Dead End

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"Dead End" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of Angel and the fortieth episode overall. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 24, 2001 on the WB network.

Lindsey McDonald receives the gift of a new hand from his employers, but quickly find that the hand has a mind of its own. Meanwhile, Cordelia has a disturbing vision of a man gouging out his own eye—an eye that had been transplanted into him. As each group investigates their own problems with transplants, they cross paths and reluctantly start working together.

Synopsis

Lindsey McDonald wakes up and goes about his daily routine of washing, affixing his prosthetic arm and getting ready for work. As he removes a shirt with a pre-knotted tie from his wardrobe, he looks forlornly at his guitar, which he can no longer play. Meanwhile, a man and his family go about their morning business before the wife and kids rush off to their destinations. The man follows moments later, but nonchalantly picks up a large kitchen knife and blood starts flowing. Cordelia gets a nasty vision about the man that sends her flying about the hotel, landing on the floor in tears. After she recovers, she says she saw a man who stabbed himself in the eye. The guys split up to call hospitals, check out morgues and the streets for any information on the guy from Cordy's vision.

Lindsey and Lilah speak with their boss, Nathan Reed, about their upcoming reevaluation. Later, Nathan privately tells Lindsey that he has made a surprise doctor's appointment for him. At the Fairfield Clinic, Lindsey learns from the doctor that Wolfram & Hart has arranged for him to get a hand transplant. During the procedure, a Pockla Demon is brought in to perform a brief ritual and complete the attachment of the hand to Lindsey, leaving only the faint outline of a scar as evidence that the hand had not originally been Lindsey's. The next day, Lindsey wakes up and goes through his morning routine, this time with the benefits of his new hand. While getting ready, he notices his guitar again, but this time picks it up and plays. Later, at the office, Lilah notices Lindsey's new hand and grows very nervous about her job since Wolfram & Hart spent so much money on her "partner." While the two lawyers meet with a client, Lindsey's new hand repeatedly writes the word "kill" on a legal pad, without Lindsey even being aware of it, and seemingly despite Lindsey wanting to write other things.

At the office, Angel has a wide assortment of food delivered as he wanted to get lunch for Cordelia but didn't want to bother her by asking what she wanted. She appreciates it and as she leaves, she remembers from her vision that the man was happy about his eye before he stabbed it. Wesley and Gunn discover the identity of the man: Joseph Kramer. He and his family have all suddenly disappeared, with the explanation that he was suddenly transferred overseas and his house has been emptied and scrubbed. Having reached a dead end, the gang is forced to go to Caritas. On stage, they are shocked and impressed to find Lindsey singing and playing guitar quite beautifully (although Angel childishly tries to pick faults). The Host informs them that Lindsey and Angel need to work together to solve the case, but Angel and Lindsey are completely opposed to the idea. Lindsey storms out, as Angel tells the team that they've got a new lead... the fingerprints of the new hand are left on the glass.

Based on the fact that Lindsey got a new hand and Kramer a new eye, it's concluded that somewhere body part transplants are being done and causing some kind of demonic problems. At Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey sneaks into Nathan's office to look up information on Fairfield Clinic, where he got the transplant. He later spots Lilah stealing files. Angel hires a private detective with a friend of the force (much to the chagrin of the others) who traces the fingerprints to Bradley Scott, a former employee of Wolfram & Hart who went to prison for embezzlement and after serving his sentence reported to his parole officer once before vanishing. Lindsey visits Scott's parole officer to get information about the clinic, but the man gets violent when Lindsey doesn't know "the code". Before the man can shoot Lindsey in the head, Angel arrives and saves him. Holding the officer by a rope around his neck, Angel demands information.

Wesley and Gunn worry about Cordelia as she seems to be suffering from the visions for as long as the problem remains. Angel and Lindsey head for a building as Angel confirms their location with the parole officer tied up in the trunk. Angel and Lindsey take care of the security guards inside then they head downstairs through a trap door to the place where the body parts are harvested. The room is full of people held, awake but immobile, in upright glass cases. Most of the people are missing some body parts. Lindsey spots Bradley Scott, and asks who Scott wants to kill. Scott's answer: "Me. Kill me". Angel lets Lindsey decide what to do about Scott, while he frees all of the others from their glass prisons. Angel cranks up all the oxygen tanks and blows the place up. Back at the hotel, the gang ask Cordelia how she is doing and she admits the visions are starting to get more painful but accepts it as part of the job.

Back at Wolfram & Hart the next day, a meeting is called to announce to Lindsey and Lilah that they have made a decision about who to promote and who to terminate. Nathan starts to give Lilah empty platitudes, causing her to start and freak out knowing that they have decided to choose Lindsey. But before she can reach into her bag Lindsey interrupts her, telling her that she didn't have what he has... an "evil" hand. He then takes advantage of the evil hand to punch out and shoot a security guard in the foot, before firing shots in Nathan's direction. He 'thanks' Nathan for choosing him, but tells him that he should pick Lilah instead, as she has enough secret files on everyone in the room to destroy them if the Senior Partners got a hold of them. She has proven herself to be intelligent, conniving and ruthless... the perfect Wolfram & Hart employee. Lindsay then announces that he's leaving, and invites the firm to chase him if they want but reminds them of his 'evil' hand. As Lindsey leaves, he sincerely wishes Lilah good luck in her new job before copping a feel as he goes past (blaming his evil hand, of course) and Nathan amends the minutes of the meeting to reflect Lilah's promotion instead. Lilah is left in shock at the fact her long-time rival has just saved her life.

Lindsey packs up his belongings in his truck, ready to hit the road. He encounters Angel outside by his truck and reluctantly talks to him, telling Angel he's leaving L.A. for good. Lindsey also gives Angel advice for fighting Wolfram & Hart: don't play their game, make them play yours. Angel sees his old rival off, but not before getting in a final dig at him; he secretly sticks a sign on the back of Lindsey's truck bearing the words "COPS SUCK." The episode ends with Angel standing in the street, smirking.

Continuity

• Lindsey decided to "retire" from Wolfram & Hart, leading to Lilah's promotion and increased prominence for her on the show in seasons to come. Lindsey himself will not return until "Destiny".

• This episode marks the beginning of the visions starting to take a more serious toll on Cordelia's physical and mental health. In fact, in "Birthday," the gang discovers that Cordelia has been having medical tests on her head for over a year.
• In the final scene Angel warns Lindsey not to return to LA and Lindsey warns Angel not to play Wolfram & Hart's game. Neither listen to one another's advice and both regret it.  

Body Count

• Kramer family, indirectly killed by Wolfram & Hart
• Bradley Scott, died when Lindsey unplugged the machines keeping Bradley alive.

Behind the Scenes

Production

• "L.A. Song", the song sung by Lindsey McDonald at Caritas, was written by actor Christian Kane and producer David Greenwalt.

Pop Culture References

• Angel is talking about the Jetsons when he is complimenting Lindsey's truck."You know, back in the fifties we all thought life was gonna be like The Jetsons by now."
• Lorne: "Hey, am I the only one who saw 48 Hrs?". He also jokes about buddy cop movies.

Music

• Christian Kane- "L.A. Song"
• Robert J. Kral- original score

International titles

• German: Die Hand des Bösen (The Hand of Evil)
• French: Impasse (Dead end)

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

• When Lindsey was logging in to the computer, the keyboard was upside down.
• The hand that is being transplanted onto Lindsey's arm ends at the wrist, but his actual arm had been severed close to the elbow.
• When Lindsey pulls up the information on the Fairfield Clinic on Nathan Reed's computer in the first line of description it says "heath care" instead of "health care".

Quotes

Lindsey: "Lilah. Please." [Lilah stops and looks at him] "They chose me. I'm clearly the guy."

Nathan: "Yes, you are."

Lindsey: (to Lilah) "You could've had it, but you didn't have what it takes ..." [raises his right hand up] "... an evil hand. I mean, come on, who here does, huh?" [gets up and motions across the table] "Leon doesn't. Charlie doesn't." [ruffles the hair of the guy next to Lilah and looks at Nathan] "You do know you gave me an evil hand, right?" [Nathan doesn't move] "I've been writing 'Kill, kill, kill' on everything. It's crazy. It's crazy. Anything could happen!"

Nathan: [to the guard] "Allan."

Lindsey: "Allan, how are you?" [Allan reaches for his gun, but Lindsey slugs him, grabs his gun, and presses it into his chest] "Uh-oh." [shoots Allan in the foot while looking at Nathan] "Uh, that's gonna hurt in the morning!" [Lindsey pushes him to the floor and begins waving the gun at the people sitting around the table] "Stop, evil hand, stop it."