Recap / Angel S 03 E 20 A New World

Connor, just returned from Quor'toth, fires wooden stakes at Angel using a special, multi-barreled gun. Angel dodges the stakes. Gunn and the Groosalugg attack him, but he beats them back. Connor demonstrates that he has super powers comparable to Angel's. Angel wins the fight, however, and pins Connor to the floor with a knife at his throat.

Angel lowers the knife and offers Connor a hand up. Connor skitters away and runs outside into the daylight, where Angel cannot follow.

Gunn and the Groosalugg pursue, but when Connor runs out into the street, they are stopped by Los Angeles traffic. Connor jumps on top of a passing bus and escapes.

Gunn remembers that the bus Connor hopped was number 17. Fred determines that the 17 bus will go to Union Station. Angel leaves for the sewers, hoping to meet Connor there.

The four remaining AI team members soon realize that the dimensional rift to Quar'toth is still open. Cordelia and the Groosalugg remain to guard the rift, while Gunn and Fred hit the streets to search for Connor. Fred suggests Wesley may know how to close the rift, but Gunn reveals to her that he went to Wesley to learn how to save her from the sluks and that Wesley made it clear none of them are to expect his help again. Lorne leaves to find an acquaintance who might be able to help close the rift.

Lilah knocks on Wesley's door. She enters uninvited. Wesley knows she plans to offer him a job, and she does. When he refuses, she makes him a gift, a 16th century edition of "The Inferno" by Dante in the original Tuscan. She reminds him, according to Dante, the worst spot in Hell is reserved for the traitor Judas Iscariot. The comparison is not lost on Wesley, as Lilah remarks he is no longer too good to work at the firm.

Connor leaps off the top of the number 17 bus.

In the sewers, Angel calls Fred and Gunn by cell phone. Angel predicts that Connor will not ride the bus to the end but will look for a less populated place. Gunn says Connor's dress is attracting attention, so his movements are easy to trace. Angel reminds them that Connor is his son and must stay alive.

Connor overhears a conversation under a freeway bridge. A girl is trying to trade three music CDs to a young man for heroin. He refuses to take the CDs. She complains and he wrestles her into his car.

Connor jumps down from the bridge and approaches the drug dealer, who is bemused by Connor's odd dress. He whistles and three thugs appear from behind the columns of the freeway bridge. One of them knocks Connor down with a crowbar. The drug dealer orders his henchmen to "get rid" of Connor, whom he assumes is dead.

Connor, who has been playing possum, leaps up and attacks the thugs. When they are all unconscious, the girl rifles the drug dealer's pockets and steals his cash and a small amount of heroin. She urges Connor to leave the scene before the police show up. Connor rips the drug dealer's ear off "so he won't forget me."

At the Hyperion Hotel, Cordelia and the Groosalugg are keeping watch over the dimensional rift. Cordelia, aware of the Groosalugg's feeling that he might be inferior to Angel and that Cordelia might prefer Angel to him, gives him reassurance. As they kiss, an electric charge strikes them and they are flung in opposite directions.

Angel, Fred and Gunn visit the scene of Connor's escapade, where the police are now investigating. Angel instructs Gunn and Fred to return to the hotel while he continues the search for Connor alone.

Connor and Sunny go to an abandoned motel. She finds a man behind the first door she tries, so she goes upstairs, where she soon finds an unoccupied room where she plans for Connor and herself to spend the night. She finds clothing for Connor, then pulls a few snack food items out of her purse. As the two eat, Sunny explains that she takes medicine (heroine) she gets from Tyke, the drug dealer, because it helps her when she is sad.

Gunn and Fred return to the hotel to find Cordelia and the Groosalugg unconscious on the floor.

Sunny asks Connor why he is in Los Angeles. Connor says he came there to find his father. She says she came there to escape her father. She kisses Connor, then leaves saying she will be right back.

Wesley is using a laptop computer. He glances at the book Lilah gave him.

Connor, dozing off, is suddenly awakened by a police siren. He looks for Sunny. He finds her in another room in the motel, by a bathtub, dead, with a needle in her arm. He picks up the packet of heroin Sunny used, and understands. As he stands and turns, he sees Angel in the doorway.

Connor refuses to talk, but Angel follows him back to the room Sunny and Connor were sharing. He sees Connor sniffing a jacket that Sunny took from Tyke. Angel guesses that he intends to hunt down and kill Tyke. The two come to blows. Connor tells Angel his name is Steven.

Cordelia and the Groosalugg have recovered consciousness. Fred finds a book with a picture of the beast Connor killed. The book says the creature usually has a mate. Since Lorne has not returned, Fred suggests Wesley might help, but Cordelia demurs. Fred says she intends to call Wesley anyway, but Gunn orders her not to do so. Lorne enters with Mistress Myrna, who is a specialist in dimensional magic.

Angel cautiously talks to Connor, trying to start a conversation. Angel says he couldn't find a way into Quor'Toth. Connor replies that he found a way out. When Angel says Connor must have many questions, Connor says that his father, by which he means Holtz, told him everything. He challenges Angel to show him the demon face. Angel does so, saying he hopes Connor will be able to accept that part of him someday. Tyke, carrying a handgun, enters with several henchmen.

Tyke asks about Sunny. Angel wants to talk, saying there is no need for violence, but Tyke strikes him, saying he doesn't hear very well anymore. One of Tyke's henchmen finds Sunny and reports that she is dead. Tyke demands his property back. Another of his henchmen reports that the police are at the motel.

Mistress Myrna closes the opening to Quor'Toth, which she calls "a tear in reality, a big cosmic no-no," then immediately leaves.

Angel and Connor get the jump on Tyke and his men. The police hear the disturbance and move toward the room with weapons raised. Tyke seizes Connor, intending to use him as a human shield. Angel volunteers to take Connor's place. The police break in with axes. Tyke shoots at them and in the process releases Connor.

During the ensuing gun battle, Angel tells Connor to flee out the window. A policeman enters. As Angel tries to escape, the policeman shoots him in the back. The policeman is distracted by Tyke. Angel gets up and escapes together with Connor.

On the street below, Angel suggests that Connor come back to the hotel with him. Connor is impressed with Angel's heroics, but declines the offer.

In an alleyway, Connor finds Holtz, much older now.

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Tropes

• Arm Cannon: Connor's three-chambered, wrist-mounted stake-launcher.
• Asshole Victim: Tyke is a drug dealer and rapist; Connor cuts his ear off.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Connor's other arm has a curved, sickle-like blade strapped to it. It ends up pressed to his own throat by Angel, who then relents - which freaks Connor out more.
• Bullet Time: At the start of Connor's introduction when he launches several stakes at Angel.
• Cliffhanger: Holtz came through the rift while Groo and Cordy were unconscious.
• Damsel in Distress: Connor saves teenage junkie Sunny from being beaten by drug dealer Tyke.
• Distracted by the Smoochies: Groo has been standing motionless for hours, ready to cleave anyone or anything that comes through the rift, when Cordy distracts him with a kiss, whereupon a blast of lightning knocks them unconscious.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Father trying to reconnect with his child who'd been put up for adoption as a baby.
• Ear Ache: Connor slices off Tyke's ear as a trophy, "So he won't forget me." Tyke doesn't — he comes after Connor seeking vengeance.
• Expy: Sunny may be a reference to a character by the same name in The Catcher in the Rye. Both girls are poor teenagers who are encountered by adolescent men in times of need (Connor and Holden Caulfield respectively). Both men are dealing with separate existential crises. While Sunny from the novel is a prostitute, Sunny from the episode is a drug addict.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: Cordelia tries to use her newly-revealed powers to close the rift. After holding her hands skyward and commanding the rift to close in a loud voice...nothing happens.
• Game Face: Connor insists Angel show him the face he used when killing Holtz's family. Doubles as an ironic Call-Back, as showing his Game Face was the way Angel stopped baby Connor's crying in "Dad".
• Give Me a Sword: Cordy throws Angel a sword so he can fight Connor.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Groo re:Angel.
• I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Though not for the usual reasons like being turned against one's will; Holtz has indoctrinated Connor into believing that Angel is an evil monster.
• Hell-Bent for Leather / Battle Trophy: Connor steals Tyke's jacket after knocking him out.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Connor casually undressing in front of Sunny.
• Look Both Ways: Connor almost gets run down multiple times running into the street.
• Mugging the Monster: Connor vs Tyke and his goons. They get in a few hits, but not enough to keep him down.
• Near-Rape Experience: After Tyke throws away her CDs, Sunny smacks him a few times and calls him a jerk, prompting him to grab her by the hair, tell her "That, you can work off" and shove her in the back seat of his car.
• Nemean Skinning: Connor wears the skins of "things that I've killed", though he makes sure to nick Tyke's jacket as well — he'd know from first-hand experience just how much work it is to tan leather.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Wesley curtly turns down Lilah's offer of a job. She hands Wes an antique edition of Dante's Inferno, pointing out that in the innermost circle of Hell - in the centre mouth of the Devil himself - is Judas Iscariot.
  Lilah: The worst spot in Hell is reserved for those who betray. So, don't pretend you're too good to work for us.
• Not What It Looks Like: Tyke thinks that Connor's suit is made out of chamois, not realising they are demon skins.
• Oblivious Mockery
  Groo: I'm sure Angel has regaled you with his many exploits.
  Cordy: Oh, he's tried alright. But I get so bored with all that 'days of yore' crap. (Groo glances at her) Ah, I mean...they're nothing like your thrilling tales of adventure!"
• Offscreen Teleportation: Mistress Meerna, who keeps disappearing from one place and instantly reappearing in another.
  Lorne: It's been like that all day! One of the nasty side effects of specializing in dimensional magic. What I wouldn't do for a lasso and some crazy glue.
• Oh, Crap!: "That can't be good."
• Outside Ride: Connor jumps onto the back of a moving bus and climbs onto the roof.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Connor
  Gunn: Couple of weeks ago he was wearing diapers. Now he's a teenager?
  Cordy: Tell me we don't live in a soap opera.
• Police Brutality: The LAPD when they corner Tyke and his drug dealers. They act as a execution squad killing everyone there rather than arresting officers.
  • Given that the Drug Dealer opened fire first, with a Human Shield no less, this isn't even excessive force. Much less Police Brutality.
• Punch Catch
• Raised by Wolves: Connor. Although he did have a human parent, it was a vengeance-obsessed 18th century vampire hunter, in the middle of almost-literal hell, so his socialization wasn't great and he only knows as much about the modern world as he's heard secondhand from Holtz.
• Revenge Through Corruption: Holtz gets revenge on Angelus by raising Connor to believe his father is evil.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Averted by Lilah, who offers Wes access to the finest library of mystical, occult, and supernatural reference material in the world plus full medical, dental and 401(k) package.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Connor tracks down Holtz even though he assumed his 'father' was back in the hell dimension. In Season 4 it's revealed that Holtz would have him do this as a training exercise.
• Shout-Out: Gunn calls Connor "Peter Pan" while fighting. Androgynous, supernaturally-agile, dressed in rags? If the shoe fits...
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Wes vs Lilah. This is the beginning of a beautiful not-quite-friendship.
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Lampshaded, although since there's an in-universe explanation this is actually a Plot-Relevant Age-Up and not an example of the syndrome.
  Gunn: Couple of weeks ago [Connor] was wearing diapers. Now he's a teenager?
  Cordelia: Tell me we don't live in a soap opera.
• Sword over Head: Connor flees the Hyperion when Angel doesn't kill him when he has Connor at his mercy.
• Stock Scream: The Wilhelm scream can be heard when Connor throws a knife into the arm of one of Tyke's henchmen.
• Taking the Bullet / Take Me Instead: Angel to Tyke — these acts make more of an impression on Connor than Angel's words.
• Tastes Like Friendship: Sunny shares her candy bar with Connor.
• This Is the Part Where...: Wesley knows what it means when Lilah turns up uninvited.
  Wes: I find you being here extremely funny.
  Lilah: And how is that?
  Wes: Because you're going to offer me a job.
• Unexplained Accent: Connor has an American accent although, having been raised by Daniel Holtz, an Englishman, in a demon dimension where they were the only two humans, he should logically have an English accent unless the Qor'Toth demons had American accents and he picked up on their speech patterns more than his adoptive father's.
• Wake Up Fighting: After years surviving in a hell dimension, Connor snaps awake when approached, drawing a knife from a sleeve.
• Walk-In Chime-In: Angel says he hopes Connor will one day accept the demon part of him.
  Connor: You'd have to kill me first.
  Tyke: (from the door) Well, that's the plan.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: Connor has aged sixteen years in Quor'toth despite having only been gone a couple of weeks of Earth time. As the episode's final scene reveals, so did Holtz.

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