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Original Air Date: November 7, 2000

Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by Krishna Rao

Summary

At the office Wesley has just made a mess of the filing cabinet when a new client walks in. He refuses to deal with Wesley and would rather deal with Angel. The client leaves when he is informed that Angel is out. Cordelia then walks in saying she knows where Angel is. Angel and Gunn are trying to sneak into Wolfram & Hart but Cordelia and Wesley catch them before they can get up the elevator. They try to get him to stop but the sudden appearance of a security guard makes Angel leave the building.

The group heads to a karaoke bar where Angel goes to talk to the owner. Angel tells the owner that he feels like he's about to explode if he doesn't get something out. The owner then gives him the address for a Tish Magev, a Swami, that could help Angel out. Angel leaves town and Cordelia and Wesley return to the hotel. Angel reaches the cottage on a lake and finds a Tish Magev, to Angel's surprise, that looks rather human.

At the hotel, the same guy who came in before attacks Cordelia, demanding to know where Angel is. He's about to shoot Cordelia when Wesley appears, dressed in Angel's jacket and says that he is Angel. Meanwhile at Tish's cottage, the Swami starts off the meeting strange, and Angel's a little put-off. Tish tells him that Angel seems to hate himself and that his appearance seems to be very important to him; the dark clothes, the car, his hair, etc. And that he seems to be fighting himself. The Swami gets Angel to admit that he's obsessed with Darla. Back at the hotel, the man with the gun orders Wesley to come with him. Wesley is taken to a mansion and is greeted by a man named Magnus Bryce. Mr. Bryce tells him that he needs protection for someone very close to him because he has a lot of enemies since he's very influential. He wants Angel to protect his daughter from intruders and the supernatural forces that have been attacking her lately. Wesley is then introduced, as Angel, to Virginia, who has quite an attitude. Wesley is left alone with her and he tells her that he'll try his best to protect her. She decides to go shopping and Wesley follows, acting as her bodyguard.

Cordelia calls Gunn, and he goes in search of Angel while Cordelia does research on the thug that took Wesley. She's flipping through a magazine when she spots the man who is labeled as a bodyguard for Magnus Bryce. Out shopping, Virginia is looking for a present for her father's 50th birthday. She admits to Wesley that her father is heavily into spells and rituals. Suddenly some guys come up to Virginia and start to take her away but they stop once they find out that Wesley is supposedly Angel. Wesley takes Virginia home and they're attacked by two guards standing outside her door. He makes quick work of them and she's surprised that his face didn't change. In her room, Wesley tries to comfort her after the scare with the guards. She admits to wanting to run away from her father. Slowly Virginia and Wesley start kissing. She stops and mentions his curse but he tells her the curses has been misinterpreted. He's about to tell Virginia that he's not Angel but they start kissing passionately before he can get the words out.

Meanwhile Gunn has found the Swami's house. The Swami greets him and then knocks him out cold. Angel, seeing this happen, realizes that he isn't the real Tish Magev. Angel confronts him from the shaded porch while the "Swami" is outside in the sunlight. The fake Tish isn't afraid of him until Angel uses a fishing line and hook to yank the fake Tish onto the porch. After having slept with Virginia, Wesley dresses and tries to sneak out of Virginia's room. Cordelia greets him outside the room. Mr. Bryce shows up and tells everyone that Wesley is not Angel (after having found out from the fake Tish Magev out of town). Virginia is particularly upset because she trusted him. Later on Mr. Bryce tells Benny that everything needs to be ready for the sacrifice, particularly his daughter. Back at the hotel everyone has convened and they recount their stories. Angel and Wesley deduce that Mr. Bryce is going to sacrifice his daughter at his 50th birthday party. The four of them head out to the party. At the party, Mr. Bryce calls for everyone's attention and then begins the sacrificial ritual; he begins chanting while Virginia, despite her protests, is chained to a bizarre rock structure in the middle of the room. Angel and the gang show up and start fighting Mr. Bryce's guards. Mr. Bryce finishes his incantation and the demon Yesker appears but will not take Virginia because she is not pure. The demon vanishes and Virginia tell her father that she hasn't been a virgin for a very long time. She tells him that he is no longer her father and punches him out.

At the office the next day Cordelia's upset because Wesley is getting famous off of knowing Virginia and Angel's somewhat miffed about Wesley passing as him.

Summary written by Nika

Quote of the Week

Wesley: Blood. I don't usually...drink in front of humans.
Bryce: Don't insult me. Go on. It's fresh.
(Wes gulps some down.) Wesley: Dear God. That's... nummy.

Rating

4/5

Nika's Comments

Well despite what a lot of people have vocalized about this episode, I really liked it. It was nice to see Wesley getting more attention and it was absolutely hysterical to have him act as Angel. Sure, they were cheap laughs and thrills but it was still enough to keep me happy. Wesley flying backwards out the door when he realizes he has to be invited in (cuz he's supposed to be a vampire), him having to gulp down that blood... Quite amusing, really. What I didn't like about this episode was the whole Swami deal, that really bored me. I didn't find it even remotely interesting, plus that kind of confused me too. If Bryce was trying to get him out of town then why would he want Angel to act as his daughter's bodyguard? I'm still not clear on that. Oh well, I'm not gonna ponder it anymore. Wesley kicking but though was kind of surprising though, how the hell did he suddenly learn all those cool moves? Ah well... Well when Virginia told her father that she hadn't been a virgin for a very long time it only makes you stop and wonder just how much parents know about their children. Honestly! How could he have believed that she was?

Niki Bartl's Comments

Well, I'll say that while this was an interesting episode, I still didn't like it that much. The difference between this show and Buffy is that even if Buffy is really bad, I still watch but during bad episodes of Angel I have to force myself not to change the channel. It was nice to see Wesley really come into his own in this episode, getting a separate identity from "sidekick" but I find it extremely disbelieveing that he can turn off his clumsiness like a switch. Wesley is an interesting character, I'll grant him that. We know that his father was hard on him growing up and that he feels like Faith's badass-ness was his responsabilty. But something with him just unsettles me, something just never feels real with him. I can always distinguish the actor Alexis Denisof, from Wesley. With Cordelia and Angel, I feel like they're actually out there somewhere, but Wesley just reminds me of TV. In terms of the actual episode, it was alright. The plot to get Angel out of the way was a little less than credible, I thought that the episode would focus on Angel's soul searching a little more than it did (no pun intended) and that disappointed me. Is anyone else noticing that the closer Angel gets to retribution, the more violent he gets? I mean, I understand that he needed to pull the guy out of sunlight but... ouch. All in all, I'm still not satisfied with the way that Angel is progressing. I mean, usually by now, there would have been an episode that I absolutely adored, but there just hasn't. All I can do is wait for the next one. Yay for flashbacks!

Cast

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