battle. If he wins the fight with Angel, he is free. Act IV: 
Wesley, hiding behind the table, attempts another voltage, but it is too low. Finally, Cordelia offers him horsehair from her bracelet. It is a souvenir from her palomino horse, Keanu, who the taxmen took away. It works, and the cuff springs open.
Inside the club, it is warming up to the big event, Angel vs. Trepkos. Lilah is at the betting window placing $10,000 on Trepkos. As an announcement for the contenders goes up, Angel attempts to reason with Trepkos. The other demon is having none of it, telling Angel that he will ïkill him quickly.Í Angel tells Trepkos that he will not let that happen, and the fight begins. Angel remains on the defence. Cordelia is roaming the corridors under the arena. When a guard discovers her, she distracts him so that Wesley can reach the cells. Wesley calls Cribb over to ask about Angel, informing the demon that he has a key to the cuffs. Cribb extends his long tongue and steals the key, using it to open his cuff. The fight in the ring continues, with Darin adding pikes to the ring. This forces Angel to defend himself and the crowd cheers loudly. Wesley notices Darin on the balcony, and heads towards him. 
In the ring, Trepkos gets the better of Angel and runs him through with the pike. Angel breaks it off and is able to counterattack, ending up with the point at TrepkosÍ throat. He waits for a second, and then throws the pike away, leaving the crowd booing him. Trepkos gets up, and punches Angel until he falls against the wall. Angel will still not defend him-self, and with the winning blow at hand, Trepkos looks at Angel and pauses. Angel drops to the floor, exhausted and the crowd stops cheering. Darin, in a rage, sends his men in to kill both of them, just as Wesley appears, and points a gun at DarinÍs head. Suddenly the arena doors burst open, and all the prisoners rush out, cuff free. A riot breaks out and Lilah escapes as Darin attempts to shoot Wesley. Cordelia pushes Darin over the railing into the ring. Cribb places a cuff on him, before Trepkos throws him over the red line, incinerating him. Trepkos and Cribb pick Angel up, slowly walking out with him.
Outside Cordelia and Wesley support a much weakened Angel, who comments that they did ïa good thing here today.Í It belatedly occurs to them that they have set a bunch of demons loose on the city!
Summary by CoA Council member, Bookall
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