The discovery of a series of bodies burnt from the inside out leads Angel into an encounter with a female demon from another dimension who is trying to save the women of her race from the oppression of men.
It's difficult to know quite where to start here. This isn't one of the best pieces of television in the world, but it's not one of the worst either. The problem is that it doesn't really take the story far enough. There are hints of a romantic frisson between Angel and the demon Jhiera, but they don't lead anywhere, although with the announcement that Jhiera is to become a regular, many of the plot threads left dangling can be picked up. It just takes too long to get to the point here, and once things start to come together, the episode becomes merely a runaround as Jhiera's charges get pushed from pillar to post. The whole murder of people by burning plot gets lost somewhere along the line.
Wesley is once again a saving grace, however, getting some great comic moments, particularly in relation to the scantily-clad other-dimensional lovelies. The best part, though, is undoubtedly the opening sequence when Cordelia holds a party and we get a look at Wesley and Angel's ideas of a good time and see both of them dance. It's hilarious. Wesley's relationship with Angel once the vampire offers him a job is also fun, and it's good to see that both he and Cordelia finally have acquired the ability to defend themselves.
There's an interesting tale buried at the bottom of here somewhere, but thanks to Bai Ling's accent and some muddled scripting it all gets lost, thereby ironically allowing a tale of fire demons to leave the viewer cold.
**
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