Angel is happy in his newfound relationship with his son, but Connor is secretly waiting for revenge, mistakenly believing Angel killed Holtz - just as Holtz had planned as his final revenge on Angel. The pair fight off an armed hit group sent by Linwood and Gavin at Wolfram & Hart to abduct Connor. Meanwhile, Lilah continues to try to recruit Wesley by manipulation and seduction, and shows him that he is now very much like her: a human without a soul. Lorne confides in Angel that Cordelia really loves him before leaving town for a new job in Las Vegas. The Groosalugg leaves too, after confronting Cordelia about her feelings for Angel. With the Groosalugg gone, Cordelia and Angel agree to meet. But before either can confess their feelings for the other, Cordelia is confronted by the demon guide, Skip, who tells her that as a higher being, it's now time for her to leave Earth's plane of existence and move on to another. As she ascends, Angel is waylaid by a vengeful Connor and Justine who seal him in a metal coffin and throw it off a boat to sink down to the ocean floor.
Tropes
- All Part of the Show: Connor flinches when a jet fighter roars across the movie screen.Angel: "Sorry. It's just make believe."[A Wolfram & Hart Spec Ops helicopter comes flying over the top of the screen, searchlight probing the carpark for them.]Connor: "How'd they do that?"
- And I Must Scream: Connor, believing Angel killed Holtz, decides that death is too good for him. So he seals Angel in a metal box and drops him in the ocean, knowing that hunger won't kill him, but it will torment him endlessly.
- Answer CutGroo: I'm not the one you love; he is.Cordy: Who 'he'? (Cut to Angel talking to Lorne)
- Anywhere but Their Lips: Connor kisses Holtz on his forehead before disposing of his corpse in the manner he'd been taught.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Skip tells Cordelia she's needed to fight against evil on "other planes and dimensions".
- Badass Adorable: Angel tells Fred to pretend to be a vampire for Connor's sparring session. Fred raises her hands like claws and lets out a fierce growl. Angel is not impressed.Angel: "You're a vampire. You're not starring in Cats."Fred: (pulling her hands in) "Grrr?"
- Bedmate Reveal: Wesley sleeps with Lilah.
- Breaking the Fellowship: The gang is completely broken up by the end of the episode, with Angel trapped at the bottom of the sea, Cordelia ascended to a higher plane of existence, Wesley exiled from the team and no longer welcome, Lorne gone to pursue a singing carreer in Las Vegas, and Guest-Star Party Member Groo gone after realizing Cordelia didn't love him. The only remaining members are Fred and Gunn, and, in a loose sense of "member", the Wild Card Connor.
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Angel fumbles his cellphone off the cliff moments before Connor turns up to attack him.
- Cliffhanger: Angel is put in a box and sunk to the bottom of the ocean and Cordelia becomes a higher being and disappears.
- Comically Missing the Point: Groo suggests relieving Cordy's tension by "gently then more rapidly rubbing your Schlug-Tee" — it turns out he's referring to a neck massage rather than an indecent act. That doesn't stop Angel from kidding Cordy about it later when suggesting she could give Connor The Talk.Angel: "You could help fill in the blanks. He's gonna have questions. Like, what do you do with a woman's Schlug-Tee again?"
- Continuity Nod: Gunn and Fred notice that Angel is humming away happily. Fred says, "Not perfectly happy, I hope!" and starts poking Angel with a stake to restore some angst to his life.
- Curse Cut Short: When Cordy realises that time has stopped.
- Deceptive Disciple: Connor plays along with Angel's desire to connect with him only long enough to lead him to his doom.
- Doomed Appointment: Angel is supposed to meet Cordelia to discuss their relationship. Neither of them make the appointment.
- Drive-In Theater: Angel takes Connor to see an action movie. He loves it.
- Due to the Dead: Justine takes Holtz to be buried in a green field like his native England, only to watch horrified as Connor cuts off his head with an axe and burns the body, because Justine has lied that Holtz was killed in a vampire attack.
- Ethereal White Dress: Cordelia just happens to change into a white dress and sandals before ascending to heaven.
- Fast-Roping: When you're a Wolfram & Hart Spec Ops team in a helicopter, it's what you do.
- Foe Romance Subtext: Lampshaded in Lilah and Wesley's post-coital conversation.Wes: You know that sinking feeling you sometimes get the morning after? It arrived early.Lilah: (stretching) It's like a little death
. Several, in fact.Wes: Get Out!.Lilah: What? No sweet kiss? No 'When can I see you again?' (Wes gives her a look) Watch the dirty looks. That's what got me going in the first place. (Lilah begins to pull on her clothes) I'll give you this — you sure know how to channel your rage, frustration, and hate. Always a bigger turn on than love. - Get Out!: Played straight the morning after, but put more poetically the night before.Lilah: Mind if I join you?Wes: On many levels and with great intensity.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Point Dume = Point Doom.
- Ignored Epiphany: In his final moments, Holtz openly acknowledges that he's most likely going to go to Hell for everything he's done... but makes it clear that as long as he finally gets his revenge against Angel/Angelus, he doesn't care.
- Interrupted Declaration of Love: Angel and Cordelia set up a meeting with the intention of acknowledging their love for each other. Connor and the demon Skip have their own plans.
- Ironic Echo: The things said by Phantom Cordelia in her apartment (which Cordelia assumes is a confirmation of her Love Epiphany) turn out to be a vision of her impending conversation with Skip.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Groo leaves because he realises that Cordelia loves Angel, not him.
- Love Epiphany: It's mutual.
- Mathematician's Answer: Lilah asks if Connor's existence is a portent for good or evil.Lilah: "The impossible (a human child of two vampires) is here. But, what does it mean? Is it the herald of a new age, better things to come, or the mass destruction of everything we hold dear?"Wes: "Yes."
- Mundane Utility: Cordelia using her glowy thing as a nightlight.
- Only I Can Kill Him: The reason why Connor fights so hard to protect Angel from the Spec Ops team.Angel: "That's why you wouldn't let them kill me at the drive-in. So you could."Connor: "Killing is too good for you. You don't get to die. You get to live...forever."
- Pun-Based Title: Lorne's CD of love songs.Angel: "Songs for the love - Lorne. Oh, I get it. Lovelorn, because your name is Lorne."
Lorne: "Yeah, my publicist's idea. Her name is mud now but the tunes are good." - Rule of Symbolism: Cordy is raised up to heaven while Angel sinks down to the depths.
- Say My Name: Subverted when 'Steven' says his name is Connor. It's actually one more deception by Connor.
- Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere: Angel gets sealed into a metal coffin and dumped into the Pacific Ocean. The following season opens with him going mad from blood-thirst and isolation.
- Secret Test of Character: Skip says the Powers were testing Cordelia to see if her newfound power went to her head. When Cordelia refuses to go without first telling Angel that she loves him, she realises that's the final test.Skip: "What you're being called to do, transcends love."
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Wes and Lilah make it clear that just because they've boned each other doesn't mean they still can't be mortal enemies.Lilah: "Don't go making more of this than it is. I'm not one of the doe-y eyed girls of Angel Investigations. Don't be thinking about me when I'm gone."
Wes: "I wasn't thinking about you when you were here."
Lilah: "So your former boss has a soul and you're losing yours. Why, you're just new all over, aren't ya?" - Spies In a Van: Linwood watches Wolfram & Hart's Spec Ops team attack Angel from a surveillance van parked in the drive-in theatre. Big mistake.
- Stable Time Loop: Cordelia gets a vision of herself confessing her love for Angel, which inspires her to hop on the road and go meet Angel, which is when she gets stopped by Skip and performs the love confession that she saw in her vision.
- The Talk: Angel and Cordy arguing over who gives this to Connor pretty much puts the seal on whether they're meant to be together.
- Taser Tag Weakness: Connor takes down Angel with one — presumably supplied by Justine.
- Teach Me How To Fight: Connor asks this of Angel to make him lower his guard, and learn about his fighting style.
- Tempting Fate: Lorne tells Angel that sometimes things do work out. Really? In a Joss Whedon show?Cordelia: I know somehow it's all going to be all right.
- That Came Out WrongGroo: "Cordelia and Angel are upstairs trying out bedrooms. (Gunn and Fred stare, then look at each other) For Angel's son."
- Time Stands Still: In the middle of a SoCal highway no less - talk about awful LA traffic where nothing moves...
- Too Happy to Live: Angel with Connor.
- Toplessness from the Back: Lilah after getting out of Wesley's bed.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Lorne talking to Angel cuts back and forth to Groo talking to Cordy.Cordy: "I love Angel? What are you talking about? I - love... you know... us."
Lorne: "You two are so obviously connected."
Groo: "You finish each other's...
Lorne: "...sentences. You laugh at the same..."
Groo: "...jests. When he grieves, when he is hurting..."
Lorne: "...her heart breaks for you." - Villain Ball: Gavin didn't think Connor would fight so hard on Angel's behalf. Really? All they know is that he's Angel son and has already fought well at his father's side. And duh — they're both being attacked by masked commandos!
- You Killed My Father: Angel naturally responds with "I am your father."
