"Shiny Happy People"
The newly-born Jasmine (see “Inside Out”) marvels at how wonderful everything is and thanks the unconscious Cordelia for protecting her. Angel says that he should be punished, since he came there to kill Jasmine. She tells him that she can feel his suffering, but it will end soon. She raises the sword and he bows his head, expecting her to decapitate him. Instead, she disappears. Back at the Hyperion, Fred tries to distract herself by organizing books. She can hear the buzz saw in the basement, where Gunn and Wesley are dismembering Skip (see “Inside Out”). Lorne gets confused when Fred suddenly starts talking about Cordelia, then switches to worrying because Angel’s been gone for so long. She wonders if Angel got there too late to stop the birth, then fears that Angel actually went through with killing Cordelia. Fred spots Connor arriving and grabs a knife. She orders him to drop his own knife; he tells her that he was just putting it away. Angel announces that Connor’s with him and it’s okay. Fred sees Cordelia and Angel assures her that she’s resting and is at peace. Angel tries to explain what happened with Jasmine, telling the MoG that Jasmine disappeared without even saying goodbye. The MoG are surprised that Jasmine didn’t look like a demon. Angel says that they need to find her, then has to tell the others that they don’t want to kill her: “we just want to find her so we can worship her.” Wesley says that Angel is under some sort of spell and tries to remind him of all of the things Jasmine made Cordelia do. Jasmine arrives and all of the MoG kneel in front of her, instantly agreeing to do whatever she asks them to.
Upstairs, Gunn and Fred light candles around Cordelia; Fred says that Cordelia must be happy to have had the honor of bringing Jasmine into the world. Jasmine says that she’s the one who’s honored and she’s glad to be back. She explains that in the beginning of time, powerful beings lived on the earth and good and evil were just beginning to be formed. The earth became a “demon realm,” and Jasmine and others resisted and left, but kept watching the earth. “You’re a power that…was?” Gunn asks. Jasmine continues that man emerged and was neither God nor demon; humans were supposed to restore the balance. Fred thinks that they failed, but Jasmine says that she and her fellow beings failed humans because they only observed. She arranged to be born back on earth through Angel, Darla, and Connor. Apparently, the day that Lorne sent Angel and Darla to the Trial, Angel earned life for Darla, which in turn led to Connor’s life. Wesley decides that all of the chaos from the past few months have been “birth pains” allowing Jasmine to be born. Jasmine says that if they win the “battle,” Cordelia will probably wake up and be all right. They have to take care of everything “one evil at a time” and change the world. The MoG head to a bowling alley (yeah, you read that right), where two vampires are complaining that they can’t have much fun anymore now that the sun is back (see “Salvage”). As the other MoG fight the vamps, Fred protects Jasmine, who wants a name. Jasmine gets sliced by a vampire and Angel attacks the vamp, wanting revenge since he hurt Jasmine.
Out in an alley, Angel and Connor fight the vamp and protect some humans, one of whom also gets scratched by the vamp. Once the humans see Jasmine, they start worshipping her immediately. Jasmine tells them to honor her by honoring each other, since they’re all one. She addresses one of the humans by name, telling her that she won’t feel pain anymore and everyone will know the power of Jasmine’s love. The man the vamp scratched grabs a knife and shouts that Jasmine is a monster. He tries to attack Jasmine but Angel stops him and beats him up. Jasmine stops him and the man frantically wonders why no one else can see what he sees. As Wesley calls for an ambulance to get the man, Jasmine tells everyone else that the man will always be alone because he’s full of anger and fear. The rest of them will be together because they’ve found each other. Back at the Hyperion, Wesley and Gunn discuss possible names for Jasmine. Fred is trying unsuccessfully to get the blood out of Jasmine’s shirt, despite the fact that it doesn’t matter to Jasmine. After Fred leaves, Jasmine notes that Wesley and Gunn both love her and should be closer because of that. Connor comes to bandage Jasmine and is surprised to see that her arm has already healed. He wonders why the man wanted to hurt Jasmine. Jasmine says that some people are afraid of change; they turn that fear into hatred and they take that out on others and themselves.
Out in the garden, Jasmine admires the scent of jasmine and notes that Angel is lonely. He’s upset because he almost killed the man, but Jasmine says that he was trying to help her. He’s worried because he’s so happy that Jasmine is there; he doesn’t want to turn back into Angelus. Jasmine tells him that it won’t matter, since they’re going to get rid of evil and be left only with beauty. Angel wonders if this is possible, since the MoG have been fighting for so long and don’t feel like they’ve made a huge difference. Jasmine tells him that he’s her general and she has faith in him. The MoG come outside and Jasmine tells them that she has faith in all of them. Throughout the night, the male MoG fight demons and Fred continues to try to clean Jasmine’s shirt. Jasmine voices over that she will always be with all of them they should remember that no one can defeat them. A news report announces that there has been a decrease in crime; Angel is a little upset that the MoG aren’t getting the credit, but Jasmine says it doesn’t matter. Angel is happy to realize that Jasmine never doubted the MoG. Jasmine goes upstairs with Lorne and Fred comes into the lobby, crying because she couldn’t clean the shirt and had to buy a new one. The others tell her that she doesn’t have to be upset; she says that she’s crying because Jasmine isn’t there. Lorne shows Jasmine a suite he’s decorated for her. Connor arrives and admits to Jasmine that he doesn’t think he deserves to be so happy about her being there. Jasmine says that he does and she chose him to be her father. Fred enters with the shirt, and when she looks at Jasmine’s face, she sees decaying, maggot-infested flesh.
Fred freaks out at the sight of the not-so-pretty-in-reality Jasmine, blaming her crying on the idea of Jasmine not being there. She pays a visit to Cordelia and admits that she thinks the MoG’s first instinct that something evil was coming was right. Angel arrives and Fred asks him if he thinks it’s strange that they all follow Jasmine without question. He thinks it’s a relief not to have to worry about what to do anymore. Fred heads to a hospital, where she pretends to be a family member of Stoller, the man who tried to attack Jasmine. She winds up finding him in the psychiatric unit and determines that he wasn’t crazy before what happened with Jasmine. She confirms that they saw the same thing when they looked at Jasmine and Stoller reveals that his skin has turned demon-ish where Jasmine touched him. He wants Fred to help him escape so that they can kill Jasmine; they’ve been “called” to the “mission.” Fred panics and leaves. When she returns to the hotel, it’s full of people who saw Jasmine while she was taking a walk and followed her back. Fred pulls Wesley aside and tells him what she and Stoller both saw. He claims to believe her, but he spreads the word to the other MoG and she decides not to trust them. She grabs a crossbow and dagger, points the crossbow at Jasmine (who’s between Angel and Connor), apologizes, and pulls the trigger.
Angel jumps in front of Jasmine and takes the arrow to his shoulder. Fred takes Lorne hostage with the dagger and tells the other MoG to stay away from her. Jasmine tells her that she can’t leave, since her love will always be with Fred. Fred uses Lorne as a shield and escapes the Hyperion. Jasmine stops the others from going after her, reminding them that they’re working for peace. Fred jumps in a jeep and drives all night, only pulling over to cry when the sun comes up. Back at the hotel, the MoG are shocked that Fred is evil. Jasmine uses her as an example of what hatred can do to someone. Angel and Connor decide to go look for Fred. Jasmine says that she’s sorry that everyone trusted Fred and that she betrayed them. Gunn says that it doesn’t matter, since Fred tried to hurt Jasmine. Angel wonders why he didn’t notice earlier that Fred was acting strangely; Gunn thinks that Stoller convinced her of something that isn’t true. Angel and Wesley decide that they need to kill Fred, but Jasmine wants them to try to help her first. She wants them to wait until the next day to try to find her - “we’ll have eyes everywhere.” Fred goes to a diner, where she sees a morning show on which the now-named Jasmine is appearing. People come in off the streets to watch Jasmine on TV, kneeling as soon as they see her. As Jasmine tells the story of the beginning of time, Fred leaves the diner and sees that everyone has gone inside to watch Jasmine on TV.
MORAL, or CRAMMING COMPLEX ISSUES INTO A NUTSHELL: If you think it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
GRADE: B The next one’s better.
MEMORABLE QUOTES: Fred: “Well, there’s been an awful lot of dismembering going on in that basement lately, if you ask me.”
Wesley: “What about--?”
Written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain; directed by Marita Grabiak
Lorne: “Well, it’s been a busy month.”
Fred: “Clorox.”
Gunn: “‘Clorox, she bleaches away the hate.’”
Wesley: “Probably best we avoid brand names.”