Angel's Secrets

Episode Reviews   

"Dad," Monday, December 10, 2001

by Anne

Episode Summary

The gang returns to the hotel. Lorne arrives and announces that he’s their new houseguest. The others want to hold the baby, but Angel won’t let anyone near it. He wants to make sure the baby is safe. They list all of the known enemies that will be looking for the baby. Underground, Holtz tells Sahjhan that he wants warriors who will die for his cause, not paid mercenaries. Holtz kills the demons and asks Sahjhan to search the obituaries on the Internet. At the Hyperion, Cordy is also online researching their enemies; she finds three websites offering money for the baby. Lorne announces that the Furies have cast a spell over the hotel to protect them; he also mentions hearing a hum. Angel tells the others to do better in their search for information; he declares that no one will put their hands on the child. Holtz finds Justine, whose sister was murdered by vampires. He tells her he knows about her and that he wants to help. She tells him to stay away. At the hotel, Angel still won’t let the others hold the baby. Trying to reason with Angel, Cordy tells him that he can’t care for his son all by himself. Determined, he assures her that he’ll do whatever he has to for the baby. At night in a cemetery, Holtz finds Justine fighting a vampire. She does well, but Holtz has to stake the vamp to save her. Holtz offers to “shape and hone (her) into an instrument of vengeance,” and she hesitantly follows as he walks away. At the hotel, the demons are working to break the force field, and the separate groups of enemies fight over who gets to kill the A-team first. Angel decides to take the baby and flee, leaving the others behind. He goes, but thanks to the surveillance cameras, W&H has a team follow him. The other enemies notice his departure and most of them join the chase. A few demons get into the hotel, but they are barbecued by Wesley’s flame-thrower. Angel leads his pursuers to a mine shaft: he lets them have what appears to be the baby, but turns out to be a bomb. As the bomb explodes, Angel drives away. At W&H, Angel bursts in and slashes Linwood’s cheek; he vows that whatever happens to the baby will happen to Linwood. At the hospital, Wes, Cordy, and Fred are hearing the results of the baby’s checkup. Angel arrives in time to tell the nurse that the baby is named Connor.


Episode Review

After all this time, I still don’t like the “Angel’s a daddy” plot. I dislike it even more since he was making those extremely bizarre faces while trying to amuse the child. I found it appropriate that the baby kept crying. My sentiments exactly, kid!

I liked Linwood’s statement about Holtz: “He's a cog in the machine, and aren't we all.” That’s been the contention all along; there’s some inevitable confluence of events happening. Why, then, is Sahjhan suddenly impatient and whining for Holtz to “poof” Angel? Isn’t everything happening just as it’s supposed to?

I appreciated the way that Lorne-hears-a-hum business worked out. Forget running a bar, Lorne should get a job working with Angel Investigations; he would be invaluable.

I liked the chase scene where Angel leads his pursuers to the mine shaft, although I didn't believe for a moment that he was giving them the baby. I also enjoyed the scene where Angel charged into W&H and threatened Linwood. That seems like something the Angel from previous seasons would do.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

* The nurse at the hospital mistakenly congratulated Cordy then Fred on their healthy baby boy. Does either of them look even remotely like she just had a baby?
* The baby cut his cheek "during the rush to get out of the alley"? We saw Angel, Fred and the baby leave the alley – at a normal pace – and get in the car. Where did the cut happen?
* Holtz told Justine that her references to "modern popular culture" were lost on him, but how did he know that "wax on, wax off" refers to modern popular culture?


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