[MAN GROANING]
MAN: Thank you.
Power Play
Hey.
[NINA SIGHS]
NINA: Okay.
- Where did you learn how to do that? - Which part?
Doesn't matter.
- How are you? - I'm good.
You're not perfectly happy, are you? I've got my wooden stake right here.
That's not a stake.
- Well, I know I brought it. - You're safe.
Okay.
And you?
Good?
You weren't thinking about your little Roman friend or...
Nina, for the last...
- Whoa. - Wow, hey.
For the last very long moment, I haven't had a single coherent thought.
- I'm gonna take that as a compliment. - You really should.
But now the brow is back.
If she's not on your mind, then...
There's a lot...
...more than usual going on.
Work?
Always.
You should get away.
Vacation. You know that word?
Go to Cabo, drink margaritas...
...midnight skinny-dipping, making love on the beach.
Did you catch how I subtly included myself in your vacation package?
- Nina... - Too pushy, too needy? I never said it.
You should make love on the beach all by yourself.
It would be wonderful. I mean it.
But?
There...
There are things.
Th... That I have to do.
Things I've already set in motion.
I've spent years...
...fighting to get somewhere.
To accomplish...
...something.
And now that I'm close to it...
...I don't like what I see.
Who I am.
- You're a hero. - Not that word.
You're my hero.
I may not always be.
SPIKE: Like you're not even there.
The world trembled before your feet once.
Now, padding around a place you don't wanna be in...
...and the rabble don't give you so much as a polite yawn.
Do not presume I require any creature's attention.
Wouldn't dream of it, Blue.
Still, you can't enjoy haunting this place.
Less than what you were, not knowing what to do with yourself...
Believe me, I've been there.
- And what do you know of it? - A long and fascinating tale.
A ghost story, in fact.
Short of it is, take my advice: Get out once in a while before you go bats.
- Out? - Out.
Outside. That place just on the other side of the window.
I've grown wary of this world since my powers were depleted.
Strange.
Though I've been made more human, this place remains disconcerting.
Yeah, well, I'm afraid that never goes away.
I thought Wesley was giving you a primer on all things human.
He and I are no longer having intercourse.
Yeah... What? What?
He has ceased communication with me.
Oh, communi...
My recent reversion to the Burkle persona disturbed him...
...and he will not tell me why.
You don't know?
You may not think you're as powerful as you were, Highness.
But looking like Fred...
...for some of us...
...is the most devastating power you have.
And there's the man himself.
Angel, I'd like you to meet Senator Brucker.
Welcome to Wolfram & Hart.
I go way back with this firm, when Holland Manners was in charge.
Things have changed a bit since then.
- Charles Gunn. - Head of our legal department.
- Oh. This is Ernesto, my personal... - Vampire.
Aide. I always forget your kind can sense each other.
I believe in diversity on my staff.
- Was a big part of my campaign. - How commendable.
Harmony, you mind getting us some coffee?
- Coming up. - Thank you, no. No coffee.
But if it isn't any trouble, Ernesto might like some blood.
Virgin, if you have it. Room temperature's fine.
Sorry, we have a "no human blood" policy.
I can offer you something in a rodent.
We have some fruity, unassuming vole.
We could make an exception to our policy...
...this time for the senator.
Couldn't we, Angel?
The lab might have something in the blood bank.
- Why don't you go check it out. - Okay. You're the boss, boss.
- Could I maybe just have a teeny-weeny... - No.
Just thought I'd ask.
Well, senator, if there's anything you need, please call on me.
Rest assured, you're in good hands.
Shall we?
Angel, there's been another fatality in Funville.
- What? - That abandoned amusement park.
Third victim in as many nights. Teeth marks indicate a Boretz demon.
Bloody Boretz.
Nasty buggers. Stink to high heaven.
Dress as transients, prey on the homeless, poor sods.
WESLEY: This last victim was a teenage girl.
A runaway. She was ripped apart.
Not much we can do about it now.
We must find this demon and destroy it before...
Somebody else dies?
Yeah, I know, Wes.
People are dying every day all over.
- This girl's just one more statistic. - Stacey.
The statistic's name was Stacey Bluth.
We can't save everybody, and we can't sweat the small stuff.
Small?
I got a United States senator waiting for me, so just...
...find out whatever you can about this Boretz thing, and we'll talk later.
Small stuff?
Listen, you need some Boretz killing done, I'll have a go.
Haven't had a decent tussle since she and I stopped sparring.
All right. Call me if you find anything. I'll be in my office learning what I can.
He showed no regard for my presence.
Not that you require any creature's attention.
Hey, you want to go find something to hit?
MAN [ON TV]: A veteran and Bronze Star recipient...
... Mike Conley believes ethics and integrity matter.
Finding solutions to problems in our educational system...
... health and child-care services.
And Mike Conley believes in work and in home.
Your home is his work.
He's looking out for your children 's interests.
There. So you can see my concern.
This Conley campaign's a juggernaut.
Guy came out of nowhere with his "your home is his work" crap.
- Women voters are eating it up. - They were mine.
I had a lock on the chick vote, and now my numbers are slipping.
I didn't claw my way up from hell and get put in a human body to have some...
...pedophile steal my Senate seat. - Wait. He's a pedophile?
Not yet. But the public better think he is when you guys get through.
- Pardon me? BRUCKER: Convince Conley he is.
You've got some sort of brainwashing capabilities here, don't you?
- What's that doctor's name? - Sparrow.
That's the one. This sounds right up his alley.
Yeah, well, it's not up ours.
I don't care what services you used to get with this firm...
...but Holland Manners isn't here anymore.
We're not about to ruin a man's life just so you...
We can do it.
- What? - Not sure how long that would take.
- Election's in November. - You're not serious...
Angel, you just made yourself a very loyal ally in Washington.
- Angel, we need to talk. - I'm with the senator now, Gunn.
Boretz demons: classifications and case histories.
What am I looking...?
We got a serious problem.
- It's Angel. He's... - Hold on.
Wes?
IZZY: Hell.
Nice one.
- Did I tell you I ran into Ed? - Ed?
The Grand Potentate whatcha-whosit of the Fell Brethren.
Right. How is Ed?
You know the Fells. All they talk about is the baby.
"The baby's doing this now, the baby's doing that.
What a wonderful ritual sacrifice he'll make."
- Anyway, he said nice things about you. - Great.
You're really coming through. Real buzz about you.
How much longer do I have to wait for an answer?
Hey, these things take time. Trust me, it won't be long now.
SPIKE: See?
Isn't so bad, now.
Just a little field trip out in the...
...well, what passes in this city for fresh air.
All we need now is to bag ourselves a Boretz demon...
...we got ourselves a perfect date.
Angel doesn't think the casualties of this creature...
...are important enough to avenge.
SPIKE: I think corporate living's made him lose his love for the hunt.
No worries.
More for me, then.
ILLYRIA: It does not serve his interest.
SPIKE: What are you on about?
I've seen this before with many rulers.
- Your leader has been corrupted. - Hey, hang on.
In the first place, Angel's not my leader.
And what the hell do you mean, "corrupted"?
It always begins the same.
A ruler turns a blind eye to the dealings or battles from which he cannot gain.
And a deaf ear to the counsel of those closest to him.
As his strength increases, so does the separation between him and...
Shh.
You smell that?
The odors of everything in this world of men are equally repugnant to me.
Bloody helpful.
You're wrong about Angel.
Not that I don't think he could become a megalomaniacal bastard, but if he did...
...I'd know it.
I'd feel it.
ILLYRIA: You'll have proof soon enough.
A corrupted ruler on such a path sees treachery and betrayal all around him.
He cannot suffer intimates and will eventually turn against them.
I guess I don't have to worry, because Angel and me have never been intimate.
Except that one...
Mark me.
He will murder one of you.
MAN: Actually...
...he already has.
Drogyn.
Who is this?
The Guardian of the Deeper Well.
Greenskeeper to your graveyard, so to speak.
- My jailer. - Illyria...
Boretz.
Stay away from its mouth. Its bite is poisonous.
Go for its knees. Think there's a weak spot...
Okay. Yeah. That might do it.
Drogyn.
What the hell are you doing here?
Don't give me that "ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies."
I came to find you.
So you tacked up a sign on your tree, waved bye...
...hopped the puddle and sniffed me out in the city?
I can find anyone who's visited the Well, be they in this world or any other.
- I came to warn you... SPIKE: Warn?
- He's bleeding. - You're all torn up, mate.
What did this to you? The Boretz?
No.
It was Angel.
That would look good on a calf.
- Pardon? - Thinking of getting a tattoo, right?
Put a little more bad in your bad-boy bank.
It should go on your calf.
Something unusual came across one of my...
I didn't realize you were occupied.
- lf you don't mind, Hamilton... - Wes, we're in the middle of something.
Why don't you try me later.
Yes. Later, then.
Hey, Wes.
Shut the door on your way out.
Hey, is Angel in there?
- He is. - What's the weather report?
Cold. Icy, actually.
He cut six of my clients loose. Didn't even tell me.
I spent all day talking them off ledges and off of pill bottles.
I sense that suicidal celebrities are beneath Angel's concern.
These are very pretty people I'm talking about here.
They're getting in shape for Young Guns III.
- What did he say? - Nothing.
He and Hamilton are in his office.
- They're discussing business strategy. GUNN: Hamilton?
It's like Angel's suddenly channeling Leona Helmsley.
He's not himself, at any rate.
What's happening to him?
[PHONE RINGS]
Yes? Spike.
It was a Sathari...
...part of a clan of demon assassins. They fell upon me last night.
The poison from his four blades wearing heavy on my limbs...
Yeah, rousing bit of rah-rah, mate. Get to the goods.
Once I bested him...
...I tortured the Sathari for hours until he confessed who had sent him.
It was Angel.
Tell them why.
He said Angel was afraid I'd find something in the Deeper Well...
...something that would uncover the truth about his involvement.
In what?
Helping Illyria escape from her tomb.
I thought the release of her sarcophagus from the Deeper Well was predestined.
- Yeah. What about that? - That's what I thought at the time.
But now I believe...
...Illyria's resurrection may have been planned.
- By Angel. - That doesn't make a lick of sense.
Why would Angel want to spring an Old One?
I don't think that was the point.
- What was? - Before he died, the assassin said...
...something about a sacrifice.
Someone trusted and dear.
Are you saying that Angel was responsible for what happened to Fred?
He may not have chosen her specifically, but...
Let's put a kibosh on that sentence before it turns into an ass-kicking.
Do you think I gain pleasure in this?
I held Angel an ally, a brother.
And you believe he may have murdered Fred.
I know this is difficult, but Angel was involved.
- Information retrieved from the assassin... - Maybe he was lying?
- No one lies at the mercy of my wrath. - Then you're the liar, Aragorn.
- He must tell the truth. It's a curse. - Can we be sure? We don't know him.
Gunn, this is Drogyn the Battlebrand...
...given eternal youth a thousand years ago.
Demon-bane. Truthsayer.
Watchers' Council.
Percy did a paper. Bully for him.
WESLEY: Drogyn, any idea what this symbol means?
- No. SPIKE: Where'd you get that?
This afternoon, someone tapped into the template interface.
Sent a message to me, and that symbol.
- Someone's dropping clues. - Playing games, more like it.
I still can't wrap my head around the notion...
...Angel had anything to do with Fred or any of this.
Angel's been doing a number of things out of character lately.
- We all noticed it. - Yeah, but why's this happening now?
- Why the change? - Yes, why the sudden need...
...to tie up loose ends like Drogyn?
- Unless... - He's preparing to make his move.
- What kind of move we talking about? - There's only one way to find out.
We ask him.
Drogyn should stay here, under guard.
I'm not missing the fireworks. Illyria...
...you don't care about any of this nonsense, do you?
The intricacies of your fates are meaningless.
Well and good. You mind watching over our friend Drogyn?
Come on. New place will do you good.
It's nice and cozy. Help yourself to beer in the fridge.
Switch on the telly if you get bored.
And feel free to play a little "Crash Bandicoot."
Give you lot something to pass the time.
"Crash Bandicoot"?
Strike these four clauses and wire it back to them.
- See what they make of that. - Yeah, "see what they make of that."
Angel...
Long dinner?
We need to talk to you. Now.
Boy's dead serious.
You coming, then?
Okay, what's on your minds?
- The question is, what's on yours? - Our friend Drogyn's in town.
- Is he? - Yep.
Bit marked up, though. Somebody tried to have him killed.
- You know anything about that? - Of course not.
- Where is he? GUNN: He's safe.
Good. Now can we get back to business...
...or was there something else? - Business.
What business are we in, Angel?
Do I really have to explain this to you people?
We're in the business of business.
Oil, software, worldwide wickets.
It's the game that matters.
Get to the top, be the best, have the most.
- Win. - Win what?
You're missing the point.
That Angel talking? It sounds a lot more like Angelus.
If I were Angelus, half of you would already be dead.
- Just for the fun of it. - One of us already is.
We having fun yet?
You want to know the truth?
The truth is, there's only one of us who ever understood how things really work.
- Lorne. - Whoa. Hey, hey.
Can I not be the poster child for your breakdown?
You didn't judge.
You didn't spend your life obsessed with good and evil.
Do that, you get swallowed...
...Iost in the minutiae. Good, bad, Angel, Angelus...
None of it makes a difference.
I wish it did, but, you know, an ant with the best intentions...
...or the most diabolical schemes is just exactly an ant.
There is one thing in this business, in this apocalypse...
...that we call a world that matters:
Power. Power tips the scale, power sets the course.
And until I have real power, global power, I have nothing.
I accomplish nothing.
- And how you get this power... - Isn't pretty. Isn't fun.
You think it's Wolfram & Hart getting to me here.
And maybe you're right because they've shown us what power is.
From day one, they've been calling the shots. And all we've done is get shot at.
I have a chance to change that.
And will you?
I mean, not to play an old saw, but power does, traditionally, corrupt.
You get high up enough and, well, the people, they do start to look like ants.
I can't worry about that.
The small stuff.
Angel, that important call from that guy about that thing, it's on line three.
ANGEL: We're done here.
I have to take this.
SPIKE: Yeah, the guy about the thing.
The small stuff that you can't worry about.
Would that include Fred?
I loved Fred.
- That's not an answer. - Then I guess you don't get one.
There's got to be something behind all this.
A reason.
It could be a ploy.
- For God's sake, say something. - And what would you like me to say?
Tell you that Angel loved Fred...
...and that, in an eon of eons, he would never harm her in any way.
I wish I could, Wes.
But if he believes what he's saying...
...and I believe he does... - It doesn't make any sense.
Angel never cared about power.
Well, he's never had any to care about, has he?
Not real power.
Even as Angelus.
And then, just like that, he's king of the mountain.
It's quite a view from up there.
Tends to make people want things.
Even if they start with the best intentions.
Angel's seen real power, and he's not looking away.
He's gonna go for it, Wes.
[CHUCKLES]
You boys look like you could use a hug.
ANGEL: Nina. NINA: Angel.
Hey.
Well, this is a nice surprise.
Everything okay?
Can we sit down?
Plane tickets?
I don't believe it. We're getting away?
This is... But I thought you didn't have time.
Wait.
There are three tickets here.
We taking a chaperon?
My sister and Amanda?
I need you to be out of here.
It's typical.
Sleep with a guy, he sends your family out of the country.
No, wait. That's actually not that typical at all.
You couldn't just not call?
- It's not safe here. - Is it ever?
- I want to be with you if there's trouble. - No, you don't want to be near me.
- Because I might get hurt. - Because I'm the thing that'll hurt you.
What do you call this?
Look, how can I convince you I want to be with you?
Show me a fourth ticket.
Look, if...
If I get...
...through this...
...intact...
...I'll come for you.
We'll...
We'll have time.
You're the most amazing man I've ever met.
But you're a crappy liar.
Go.
I'm not asking.
I'll go.
Why on earth would I stay?
[VIDEO GAME BEEPING]
It is a test...
...a task of some sort. You must collect those crystals.
And fruit.
Why?
Old One...
...you have no right to walk this earth.
Your time is past. You belong to the Well.
Truly.
I wish now I had never been brought out of it.
Do you?
I don't know.
I play this game.
It's pointless and annoys me.
And yet I'm compelled to play on.
Does that not...?
Well, looky-looky who's making friends.
Marcus.
Dro. How have you been?
You are acquainted with this creature?
Yes. We go way back, don't we?
- Too far. - The good old days.
So I hear you're living in a tree now.
The tree is the entrance to the Deeper Well.
I live in a cave. It's...
...really quite pleasant. - I'm sure it's a peach.
Afraid you won't return to it again.
You will not harm him.
You mean like this?
Hang on, Dro. This'll just take a second.
I gotta tell you, I'm a little disappointed.
Didn't think a big scary Old One bled this easily.
Maybe it's this skinny little body you chose to infect.
Or maybe it's that ray gun they shot you with to keep you from exploding.
Or maybe...
...you're just not...
...that...
...cool.
Yes, that's probably it.
LINDSEY: What are you gonna do?
- You gonna beat it out of me? - lf you say so.
We all know how this goes.
Spike beats you to a pulp, you beg for mercy, and we get what we came for.
Who needs all that rigmarole?
I told you, I don't know why Angel gave up that kid or anything else.
Me and him, not too close.
Now can I get back to solitaire?
- Where'd you get that? - Doesn't matter.
What does it mean?
[CHUCKLES]
Is that what all this is about?
All these questions about Angel?
No. No way.
- No way they'd take Angel. - Who, "they"?
- Circle of the Black Thorn. - Sounds like a sewing club for pirates.
It's a secret society.
- Never heard of them. - They're secret.
There's plenty of these cabals about. Usually spend a lot of time...
...paddling one another's bums to prove their manhood.
These are not frat boys, Spike.
The Circle's small, it's elite.
They got connections you boys can't even comprehend.
- They're evil. - Sure. Evil's not the point.
- Power is. - Power.
Okay, we get it. They're badass.
What do they do?
Jeez, you guys always this slow? Hmm?
Starts with A, ends in "pocalypse."
It's a well-oiled machine, the Circle.
These people grease the wheels, keep the parts in place.
Make sure man's inhumanity to man keeps rolling along.
We thought the senior partners caused the Apocalypse.
Senior partners are on a different plane. Down here...
...players in the Circle make things happen.
Hell, you get tapped by one of them...
...like getting a key to the chocolate factory.
That's why you came back to L. A...
...tried to kill Angel.
To get into the Circle.
To be a Black Thorn...
...is to be the senior partners' instrument on Earth. Doesn't get bigger than that.
Looks like Angel succeeded where you failed.
- He doesn't have it in him. - Doesn't have what?
Well, for starters, he's gotta give up the champion angle.
Quit saving girls in alleys.
Probably wouldn't even...
...make it on the Circle's radar till he killed one of his lieutenants.
The senior partners, the Circle... They're killing Angel by degrees.
And we all watched it happen.
Guy I knew wouldn't want this.
Wouldn't wanna be this.
Angel dedicated his life to helping others.
Not because he had to, but because it was a path he'd chosen.
If he's been swayed from that...
Influenced.
Then maybe there's still time.
We can bring him back.
He'd do the same for any of us, regardless of our actions.
Yeah, well, what if he's skipped too far down that evil brick road?
[MAN GROANING]
Thank you. Thank you.
IZZY: The Circle entwined...
FIGURES: ...embrace this worthy son.
IZZY: The Thorn draws blood.
The Thorn is the Power.
And the Power is absolute.
IZZY: Welcome to the fold.
- Well done, Angel. MAN: Well done.
Didn't I tell you it would happen?
About that lamb we got you for the slaughter. Know who that was?
- Drogyn. The Battlebrand. IZZY: Damn straight.
We got you some supercharged warrior juice, not some schmuck.
You must feel great.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]
Let me introduce you around to a few people. Some of these folks you know...
...some you don't. You're acquainted with the Archduke.
Kudos, child.
I must say it's gratifying to see you've returned to form, Angelus.
It's still Angel.
Ah. Well, what's in a name, eh?
In the spirit of our new alliance...
...you must allow a party in your honor.
- You know how I love parties. - Nice to see you again so soon, Angel.
Senator.
I had no idea you were so well-connected.
I'm not gonna take the White House in 2008 on just my sparkling wit...
...and funding from hostile governments.
[CHUCKLING]
I expect not.
Excuse us, Helen. Angel.
I've got someone here who'd like to pay his respects.
- Vail. - You've been looking for me.
Actually, I've been looking like I'm looking for you.
Appearances, you know.
[COUGHING]
See, Cyvus, I told you it was all good. Now, why don't you two shake hands.
- Come on. - No hard feelings, then.
Ultimately, everything worked out for the best.
Your son, he kills quite well.
Thanks.
Got a great turnout for your initiation.
- Really? IZZY: Yeah, everybody's here.
Here, let me freshen that up.
- Might want to stay down. - Or what?
Careful.
- Don't wanna hurt yourselves. - We know what you're doing.
Giving up the baby to the Brethren, working for the senator.
Trying to take out Drogyn to cover up what you did to Fred.
And for what? To get in bed with the Circle of the Black Thorn?
- You figured it out. - Little singing from a jailbird we know...
...and loathe.
Lindsey?
- You believed him. - He has no reason to lie.
- Doesn't need one. - Unlike you.
What I do here is my business.
You don't like how I conduct it, you can leave.
- Before I kill you. - Kill us?
Hard to believe we have trouble trusting you.
Just telling it like it is.
- Then we have a problem. - I guess we do.
- We done? - Let him go.
You don't give the orders.
Lorne, pull this thing out of me.
Easy. Not in a great mood.
Good. Now, let's finish this.
Involvare.
All right...
...we have six minutes. - Till what?
The glamour collapses. Anyone outside thinks we're still at each other's throats.
- Aren't we? - I'll make this short.
Everything you think you know...
...is a lie. - Why should we believe you?
Because I'm the one who told it. Read any good books lately?
- You sent the message? - And the assassin for Drogyn.
- That part was true. - Drogyn could handle himself.
I told the assassin enough so Drogyn would think I helped resurrect Illyria.
- I figured he'd come here for allies. - Why'd you make us think you killed her?
- Because they needed to believe it. - The Black Thorn.
They needed to believe my own people didn't trust me anymore.
They needed to believe a person as good and as pure as Drogyn...
...considered me an enemy.
It was the only way to gain their confidence.
So this whole evil-Angel thing has been a big scam-ola.
- I smell Oscar. - When did this all start?
Two months ago. With a kiss.
Though it didn 't hit me until later that night.
- Cordelia gave you her visions. - One-shot deal.
She put me on the path...
...showed me where the real powers are.
But I couldn't see who they were.
And then Fred died...
...and I wouldn't let that be another random horrible event...
...in another random horrible world.
So I decided to use it...
...to make her death matter.
And it worked.
I'm in.
I've seen the faces of evil.
I know who the real powers in the Apocalypse are.
So all that "power tilts the scales" crap?
True. We're in a machine. That machine's gonna be here long after...
...our bodies are dust.
The senior partners will always exist, one form or other, because mankind is weak.
Want me to point my crossbow at him? He's gonna talk about ants again.
We are weak.
The powerful control everything...
...except our will to choose.
Lindsey's a pathetic half-wit, but he was right.
Heroes don't accept the way the world is.
The senior partners may be eternal, but we can make their existence painful.
- You want to take them on? - We're in a machine.
The Black Thorn runs it.
We can bring their gears to a grinding halt, even if it's just for a moment.
About time we got our hands dirty.
This isn't a "keep fighting the good fight" kind of a deal.
Let's be clear. I'm talking about killing every...
...single member...
...of the Black Thorn.
We don't walk away from that.
- Do we crawl away, at least? - We do this...
...the senior partners will rain their full wrath.
I'm talking full-on hell, not the basic fire and brimstone we're used to.
- We know the drill. - No, you don't.
Ten to one we're gone when the smoke clears.
They will do everything in their power to destroy us.
So I need you to be sure.
Power endures.
We can't bring down the senior partners, but for one bright, shining moment...
...we can show them that they don't own us.
You need to decide...
...for yourselves...
...if that's worth dying for.
I can't order you to do this.
I can't do it without you.
So we'll vote...
...as a team.
Think about what I'm asking you to do.
Think about what I'm asking you to give.
Kill them all.
Burn the house down while we're still in it.
Something like that.
I'm in.
Drop him!
WESLEY: You don't want it to go like this.
Drop him! You lied!
- Let him go! - Angel, drop him!
[LORNE GROANING AND SHOUTING]
Subtitles by SDI Media Group
[ENGLISH SDH]