Cordelia has been made a princess, but there are plans for her to mate imminently that she's not keen on. Meanwhile, Angel finds a missing person and discovers his other side and Wesley and Gunn lurch from one disaster to the next.

I still feel that this storyline is going on too long. On the positive side, this episode throws up enough surprises to keep you entertained, even if it doesn't really advance the plot by a long way. We find out why Cordelia is a princess, and there's some great fun to be had in how she enjoys being the centre of attention, plus when she meets her prospective partner.

Gunn and Wesley don't manage to do a lot, and Wes's vital discovery is rather glossed over later on as if it's not relevant and doesn't need explaining. While they do make a good team, they just don't do enough to keep things moving nicely along. Likewise, Angel's merely turns into full demon form (unable to get his usual human/demon balance right) and must face the creature he is deep within. It's all very powerful stuff, but it takes a long time to get there, and it also merely results in him being taken care of by Winifred.

There's some fun to be had in places; the dancing is fantastic (done by none other than Joss Whedon himself), Angel's love of his re-found face is wonderful and the way The Host distracts from Angel's fleeing is inventive and nicely done. What it does lead to, sadly, is a major shock ending that I'm not happy about at all. So overall then, like the previous segment the occasional laugh, but it needs more plot and more events to happen to make it a particularly good episode. It doesn't feel like padding, but you do feel that this whole story could have been done in four parts perfectly well.

***

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