Template:Angelepisode
"Reprise" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of Angel and the thirty-seventh episode overall. Written by Tim Minear and directed by James Whitmore, Jr., it was originally broadcast on February 20, 2001 on the WB network.
While Lilah, Lindsey, and the other lawyers of Wolfram & Hart prepare a ritualistic gathering for the demonic firm's impending 75-year review, Angel learns from various sources, including the Host, that the historically deadly event involves a visit from one of the Senior Partners. Things get more complicated when a revenge-seeking Darla shows up and gains possession of the glove. Meanwhile, Kate's life begins to fall apart when she is forced to resign from the police force due to her increasing involvement with the occult. Also, Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn's new agency's business slows down, which leads to them being apart from each other.
Synopsis
Continuing his vendetta against Wolfram & Hart, Angel stops two men employed by the firm from sacrificing goats however neither men know why they were asked, only that it is to appease someone or something. Once they're frightened off, Angel begins to smash the place apart.
At Angel Investigations Wesley, Gunn, and Cordelia present Stephanie Sharp, who is now free of the third eye in the back of her head, to her mother. However, Mrs. Sharp informs the gang that she has no intention of paying the bill as she and her husband have decided that, as it is "impossible" for a third eye to grow out the back of the skull (despite having witnessed it herself and approached the group) she is clearly the victim of a scam. She and her daughter then leave successfully stiffing the gang for payment. Frustrated, Gunn leaves to patrol the neighbourhood where he feels he can be more useful.
At Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey and Lilah discuss the upcoming seventy-five year review and the fact all of the firm's employees are scared of literally being 'cut' and doing everything to make themselves look better (including one sacrificing her firstborn). Lilah is worried after their recent mistakes, but Lindsey is happy to let the record stand. He confirms to Lilah that Darla and Drusilla have not contracted him since Angel set them on fire.
Angel is becoming increasingly isolated and depressed as incidents conspire to remind him of his failures and shortcomings. He asks Kate for information on whatever is happening, or at least file some charges against the firm but Kate—confined to her desk awaiting an internal review—bitterly refuses, showing him crime scene photos from Holland Manners' wine cellar illustrating his involvement in the slaughter, by locking the doors to keep them trapped.
Angel decides to head to Caritas to get information from the Host, however it seems to be a busy night for him as the place is full of lawyers. Angel tries to get some information, and the Host is unable to share much but does give him some details; Wolfram & Hart is due to undergo a review, and the employees are scared not by the review itself but the reviewer... a Senior Partner will manifest itself on Earth to conduct it. All the rituals that Angel has been interrupting are just the lawyers attempting to score brownie points before the Partner arrives. The Host also confirms that the Partner can be killed once it is on Earth, and the terms Band of Blacknill and Home Office are important. Before Angel leaves, the Host gives him one more piece of information... all the lawyers want to see him dead. However one doesn't have to be psychic to know that, as Angel realizes that everyone else in the room is giving him hostile looks.
Lindsey returns home, where Darla has been recuperating. He gives her a container of human blood. Darla thanks Lindsey before confirming that Drusilla will not be returning to LA. When he goes to the shower, she stops feigning weakness and searches his briefcase.
Angel tries to do some research, but finds that most of the books left the hotel along with Wesley. To rectify this, he shows up at the office of his former employees and starts to search for the book he needs. When Cordelia refuses to let him take it, there is a tension filled moment as it becomes clear that Angel will use force to get her out of the way if he needs to. Wesley rises from his wheelchair and tells Cordy to let Angel have the book so he can remove himself from the premises. Cordelia vents about Angel until Wesley catches her attention: six stitches from his healing gunshot wound tore open when he stood up.
Kate faces the review board at her Internal Affairs investigation—the specific precipitating event was charges brought against her by the Captain who had been raising zombie cops who blames her for Angel's intrusion, and Kate cannot explain the true circumstances. The board believes she has become unstable due to her father's death. They fire her and demand her badge and gun.
Angel returns to the bookstore he had visited fifty years earlier when he had sought a way to exorcise the demon infesting the Hyperion Hotel. Now, he is in search of information on the Senior Partner. A decades-older Denver enthusiastically greets Angel, saying that seeing a vampire wanting to help humans against a demon changed his life. This reminds Angel of how he abandoned all of the humans to be slaughtered by the demon. Denver tells Angel that the Senior Partner wears a ring that allows passage to Hell and will likely manifest in the form of a Kleynach Demon since they can travel between dimensions at will. To take the ring, Angel needs a one-of-a-kind magic glove that will allow him to kill the demon without being incinerated by grabbing it by the throat. Denver gets the glove from his kitchen, as he continues to talk about the positive effect Angel has had on his life. But before he can give the glove to Angel, Darla stabs him and Angel with a sword and takes the glove.
Virginia tells Wesley she is upset about the dangers he must often face. Having been raised by a sorcerer, she is used to monsters, but guns "make it too real". Wesley realizes that she is breaking up with him, and acknowledges how difficult it must be for her.
At her apartment, Kate is getting drunk on liquor. She has two shelves full of plaques and trophies celebrating her police career, which she throws to the floor. She sees a picture of her father and cries.
Wesley and Cordelia talk on the phone, both depressed about their lives and lack of work. They attempt to convince each other that things are going to get better, but its clear neither of them really believe it. Cordelia then gets a call from Mrs. Sharp, who now offers to pay if Cordelia will come over. What Cordelia doesn't know is that Mrs. Sharp was being threatened into calling by a demon, that has already murdered the rest of the Sharp family and kills her after she tells him Cordelia is on her way.
As Lilah heads to the review, she is approached by Angel who forces her to get him inside. Once there, he spots Darla in the crowd and the two fight while the Senior Partner materializes. Security guards attack Darla after Angel exposes her as a vampire by dousing her with holy water. In the confusion, Angel gets the glove away from Darla, dons it and flies at the demon's throat. The Senior Partner implodes, but the force of Angel's leap carries him crashing out the window.
When he hits the ground, Angel puts on the ring, causing elevator doors to open in the foundation of the Wolfram & Hart building. Angel finds none other than Holland Manners waiting for him inside. Angel initially doesn't understand, since Holland should be dead, however Holland explains that he is indeed dead (complete with the vampire bite marks on his neck) but his contract with Wolfram & Hart lasts well beyond that. He then offers Angel his trip to the 'Home Office' but warns it is one way. By now Angel doesn't care; destroying the Senior Partners is his only purpose so he accepts. On the long elevator ride, Holland asks Angel what he thinks taking down Wolfram & Hart will accomplish in the end since even if he does stop the apocalypse the firm have planned they'll be another one eventually. Angel responds that he has no intention of letting Wolfram & Hart win, and Holland remarks that they don't plan to do anything as simple as winning which, for the first time in their conversation, catches Angel's attention. The vampire asks why they fight when they're not concerned with the victory. Holland explains that as far as he and the Senior Partners are concerned, there is no fight which is why there is no victory for them. Ever since the beginning of time, when the first caveman killed his neighbor, evil has existed in the hearts of humans and as long as that evil exists Wolfram & Hart will be there and can never be destroyed. As Angel considers this grim outlook, the elevator comes to a stop.
The door opens and Angel prepares to leap into hell, only to find that he is exactly where he started. Holland explains that after things that Angel has seen (and, in some cases, done), he shouldn't be surprised... the Home Office is Earth. Holland finishes by telling the vampire that every single human in the world has evil inside of them, and if they didn't then they'd all be angels. Angel lets the glove fall to the floor of the elevator and leaves, realizing there is no big final battle to be fought here. Holland pleasantly bids Angel goodbye as the doors close.
Angel walks away, feeling despair and hopelessness around him as he witnesses some of the darker aspects of humanity. Returning to the hotel, Kate is calling. When he doesn't pick up, Kate begins a message on the answering machine, in which she explains why she is killing herself. Angel mutes the machine. Upstairs, Angel finds Darla lying in wait for him and, realizing that he wants to feel something, anything, Angel kisses her. He has decided that nothing means anything, nothing matters. It's all futile, so he might as well do what he wants. At first, she pushes him away, but he takes her roughly and soon the two are having sex. Later, as a storm crashes outside, Angel wakes with a gasp and clutches his chest.
Continuity
- This episode marks the first (and only) time that one of the Senior Partners appears on-screen.
- The ending to this episode mimics the ending of the Buffy episode "Surprise". The titles of the two episodes are also similar, further demonstrating the link between the two.
- This episode marks the last appearances of Holland Manners and Virginia Bryce.
Body Count
- Denver, killed by Darla with a sword
- Francine Sharp, snapped by a Skilosh demon
- Stephanie Sharp, killed by a Skilosh demon
- Kleynach demon/Senior Partner, split by Angel with a glove
Behind the Scenes
Music
- Scott Nikoley & Jaime Dunlap - "My Heart Doesn't Live Here Anymore" - Performed as Karaoke in Caritas
- Peaches & Herb- "Reunited" - Performed as Karaoke in Caritas
- Daniel Stein - "Poolside" (the music played in the elevator with Angel and Holland)
- Robert J. Kral- original score
International titles
- German: Die Quelle des Bösen (The Source of Evil)
- French: Le grand bilan (The big review)
Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors
- The confidential Wolfram & Hart review, as viewed by Darla for a few seconds at about 11:40 mins, contains only three amusing paragraphs before repeating itself without paragraph breaks.
- It's never explained how the Captain knew that Kate was the one who invited Angel in to attack him, although it could possibly be that he investigated Angel afterwards and discovered Kate's repeated encounters with him.