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Original Air Date: May 23, 2000

Written by David Greenwalt
Directed by David Greenwalt

Summary

Wesley is busy trying to decrypt the scroll and he's stuck on the word shanshu. Cordelia is reading the newspaper and informs them that the lawyer Lindsey ending up going back to Wolfram & Hart. Suddenly Wesley thinks he's decrypted the word shanshu and much to their surprise it means death for Angel. Angel takes it lightly, disbelieving, while Cordelia and Wesley are shocked. Suddenly Cordelia has a vision of a homeless woman and a demon at a waste treatment plant. Meanwhile off in the woods somewhere, two demons have resurrected another demon from a fiery circle. The resurrected demon, named Vocah, is greeted by Wolfram & Hart lawyers standing by. Once Vocah learns that Angel has stolen the scroll of Aberjian which is needed for the upcoming ritual he gets very angry at the lawyers and tells them that he will deal with it. Later, Kate shows up on the scene at the waste plant after a report was called in. She finds Angel having just saved a homeless woman. Kate acts snotty towards Angel and then leaves after some harsh words about Angel and his kind.

The next day, Wesley has checked every source and shanshu still means death. Wesley's concerned about the way Angel took the news of his death and they figure that they need to make Angel want to live. He's too disconnected from life because he never changes or grows. Wesley heads off to a store to get some books. Meanwhile Vocah visits the Oracles and they are none too pleased to see him. He pulls out his weapon, a scythe, and slays the Oracles, cutting of Angel's connections to The Powers That Be. Cordelia is out shopping in a market, looking for a present for Angel. Voach passes by her without her noticing and suddenly she's struck by blindingly painful visions of people in pain everywhere. The visions don't stop and Cordelia collapses screaming. Meanwhile Vocah enters Angel's office. After Angel locks the scroll up he gets a call from the hospital concerning Cordelia and he heads out immediately. Vocah then steals the scroll and leaves. Angel arrives at the hospital to find Cordelia screaming and spasming on a hospital bed while doctors try to hold her down. A little later, Wesley returns to the office and finds the the cabinet broken into and the scroll missing. Angel returns to the office and is just about to enter the bulding when suddenly the entire building explodes. Angel runs into the building looking for Wesley. He finds him unconscious and carries him out. The ambulance has arrived and Wesley is whisked away to the hospital. Kate is on the scene and won't let Angel leave the scene because he's a major witness to the explosion. Angel gets angry and tells her to get over her father's death and to stop being enemies with him because it isn't helping anyone. Angel leaves and goes to visit Cordelia and Wesley. While he's with Cordelia he notices a stange marking on Cordelia's hand. He goes to visit the Oracles about the mark but he finds the Oracles on the ground, dead and covered in blood. The ghost of the female Oracle is sitll there and tells Angel that Vocah, warrior of the Underworld, killed them and is affecting his friends and that Angel will need to remove the mark on his friends with the scroll of Aberjian.

That night, in a morgue, Vocah, his followers and some vampires are surrounding a huge wooden crate. Vocah has the scroll and is reading aloud, calling upon the spirits in the box to rise. The Wolfram & Hart lawyers show up and the ritual continues. Suddenly Angel smashes through the window and fights Vocah. They both have scythes and fight relentlessly. Lindsey continues the ritual in Vocah's place. He finishes the spell and a bright light emanates from the box. The ritual is complete and the crate is removed from the morgue while Vocah and Angel continue to fight. Angel finally kills Vocah brutally, leaving Angel and Lindsey alone in the room. Lindsey refuses to give the scroll to Angel so he starts to light it on fire. Angel throws his scythe, cutting Lindsey's right hand off and getting the scroll away from the fire. Angel grabs the scroll and goes to hospital. Wesley then reads from the scroll to release Cordelia from Vocah's curse. It works and the mark is removed from Cordelia's hand. Shes a little in shock but otherwise okay. She's change after her ordeal because she's seen all the pain in the world and she wants to help those people.

The next day they're all at Cordelia's apartment and Wesley is still deciphering more of the scroll. He doesn't know what they raised in that box but he discover that there's a different meaning for shanshu; it means the death of something and the beginning of a life. It means that Angel will become human... But only after he's fulfilled his destiny which won't be until after he's killed a ton of demons, lived through a couple plagues, etc. Angel can only smile happily. To be human would be nice. Meanwhile at Wolfram & Hart, the large crate now contains a visibly shaken and shivering Darla the vampire, raised from the dead.

Summary written by Nika

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Rating

2.5/5

Nika Summers' Comments

Blah. Blah, blah, blah and more blah. There was no way that I was even NEAR pleased with this episode. It was too much of a run on and some of things just weren't explained enough. I didn't like the whole idea of this episode and the first three quarters of the episode almost put me to sleep. I could not believe that this was the finale for season 1 of Angel. What a let down. Honestly. I did like it a little more the second time I watched it but not by much. The end was cool though, so let's talk about that. I liked the ritual to resurrect Darla, but wait, I still have a problem with that, how the hell could they resurrect Darla anyway? Where the hell did they pick up her ashes from? The floor of The Bronze way back in Sunnydale? I don't think so. And Joss has said before that it wasn't possible to resurrect a vampire. That whole idea was just flooey. It's like taking back something they shouldn't have done in the first place! And it's not right, they shouldn't have to keep brining back old characters! Anyway, I will be somewhat happy to see Darla because the cast is going to need a little more spice next season. They need way more than 3 main characters to keep the series going. Do Darla was interesting, except maybe she isn't really Darla and she's like Darla's alter-ego or something. Okay, okay, I know I'm pushing it. One last thing before I finish this; I am none too pleased with Kate and her reactions to Angel. So her father's dead, yes I get that, but she wasn't close to her father anyway and she is supposed to be a touhg-as-nails character and it wasn't Angel that killed her father so why can she not deal with this? Angel is helping her for god's sake and she's not exactly being thankful. God, get over it! Anyway, let's hope that season 2 will start a little better than season 1 ended.

Niki Bartl's Comments

Dude, I did not like this episode, except for Darla coming back, I have been waiting for THAT to happen for a long, long time. But the rest I didn't like. Especially the part where Angel gets to be human. If the end of these two wonderful shows end with Buffy and Angel together, I will barf. Really. I like the Cordy getting many visions all at once, although they would have probably driven her insane after a day of just extreme agony running through your head. I'd like to see her stay as "the new Cordelia". Angel finally got the nerve to tell off Kate. She was really, really beginning to annoy me. No, wait, she annoyed me right from the beginning... It pisses me off that she'll probably have a larger role next season. I do like Gunn... I hope he has a more active role in the next season, other than serving as a fight distraction... I cannot wait for Darla next season... I'm soooooo excited!

Cast

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