Starring: David Boreanaz as Angel, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and J. August Richards as Charles Gunn

Guest starring: Andy Hallett as The Host, Art LaFleur as the T’ish Magev, Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce, Patrick Kilpatrick as Paul Lanier, Todd Susman as Magnus Bryce

Original air date: November 7, 2000

Written by: Jane Espenson
Directed by: Krishna Rao

Wes is alone in the hotel lobby looking over some paperwork. Wes tries to open a drawer of the filing cabinet but it’s stuck. When Wes gives the drawer a really good tug the drawer comes flying out of the cabinet, spilling the contents all over the floor. Wes calmly sets the drawer on the counter and bends over to pick up the dumped files. A potential client arrives and, as Wes stands to greet him, Wes knocks his head into the file drawer. The potential client, a man, is looking for Angel, and only Angel. The man needs someone with special skills. Wes offers to take a preliminary report which he will share with Angel when Angel returns but Wes slips on some papers and falls on his butt. The man is not impressed and leaves. Wes, a bit disheartened over his lack of finesse, begins to pick up the spilled papers when Cordy comes down the stairs into the lobby. Cordy has found out where Angel is and she and Wes have to stop Angel before it’s too late.

In the W&H basement a security guard is making his rounds. After the guard walks by a grate in the floor is shoved aside and Gunn and Angel emerge from the sewers. Angel and Gunn get in an elevator and try to head upstairs but, as the elevator doors close, a briefcase stops the doors and they open again. It’s Wes and Cordy who have snuck in to stop Angel’s obsessed search for Darla. Angel desperately wants to know where Darla is and thinks he can get through W&H anti-vampire security if he moves fast. Cordy tells Angel he is insane and angry but Angel denies it. Just then the elevator doors open and the security guard is standing there with a combination club/wooden stake. Angel quickly disarms the security guard by stabbing the guard’s foot with the stake. Angel tells Cordy that maybe he is a bit angry as they leave W&H.

At Caritas Gunn, Cordy, and Wes are watching some Japanese gentlemen sing karaoke while Angel talks to The Host. Wes fills Gunn in on The Host: a demon who can sense souls and put beings on their true path, but can only sense the souls if the being sings karaoke. Gunn puts two and two together and realizes that he may have to witness Angel singing. At the bar The Host and Angel are talking. Angel tells The Host that he feels like he “has to” do something or he’ll explode, and when Angel tries to do something it doesn’t feel right. The Host takes pity on Angel (and Mr. Manilow) and tells Angel he won’t have to sing. The Host gives Angel the address of the T’ish Magev, a powerful swami-like guy who can really help Angel out. Angel walks over to the table where Gunn, Wes, and Cordy are sitting and tells them that he doesn’t have to sing and they are all leaving. Cordy is unbelievably happy that Angel won’t have to sing.

Angel leaves town to see the T’ish Magev who lives in a remote log cabin. Angel knocks on the door and a normal looking, flannel shirt wearing guy answers the door. The T’ish Magev tells Angel “in or out” because having the door open is letting in the bugs.

Cordy and Wes are back at the hotel trying to clean up the file spill from earlier. Cordy tells Wes that she really does love Angel but she was worried about Angel’s obsession with Darla. A little bit later Cordy walks back into Angel’s office when a thug grabs Cordy from behind. The thug wants Angel and isn’t willing to wait. The thug pulls a gun and tells Cordy that his boss wants Angel, so Cordy better find him or she’s dead. Luckily Wes, who is in the lobby, overhears the thug. Wes walks into the office wearing a long coat like Angel’s and tells the thug that he’s Angel.

The T’ish Magev and Angel are talking about Angel’s car. Angel tells the T’ish Magev that he expected to talk about his problems and the T’ish Magev answers that the car *is* Angel’s problem, because it says everything about Angel. After all, Angel lives in L.A., a city known for the sun, Angel drives a convertible, and as a vampire Angel does not tan well. The T’ish Magev thinks that Angel hates himself, but Angel denies it and says he got a deal on the car plus the top goes up. The T’ish Magev tells Angel that Angel is concerned about appearances, so much so that Angel wears multiple layers of clothes and a black leather coat to impress people. Angel tells the T’ish Magev that he wears black so he doesn’t have to match clothes or worry about looking in a mirror. The T’ish Magev wants to know what Angel think other people see when they look at Angel.

The thug tries to kidnap Wes at gunpoint but Wes refuses to go until the thug threatens to shoot Cordelia. Wes agrees to go with the thug who takes Wes to a large estate. Inside the estate Wes sees two men discussing the behavior of their respective drivers and, by all appearances, the two men are long standing business rivals. Wes is introduced to Magnus Bryce. Bryce apologizes for the abduction but explains that he is a desperate man who needs help protecting someone. Bryce tells Wes that his legitimate businesses are a cover for the real source of money - custom designed wizardry for people who have enough money. Over the years Bryce has built up a number of rivals/enemies, including the man talking to Bryce in the hall, Paul Lanier. According to Bryce someone, probably one of his rivals, is threatening his daughter and Bryce wants Angel to protect her. Bryce has tapped out every protection spell he knows and calls and letters are still coming in threatening his daugher’s life. Wes asks if Bryce is trying to hire him to protect Bryce’s daughter and Bryce responds that Angel really doesn’t have a choice in the matter. Angel *will* protect Bryce’s daughter and Bryce will pay Angel a lot of money.

Back at the T’ish Magev’s Angel is getting a lecture about having two selves - the image he portrays to others and the real Angel. Angel’s a little embarassed and admits that his persona may be a little affected, especially with the hair gel. Then T’ish Magev asks Angel how Angel expects to fight and win the upcoming apocalypse when Angel is still fighting himself.

At the Bryce estate Wes is introduced to Bryce’s daughter, Virginia. Virginia is not impressed with ‘Angel’/Wes because she knows that her father is simply throwing money around to protect her. Wes has a moment of panic when he sees himself in a mirror, so Wes demands that someone cover the mirror. When Bryce and Virginia object, after all they know he’s a vampire, Wes concocts a story that he doesn’t want any potential intruders to know that he is a vampire. This does not impress Virginia, after all it looks like ‘Angel’/Wes is anticipating the intruders making it all the way into her room. Wes asks to talk to Virginia alone so Bryce and his thug leave the room. When they are alone Wes admits to Virginia that he’d rather not be there but Viriginia’s life has been threatened and she needs to be protected. Wes changes the subject and comments on the number of books in Virginia’s room. Virginia tells Wes that her life has been threatened before and every time there’s a new threat she buys a bookshelf and fills it with the books she reads while she’s stuck in her room. Wes tells Virginia that the two of them should try to make the best of their situation because Wes plans on protecting Virginia. Virginia finally makes up her mind and decides to let ‘Angel’/Wes protect her and tells Wes that they are going shopping, even though it’s the middle of the night.

In the meantime Gunn has arrived at the Hyperion and Cordy is filling Gunn in on what happened: Wes was pretending to be Angel and was abducted at gunpoint. Cordelia has a plan - Gunn is going to find Angel at the T’ish Magev’s place while Cordy tracks down Wesley. Cordy plans to track down the thug through police files or mug shots. Cordy tells Gunn that the thug was a pretty bad guy and that she’s worried about where Wes may be.

Of course Wes is with Virginia at an up-scale store for wizards. Very Tiffany’s like. Very posh. Wes is impressed with the merchandise but thinks Virginia is exposed and may not be safe. Virginia complains about how difficult it is to shop for Daddy’s upcoming 50th birthday. Apparently Bryce has been ‘twitchy’ because of the upcoming party which makes security difficult which makes keeping Virginia safe even more troublesome than usual. Virginia asks Wes’s opinion about a gold talisman with Bryce’s favorite deity, Yeska, on it. Wes tells Virginia that the talisman can’t be gold because one good spell would melt it. Virginia tells Wes that he sounds “just like Daddy.” Virginia tells Wes that Bryce really gets into all of the magical, mystical, wizardy stuff but that she doesn’t, not anymore. Apparently Bryce used to teach Virginia about ‘runic incantations’ but not anymore. Virginia tells Wes that Bryce really loves that stuff, and that a man should have at least one thing that he loves. It’s pretty obvious that Virginia believes that her father doesn’t really love her so Wes tells Virginia that her father *must* love her because Bryce has gone to some pretty serious lengths to keep Virginia safe. Virginia disagrees - she tells Wes that Bryce also has his car insured.

Just then two guys come up to take Virginia and they know her by name. Wes is pretty stunned but then Virginia says “Angel” and the thugs take a pause. Apparently they’re familiar with Angel’s reputation. Wes plays along and agrees that he’s Angel. The thugs come really close to apologizing and tell Wes that they were just following Lanier’s orders. Wes gives the thugs a message for Lanier - Lanier will leave Virginia alone. Virginia looks at Wes adoringly as Wes takes Virginia back home.

At the T’ish Magev’s place Angel is sparring with the T’ish Magev using quarterstaffs. The T’ish Magev appears to be kicking Angel’s butt so the T’ish Magev asks Angel why he is holding back. Angel denies that he’s holding back and claims that he’s not afraid of anything. The T’ish Magev tells Angel that Angel is fighting himself when he should be fighting the T’ish Magev. After a couple more taunts Angel finally admits that he has to keep “it” under control or “it” would kill the T’ish Magev. The “it” Angel was referring to is the demon within him. The T’ish Magev tries to convince Angel that Angel and the demon aren’t two different things, but that the demon is part of who Angel is, and that the demon is what Angel is trying to conceal, trying to fight. Angel tells the T’ish Magev that he has to control the demon within him, that Angel can’t let the demon control him. The T’ish Magev actually thinks it’s kind of amusing that Angel actually believes that the demon doesn’t control him.

A little later the T’ish Magev is nursing a head wound and talking with Lanier on the phone. The T’ish Magev tells Lanier that he’s not sure if he can keep up the façade of being the T’ish Magev for an entire weekend, especially since Angel’s vamped up sense of smell will probably detect the body of the *real* T’ish Magev pretty quick. Lanier’s a bit confused. Lanier thinks Angel is in town but the T’ish Magev tells Lanier that Angel came up to the cabin immediately after talking to The Host, just as Lanier suspected.

At the hotel Cordelia is search mugshots through her computer and getting pretty bored. She’s not finding anything so she starts thumbing through a magazine. Whoa. Right there on page 46 is a picture of Bryce, Virginia, and the thug that kidnapped Wesley.

Wes and Virginia have returned to the Bryce estate and are heading towards Virginia’s room. In the hallway Virginia and Wes are accosted by two hooded men. Wes defeats them quickly and Wes seems a bit surprised by it. Virginia’s surprised that Wes’s face didn’t change during the fight, you know, get all vampy, but Wes tells her that he’s not like a regular vampire.

At the T’ish Magev’s Angel and the T’ish Magev are fishing. Angel is telling the T’ish Magev about Darla. Angel admits to the T’ish Magev that seeing Darla again has triggered his struggle with the demon part of him. The T’ish Magev gets Angel to admit that he’s a little obsessed with Darla, that Angel blames Darla for siring him, that Angel wants to punish Darla but, at the same time, Angel wants to thank Darla for the gift she’s given Angel. The T’ish Magev tells Angel that he’s “deeply ambivalent” about Darla and Angel responds that he is and he isn’t. The T’ish Magev tells Angel that he has to get over Darla and suggests that Angel go out and look for someone who looks like Darla and bed her, love her, treat her like crap, then abandon her and break her heart. (Hmmmm. Sound familiar?) The T’ish Magev thinks that Angel will thank him for it.

In the meantime Wes and Virginia are talking about the two close calls that have just happened. Virginia admits to Wes that she sometimes thinks about running away from home. Virginia thinks about living on her own and getting a silly job like working in a tire store. Virginia won’t do any of it because of her father. According to Bryce his enemies would use Virginia to get to him. Virginia thinks that what her father is telling her is that if Virginia were to move out she would be killing him. Wes agrees that Bryce has put a huge burden on Virginia’s shoulders. Virginia leans her head on Wes’s shoulder, the two look in each other’s eyes, then kiss. A lot. And Wes looks like he doesn’t want to stop but Virginia does and tells Wes that she knows about Angel’s curse.

At their fishing spot Angel tells the T’ish Magev about his gypsy curse. That one moment of perfect happiness and bye-bye soul.

As Virginia is kissing Wes, nibbling his throat and ears, Wes mumbles a bit about perfect happiness, diabolical consequences, and that the gypsy curse has been “wildly misinterpreted.” Wes finally gives up on trying to not kiss Virginia but, before things get too far, Virginia asks Wes if he’s really telling the truth. Wes tells Virginia he wants to tell her the whole truth and Wes tries to tell Virginia that he’s really not Angel but Wes can’t because Virginia’s kissing him. And then they’re doing more.

The next morning Gunn finally arrives at the T’ish Magev’s. Gunn runs into the T’ish Magev and tells him that he’s seeking Angel. The T’ish Magev is going to take Gunn inside and, as Gunn walks by the T’ish Magev, the T’ish Magev hits Gunn really hard, knocking him out. Angel walks out onto the porch of the cabin just in time to see the T’ish Magev starting to drag Gunn off and wants to know which lesson the T’ish Magev was trying to impart. The T’ish Magev tells Angel that Gunn really wasn’t Angel’s friend. Angel asks where the real T’ish Magev is and whether the impostor killed him. The fake T’ish Magev gets a little cocky and admits that he killed the real T’ish Magev but really isn’t worried given that it’s daylight and Angel can’t go out into the sunlight. As the fake T’ish Magev starts to leave Angel grabs a fishing pole and casts the lure into the T’ish Magev’s lips and uses the fishing line to drag the fake T’ish Magev up onto the porch. By now Angel has vamped out and feels like exacting a little revenge.

At the Bryce estate Wes is awake watching Virginia sleep. After checking the hall to make sure no one is there, Wes sneaks out of Virginia’s room with a quick good-morning kiss from Virginia. Suddenly Cordelia comes down the hall, ecstatic that she’s finally found Wes. Cordy’s pretty impressed with Wes - Wes has got everyone on the estate scared and none of them realize that Wes isn’t really Angel. Cordelia wants to get Wes out of there but Wes refuses to go. Wes wants to stay and protect Virginia. Cordy, obviously, thinks Wes is nuts and has “delusions of Angelness.” Cordy tells Wes that he can’t do things by himself. About then Bryce walks up. Wes tries to cover Cordy’s presence by telling everyone that he asked Cordy to test the estate’s defenses. Bryce tells Wes that he told his guards to let Cordy in so that Virginia would hear someone call Wes by his real name. Bryce received an anonymous tip that the man guarding Virginia wasn’t Angel. One of the thugs drags Wes over to a window bathed in sunlight and the cat’s out of the bag. Virginia is very hurt that Wes lied to her after she trusted him. Virginia hands Wes his coat and walks back to her room. Bryce orders Wes and Cordelia out of the house. As they walk away one of the thugs tells Bryce that Wes should have been killed and Bryce snaps. Bryce tells the thug that he brought Bryce the wrong man and it could have jeopardized the whole sacrifice. Despite the fact the thug screwed up Bryce isn’t going to kill him. Bryce needs security for the party tonight because it’s going to be the biggest party in Bryce’s life. . . and in Virginia’s, too.

Later at the Hyperion Cordy tries to console Wes when Gunn and Angel walk in from the basement. Angel fills Cordy in on why Gunn is nursing a bruise and wants to know why Wes is wearing his coat. Wes wants to know who hired the fake swami but the fake swami wouldn’t tell. Wes figures that Paul Lanier hired him to get Angel out of the way so that Lanier would have easier access to Virginia. When Lanier’s goons couldn’t abduct Virginia Lanier tipped off Bryce that Wes wasn’t really Angel to get Wes out of the way. Wes figures that Virginia’s in danger because she’s at the party. Gunn is a little lost and wants to know what party Wes is talking about. Wes tells Gunn it’s a birthday party for Magnus Bryce with cake, candles and tributes to the goddess Yeska. This gets Angel’s attention. According to Angel Yeska isn’t a goddess, she’s a Davric demon. Wes doesn’t understand how that’s possible since Davric demons don’t serve humans unless the humans make a live sacrifice, usually girls, on the human’s 50th birthday. Yikes. Wes figures out that Bryce is going to sacrifice Virginia to Yeska tonight at the party. Cordelia wants to know why Lanier is trying to abduct Virginia and Angel tells her that with the sacrifice Bryce will get a lot of power. So much power that Bryce may be unstoppable. Wes tells everyone they are going to save Virginia and tells Gunn and Angel to go to the back of the house while he and Cordelia go to the front. As they leave the hotel Angel asks Wes for his coat back.

At the Bryce estate the party is in full swing. Magnus Bryce addresses the crowd and thanks everyone for coming to his party. Bryce begins his invocation to summon Yeska and, as he does, a couple thugs grab Virginia and manacle her to a large, stone-ish, throne like chair. Virginia demands that her father make the goons stop but Bryce just asks that Virginia be a good girl because her sacrifice is hard enough on him. Virginia asks the party goers to help her but none step forward. The sacrifice is interrupted, however, when the AI team arrive. Wes tells Bryce to release Virginia or die (Angel thinks that’s his line), so Bryce orders his thugs to attack. Wes, Angel, Gunn and Cordy take care of the goons and Wes rushes over to Virginia. During the attack Bryce finishes his invocation and Yeska appears before Wes can free Virginia. Yeska is a little miffed - her sacrifice is impure so Yeska vanishes in a ball of lightening. Virginia wants to know why Wes came back and Wes tells Virginia it was to protect her. Virginia is delighted. Bryce is a little upset to find out that Virginia isn’t a virgin and thinks that Virginia’s “impurity” is Wes’s fault. Cordy and Gunn are both surprised that Virginia and Wes slept together. Bryce thinks that if Wes had been Angel none of this would have happened, that is until Virginia tells him that she hasn’t been a virgin for a long, long time. Bryce warns Virginia not to make him angry and Virginia loses it. Virginia punches Bryce and tells him that he is not her father anymore and walks out of the room.

A few days later Cordelia shows Angel a photo of Wes and Virginia from a magazine. Cordelia is very upset that Wes is getting some publicity from his relationship with Virginia. Angel tries to calm Cordelia down but it doesn’t work. Cordelia thinks she should be getting all of the reflected glory. On the other hand, Angel thinks that Wes’s description of “body guard to the stars” in the photo caption is dubious. There isn’t a “Wyndham-Pryce Agency.”