Angel S03 E18 – Sucks to be you

Previously: ANGEL TRIED TO SMOTHER WESLEY WITH A FUCKING PILLOW HOLY SHIT.
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Double or Nothing

Kirsti: We open at the Hyperion. Gunn and Fred are going through files, and it’s awkward because there are a bunch that Wes was meant to be taking care of, but not so much any more. Lorne walks in, and asks how they’re going before saying that it’s important to keep busy and throw yourself into your work at times like these. He looks pointedly at the stairs as he says this. Fred reminds him that Angel’s lost the only child he’ll ever have, and Lorne says that he knows, but wishes Angel would talk to them.

Gunn doesn’t want to find out first hand whether the rage has passed, and Fred says that she doesn’t think Angel’s planning on finishing the smothering. Gunn snarks that that’s just because Wes is too smart to turn up at the hotel. Just then the door opens. They all turn towards it only to see Cordy and Groo, back from Mexico, tanned and bearing gifts. Cordy – who is now blonde – takes one look at their faces and demands to know what happened.

Sweeney: CORDELIA I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH. She’s a strangely cheery sight returning to a hot mess that she almost certainly would have prevented had she been present. So many layers of crisis could have been averted.

Lorraine: Her new hair is a bit of a crisis for me. I wish she’d averted that.

K: ME TOO, LOR. I miss her season 1 hair. Cut to Angel, broodily (and slightly tearily) staring at Connor’s crib in his burnt out apartment. Cordy walks in, and sits behind him. She tells him how sorry she is as she rubs his back and rests her chin on his shoulder. Angel drops his head sadly.

Cut to a demonic casino (file under: sentences I thought I’d never write). A demonic pit boss in a tux named Jenoff tells a bouncer to take the left hand of a demon who’s palming cards. A blue demon wearing sunglasses approaches Jenoff. Jenoff hands him an Angel Investigations business card, and says “Bring him in. His marker’s up. It’s time to collect his soul.” Cue electric cellos.

After the credits, Angel’s lying on his half burnt bed, staring at the ceiling. Cordy walks in, informs him that she’s there, then settles down in an armchair to read.

Sweeney: I loved this. Perfection.

Lor: I love that everyone has been avoiding him, too scared, too worried, too weirded out to do anything. Cordelia marches right in and does just the right thing. I’m almost sorry about that hair comment.

K: Don’t be. The hair is awful. Also, this is another sign of why ANGEL SHOULD HAVE PHONED CORDY.

Downstairs, Lorne is packing stuff into a box. Groo says that he wants to help any way he can, and has already brought Cordy clothes and food to sit the ritual of the bereaved. He asks if Lorne’s leaving, and gestures at the box, but Lorne says that it’s Wes’ stuff. Cut to the back office, where Fred and Gunn are talking to a couple of demonic clients who are demanding to see Wes, as he was handling their case. Gunn tells them that he’s on sabbatical, and asks for a few details of the case. They tell him that they have a Skench demon squatting in their lair, and they’d like someone to kill it please because it shrieks and projectile vomits everywhere. They go into too much detail about the last bit, and Gunn tells them that he’s got everything he needs and ushers them out. They bicker all the way to the door, and Fred grins after them. She thinks it’s adorable that they’ve been married for 300 years and are still in love and finishing each other’s insults. Gunn does a bit of a double take.

Groo walks in and asks if he can help with the demon hunting. Gunn says that he’s got it under control, and Fred reminds him to take his machete as he heads out. After Gunn leaves, Groo says he is, “very fortunate to have such a woman looking after his weapon.” Lorne walks in behind them, carrying the box of Wes’ stuff, and snorts a little at the unintentional innuendo. He hides the box behind the desk, then says that he’s off to make a house call because it seems like a good time to be out of the hotel. Fred promises to call if anything happens. She stares sadly at the box behind the desk.

Cut to Wes’ room at the hospital. Fred walks in with the box of stuff. She asks how he’s feeling, and he gestures at his throat. She tells him that she and Gunn found his notes about the prophecy. She tells him that she understands he was just trying to look after Connor, and that she thinks Angel trying to smother him was wrong. He gestures at her to stop. But she tells him that Angel was right to blame him – he should have gone to THEM about it rather than Holtz. She tells him to never come back to the hotel because Angel will finish what he started. She heads for the door, then stops. The prophecy was false, she tells him. Angel was never going to hurt Connor. There’s a close up of Wes’ face as she talks, and his eyes start to fill with tears. She walks away, leaving him alone in his hospital room.

Sweeney: Feels. That was rough. Fred wasn’t wrong in being hurt but much like Dawn’s tantrum during Buffy’s crazy episode, it’s a timing thing. All of this could have been said and justified, but now? It seems a little fucked up for her to pull that while he’s still in the hospital, unable to speak.

Lor: Right. Wesley is left there looking after like, “fuck my hospital visitors.” But also, her feelings on the matter are very close to my own.

K: It’s hard, because it’s a scene that needed to happen. But like Sweeney said, the timing is hella wonky. Back at the hotel, Sunglasses Repo Demon is walking through the door. Groo greets him as a potential client and asks if he needs help. “You must be Angel,” SRD replies.

Lor: (1) The Sunglasses Repo Demon kind of reminds me of Whoopi Goldberg. (2) All this misdirection over Angel would be great if the episode description hadn’t told us that they were after Gunn’s soul…

K: YES. I knew he reminded me of something, I just couldn’t pinpoint what it was. BRB, changing his name from hereon in.

Cut to Gunn walking through the sewers. He reaches the Old Married Demons’ lair and heads inside. The place is covered in blue slime. Just after he walks in something spits blue slime at him, and he’s grossed out. He looks up to see a huge demon that looks a lot like the Flukeman from The X-Files, except it’s wearing clothes. Gunn is taken aback, because he thought he was after something leprechaun sized. He throws himself into the fight, but the Flukeman promptly throws the machete across the room. The fight continues, and Gunn ends up landing right next to his machete. He pins the Flukeman on the floor and stabs it, releasing a stream of blue slime. “Must be my lucky day,” he says. “Wanna bet?” says a voice from the door. It’s Whoopi Goldberg Demon. Gunn looks ashamed. Fade to black.

After the Not Commercial Break, we’re on the bad side of town with Gangsta’s Paradise playing. Seriously. (S: SO RIDICULOUS. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?) (L: OH MY GOD. I LAUGHED SO HARD. I didn’t even know what was happening. Just the opening notes and I was DYING. TEARS.) (L: Sorry, guys, I paused the episode to write that comment and when I un-paused, Gagsta’s Paradise was STILL PLAYING. I STILL LAUGHED. Okay. Done now.) Gunn walks up wearing a do-rag as a note on the screen informs us that it’s seven years ago. I expected the music to stop at this point, but IT DIDN’T. IT JUST KEPT ON GANGSTA-ING. He walks past a number of homeless guys and through a gap in a chain fence to the casino carpark. Gunn heads inside and upstairs to talk to Jenoff. He says that he’s there to do business, and that he wants something from Jenoff. Jenoff tells him that he doesn’t traffic in wants, but in needs – the things you simply can’t do without. Gunn says that he needs it, and pulls a photo out of his pocket. He hands it to Jenoff, who declares the contents very nice, and that he can make it happen. But there’s a price. And that price is his future. He asks Gunn if he’s sure he wants to mortgage his future for his present happiness. Gunn says that he is. Jenoff grabs his hand, puncturing his palm with a spiked ring. He slams Gunn’s hand down on a legal contract, sealing it in blood.

Back to the present. Whoopi Goldberg Demon – who Gunn met when he made the deal – tells him that he can’t get out of the deal. Gunn says that he’s not trying to. WGD tells him that giving your soul to another is against the rules, and Gunn’s all “…Huh?” Apparently he’s about to give his soul to Fred as part of falling for her. Uh, OKAY SHOW. WHATEVER. WGD tells Gunn that the contract is broken, and Jenoff wants his soul. Gunn says he needs to see Jenoff, to talk to him, because he’s not the same person he was then. WGD tells him that they’re all older, but that they all have to pay their debts. Gunn argues that there must be something else he can take, but WGD tells him that if he tries to skip out on the deal, they’ll take Fred’s soul as well as his. Gunn’s got 24 hours to sort his shit out and get down to the casino.

Seizure cut to the Hyperion. Gunn walks sadly in the front door. He stares at Fred, who’s in the office dealing with files. Cordy walks up and asks if he’s okay. He says that he is, and she’s all “NUH UH. USE YOUR WORDS,” because she’s the best even if her hair is the worst. But she doesn’t let him speak, instead saying that she knows what the problem is – he feels guilty because he’s happy while Angel and Wes are miserable. He tries to tell her that’s not it, but she keeps on talking about how he and Fred are meant to be and have their whole lives ahead of them. She says that she learnt a big lesson living on the Hellmouth – “Every day is precious. You never know when it may be your last.” He says that he never figured he’d live this long or have so much. She tells him he’s lucky, and fakes a vision of him and Fred taking the next day off work to have fun. She heads back up to Angel as Gunn smiles.

Lor: It’s cute that Cordy is also very useful here but not quite as on point. I mean, not that I expected her to guess that Gunn sold his soul or any thing, but this scene was just a bit of a contrast the the perfection of her sitting down and saying nothing. The whole, “you have you whooooole future!” was not it.

K: Truth. It would have been nice if she’d let him get a word in… Fred’s room at the Hyperion the next morning. Her phone rings. Apparently she and Gunn have a morning ritual where she guesses what he’s wearing, and it never takes her more than two guesses. I’m not sure whether this means that Gunn has a very limited wardrobe/is incredibly predictable or whether Fred’s got an algorithm in her head that calculates the probabilities of each outfit.

Anyway, he clearly asks what she’s wearing because she tells him to come over and find out. The door bursts open and he walks in, carrying a silver cloche with a red rose balanced on the top of it. She swoons a little over the breakfast in bed before asking with a slightly scared expression if he cooked. He lifts the lid on the cloche to reveal takeaway boxes – he’s brought her pancakes AND waffles from her favourite diner. She tucks in before asking whether today is special that she gets breakfast in bed. He tells her that it’s very special – they’re going to spend the whole day having the Best Day Ever. She tells him he’s the best boyfriend ever, then feeds him a bite of pancake and calls “PANCAKE KISS!” I’m not on board with that being a thing. Half chewed pancakes, much like toothbrushes, should not be shared.

Hospital. Wes’ doctor walks in and asks how he’s doing. Wes raises a sarcastic eyebrow in reply. The doctor informs him that the swelling has gone down and there’s no infection, so his airway isn’t compromised, and that he’s going to be released later that day. He asks if there’s anyone who can pick Wes up, maybe a friend or a family member? Wes just stares sadly at the wall. Back at the hotel, Angel is ALSO staring sadly at the wall in his burnt out apartment. Cordy’s curled up in the armchair reading. “I think he was going to be left handed,” Angel says quietly. Cordy sits up a little in the chair. Angel continues, saying that he’s used to losing people – it comes with the immortality gig – but he wasn’t expecting to lose Connor. Not this soon, anyway. For the first time in a long time, he was excited about the future. Cordy tears up. “I had a son,” Angel says sadly as he stares at the crib.

Sweeney: I’m sure it’s like old times up in here – with Lorraine and I as the sole occupants of the Feels Couch over this, but that’s where you’ll find me. I love that Cordelia was the one to offer up “the future” as the thing that changed. Have I mentioned how glad I am that she’s back enough times yet?

Lor: Still on the couch with you. There are all kinds of feels associated with surviving your own child, but I suppose Angel was always meant to. You’ve got to figure that was something he was preparing himself for, that future day when he’d lose Connor too. To have “that future day” arrive so quickly? Ooof.

K: I’ve edged my Team Heartless Cow ottoman slightly closer to the Couch of Feels, but that’s it. At an outside restaurant somewhere, Fred and Gunn are having lunch. She’s wearing a paper crown and looking a little perplexed because apparently they’ve hit all their favourite food places and she’s pretty full. And also kind of exhausted, but he still wants to go to the movies, go shopping, and go roller skating. His face falls when she says she’s tired, and that maybe they should save some fun for another day because it’s not like they have to cram the rest of their lives into one day. His face falls again, and she realises that something’s wrong. He’s clearly trying too hard because something is wrong. She asks if he has leukaemia, which seems like a really random leap. He laughs, and promises that they’re not in a Nicholas Sparks novel.

She’s relieved at first, then realises that something’s still wrong. He says that it’s not, and that maybe they should go back to the hotel, but she demands that he stop lying to her, to be honest. Her voice fades into the background and Gunn hears people laughing and casino noises. His demeanour changes, and suddenly he’s a douchenozzle. Fred says that they’ll get through things together, and he tells her they won’t. She asks if it’s her, and he tells her it is. She wants to know what’s wrong with her, and he replies “Now I gotta make a list? I don’t think I have enough time.” She asks what’s happening, and he tells her they’re over and walks away. Everyone in the restaurant is staring. Fred goes after him and asks if there’s someone else. He says there is, and that her name is “I’m a real woman and not a stick figure.” He stalks off, leaving Fred crying at the restaurant. Fade to black.

Lor: Anyone else getting Max vibes from Fred in a paper crown? Anyone?

K: YES. After the Not Commercial Break, Angel’s staring at the crib again. Cordy tells him that she’s not going to say that things get better and the pain will go away, because it won’t. Even if he lives another 200 years, he’ll never forget how Connor was taken from him, and he shouldn’t. But he’ll keep on loving and missing Connor no matter what, and living his life no matter what. He says that he doesn’t know how to keep living, and she tells him that it doesn’t matter because life will just keep happening. There’ll be clients who need their help, and they’ll help them. There’s a sniffling noise in the background and Cordy heads over to the door to find a sobbing Fred on the other side. She asks what’s wrong, and Fred says as Angel walks up that Gunn’s in terrible danger.

Cut to Jenoff STICKING HIS FINGERS INTO A GUY’S EYEBALLS AND SUCKING OUT HIS SOUL. Have I mentioned recently that I have eyeball phobia? BECAUSE I HAVE FUCKING EYEBALL PHOBIA. (S: WHY WAS THIS GROSSNESS ON MY SCREEN?) (K: SERIOUSLY. OMFG) The camera zooms out as Jenoff grins to show Gunn walking through the casino. He walks up to Whoopi Goldberg Demon and tells him that he’s there to pay his bill. Back at the hotel, Cordy is unconvinced by Fred’s argument that something’s wrong. Angel, meanwhile, is all “Wait, you and Gunn are dating??”, and Groo is just a little confused about the whole thing. Fred tells Cordy that Gunn didn’t really break up with her, and that he was protecting her from something, because that’s the only way he would say those awful things to her. Cordy hugs her as Angel says that he supposes they should help Gunn because they’re not losing another member of the family. (S: Precious.)

Wesley’s apartment. He walks in the front door and looks around the empty, darkened room. He leans against the wall, holding his box of stuff, and kicks the door closed with his foot. Hyperion. Cordy says that Gunn’s not answering his phones. Angel suggests that they split up to cover more ground. He and Fred will check out his old gang haunts while Cordy and Groo check out Gunn’s place. Cordy wonders if they should report his truck as stolen, and Angel says that getting the police involved is probably a good idea, because apparently he’s new to Traumaland?!

Groo nods and smiles throughout. Fred says they should leave a note for Lorne, and they agree to regroup later if they don’t find anything. Groo pulls out a business card and suggests that maybe they can leave them at each place they go, just like the Whoopi Goldberg Demon did when he came by the day before asking about Gunn. Angel’s all “WTF?” and grabs the card from him. It’s for the casino, and Angel’s all “Ohhhhhhh shit,” because he knows of Jenoff. His nickname is “The Soul Sucker.”

With that, we cut back to the casino, where the soul sucked guy’s corpse is being dragged away. Jenoff appears, and tells Gunn that he’s impressed because most people have to be dragged in there the second time. Gunn tells him that he’s there to pay his debt and that once they’re square, Jenoff’s to forget all about Fred. Jenoff says that she wasn’t part of the deal, so it’s fine. Gunn says he just wants to get it over with, and Jenoff raises his hooked fingers towards Gunn’s eyes. Just as he’s about to stab Gunn in the eyes, the casino door bursts open and Angel walks in, carrying an axe. He calls Gunn’s name, and Gunn turns as people throughout the casino start to run.

The rest of the Fang Gang walks in behind Angel. The demonic bouncers head towards them, but Angel and Groo make short work of them. Fred calls out Gunn’s name and he starts towards her. Whoopi Goldberg Demon holds him back. A crowd of demons close in around the gang. Angel grabs a nearby bouncer and holds an axe to his throat, demanding to talk to the boss. Jenoff walks through the crowd, wanting to know who’s disrupting his business. Angel replies that Gunn’s his employee, so really, it’s Jenoff doing the business disrupting. Jenoff tells Angel that he should have looked into Gunn’s background before hiring him. Angel says that he’ll make a deal with Jenoff – let Gunn go and forget his debt, and Angel won’t kill him. Jenoff’s all “LOL, kill them.” “Double or nothing!” Angel says, earning himself a gold star.

 

Jenoff’s intrigued about the idea of acquiring Angel’s soul. Angel says that he’ll choose the game, and if he wins, Gunn goes free. If he loses, Jenoff gets both of them. Cordy’s face says that this is a terrible plan. Jenoff laughs evilly as we fade to black.

Sweeney: It definitely has the feel of a terrible plan…

Lor: Meaning it will inexplicably work out in the end! Fear not.

K: After the Not Commercial Break, Cordy asks what the real plan is. Angel holds up a deck of cards, and says that the whole double or nothing thing is the plan. Cordy headdesks, and Fred tells him that it’s wrong in so many ways. Angel says that he’s gambled a lot in his time, so it’ll be totally fine. On the other side of the room, Jenoff tells Whoopi Goldberg Demon that it’ll be like taking candy from a baby. Groo says that he thinks fighting their way out is a better option. Angel says he’s going to win, so it’s not a problem. Fred’s worried about the whole Angelus thing, but Angel says it’s all fine. He hands Cordy a stake as he heads over to Jenoff, and tells her that she knows what to do if he loses. He asks her to make it quick. “You know I will,” she replies.

Jenoff tells Angel to name his card game. He reels off a bunch of types, but Angel says a cut of the deck with the high card winning will do. A dealer shuffles a deck and hands it to Jenoff. At Angel’s insistence, he goes first and draws the nine of clubs. Angel smiles a little, and cuts the deck. He blows on his fingers and turns the top card over smugly. It’s the three of hearts. Both he and Gunn are all “WTF?!?!?” Cordy’s eyes widen, and she raises the stake. But instead of staking Angel, she slams the stake into Jenoff’s hand. He screams before Angel chops his head off. Gunn knocks out Whoopi Goldberg Demon, and Fred runs over to him. They hug.

Angel tells the screaming patrons that there’s no need to thank him, but Gunn points out that killing Jenoff isn’t that easy. A new head appears from Jenoff’s shirt, covered in gloop, half formed and screaming. Groo’s all “Okay, so we fight now?”, but instead Angel calls out “Anybody else owe this guy?” The casino patrons rush in and attack Jenoff as the Fang Gang leave.

Sweeney: This was weird. I mean – much like the Firefly sword fight resolved in a punch, I liked what they did with the card game, but then it just got…weird.

Lor: Um, yes. Basically, in the end they were like, “fuck it! Run away!” Right. Sure.

K: Right?? So strange. Gunn’s truck. Fred’s making him apologise over and over for saying horrible things. He asks if they’re okay, and she nods before kissing him. She has one last question though – who did he trade his soul for? He awkwards, saying it was a long time ago, but she insists that he tell her. Eventually he does – it was his truck. She laughs a little, and he says that the truck kept him alive and saved a lot of lives along the way. He didn’t think he had a future and so having a soul wasn’t a big deal. But now he does and it is. He tells Fred that he loves her and she smiles at him as they kiss again.

Angel’s apartment. He stands over the crib.  Cordy watches from the doorway as he starts to pull the crib apart, then closes the door leaving him to the task. Fade to black.

Sweeney: EMOTIONS. SO MANY OF THEM. This scene was wonderfully done – definitely the best of his grieving scenes.

K: This episode was kind of weak for me. Yes, it’s a life-moves-on-regardless-of-the-tragedies-you-suffer thing. But the whole demonic casino/losing your soul thing was kind of dumb. As if we don’t have enough lore on souls to worry about, now we’ve added demon deals to the equation in a very Supernatural turn of events. I’ve always found Gunn-centric episodes to be on the weaker side. He’s so often the muscle and the comic relief that it’s just a little awkward to see him as a completely serious character with Major Problems.

Sweeney: This episode was particularly rough in that respect because of a few really insane choices, like the use of Gangsta’s Paradise. (L: LOL. STILL LAUGHING.) That said, I appreciated the whole idea that he did this when he didn’t expect to live that long. That plays well with the Gunn we first met and what we’ve seen of his old life.

Lor: IDK. Telling myself that Gunn at 17 would totally do that doesn’t make selling your soul for a beat up truck any less weird. He was so anti-supernatural too.

K: Pretty much my thoughts. The continuation of the “I could use my words, but LOL NOPE” theme drove me nuts. Coming right on the back of the Wes-didn’t-use-his-words-and-got-his-throat-slit-as-a-result plot, it didn’t really work for me. Plus, this much time with the Gunn/Fred relationship was a little excessive. That said, I’m thrilled that Cordy’s back, and that scene at the end with Angel pulling the crib apart was the kick in the feels that’s been missing for me since Connor was taken.

 

Next time: The Hyperion gets invaded by demonic slugs. Find out if it’s as disgusting as it sounds in Angel S03 E19 – The Price.