History Recap / AngelS03E13WaitingInTheWings

* InterruptedDeclarationOfLove: Apparently Angel to Cordelia.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Angel is choking Tragedy Minion while Cordy is throwing everything she can get her hands on at Comedy Minion who's trying to run her through with a sword. Finally all she's got to brandish is a fly whisk, so she shouts, "A little help here!" Just then Tragedy shoves a stiletto into Angel's chest. Angel thanks him, pulls out the stiletto and uses it to kill Comedy minion.

* DeliciousDistraction: The Fang Gang wonder how the ballet company is the same as the one Angel saw over a hundred years ago.

* AnAxeToGrind: Uncle Lorne protecting Connor.

* ContinuityNod: Like Fred in [[Recap/AngelS03E07Offspring "Offspring"]], Lorne says that Angel and Cordelia have ''kyrumption'', a Pylean word meaning the meeting of two larger-than-life souls.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Not the antagonist of the episode, but ''Angelus'' who upon watching the performance back in 1890, was brought to '''tears''' at the performance.
-->'''Angel:''' I saw their production of ''Giselle'' in 1890. I cried like a baby -- and I was evil!

** Wesley mocking Cordelia's "rythmic snoring" echoes Giles' chastising Anya's "Wagnerian snoring" when the Scoobies had to stay in Xander's basement in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E14GoodbyeIowa Goodye, Iowa]]".

* HasAType: According to Lorne, Angel has a thing former cheerleaders.

* HydraProblem: Every time a lackey is killed, they split into two live lackeys. However every time this happens the spell weakens as the Count has to keep control of an increasing number of lackeys.
* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: Gunn is angry that Angel got them ballet tickets, instead of tickets to a hip-hop concert. He's almost weeping with joy by the first intermission.

* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Angel kills two lackeys simultaneously, stabbing one while killing the other with a dagger thrown OffhandBackhand. As the lackeys interrupted them as they were about to have sex, Cordelia says they've got to get out of there immediately. "You just looked ''really'' hot doing that."

* NightmareFetishist: Spoofed when Wesley appears to be raving over a woodcut of a six-breasted she-demon in the open book in front of him, but he's [[BaitAndSwitchComment actually going on about Fred]].

* RelationshipUpgrade: Fred/Gunn

-->'''Angel:''' "Don't be stupid. I'm that guy and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen is making eyes at me? It's either bachelor party or a scam."\\

-->'''Fred:''' "Oh. Okay. I'm very excited about tonight. I love the ballet! I mean, I haven't seen that much, but my family used to go to ''the Nutcracker'' every Christmas, and I had my first sexual dream about the Mouse King."

-->'''Angel:''' I saw their production of "Giselle" in 1890. I cried like a baby -- and I was evil!
** Subverted with Count Kurskov. he doesn't even know ballet that well, and fails to notice the mistake the ballerina makes in every performance.

Wesley researches a demon from one of Cordelia's visions while Cordelia questions Wesley about his romantic feelings towards Fred. After Gunn and Fred return from breakfast, Angel announces he is taking them all to a production of the ballet ''Giselle'', performed by the Bllinikov School. Gunn is horrified, since Angel had originally gone out to pick up tickets for one of his favourite bands and tells Angel they've 'lost the trust'. He says he saw the same ballet performed by the same company in 1890, which made him cry like a baby... which was quite a feat, considering he was still evil back then.

* CompositeCharacter: The prima ballerina's story echoes that of two heroines from famous ballets. Giselle (which is also the ballet she is performing) is in a love triangle with the man she loves and a man who feels he's [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to have her]]. And Odette from ''Swan Lake'' - a maiden cursed by an evil sorcerer to go through an endless cycle over and over again.

* CompositeCharacter: The prima ballerina's story echoes that of two heroines from famous ballets. Giselle (which is also the ballet she is performing) is in a love triangle with the man she loves and a man who feels he's entitled to have her. And Odette from ''Swan Lake'' - a maiden cursed by an evil sorcerer to go through an endless cycle over and over again.

Worried, Fred encourages the guys to help her look for the missing Angel and Cordelia (although Gunn, loving the show, is practically dragged away). The Count directs his demon minions to deal with those sneaking around backstage. While trying to escape the backstage halls, Cordelia recalls an element of fear she felt while possessed. She convinces Angel to reenter the dressing room so that they can break the spell holding them backstage, where they are possessed by the spirits again with wild passion for each other. Cordelia calls Angel "Stefan" and confesses her fears of another man who is controlling her life. They kiss, and "Stefan" offers to take her away, but she wants him to help her deal with the problem instead. As Fred tends to a wound Gunn received in the battle with the Count's minions, he jokes about his injury, and Fred gets emotional because she thought he was seriously hurt. The two kiss as Wesley quietly discovers them and walks away sadly.

The ballet continues on stage as the gang gathers backstage. Wesley explains that the Count was a wizard who discovered the prima ballerina whom he adored had a lover. To repay her for her "betrayal", the count forced her into a temporal shift where she would dance for him forever. As Angel searches for the Count's power center, he finds the prima ballerina waiting in the wings, resigned to perform the same dance for the rest of eternity regretting she didn't leave when Stefan urged her to. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang weaken the Count's magic by fighting off the Count's demons, who multiply whenever they're killed.

The Prima Ballerina sadly tells Angel that during the first act, her foot slips a little every time during the courtship dance... she's not dancing each night, but rather just repeating her movements again and again for eternity. Angel tells her to break the magic holding her prisoner, she has to change the dance. She dances on stage using her own steps. Angel attacks the Count and, guessing the power center is in a medallion the count wears, smashes it with a powerful punch, finally releasing the ballet dancers. The Prima Ballerina, knowing she's has been released from her eternal curse, bows to Angel in thanks as she vanishes. The Count tells Angel he has no right to do this, the Prima Ballerina was his and danced only for him... but Angel isn't interested and knocks him out. Wesley dresses Gunn's injury and watches on in emotional agony as Fred and Gunn exchange loving looks.

The ballet continues on stage as the gang gathers backstage. Wesley explains that the Count was a wizard who discovered the prima ballerina whom he adored had a lover. To repay her for her "betrayal", the count forced her into a temporal shift where she would dance for only him, forever. As Angel searches for the Count's power center, he finds the prima ballerina waiting in the wings, resigned to perform the same dance for the rest of eternity regretting she didn't leave when Stefan urged her to. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang weaken the Count's magic by fighting off the Count's demons, who multiply whenever they're killed.

The ballet continues on stage as the gang gathers backstage. Wesley explains that the Count was a wizard who discovered the prima ballerina whom he adored had a lover. To repay her for her betrayal, the count forced her into a temporal shift where she would dance for only him, forever. As Angel searches for the Count's power center, he finds the prima ballerina waiting in the wings, resigned to perform the same dance for the rest of eternity regretting she didn't leave when Stefan urged her to. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang weaken the Count's magic by fighting off the Count's demons, who multiply whenever they're killed.

* NightmareFetishist: Spoofed when Wesley appears to be raving over a woodcut of a six-breasted she-demon, but he's [[BaitAndSwitchComment actually going on about Fred]].

* TooMuchInformation: Angel mutters that he used to get box seats, "or I'd eat the people in them." Cordelia tells him to stop with the reminiscing. Also:

Compliments are directed to everyone as their attire is revealed at the hotel, and they depart together. At theater, the gang find their way to their seats and Angel grumbles at the distance between their seats and the stage and remembers how, in the past, getting a box seat was only a good meal away. The show begins and Cordelia is literally and almost instantly bored to sleep while Gunn finds himself enraptured with the performance. Angel, as he watches, begins to get troubled at the sight of the dancers. During intermission, Angel tells his friends that the show is the same as the one he saw in 1890... and he means exactly the same, with the same dancers. Angel knows the dancers aren't vampires, so the gang decide to investigate. He and Cordelia sneak backstage, where they discover they are mystically trapped in a maze of corridors.

* DreamBallet: There was a deleted scene that featured a fantasy ballet sequence between Fred and Wesley.

* LooksLikeSheIsEnjoyingIt
-->'''Gunn:''' "Hear that? Sounds like someone's in pain."\\
'''Fred:''' "Either that or someone's in fun..."

'''Angel:''' "There will be [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar no coming together]], okay?"

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: After Angel and Cordy come out of the dressing room where they were making out, Cordy mentions she's glad there are no lasting effects. Angel agrees, as he takes off his tux jacket and [[RagingStiffie holds it in front of himself]].

-->'''Cordy:''' Hey...it's awkward, but it's not ''us''. So long as nothing is removed or...[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar inserted]] it's all forgotten."

Angel buys tickets to the ballet for the Fang Gang, but discovers the performers are the same people he saw back in 1890.

* CallBack: When Angel and Cordelia are discussing going back into the dressing room to become possessed by the spirits again Angel says "Look I've been possessed by the spirits of old lovers before, it never ends well." This is a reference to the ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes For You]]", where Angelus and Buffy were possessed by the ghosts of two lovers. Earlier Cordelia kids Wesley about how he only had eyes for her in Sunnydale, referring to their courtship in BTVS Season 3.

* AtTheOperaTonight: Not the opera but the ballet.

* CreatorInJoke: Mata Hari, the band Gunn originally thinks they're going to see, is a band Joss Whedon's brother is in.
* CreepyBallet: A ballerina is cursed to repeat the same performance for her jealous RomanticRunnerUp.

* DespairSpeech

* DreamBallet / SucksAtDancing: In the DeletedScene Wesley [[ImagineSpot imagines himself]] ballet dancing (ineptly) up stage with a graceful Fred.
* EndlessCorridor: Backstage in the theatre.

* YouRemindMeOfX: In reference to Cordy, Lorne kids Angel about his liking for ex-cheerleaders. Nice one, Lorne -- you've just reminded Angel of his [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer last disastrous affair with a human girl]].

* RagingStiffie: Angel and Cordelia are trying to get out of the ballerina's dressing room while KissingUnderTheInfluence.

!! Tropes:

* OneSceneWonder: Creator/SummerGlau as the ballerina only speaks in one scene.