Line #57 Recap/AngelS04E11Soulless


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
4	%%
5	%%
6
7	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angel_soulless.png]]
8
9	At the Hyperion Hotel, the gang carefully put Angel's contained soul away in the safe, discussing the great risk they all face in dealing with Angelus. Meanwhile, an unchained Angelus sits alone in the basement cage. Wesley cautiously approaches the cage and starts up a discussion with Angelus. Angelus plays games with Wesley, avoiding the important information about The Beast in favor of taunting Wesley about his romantic interest in Fred while the rest of the gang watch the conversation from the lobby via video feed. Angelus continues to be difficult, raising issues of Wesley's failure with Faith and Connor. Connor returns to receive strange looks in the aftermath of Angelus's news, but misinterprets the looks as everyone thinking he's still connected to the Beast.
10
11	Gunn and Fred bring Angelus a glass of blood and Angelus happily takes advantage of the opportunity to taunt the couple about the sounds Angel could hear coming from Fred's room at night. Fred pushes a cart towards the cage and Angelus takes the glass, but also shoves the cart into Fred and grabs her when she falls towards the cage. Gunn moves in to rescue Fred, but it's Wesley who shoots Angelus with tranquilizer darts, freeing Fred and knocking Angelus out cold. In Wesley's office, Fred thanks him for saving her, but the conversation takes a turn for the romantic as Wesley kisses Fred. Gunn walks in and, after realizing what just happened between them, he gets furious. The two men begin to fight until Gunn accidentally hits Fred when she tries to stop them. Angelus is pleased with the discord he has created.
12
13	Connor approaches Angelus, who tells Connor that his mother Darla and his adoptive father Holtz were eager to get away from Connor. Connor calmly replies that he knows that Angelus is his real father. Angelus thinks he can take advantage of this and encourages Connor to approach, but Cordelia interrupts and sends Connor away. She then turns off the video camera and makes him an offer he can't refuse; give them the information to help them save the world, and she will exchange herself. Angelus is reluctant to take her offer, but later Cordelia informs the gang that Angelus is willing to talk, although she refuses to tell them what she did to get Angelus to talk. Wesley goes downstairs and begins to ask questions. Angelus explains that in 1789, the Beast tried to bribe Angelus into helping him kill three priestesses who were attempting to banish the Beast. Angelus refused to help, and then the priestesses appeared and banished the Beast. Gunn finds that the women live nearby.
14
15	Wesley, Cordelia, and Connor find the priestesses and their families have already been murdered by the Beast. After seeing a "Daddy's Birthday" reminder on the family's calendar, Connor runs outside to be sick. Cordelia chases after him and she tries to talk to him, but some vampires interrupt the moment, sending the gang into battle mode. Connor disposes of one and Wesley gets the car for them to escape in. They return to the hotel and since Angelus doesn't have any more information on the Beast, it's time to turn him back into Angel. Cordelia goes downstairs and, despite Angelus's enthusiasm to have her, Cordelia tells him the deal is off since they didn't get to save the world and that they're putting his soul back. Angelus doesn't seem too worried about that, as he's confident he'll escape the cage and collect on his debt before getting to see the apocalypse come to life. Cordelia returns to the office only to find bad news: the container holding Angel's soul is gone.
16	----
17	!!Tropes
18	* BottleEpisode: The episode takes place almost entirely in the hotel lobby and basement, with the majority of action being just characters talking.
19	* BuffySpeak: Angel's soul is all floaty.
20	* BuxomBeautyStandard: Angelus notes that Cordelia has "a rack to write home about".
21	* CarFu: Wesley drives over a vampire. It doesn't kill him.
22	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Angelus {{Lampshades}} that Angel can no longer fulfill the conditions of his curse just by being happy himself. He can only be truly happy if his whole family is also happy, hence the previous episode's FantasySequence had to solve ''everyone's'' problems.
23	* {{Cliffhanger}}: The gang open the safe to find that Angel's SoulJar has been stolen.
24	* CockFight: Wesley and Gunn get into a fist fight over Fred. Unfortunately, she tries to intervene and Gunn accidentally hits her.
25	* ConcealingCanvas: Hiding the safe with the SoulJar.
26	%%* ConflictBall: You ''really'' picked a great time to start straying in your affections, Fred.
27	* ConsultingAConvictedKiller: Well he hasn't been convinced but the episode is played entirely in this fashion, even down to Angelus being behind bars.
28	* ContinuityNod:
29	** We get a two-fer in Connor's opening fight. 1) Connor fights like Angel, even using Angel's signature wrist-strapped-stake-gadgets. 2) Connor is fighting vampires from out of town, drawn in by the permanent nighttime engendered by the Beast.
30	** Lorne brings up that Cordelia has told them about Angelus nailing a puppy to a wall, which was first mentioned in the ''Series/{{Buffy\|the Vampire Slayer}}'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered]]".
31	** We see Angelus in Prussia in 1789 making his way to Austria. This places him just after Darla abandoned him to Holtz in the barn -- they'd agreed to meet in Vienna.
32	* CovertPervert:
33	-->'''Angelus:''' Ah, Fred. You look all fresh and sweet, [[NaughtyByNight but I hear you at night in your room with Gunn]]. The things you say. I'm lying there, listening, hands under the covers... I can't help myself. It's so... gripping.
34	* DeathOfAChild: Played straight, right down to a [[EmpathyDollShot bloody teddy bear]].
35	* DoubleEntendre: Loads
36	-->'''Angelus:''' (seeing Connor is wearing his shirt) Looks good on you, son.
37	-->'''Connor:''' (smirking) So did Cordy.
38	-->'''Angelus:''' [[ReallyGetsAround She looks good on everyone.]]
39	** Angelus re Wes/Fred.
40	--->"You want to impress the girl. Move in, get her to love you, and after a couple days of flowers and chocolate-covered cherries, you'll bend her over the kitchen counter."
41	** After Wes pretends to give up and walk out..
42	--->"Nice stamina, Wes. No wonder Fred's not interested."
43	** Angelus to Gunn/Fred.
44	--->"So much for stand by your man. Then again, you probably like her on her knees."
45	* EmpathyDollShot: In the Svear house massacre.
46	* EyesNeverLie:
47	-->'''Cordelia:''' Look in my eyes. Angel knows me. You know me. Better than anyone. So, when you look at me, you know I'm not lying.
48	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Angelus bringing up Wesley's poor performance as Watcher to Faith.
49	* FreudianExcuse
50	-->'''Angelus:''' I guess you just can't understand that special bond between dad and son, given that your own father's ashamed of you...
51	-->'''Wesley:''' And Connor's ashamed of you. The universe's way of maintaining order, I guess.
52	* HannibalLecture: Par for the course when an intelligent evil guy is locked in a cage. Using HalfTruth to dispirit and divide them.
53	* AHouseDivided: Angelus does his best to sow discord in the Fang Gang, helped by the fact that he already knows (or has guessed) everyone's dark secrets.
54	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: After the members of Investigations ask Cordelia how she managed to convince Angelus to reveal what he knows about the Beast:
55	-->I did what I had to.
56	* InnocentFanserviceGuy: Connor is implied to be naked when Cordelia hands him the shirt.
57	* IronicNurseryTune: Angelus sitting in a cage creepily singing "Teddy Bear's Picnic" to himself.
58	* ImprovisedWeapon: TheTeaser opens with a shot of a bound stack of newspapers about the [[SunnydaleSyndrome crime wave]] sweeping LA. Suddenly Connor grabs it to slug a vampire with, then when he's knocked into a gas cylinder he turns it on to spray the vampires.
59	* InterruptedIntimacy: Gunn walking in just after Wes kisses Fred. He's smart enough to realise what happened though.
60	* NothingUpMySleeve: Connor is using [[LikeFatherLikeSon Angel's stake-wrist device]].
61	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Angelus taunts Connor about the fact Connor wants to kill his father (Angel) and sleep with his mother figure (Cordelia) and compares the situation to ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing''. Since Connor was raised in a Hell dimension for most of his life, he has no idea what he's talking about and ignores it.
62	* PowerPerversionPotential: Angel's super-hearing causing him to hear Fred and Gunn having sex rooms away.
63	* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Connor fighting some out-of-town vampires.
64	-->"Welcome to L.A. ''(hurls the stake at the vampire, dusting him)'' Tourists."
65	* ScareChord: Angelus makes a grab for Cordy, missing her by inches. [[NervesOfSteel She doesn't even flinch.]]
66	-->'''Cordelia:''' Not even close.
67	* ScarpiaUltimatum: Cordelia offers to give herself to Angelus in exchange for the information.
68	* SeriesContinuityError: For some reasons, Wesley acts like he's seeing Angelus for the first time despite facing him earlier in "[[Recap/AngelS01E17Eternity Etenity]]".
69	** Since Angelus's appearance in that episode was artificially induced and Wesley knew it was temporary, it's possible that he thinks of this as meeting the ''real'' Angelus.
70	* ShoutOut: "Bodies, bodies, everywhere, and not a drop to drink" is a reference to Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
71	* ShoutOutToShakespeare: Angelus refers to the tragedy of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and Desdemona with regard to the Fred-Gunn-Wesley LoveTriangle.
72	* ShutUpHannibal: Cordelia to Angelus when the gang is about to put his soul back.
73	* SpecialEditionTitle: The promo modified the usual ''Angel'' logo to spell ''Angelus''.
74	* ThisIsThePartWhere: Angelus calling Wes' interrogation tactics.
75	* TranquillizerDart: InstantSedation is averted when it takes a couple of hits to make Angelus keel over.
76	* TheTriple:
77	-->'''Angelus:''' The "perfect day" fantasy [Angel] came up with. Caves, booby traps, the requisite [[PhallicWeapon phallic sword]].
78	* VomitDiscretionShot: Connor after seeing the massacred family.
79	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
80	-->'''Cordelia:''' Dead demons are just a big blob of oozing mess. Vampires [[NoBodyLeftBehind turn into dust like they were never anything at all]]. But humans— (sighs) it's different.
81	* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: When Angelus greets Gunn and Fred as 'Theatre/{{Othello}} and Desdemona'.
82	-->"Oh, wait. Desdemona wasn't in love with the other guy."
83	* WickedCultured: While taunting, Angelus makes references to ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing''.
84	* WordSchmord: Angelus quips "Angel Schmangel".
85	* YouDoNotWantToKnow: Lorne listens to Angelus sing and gives this response to what he read. Cordy's response when the others try to find out how she got Angelus to talk.

Context Recap / AngelS04E11Soulless