Angel and his team attempt to clear up the mess after the abduction of Connor, trying to find Wesley and attempting to summon Sahjhan so that Angel can access the demon dimension where his son has been taken.
To be honest, not a whole lot happens in this episode as it's all about the clearing up after the events of Sleep Tight. The new element is in Angel's desire to bring Sahjhan into a more corporeal existence so that he can rescue Connor. The rest is a series of revelations of the things that have been kept hidden for the season, mainly by Wesley, as Gunn and Fred do some sterling detective work and find out just what he's been living with recently.
Now, there's one thing I'm happy about that I'm not happy with, if you see what I mean. Wesley is still alive. Yes, this is a good thing, but it takes so long to find him that surely he would have died after having his throat pretty comprehensively cut last week. The injuries have been pretty realistic in Angel up to now, but however glad I am to see my favourite character alive and well, I'm disappointed that he's someone survived, more so when Gunn and Fred are told where he is and what's happened to him and decide to engage in a futile fight with Sahjhan they will be no use in rather than dashing off to help him.
What works the best about this whole story is that you just don't know what most of the characters will do. Gunn, Fred and Lorne are much the same as ever, but Angel hasn't been seen this nasty since the last time he was Angelus. He may not be properly evil, but when he gets pissed off, you want to be in another country. Throwing Lilah and her boss into the mix works as well, as Lilah looks like she's going to off her boss at at least one point while Angel threatens him with a selection of entertainingly pointy objects earlier on. That and Angel's willingness to kill Lilah at a moment's thought later in the story, which is truly shocking and shows how far he's gone over the edge again.
Then there's Sahjhan. He's been a fun presence all season, but once he becomes corporeal again (and we find out who made him immaterial in the first place in a freaky visit to Wolfram & Hart's White Room) he turns into a pretty serious contender, smacking Angel about like he's a rag doll. The only person whose presence seems unnecessary now is Justine, Holtz's second in command. She's clearly got a death wish in the way she throws herself at anyone who even mentions a fight (and I love the way she just smacks Fred aside when Sahjhan turns up when you think the two girls will be sitting the fight out and watching quietly). At least once there's the possibility for her to be killed, yet no one seems to manage it. Why? She's not really going to serve much use for the rest of the season now is she?
So, at the end of the episode, what's mainly happened is that everything has been made worse. Sahjhan is roaming free, Wolfram & Hart get off scott free again, Justine escapes and enlists the remaining Holtz followers to join her pursuit of Angel and, in a shocking final scene, Wesley is left gasping after Angel has attempted to kill him. It's a flawless final moment that shows that the kidnapping and subsequent loss of a baby is never forgivable, whatever unselfish motives may lie behind it. But most importantly, it's a realization for the audience that Angel is far more unpredictable than anyone really knows.
****
Would you like to go to the Angel Season Three guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?