The team have come together like a well oiled machine since the last time we saw them, complete with pagers and a whiteboard. As their last place of business is slightly chary now, they have moved into Cordelia's apartment on a temporary basis.

And if Angel and the gang can be all efficient, Wolfram and Hart will be equally if not more so. Lindsey is sporting a nice new plastic hand and a flatmate in the shape of Darla. Although, bringing Darla back from the dead seems to have left her slightly mad.

When Cordelia gets her first vision of the season, Angel marks it off on the whiteboard has another soul to save on the route to redemption. A trip to the Karaoke bar, Caritas (which is apparently Latin for mercy) leads him to Merl, a demon with no tongue, and to the fierce Preomotu warrior demon Cordelia saw in her vision. Unfortunately, The Powers That Be don't give much away in the visions and it's only after Angel kills the demon that he finds out that it was actually protecting the pregnant woman he thinks he has just saved. Wipe that chalkmark off the board then.

Racked with even more guilt than usual, Angel believes he has to take the Preomotu's mission and find out what he was protecting the girl from.

Taking Gunn with him Angel finds the demon's lair and also a coat of arms which he entrusts to Gunn. The pregnant woman turns up and Angel tries to persuade her that he is here to help. Kind of difficult when you've just killed the only person she thinks can help her. He finds out that certain dark forces believe that the woman's unborn daughter is gifted and want her for themselves. A medieval tribunal is to be held and the demon was her champion. She is not convinced that Angel can help and scoots off at the first opportunity.

Meanwhile Wesley discovers more about the tribunal or Chair of Judgement which is an ancient court to settle differences, which are, typically, settled by a fight to the death.

So it's off to Caritas for some more Karaoke. It seems that now he has discovered it Angel can't keep away and even gives us a tune. Caritas, it seems, is a safe haven for demons, they cannot be harmed there, even by Angel. The Host has psychic abilities and, if you sing, can give you a few cryptic hints to the future.

Now apparently, the citizens of LA have the same ability to ignore anything unusual as the people of Sunnydale, so when a large chair of judgement appears from nowhere in the middle of the road, no-one seems to notice. Angel of course arrives in the nick of time, has a quick joust, wins the day and saves the girl.

Realising that he has been getting a bit cocky after the revelation that he might one day achieve his redemption, Angel ditches the whiteboard, from now on its one soul at a time and no keeping tabs. He starts with a visit to Faith in jail.

It's my favourite Angel time, flashback time. This time we are off back to 1952 when Angel just happened to be living in the Hyperion Hotel, which appears to be a place you go when you want to get lost. And he's wearing that nice tight white T-shirt.

1952 Angel returns to his room after purchasing a nice bottle of blood to find a girl there masquerading as the maid. He soon spots the obvious flaw in her story, no trolley outside, the room hasn't been cleaned and she's the wrong colour. Although his people skills leave much to be desired, he does help her dispose of an unwanted private eye.

Back in the now, Wesley and Cordelia's investigations find a legion of unsolved murders over the years and a nice photo of Angel.

Meanwhile in 1952 the man in the next room to Angel has a conversation with himself before shooting said self, Angel bats not an eyelid. Rumours of murder soon become rife around the hotel and everybody is accusing everybody else.

Judy, the girl with the private eye, invites Angel into her room and confides her secret to him. He must just have one of those faces. Despite himself, Angel decides to help her. But there's something else, there's something in the hotel that's whispering to people. It's a Thesulac, a paranoia demon.

In Cordelia's apartment the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together, while in the hotel Angel realises that the demon is still at the hotel.

It's '52 again and as the paranoia demon works it's mojo on the rest of the guests, Angel sets about finding out how to kill it. Paranoia is rife at the Hyperion and when private eye turns up again the finger is pointed at Judy. Scared and desperate she in turn points the finger at Angel. The angry mob soon turns into a lynching mob and Angel is the victim. Waiting until they have all left the room, Angel releases himself and, disillusioned and betrayed by the first person he has he has tried to help, he leaves them all to the demon. Presumably to wander the streets as the stink guy for 50 years or so.

The team arrive at the hotel to find Angel prepared to raise the demon and kill it. This time he goes through with it and finds Judy very aged but still alive in her room. There's a touching reunion, then she dies and Angel announces they are moving in.

Gunn needs the team's help in tracking and killing, Devac, a demon that's been preying on his neighbourhood. After a fight with some vamps that takes way too much out of Angel than it should, Cordelia has a vision of Gunn in trouble. Unable to reach Angel (dreaming again) or Wesley she goes (in Angel's car no less) to help Gunn by herself. Rushing in to save him, she manages to cause an injury to one of Gunn's crew under the mistaken impression that she is saving him and lose Angel's car in the process. Realising her mistake she decides that she must stick to Gunn until the real danger turns up.

While Gunn and Cordy begin the search for Angel's car, Wesley (putting his own life in danger) manages to wake Angel and they begin the search for Gunn and Cordy on Wesley's bike.

The hunt leads all four to a party which is promptly stormed by vampires. All four finally find the car and Devac with it, who is also promptly seen to by Angel and his big axe. The fight over Angel can go back to his new favourite pastime of dreaming, where Darla awaits him.

So Cordy gets another one of her helpful visions. A girl runs, scared from two men, they corner her and then she pins them to the wall with a dumpster, but without actually touching the dumpster. Angel gets there a little late, talks his way through the police cordons and finds her hiding in a an old warehouse. (LA must be full of old warehouses). He tried to talk to her, but gets staked for his troubles.

The girl, Bethany, is from out of town and staying with her new found friend, Lilah Morgan. Having slipped Bethany a little of the dream giving potion that Darla is administering to Angel, Lilah sneaks into Bethany's room to find her dreaming of her father's abuse of her as a child. Waking with a start, Bethany's troubled mind throws a lamp at Lilah and she runs to Angel.

Meanwhile back at the Hyperion Hotel, Wesley has figured out everything there is to know about Telekinesis, the power of moving things with your mind. And Bethany has a big case of uncontrollable Telekinesis.

While Wolfram and Hart try to find Bethany, Angel tries to teach her to control her powers. Wolfram and Hart pull the trigger and send her father to her with rather disastrous conclusions for both her father and Angel's windows. But Angel has one over on Wolfram and Hart again, or so he thinks.

Cordelia's vision shows a bunch of demons who are having their own religious war in an old nunnery. The gang find the nunnery, the demons and their god and soon put paid to their games. Angel, however, appears to have a few frustrations he needs to work out. Well a nice stroll along the prom at night should calm him down, and it does until he spots Darla. Not that the team believe him, of course, they all know that Angel staked his sire years ago.

Wolfram and Hart seem to have come up with a half decent plan. Realising that they can't defeat Angel they have decided to try and get him on their side and Darla is the key to their plan. To this end, they ensure that a case takes Angel to a hotel where Darla is having lunch with a pretend husband. Spotting Darla he confronts her who, following the plan, pretends not to know him and promptly runs out into the sunlight to Angel's astonishment. The team are now convinced that Angel has truly lost it.

Angel has walked right into Wolfram and Hart's little trap. The team reluctantly obtain an address for the person that Darla is pretending to be and, as night falls, Angel appears at the house to find Darla and her 'husband' having dinner. Screams from the house send Angel rushing in to find the 'husband' dead and Darla on the phone to the police.

Kate arrives as it all falls into place for Angel. Hiding in a tree, Angel kidnaps Darla as soon as Kate's back is turned and takes her to the old nunnery (he has a thing for nunneries).

The home truths come thick and fast as the couple reminisce about their 150 year past. Despite Wolfram and Harts beliefs to the contrary Darla still loves Angel and wants him back, but Angel, obsessed as he appears to be, confesses that he has never loved Darla.

While Angel is away a man with a gun turns up at headquarters looking for Angel. When he sees Cordelia being threatened, something inside Wesley tells him that he can masquerade as Angel so long as he wears a long black coat. Wesley goes with gun man to the house of a businessman/magician named Magnus Bryce who is seeking protection for his daughter, Virginia. Mr Bryce is not one to take no for an answer (especially when 'Angel' has just drunk some of his best blood.

Meanwhile the swami is not quite what Angel expected but he does have a wonderful insight into Angel's character. Although why he thinks Angel would enjoy a spot of nighttime fishing is beyond me. A short phone call, however, reveals that the 'swami' has killed the real swami and is just keeping Angel occupied for who or whatever is after Virginia, who are not a little surprised that there appear to be two Angels.

Back at Bryce towers and Wesley has taken on the role of protector of Virginia and is actually doing quite well. A spot of night time shopping leads to a little trouble and it seems that Wesley, when pushed, can hold his own. Back at home and another spot of trouble leaves Virginia all starry eyed and the both of them to her bedroom where the inevitable happens.

Cordelia goes into research mode, finds out where Wesley is and promptly sends Gunn to get the real Angel back to help while she goes to save Wesley. Gunn turns up at the swami's place, but 'swami' is onto him and, thinking that Angel is sleeping away the daylight hours, lays him out. Angel, however, has been practising his fishing techniques and reels the swami into the safety of the house where he makes him reveal all.

Wesley's days of being Angel are soon over when Cordelia unknowingly lets slip his real name in front of Magnus and Virginia isn't pleased to say the least. Returning to headquarters the four of them put the pieces of the puzzle together and discover what Mr Bryce really wanted his daughter protecting from. The proud father needs a virgin to sacrifice to complete a ritual for the demon Yeska.

As the gang return to the Bryce's to stop the sacrifice, the demon has already refused Virginia as, of course, she is no longer a virgin. Wesley gets to save the girl, Angel gets his coat back, god's in his heaven and all's right with the world. Ok maybe not that last part.

Angel's not obsessing over Darla anymore. Oh no. Just drawing endless pictures of her.

Darla's not too happy either it seems, being human and having a soul is getting to her, she can remember everything that she has been and everything that she has done and she has a problem looking at herself in the mirror.

It's 1609, the Virginia Colony and a human Darla lies dying of syphilis. In the guise of a priest The Master arrives, takes her life and gives her a new one.

At the Hyperion Angel is desperately trying to find Darla and save her from Wolfram and Hart. The team are onto it and Wesley soon hits on at least a part of the truth about why Wolfram and Hart have brought Darla back, to distract Angel, and it appears to be working. With a little help from Cordelia, they finally track Darla down to an apartment owned by Wolfram and Hart.

Darla is truly beginning to crack under the strain of being human, the feeling that her body is dying moment by moment, what is her identity now? Is she Darla the vampire? or the Darla the human?

It's 1890 now, the gypsies have cursed Angel, and Darla is desperately trying to persuade the gypsy elders to bring back to her the Angelus she loves. Spike, bloodthirsty as ever ruins all her plans by drinking his fill of Gypsy blood.

1900 and Angel, confused and lonely in his new soulful life seeks Darla out in China and begs her to take him back. However, try as he might, Angel cannot become the Angelus that he once was and he doesn't fool Darla for long. Testing him with a baby in a cot, he fails, saves the baby and leaves her for good.

Back at Lindsey's office, Darla is finding the burden of life too much for her and calls Angel to ask for his help. Interrupted by Lindsey, she makes a run for it but doesn't get far before Holland's men get to her. Lindsey is truly in love with Darla and helps Angel find and rescue her.

Back at Angel's place and Darla asks the impossible of him. She does not want to carry on being human, she wants Angel to turn her back into a vampire. When he refuses her, she leaves.

We go back in time (to the night before), Wesley and Cordy are at the office and Cordy's hair suddenly got shorter. Angel and Gunn are on a job together to help Gunn's cousin, much to Wesley's delight.

Gunn's cousin, Lester, has got himself into a spot of trouble and been roped in to be driver for a gang that are planning to raid a museum. Included in the raid is a vampire by the name of Jay Don, which is where Angel comes in. Angel and Gunn agree to help Lester but disagree on who's doing the helping.

While Wes and Cordy do the research, Angel decides to meet the loud, flashy vampire, Jay Don and take his place. The others aren't too sure that he can pull it off. After checking there's no password he needs to know, Angel swiftly stakes, Jay Don, steals his shades, dons some nice bright clothes and is chauffeur driven to the gangs base. Here he soon finds that Gunn has had the same idea and has taken Lester's place as driver.

Back at Angel HQ the rest of the team have done their research and come up with the target item, The Shroud Of Rahmon, Rahmon being a demon that drives people crazy. When they find out that the last time the shroud was unveiled a whole town went mad they decide it might just be a good idea to get Angel out of there.

The gang get to the museum where tensions are running high between Angel and Gunn, in fact, between all of them. As they break into the vault holding the shroud, Kate is learning of the raid and Angel's involvement.

Of course Wes and Cordy get there too late, Angel has already become affected by the shroud and his face constantly changes from human to vamp. The shroud is having an affect on everyone there, including Wes, Cordy and the newly arrived Kate. After a brief encounter with Wesley, Kate finds the gang carting the shroud out in its heavy casing.

Angel, with some of his best lines since 'Eternity', quickly disarms Kate, drinks from her and, stepping back lets her fall to the floor. By the time back up arrives, Wesley is leaning over Kate and the gang are back at their base with the shroud. Still bickering between themselves, they break open the case and fight each other for the shroud. Soon Angel and Gunn are the only ones left standing and Angel persuading Gunn that he knows what he is doing, grabs the shroud, takes it outside and burns it.

Back to the beginning, and Wesley is trying his best to explain events to the two detectives when a much paler Kate turns up and tells them to let him go. Back in her office and she has a flash back, we see Angel biting her, then telling her to stay down and stepping away.

Back at Angel HQ, Wesley and Cordy suddenly realise the possible implications of Angel drinking human blood again and decide it's time to call it a day, leaving Angel to brood alone in the dark and have his own flashback.

Over at Wolfram and Hart, Holland has some bad news to share with them. Darla is dying from syphilis, the disease that should have originally killed her. Knowing that she is dying, and tired of being human, Darla heads off to the nearest vamp bar and finds herself a willing vampire. Angel turns up and dusts him before he has the chance to turn Darla, much to her disgust. She tells him that she is dying but Angel doesn't believe it, thinking it is just another game of Wolfram and Harts.

Trying to find out the truth, Angel goes to Lindsey who invites him in and then confirms that she is dying. He didn't believe it either and has got second, third, forth and fifth opinions. Angel, however, is still determined to find a way to save her.

Where else to go to find the solution but Caritas, and a spot of Karaoke. The Host has a way out and gives them an address. Here they find an empty swimming pool, Angel dives in and the pair meet with another host. A gameshow host. Angel has to undertake three trials, if he doesn't pass then they both die, if he wins then he has saved Darla. The trial also involves Angel getting semi-naked, let's just take a moment.

Trial 1: to walk through a door, well it's not quite that simple, Angel has to defeat a big fighting demon first.

Trial 2: walk to the next door, again not that simple, the floor and walls have crosses all over them and the key to the door is in a bowl of holy water.

Trial 3: face a load of wooded stakes while chained to the ceiling. Battered, bruised and burnt Angel now has to make a choice, his life or Darla's. Like the true hero that he is, he chooses Darla's life above his own. This, of course, being the test, they both survive it only to find that Darla cannot be saved. She has already had her second chance at life when she was brought back from the dead. Quite understandably Angel becomes a tad annoyed at this and smashes the place up.

Back at Darla's hotel Angel is almost ready to save her by vamping her, but Darla says no, she is ready to die now, she doesn't want to be a vampire again. Wolfram and Hart, however, have other ideas, bursting into the room they manage to restrain a weakened Angel while Drusilla glides into the room and vamps Darla.

The team soon find out where Drusilla is hiding Darla and in turn, Angel soon finds Darla. Dru gets to him before he has a chance to stake Darla. While the two fight it out, Darla wakes and isn't too happy about the whole situation. Darla and Dru disappear and Angel returns home.

At Wolfram and Hart, Holland is very pleased with himself and invites everyone to a wine tasting at his house. Drusilla turns up looking for Darla and warns them that Angel is on his way. Which he is, but is slightly distracted by Cordelia having a vision, reluctantly he changes course.

Darla turns up at Wolfram and Hart and the pair of vampires run off together and fight it out in the street. They soon make it up and set off on a shopping spree. They are soon contacted by Wolfram and Hart to see how they are getting on and invite them to have a nice massacre, an invitation that they can't pass up.

Believing that they have now kept Angel busy again, the lawyers prepare to go to the party, but Angel arrives. Holland is ready though and has plenty of back up. Angel is escorted from the building to the waiting Kate. Kate realises that Angel is the only one that can stop Darla and Dru and lets him go. He arrives at the shop to find the pair already gone to the wine tasting.

He follows them and finds them all ready to turn the wine tasting into a blood tasting. The lawyers are pleased to see Angel for a change, thinking that he has come to save them. Angel, however, has had enough, he locks the lawyers in the room and leaves them to their fate.

Returning to the hotel he finds the team can't believe what he has done, Angel, realising that recent events have turned him to a new dark side of himself, sacks them all.

The massacre over, Lindsey awakes to find himself the only one left alive, or so he thinks. When emergency services arrive he is disappointed to find that Lilah has also made it.

Back at Wolfram and Hart, the two lawyers find themselves slightly out in the cold. Walking into Lindsey's office they find what Angel is looking for, Darla and Dru. They make it clear that they let the two lawyers live for a reason, they want them to be their link with Wolfram and Hart, or whichever one of them is left alive to replace Holland.

To test his abilities, Angel waits in the sewers and soon finds a group of five vampires to take out. Which he does rather quickly. Next stop is Merl again and, after a few dips in the sewer water Merl, is ready to tell Angel where he can find his girls.

Out of work and at a loose end, Wesley finds himself at Caritas having a drink and working himself up to have a sing when he bumps into Cordelia and Gunn is not far behind. Being in a Karaoke bar they three get very drunk, start blaming each other for their being fired, have a jolly good bitch at each other and then make up with a nice singalong.

Angel soon finds Darla and Dru at a Fight Club type gathering of vampires and other demons. Here they invite anyone who thinks they are tough enough to be in their gang to meet them at a certain factory. Having the information that he needs, Angel leaves but not before Drusilla has discovered that he is somewhere near. Seeing Darla again, however, leaves its mark on Angel.

After a lot of Tequila, Cordelia has a vision which soon sobers them all up. Not having Angel around, but wishing he was there to help, they set off to the rescue where Wesley quickly takes command. They soon find their demon and its victim, and rather resourcefully manage to save the girl and kill the demon.

After having a bit of fun in a bar themselves, Darla and Drusilla head off to their meeting place looking forward to seeing who or what has turned up to be in their gang. Unfortunately for them, Angel has got there first and they don't so much have a gang as a pile of dust and some bodies. The pair walk in to find Angel sitting among the ruins of their demon gang. But it's not Angel there, and its not Angelus either, it's a new evil, a new dark side of Angel that is waiting for them and silently sets them alight and leaves them to die.

They quickly damp themselves down with a nearby fire hydrant and try to work out who he has turned into now.

At Wolfram and Hart, Lindsey and Lilah await their fate. Lindsey being slightly more calm than Lilah who has already tried to save her own life by framing Lindsey. Her fears are unfounded, however, as they get to share Holland's job.

Finding that, hard as it may be, Angel Investigations can continue without Angel, Wesley turns up at the Hyperion to let Angel know that they have decided to keep the company going. He doesn't appear too bothered.

Meanwhile Angel bumps into a woman carrying a large box full of clothes. On closer inspection this is Anne aka Lily aka Chanterelle. They don't recognise each other though. Having taken Buffy's middle name, Anne is now running a shelter for L.A.'s homeless kids. Returning home, Angel looks at some pictures he has of Anne and Lindsey, it was obviously no accident that he bumped into her.

Seeking more information, Angel pays Merl a visit (who has somehow freed himself from the sewer where Angel left him last time they met). He discovers that Wolfram and Hart have helped out the shelter with money but that basically the shelter appears to be all legal and above board. Angel's next stop is the shelter itself where he arrives with some of Cordelia's clothes and Anne takes him on a tour of the building. Here he finds out more about Wolfram and Hart's involvement including that they are organising a big fundraising party to raise money for the shelter.

An old friend of Angel's by the name of Boon turns up at Merl's place looking for Angel. Now correct me if I am wrong but Merl appears to have an Applemac in his otherwise not so pretty apartment. Merl, never one able to keep his mouth shut under pressure, lets Boon know that Angel is interested in Wolfram and Hart. Boon's next stop is Wolfram and Hart where he makes a deal with them to kill Angel for them. He wants to finish a fight started back in the 1920's, he needs to know who would have won if they hadn't stopped fighting when the sun came up.

After having defeated the fire breathing demon, Wesley and Gunn delight in telling the tale to Cordelia who hasn't been exactly idle herself and has found them a new office. After a bit of a squabble over the name of their new business they leave it as it is and set off to view their new premises.

Poor old Merl then gets another unexpected visit this time from Lilah, his motormouth can't keep him from blabbing that Angel has been taking an interest in Anne and the shelter. Anne herself is getting another visit from Angel. After confessing to stalking her he tells her that Wolfram and Hart are using her charity for good publicity and plan on stealing most of the money from the fundraiser by coming up with loads of costs which will leave her with only 5% of the donations.

During their discussion Lindsey and Boon turn up which results in a big fight that Angel doesn't seem to be getting the best of. He does manage to get away almost unscathed, for the time being. With Angel gone, Lindsey tells Anne that he is a vampire and not to listen to anything he says. Angel's statement that he has proof of their deceit has Lindsey and Lilah rather worried.

With the fearsome Boon out of the way, Angel returns to the shelter and tries to persuade Anne to get him into the party. Anne's done her sums though and realises that even 5% of the $2million they are hoping to raise is $100,000 and that's a lot of money.

The night of the party arrives and it's all going very well from the lawyers' point of view until, despite their precautions, Angel gets into the party where he bumps into Boon. To the surprise of the guests they start a fight which lands them both in the middle of the guests. Wesley soon reaches Angel and searches him for the tape, finding there's no tape and that Angel and Boon have been working together, he turns his attention to Anne who is walking over to the video with the tape. Despite their efforts they don't get there in time but find the tape to be nothing but Cordelia and Wesley's rather amusing home videos. Meanwhile Boon has vanished with all the money.

Lindsey and Lilah get the hard word from their new boss both for the cock up at the party and for conspiring to kill Angel which is against Wolfram and Hart's policy, they want him alive. He explains that there is a prophecy (there's always a prophecy) that states that when the apocalypse comes (there's always an apocalypse) Angel has a big part to play. What isn't known is whose side he will be on and the senior partners want him on their side.

Back at Angel's, Boon turns up with the money and still seeking his rematch. We don't get to see the fight, suffice to say that Angel turns up at the shelter looking very bruised and battered and hands the money over to Anne.

Angel, meanwhile, is having trouble sleeping, mainly because The Host has turned up and is singing The Star Spangled Banner at the top of his very loud voice. He has brought glad tidings of great joy, the world is going to end tomorrow. In a roundabout way The Host begins to tell his tale. An ordinary looking bloke came into Caritas and sang a very dull song, looking into the lad's mind, The Host could see no future for him or anyone else after 10pm tomorrow.

Gene, the ordinary singing bloke, is at college working on some complicated looking formula on a white board. His efforts are an experiment to freeze time. Tomorrow night he is going to celebrate his one year anniversary with his girlfriend and he is planning a big night.

Meanwhile Angel and The Host are searching Karaoke bars for Gene, 17 bars down and they have the right one. The bartender leads them to the right college where Gene is still trying to freeze time watched by two ugly looking demon guys. Finally giving up for the night he leaves the college leaving the demons to correct his formula for him.

The next day Gene is made up to find that the new formula written on his board works. He doesn't, of course, wonder who could have changed the formula and he rushes of to tell his girlfriend the good news. Finding her he overhears her conversation, she tells her friend that tonight is the night that she is going to break up with him. Gutted Gene returns to his lab where he forms a plan.

Angel and The Host have made it to the college library and, by looking through the yearbooks, have found their guy. The demons are on to them though and they fight it out much to the librarian's surprise. The Host knows of these demons, they are Lubber demons who believe that one human will one day end all human life and apparantly, Gene is their boy. By the time Angel makes it to the lab, Gene and his equipment have gone, leaving his friend very confused as only Gene has a key to the lab. Angel discovers what Gene has been up to but, most importantly, if the experiment is not properly contained the freezing of time could spread and freeze all time.

Angel and The Host head off to Gene's but the demons protecting Gene's little experiment have other plans. At Gene's the anniversary dinner is getting a bit awkward so the two head for the bedroom where Gene has his equipment set up all ready. He flicks the switch and the waiting demons outside ensure that the space is not contained and the time freezing begins to spread. Angel manages to overcome the demons and get to Gene's power cables, which are handily located outside, and rip them out, returning time to its natural state.

Meanwhile, Angel Investigations have solved their first case and are celebrating when another client walks in.

Angel himself is paying a visit to Merl, who it seems, has had enough and is packing up and going. Not before Angel has got one last piece of information about Wolfram and Hart out of him.

On the streets two kids are running from someone or something and they head for Anne's shelter. She lets them in reluctantly. Quizzing the kids she finds that they were running from the cops. Cops that hit first and ask don't bother to ask questions. Seemingly this is not the first time that Anne has heard about this and she turns to Gunn, an old friend apparently, for help.

Since his little chat with The Host, Angel is starting to feel the lack of company and thinking that maybe he has done the wrong thing in firing his friends. From a rooftop he spies on his late friends and follows Gunn to the shelter where he listens in on their conversation about the new and improved police policies.

Walking off Angel comes face to face with a cop who tries to arrest him for no apparent reason. In the ensuing fight Angel knocks the cop out and walks off, but the cop won't stay down and rises to continue the fight while reading Angel his rights. A swift kick to the head decapitates the cop but he keeps on talking until his body starts to decay.

Back at the shelter Gunn has a plan, he and two friends will commit the heinous offence of 'walking while black' until they meet a cop, when they do they will film the encounter. Meanwhile Angel takes his story and the dead cop's badge to Kate who soon discovers that Officer Harker was dead and buried six months ago. They visit his grave and find other cops grave's rather empty.

Wesley and Cordelia are working on the third eye problem when Gunn rings them to tell them of his plan. Realising Gunn is going to get himself hurt they head for the shelter. Cordelia waits at the shelter while Wesley goes after Gunn. Gunn himself has found the streets to be unusually deserted but they eventually find a cop who wants to arrest them for no reason. Wesley comes steaming in and gets a bullet for his trouble. As Gunn goes to help Wesley, the other two fight and shoot the cop. He doesn't stay dead for very long.

They manage to get Wesley away and call an ambulance.

Angel and Kate head to Officer Harker's old station and find it rather deserted. They speak with an officer who tells them how crime figures have gone down since they introduced their new tougher policy.

Back on the street, the ambulance arrives and Gunn joins Wesley in the ambulance. Before they get very far they are cut off by the cops who shoot the ambulance driver. Gunn soon takes his place, looses the cops and makes for the shelter. Unfortunately the ambulance is kind of distinctive and the cops soon find out where they are hiding and call for some back up. Inside the shelter the kids start barricading up as the cops prepare to move in.

Angel returns to the station and finds the captain at home this time. With the help of a little violence Angel soon finds the captain's secret room where the reanimation has taken place and the zombie cops are being controlled. Recognising the Idol of Graneth, a zombie god, Angel smashes it turning all the zombie cops back to their less animated state.

Hearing from Kate that Wesley is in hospital Angel pays a visit thinking that he can watch over his friend unnoticed. Turning to walk away he bumps into a still hurting Cordelia, she tells him to go away and stay away.

Angel Investigations have come up trumps and solved another case by removing the third eye from the girl. Mrs Sharpe, however, isn't as grateful as she could be and refuses to pay.

At Wolfram and Hart, Lilah is fretting as the firms 75 year review is due the coming Friday and she doesn't think that she will make it through alive. Lindsey on the other hand is quite cool about the whole matter.

The sacrificing ritual has got Angel's goat (really I'm so sorry) and without his team behind him he turns to Kate for help. Kate's not feeling too helpful towards Angel at the moment as the captain he beat up has filed a complaint and she has a disciplinary hearing coming up. To top that she has discovered that Darla and Dru were locked in the wine cellar with the lawyers when they killed them and she is pretty sure she knows who locked them in there.

Lindsey returns home to the waiting Darla (the Darla that he has just assured Lilah he has had no contact with since Angel set her alight) who is recuperating at his house. Darla, however, isn't quite as ill as she has let Lindsey believe.

Having failed to get anything from Kate, Angel turns up at Caritas to see what The Host can do for him. The bar is teeming with lawyers. Although The Host is reluctant to tell Angel anything he has read in the lawyers' minds he has no qualms about repeating what he has heard in the toilets. He finds that every 75 years a Senior Partner reviews the firm and this has got all the lawyers a bit fidgety. In order to give Angel an extra bit of help he mentions the Band of Blacknil and the Home Office.

Angel returns to the Hyperion where he realises that Wesley has taken most of the books. Angel storms into Angel Investigations' new offices and grabs the book he needs. Still in need of more information Angel pays Denver a visit, the magic shop owner who helped him with the Thesulac demon years ago. Finally he gets the information he needs, the Senior Partner is a Kleynach demon and the Band of Blacknil is a ring. The wearer of the ring will be able to get to the Home Office which is, of course, hell. In order to take the ring from the Kleynach demon one needs the use of a special glove which Denver just happens to have. He is about to hand over the glove when Darla turns up and runs a sword through both Denver and Angel, grabs the glove and is off.

Meanwhile Kate, having been fired returns to her apartment, hits the bottle and then all her father's photos and trophies and Virginia is breaking up with Wesley.

Cordelia is about to leave the office when the phone rings, she picks it up and it's Mrs Sharpe all relentful and wanting to pay her debt. Cordelia says she'll be right over and Mrs Sharpe informs the waiting demon that Cordelia is on her way.

At Wolfram and Hart, Angel swiftly takes out Lilah's bodyguards and makes her take him to the 15th floor where the ritual to raise the senior partner has begun. Once there, Angel soon finds the disguised Darla and, taking the glove from her, rushes at the demon and makes for the window. The demon vanquished, Angel falls to the ground along with the ring that he needs. He puts it on and is greeted by Holland who invites him to accompany him to the Home Office. Of course the ring has been de-activated and all Angel gets is a pointless ride in a lift and a lecture from Holland. As the doors of the lift open and Angel finds himself back where he started Holland tells him that Wolfram and Hart only exist because there is evil in everyone.

Stunned by Holland's words and feeling that he has finally been beaten by Wolfram and Hart, that all he has been trying to do, to achieve redemption has been pointless he wanders the streets no longer caring what happens.

As he finds his way back to the hotel, Kate, drunk and having taken an overdose, leaves a message on his ansaphone, he ignores it. He soon senses Darla's presence and turns to find her looking for the ring, Angel throws it to the floor, as she reaches for it he grabs her and, having finally lost it gives Darla what she's really wanted all along. They fall onto his bed and have intense sex.

Later that night, Angel wakes beside the still sleeping Darla, the rain pouring outside as he jolts into a sitting position, pain on his face........................

Angel stands and faces her, instead of losing his soul in her, instead of achieving that one moment of perfect and true happiness (which of course he could only have achieved with Buffy anyway) all he found was perfect despair. Realising with disgust that Angel has retained his soul and that she has failed she asks the same question as Buffy once did 'was it not good?' and proceeds to rant at him for deceiving her. Her words bring back Kate's words on the ansaphone and he rushes to Kate's apartment. He finds her passed out on the floor, and revives her under the shower. After thanking him she asks him to leave.

Darla has returned to Lindsey's who soon realises she is holding the Band of Blacknil and it doesn't take him long to figure out just how she got it. He is not a little jealous.

Seeking answers to his recent epiphany, Angel turns to The Host for help. The Host explains that Angel has had a moment of clarity and that he should now move on. This moment of clarity has led Angel to realise just how dark he became and he wants to make up for it. Oh the guilt, again. Unfortunately, whether the team will welcome him back with open arms rather depends on whether they will make it through the night which, The Host says, is not looking likely at the moment.

Cordelia arrives at the Sharpe's house looking for payment, what she finds are a dead family and a bunch of demons looking for vengeance. Apparently the third eye they removed was a baby Skilash demon and the mummy Skilash is not too happy. They have Cordelia, they know where Wesley is and now they want Gunn.

The Skilash arrive at Wes's apartment about the same time that Angel does, after he persuades Wes to invite him in, the pair defeat the demons. It's not Angel's day for compliments and he gets little thanks from Wesley for saving his life. They quickly set off to look for Cordy in Angel's car. Angel tries to get chatty, something he's not too good at at the best of times, but Wesley isn't about to make things easy for him.

They arrive at the new offices but Cordelia is nowhere to be found. Wesley soon explains to Angel that Cordelia has changed and is not the same girl that Angel knew and taunts him for running from his duty when Cordelia could not. While they talk Angel senses someone approaching and soon Gunn enters the office. Just to rub Angel's nose in it even more he greets Wes with a series of handshakes. They soon find out where Cordelia has gone and rush off to the rescue.

Meanwhile, Cordelia is sporting a nice new third eye at the back if her head and is not too happy about it, or the fact that no-one knows where she is.

In the car, Gunn is having a hard time accepting Angel's epiphany but Wesley seems to be coming around a bit. They are soon attacked by more Skilash demons. Angel tells the other two to go help Cordelia while he stays and fights. Before he has the chance to fight the demons they make a run for it and Angel is hit by a truck driven by Lindsey. Lindsey turns and attacks him with the truck again and again, once Angel is flat out Lindsey gets out of the truck and attacks him with a sledgehammer. But he makes the mistake of turning his back on Angel for one second to reach for a stake and Angel uses this time to quickly recuperate and beat Lindsey to a pulp, shatter his false hand and take his truck.

Meanwhile Wesley and Gunn have made it to the Sharpe's house and, whilst discussing whether or not to wait for Angel are captured by the demons. Of course, with the use of Lindsey's truck Angel gets there in the nick of time and saves the day.

When Lindsey finally comes round he returns to his apartment to find his truck a bit smashed up and sporting a thank you note. He finds Darla gone.

Kate finally comes round to the hotel to offer her thanks to Angel, as they sit and talk she realises that Angel has had an epiphany and tells him that, despite everything she still has now regained her faith. Although she never invited him in Angel was able to break into her apartment and rescue her.

When she leaves Angel goes to Angel Investigations to apologise to his former employees. When Wesley expresses their reluctance to return to work for him he tells them he doesn't want them to, he wants to work for them and earn their trust again. He starts earning by catching Cordelia when she has another vision.