aired on: November 7, 2000

written by: Jane Espenson

directed by: Krishna Rao

At The Caritas, Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn take in the bizarre spectacle that is demon karaoke, while Angel talks with the Host. But the Host tells Angel he doesn't have to sing - he gives him the address of the Tish Magev, a powerful swami. Angel goes to pay him a visit. Back at the office, a man with a gun grabs Cordelia - he's looking for Angel. Wesley overhears the man, and comes to Cordelia's rescue - wearing Angel's cloak, claiming to be Angel. The man wants "Angel" to come with him.

He takes Wesley to a guarded house, where he meets a man named Magnus Bryce. He explains that he's a desperate man - he needs protection for someone very dear to him. Bryce has his name in the papers for software and cable, but that's all a front - his family's money comes from wizardry. But he has a lot of enemies, and someone is threatening his daughter Virginia, his only family. Twice they've caught intruders in the house. None of the spells they've tried have worked. "I'm gonna pay you a lot of money to protect her," Bryce says. "You'll do it, and get paid, and we'll both be very happy."

Meanwhile, Tish Magev is giving Angel something different from what he expected - a psychoanalysis. "There are two yous," he says. "The image you've worked so hard to create, and the real you . . . How do you expect to triumph over the soldiers of darkness when you're still fighting yourself?"

Back at the Bryce mansion, Wesley is introduced to Virginia. She decides they should go shopping. While they shop, for a 50th birthday gift for her father, two thugs approach Virginia, planning to take her away. But when Wesley tells them he's Angel, and that they better leave and tell their boss to forget about the girl, they turn and go.

At Tish Magev's, he and Angel stick fight, and the psychoanalysis continues. "Why are you holding back?" he asks. "Why can't you let go?"

Angel replies, "Because if I let it, it'll kill you." When Tish Magev asks him what "it" is, Angel says it's the demon.

"But the demon is you," Tish Magev replies. "That's the thing you've spent so much energy trying to conceal."

After their practice, while Angel broods, Tish Magev gets on the phone to one of Bryce's henchmen. But he's not the real Tish Magev - he's killed the real one and stashed the body, and he doesn't know how long he can keep Angel from finding out. Bryce's henchman is confused - if Angel's there, then who is the English guy?

As Wesley and Virginia head back to her room, two more thugs await - and Wesley kicks their butts. In her room, Virginia tells Wesley that sometimes she just wants to escape her life. Then she puts her head on his shoulder, and before long, they're kissing. The next morning, they wake up together in bed.

Back at Tish's, Gunn pulls up, looking for Angel. But "Tish" doesn't want visitors, and he knocks Gunn out. Angel, standing on the porch, sees this, and he realizes that this guy isn't the real Tish.

As Wesley tiptoes out of Virginia's bedroom, Cordelia rushes in, trying to rescue him. But Magnus Bryce has figured out that Wesley isn't Angel, and Virginia doesn't take well to the news, either. After Wesley and Cordelia are escorted out, Magnus berates his hired gun - he brought him the wrong guy, and "risked the whole sacrifice." But he's not going to kill him, because the sacrifice is only a few hours away.

Back at the office, Wesley, Cordelia, Gunn and Angel start putting the pieces together - and Wesley realizes that Bryce is planning to sacrifice Virginia to the demon Yeska, and that Magnus' enemies were trying to kidnap her because the sacrifice will make Bryce tremendously powerful.

At the Bryce estate, Magnus' 50th birthday party is underway. Then Virginia is strapped into an altar, and the ritual begins. But then the team steps in. "Release her or die," Wesley says.

Before Wesley can untie Virginia, the demon Yeska appears. But she won't take Virginia - she's not a virgin. Yeska disappears, and Virginia, set free, slugs Magnus on the chin, and tells him she's not his daughter anymore.