"Players"
The MoG are silently shocked about Cordelia’s revelation that she’s pregnant (see “Orpheus”). They’re especially surprised because she hasn’t been with Connor that long (see “Rain of Fire”). Gunn notes that she’s only been pregnant for a few weeks, but looks like she’s eight months along. Wesley points out that the last time Cordelia was pregnant (see “Expecting”), she went through nine months in two days. The MoG are reluctant to believe what Cordelia does - that the baby is a perfectly normal being, which it most definitely is not. In a park in L.A., Gwen (last seen in “Long Day’s Journey”) meets up with a nervous guy who gives her info on security and blueprints for something. He freaks out and runs away when she gets struck by lightning. Back at the Hyperion, Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne discuss Cordelia and Connor. Fred notes that Connor was effected by the sanctuary spell (see “Release”), which means that he must be part demon. Lorne thinks that Angel should be participating in the conversation, but he’s been listening from the office the whole time. He announces that he’s been thinking about the events of “Soulless” through “Release” and knows that he didn’t kill Lilah (see “Calvary”) - the Beast did. He gives Wesley his condolences, then turns back to the two important matters at hand: figuring out who the Beastmaster is and what’s going on with Cordelia’s pregnancy.
Angel sends Lorne out to speak with his contacts and has Wesley research mystical pregnancies. He himself is going to put together everything that’s happened with him and the Beast to see if he can come up with anything. Gwen arrives and announces that there’s a girl who’s in trouble; she wants a guy to help her out. Angel automatically assumes that she means him, but tells her he can’t help right now. Gwen reveals that she was actually thinking of Gunn. Cordelia finds Connor in a room at the hotel and tells him that he shouldn’t listen to the other MoG. He’s upset that he came close to killing Angel while he was Angelus (see “Orpheus”). She tells him that everything that’s happened in the past has come together to ensure that their baby will be born. He asks why she sent him to the basement to kill Angelus and she says that she thought he was a threat to their baby. Cordelia tells him that she may ask him to do other things before the baby is born, and he should remember that no matter what, there’s always a reason for them. Gwen takes Gunn to her apartment, where he plays with little figurines that she’s collected from her travels. She explains that she often makes deals with corporations; two companies fight for a contract, and one company hires her to make sure that the other company’s product fails. This time, however, the second company fought back and kidnapped a little girl named Lisa, the daughter of the guy who hired Gwen in the first place. Gwen says that the girl’s disappearance is her fault, so she has to save her. She tells Gunn that the guy they’re after is named Takeshi Morimoto, and they go to his compound to save the girl. Gunn is amused by this, pointing out that he spent a good portion of the year in a “turgid supernatural soap opera” and is now actually going to help someone. She tells him that they’re not so much breaking in as walking in.
Gwen and Gunn get dressed up and go to Morimoto’s mansion. They’re scanned by something that detects body heat as well as other attributes, then head for metal detectors, which Gunn worries will cause a problem for Gwen. Everything goes fine until their tickets are scanned and an alarm goes off. A security guard informs them that the electronic implants in their invitation has been altered; Gwen tries to convince them that it’s because she was struck by lightning. Gunn notes that they might have to back down, but Gwen wants to shock the security guards and fight her way in. Gunn stops her, spotting Morimoto and speaking to him in Japanese. (He only knows how to say “hello.”) Gunn makes up a story about meeting Morimoto at a zoo benefit and Gwen goes along with it. Gunn gives him one of Gwen’s figurines, a little jade tiger, and manages to get Morimoto to tell the security guards to let them in. Back at the Hyperion, Fred and Wesley research mystical pregnancies. Fred is squicked out by the idea of Cordelia and Connor together, but Wesley is more understanding, since he had his own abnormal relationship with Lilah. “We were fighting on opposite sides, but it was the same war,” he says. Even though he hated her, they didn’t worry about that in the bedroom. Gwen and Gunn head into the ballroom and Gunn explains that he learned about etiquette and gift-giving from Samurai movies. Gwen reveals that she stole the tiger back without anyone seeing. Gunn sees the little girl from the picture surrounded by guards and Gwen tries to get closer, telling Gunn to keep an eye on Morimoto.
Cordelia pays Angel a visit in his room, trying to find out if he’s figured anything out about the Beast. They talk about the Beastmaster and Cordelia does some role playing, wondering why the Beastmaster would steal Angel’s soul from a safe by using the combination (see “Soulless”), then kill Lilah. Angel says that the Beastmaster is crazy enough to do that sort of thing and probably isn’t even working from a master plan. He assures Cordelia that the Beastmaster will slip up eventually and the MoG will be able to kill him. Back at the ballroom, Morimoto, Gunn, and another guest discuss the strange events that have been occurring recently. Gwen meets up with Gunn and tells him that they’re going to kill the girl tonight, so he needs to get her out of there immediately. She says that she’s going to create a distraction across the room so that he can get the girl out. Gwen pushes over a coffee table and Gunn grabs the girl, running of with her. However, Gwen chooses to yell out that he’s taking her, alerting the guards. Gunn ducks into a room with a girl and someone knocks him out. When he wakes up, he has to fight a bunch of men, which he does easily. He tells the girl that he’s going to take her home and she tells him that she is home - she’s Morimoto’s daughter, and her name isn’t Lisa. Gunn finds Gwen trying to break into a safe in a study. He notes that she brought him instead of Angel because she knew that Angel wouldn’t get past the scanners at the door. She says that she could have told him about the real plan, but he’s having a good time. He says that he is, but because he thought he was helping someone. Gwen tells him that Lisa is actually an acronym that stands for Localized Ionic Sensory Activator; she’s been hired to steal the device from Morimoto. She tells him that Morimoto is still a bad guy, but Gunn doesn’t want to help anymore. She tells him that he can keep his suit and he decides to stay.
Fred and Wesley hover over Angel as he recreates the passage from Lilah’s book about the Beast (see “Calvary”). As Wesley tries to translate the text, Cordelia prepares to dump a cup of coffee on it. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to, since Wesley translates it as, “The green cart-like vehicle eats…I am not a bucket head.” Angel decides to try drawing the passage again. Gwen breaks into the safe and easily shorts out an electronic keypad. She grabs LISA and is about to take off with Gunn when they’re stopped by Morimoto and some security guards. Angel’s second attempt to recreate the passage fails as well, so he decides to try something else for awhile. Lorne returns with something to help him become empathic again. The ritual has to be performed alone, somewhere dark, but by the morning, he should be able to read Cordelia and find out what’s going on with the baby. Gunn wants to fight the guards, but he’s not so gung-ho when they pull guns on him. Gwen refuses to give back LISA, but Gunn doesn’t want to die over it. Morimoto tells the guards to kill them, so Gwen electrocutes everyone but Gunn. Gunn realizes that Gwen is stealing the device for herself because she thinks that it will get rid of her electromagnetism. As they run off, Lorne heads to the basement of the Hyperion and sets up candles for his ritual, not noticing that Cordelia is watching him from a catwalk. Back at Gwen’s place, Gunn notes that she could have done the job on her own. She wonders why he sticks with the MoG when they only see him as the muscle. He says that he was born to be a fighter. Gwen explains that the LISA won’t necessarily allow her to be normal, but she’ll be able to have physical contact with people. He asks for a demonstration.
In the bedroom, Gunn puts the LISA on Gwen’s back; it releases needles which insert themselves into her. They note that it worked as Gunn realizes that since Gwen has never been able to touch anyone, she’s never had sex. He decides to remedy that and things turn friendly with them. (Unfortunately, that’s the last we see of Gwen.) Back at they Hyperion, Lorne begins his ritual, singing a chant over a ball covered in a white cloth. Cordelia sneaks up behind him, preparing to stab him. Before she can, the lights go on and Cordelia sees Angel in front of her. She tries to run, but finds the exit blocked by Fred and Wesley. Lorne removes the cloth from the ball, revealing a Magic 8 Ball. “Has Cordy been a bad, bad girl?” he asks. The Magic 8 Ball replies, “Definitely.”
MORAL, or CRAMMING COMPLEX ISSUES INTO A NUTSHELL: The MoG are smarter than they let on.
GRADE: B+ Gwen and lots of Gunn? Always a good idea.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Fred: “Were we too harsh? I was just asking.”
“Anyway, thanks for turning me…off.” - Gwen to Gunn
Lorne: “Has Cordy been a bad, bad girl?”
Written by Jeffrey Bell, Sarah Fain, and Elizabeth Craft; directed by Michael Grossman
Wesley: “No, they were bound to skulk off to neutral corners.”
Gunn: “Two vampires hook up, and - for the only time in vamp history - have a kid, our boy Connor. Then Connor grows up, knocks it out with Cordelia, a part-demon former higher-being. And quick as you can say ‘Easy Bake Oven,’ there’s a gigantic bun in hers. I don’t think we were too harsh.”
Fred: “The first time Connor tried to attack Angelus, Lorne’s sanctuary spell knocked him halfway to Abilene.”
Wesley: “Which means Connor is at least part demon.”
Lorne: “Yeah, well, that was before my spell went all Flop-a-palooza.”
Fred: “Having two part-demon parents might could explain the woosh factor.”
Gunn: “Not gonna be long until woosh turns into pop.”
Lorne: “Speaking of ‘pop,’ don’t you think our re-ensouled leader should be a part of this little confab?”
Angel: “Easy Bake. Flop-a-palooza. Woosh. Pop. I don’t skulk.”
Magic 8 Ball: “Definitely.”