''The birth of Angel's son changes everything. This hero has a new mission.''

Synopsis

The Short: Part 4 of a 4 part series. In this latest facet of the good guy vampire's unlife, Angel discovers how hard it is being a new dad, especially when the demon underworld is after your newborn son. Angel and the crew hold up in the Hyperion, but various factions surround them looking to get the baby. The host joins them and has the Furies cast a protective spell on the hotel. Angel is ultra-protective of the baby. Holtz kills his demon henchmen and goes recruiting people who lost their family to vampires as troops. Lilah researches Holtz in the records of Wolfram & Hart. When it looks like the Hyperion will soon be overrun with Angel's enemies he takes the baby and goes on the run. The various factions end up fighting each other mostly, and the crew take out a couple before they realize Angel and the baby left. They start to chase Angel on the road. Angel drives into an abandoned mine where he hides as the various factions fight over him, but he is eventually cornered by them. Angel throws the baby to them a makes a quick exit, but the when they open the baby blanket they discover a teddy bear with bomb which collapses the mine on them. Wolfram & Hart realize that the host discovered they were being observed and tipped Angel off. Running away was all a plan to eliminate the factions. As Wolfram & Hart start to look into Holtz Angel shows up and threatens Linwood that ANYTHING that happens bad to the baby will happen to him, so he better make sure no one comes after the baby, and start a trust fund. In the hospital the baby gets his checkup and is fine. Angel names his baby Connor and the crew walk off together, baby in stroller.

The Long: After a ''Previously on Angel'' segment (see

1. Wesley: ''Of course, and seeing as you once nearly had sex on my desk I shouldn't be surprised that now there is a baby on it/''
   Wesley's desk get's all the action. Listen to the quote here.

1. Lilah ''Dusted during childbirth is more like it. According to our sources she staked herself, leaving the baby alive and kicking but never actually born. MacDuff was from his mother's womb untimely ripped.''
   In Shakespeare's Macbeth the Witches' prophecy was that ''...none of woman born shall harm Macbeth'' (IV.i). Unfortunately for Macbeth, the Scottish nobleman Macduff was ''from his mother's womb untimely ripped'' and thus not naturally born of woman. Macduff was the only agent capable of destroying Macbeth. He killed Macbeth in battle. (Thanks to Melissa Evans for this information.)
   
   
2. Lilah: ''I want everything the firm has on Angel, the whole case file. His life history, un-life history, intercept records, victim lists, transfers and accounts, everything. I'm looking for someone he crossed paths with probably a hundred years ago or more, and make it fast. The boys upstairs are at defcon like, a thousand.''
   DefCon is short for Defensive Condition used by the United States government. Also referenced by Faith in Faith, Hope and Trick.
   
   
3. Lilah: ''Right. Does China Palace deliver down here?''
   There seems to be no China Palace in Los Angeles, the closest is 7 miles away in Montebello. (Thanks to Melissa Evans for this information.)
   
   
4. Justine: ''What are we talking about. Some kind of Karate Kid Mister Miyagi groove thing? Wax on, wax off.''
   The Karate Kid is a 1984 film. Plot: Daniel and his mother move from New Jersy to California. She has a wonderful new job but Daniel discovers that a dark haired Italian boy with a Jersey accent doesn't fit into the blond surfer crowd, especially when he tries to date one of their girl friends. Daniel manages to talk his way out of some fights but is finally cornered by several who belong to the same karate school. As Daniel is passing out from the beating he sees Miyagi, the elderly gardener leap into the fray and save him by outfighting a half dozen teenagers. Miyagi and Daniel find the real motivator behind the boys' violent attitude is the their karate teacher. Miyagi promises to teach Daniel to fight and arranges a fight at a karate contest some months off. When his training begins, Daniel can't understand what he is being shown. Miyagi seems more interested in having Daniel paint fences and wax cars than teaching him Karate.
   
   
5. Wesley: ''Trying to imagine myself as John Wayne in Rio Bravo. You?''
   John Wayne was the stage name of Marion Michael Morrison (1907-1979), who starred in nearly 200 movies in his fifty-year career, and who came to typify the American Man and, by extension, the United States itself. He played Sherif John T. Chance in Rio Bravo. Also referenced by Buffy in What's My Line Part 2, Xander in Doppelgangland and Buffy in The Initiative. (Thanks to the BuffyGuide for this entry.)
   Rio Bravo is 1959 western film. Plot: A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.
   
   
6. Gunn: ''Austin Stoker, Assault on Precinct 13.''
   Austin Stoker is an actor born in New York in 1948. He played Lt. Ethan Bishop in the film Assault on Precinct 13.
   Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 action film. Plot: A group of cops and convicts joining forces as they're besieged in an all-but-abandoned Los Angeles police station by Street Thunder, a gang armed with automatic weapons and silencers. The plot is said to be a remake of the film Rio Bravo.
   
   

The official WB photo gallery for this episode is at http://www.thewb.com/Popups/PhotoGallery/0,8200,31159,00.html.

You can download the official trailer for this episode at http://www.thewb.com/Popups/Trailers/0,8204,29821,00.html.

The enemies list compiled by Angel Investigations: Holtz, Wolfram & Hart and the vampire cult make up those who are after the baby. Order of Phillius, Beltar the Cremator, Piper Beast, Frank and the Scourge make up those who might want the baby after they hear about it. Later on the Lilliad demons are added to the first group.

The host demon sings Smokey Robinson and the Miracles hit Ooh Baby Baby. You can listen to him sing it here. You can download a clip of the real song here.

Daniel Holtz has an entry in the Larson McMillian Vampiricus Conquestus page 412. He killed 378 vampires on his quest to kill Angelus and Darla.

Although Cordelia states ''If we live through this, trade in your DVD players and get a life.'' it should be noted that the film Assault on Precinct 13 hadn't been released on DVD yet when this episode came out.

Lilah Morgan's clearance number is 0112773.

Justine Cooper lives at 7221 Spalding.

Points Of View

Mathew:

I liked the baby, I have to admit it. Linwood is a poor substitute for Holland, but he'll do. Holland had more of a creepiness factor. I'm glad to see Holtz become more independent from Sahjhan. This Justine is interesting, and I guess we will see more of her soon. Gwen is just cool. I wonder if she's a robot. I honestly didn't see the big double cross coming up, but I did notice Lorne's comments about the Janitor's closet, I just didn't know what it meant. Why was he talking to the bomb in the car then? What kind of name is Connor? I wonder if it's Angel's father's name or something.

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Page by Webmaster Mathew - March, 2003

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