Cheerful looks

Many changes were made to the scene in To Shanshu in L.A with Cordelia, Wesley and the donut, including cutting this exchange:

Wesley: “The end… death… what if the root was proto-Anatolian, say from the Hittite… if it’s Hittite, the root is really more like… close”
Cordy: “Clothes? As in Armani the Hittite?”
Wesley shoots her a look
Cordy: “I try to cheer people up and they give me that look!”

Carey Cannon

Carey Cannon played the female Oracle in I Will Remember You, Parting Gifts and To Shanshu in L.A. She also played Katya in The Secret, as well as numerous stage productions.

Randall Slavin

Randall Slavin played the male Oracle in I Will Remember You, Parting Gifts and To Shanshu in L.A. He has also been in Zoolander, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Sleepy Time Gal, Auggie Rose, Shakespeare in… and Out, The Practice, Beverly Hills, 90210, Cybill and Beethoven’s 2nd. Randall was Kevin Spacey’s assistant for Swimming with Sharks. Randall was a friend of Glenn Quinn, and they appeared in Roseanne at the time.

Todd Stashwick

Todd Stashwick, who played the M’Fashnik demon in Flooded, also played Vocah in the Angel episode ‘To Shanshu In LA’. He has been in Along Came Polly, The Rundown, Scream at the Sound of the Beep, Lucid Days In Hell, Whacked, CSI: Miami, Malcolm in the Middle, Dharma & Greg, Dark Angel, Will & Grace, Providence and Law & Order.

Vocah

Vocah was summoned by Wolfram & Hart to perform a ritual using the scroll of Aberjian to resurrect Darla, as well as ensuring that Angel’s ties with the Powers That be were destroyed. His maggot-ridden face was obscured by a bronzed mask, and he wore a long cape. Vocah killed the Oracles, made Cordelia go insane with constant images of suffering people, and ble up the offices of Angel Investigations - seriously injuring Wesley. Angel was told by the dead female Oracle’s soul what had happened and killed Vocah using his own scythe.

Cordy’s mission

In To Shanshu in L.A, Cordelia is disabled to near madness when she is shown continuous visions of suffering people by the demon Vocah. After she’s saved by Angel and Wesley, Cordy’s outlook on life completely changes, and her determination to help those she’s seen suffering begins in earnest.

Feeling the pain

In To Shansu In LA, Cordelia has multiple visions of people who are in pain. When Angel and Wesley rescue her, she says that she needs to help everyone. In Grave, Willow also feels everyones’ pain, through a powerful spell, but her reaction is not to help, but to destroy the world - essentially getting rid of all the pain and suffering.

Nabbit’s appearances

David Nabbit was supposed to become a recurring character in Angel, but this didn’t work out due to scheduling. He appears in War Zone, To Shanshu In L.A., and in the season two episode First Impressions.

Shanshu Prophecy

For reasons unknown, even to himself, Angel stole the Scrolls of Aberjian whilst in Wolfram & Hart and gave it to Wesley to translate. Wesley discovered in To Shanshu in L.A that the scrolls contained a prophecy about a vampire with a soul who would be restored to a human, after fulfilling his destiny.

The Shanshu prophecy tells that the vampires will play a major role in the Apocalypse. Wesley realises that “Shanshu” means both to live and to die - so the vampire will become human and, as all mortals, eventually die. The trials the vampire would have to endure are unclear, but they would clearly be hard and numerous. No indication of time was given to the prophecy, but it filled Angel with a new hope that he would be redeemed.

Wesley: “Ah, the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu. Become human. - It’s his reward.”
Cordy: “Wow. Angel a human.”
Angel: “That’ll be nice.”

This hope remained with Angel until the fifith season, when he began to doubt himself. Having taken over the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart, another vampire with a soul suddenly comes on the scene - his old nemesis, Spike. Spike had fought to regain his soul and had died saving the world, making Angel jealous on a basic level, and deeper, feeling the prophecy may in fact regard Spike. Spike was first told about the prophecy in Hellbound. Angel acted disinterested in the prophecy, but it was revealed that it would be the vampire who drinks from the Cup of Perpetual Torment that will become human. After a race to the cup, and a huge fight, Angel was defeated by Spike, who drank from the cup, only to discover that the story was a hoax.

Angel began to lose his way, but was finally put back on track by Cordelia, seemingly ressurected, who gave him a final vision, showing him the Circle of the Black Thorn, agents of the Senior Partners. Deciding to perform what would most likely be a suicide mission, Angel and his team assassinated each member of the Circle, thereby delaying the Apocalypse for an untold amount of time. In order to learn of the identities of the Circle members however, Angel had to infiltrate the group. To prove his loyalty, Angel was forced to sign his name, with his own blood, on the Shanshu Prophecy, thereby revoking his part in it.

Spike: “What do you think all this means for that Shanshu boogaboo? If we make it through this, does one of us get to be a real boy?”
Angel “Who are you kiddin’. We’re not gonna make it through.”

The Oracles

The Oracles were one of the channels through which the “Powers That Be” communicated with “lesser” beings. The Oracles were difficult to locate and expected gifts in exchange for answers. They enabled Angel to turn back time in I Will Remember You, in order for him to stay a vampire. Slain by the demon Vocah, the female Oracle spirit offered a final guidance for Angel towards his prophetic destiny - the Shanshu prophecy.

Dungeons and Dragons

Giles, Xander, Andrew and Amanda play the game Dungeons and Dragons to pass the time before going to battle in Chosen. The nerds were playing Dungeons and Dragons when they decided to take over Sunnydale, seen in a flashback in Flooded. Xander thought he found the “frost demon” from Smashed in a Dungeons and Dragon manual. In Showtime, Giles and Anya visit Beljoxa’s eye. This is a reference to Beljoxa - a dangerous Dungeons and Dragons creature which has many eyes.
In War Zone, David Nabbitt says, “”Are you familiar with Dungeons & Dragons?” and in To Shanshu in L.A., he says, “Tonight’s my turn to be Dungeon Master”, on his way to a Dungeons and Dragons game.

Pinocchio

In Once More, With Feeling, Spike says, “Strong. Someday, he’ll be a real boy”, when he notices the strength of one of Sweet’s henchmen. This is a reference to Italian author Carlo Collodi’s children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio which features an animated marionette whose dream is to become human. The story was made famous by Walt Disney’s film Pinocchio.

In To Shanshu in L.A, Wesley realises that the Shanshu prophecy means that Angel will become human after fulfilling his destiny. The gang have the following conversation:

Wesley: “Well, it’s saying that it won’t happen tomorrow or the next day. He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues, and some - uh, several, - not that many - fiends that will be unleashed.”
Angel: “So don’t break out the champagne just yet.”
Cordy: “Yeah, break out the champagne, Pinocchio. This is a big deal!”

In Hellbound, Spike says,”To making me a real boy again?” - an echo of the comment he made in the Buffy musical. It’s also a Pinoccio reference. In Soul Purpose, Freds says that Spike, “Deserves to become a real boy.”
In Smile Time, Lorne says of the injured puppet-Angel, “Medic! Doctor! Is there a Gepetto in the house?” Gepetto was Pinocchio’s wood-carver father.

Seen at 33.09 minutes:

Just before Angel kills Vocah he takes his mask off, but when Vocah falls down dead you can see the mask is still attached to his face.