Angel/Recap/S03 E15 Loyalty

Wesley is torn over what action to take after translating the prophecy that Angel will kill Connor. Holtz's team puts Angel Investigations under surveillance. Unwilling to wait until he acts, Sahjahn forms a secret alliance with Lilah Morgan.

"Gunn: "I wanna know how [Angel] does it. No last name, no bank account. How are you ordering stuff off the web?"
 * Action Film Quiet Drama Scene: Wesley and Angel talking just before the earthquake.
 * Adult Fear: How Angel understands that Aubrey is actually working for Holtz. He realises the lengths he would go to if someone were to harm Connor.
 * And That Would Be Wrong

Fred: "It's not that hard, really. All you have to do is hack into the shipping database, find someone who is ordering what you want, then substitute your information. (Sees Gunn and Angel looking at her) Except that would just be high-tech robbery."

Angel: "I memorized Cordelia's credit card numbers."

Fred: "Oh. Low-tech robbery.""

"Gunn: "Well, you-you-you got my back, right? You stood up to him and said we're two adults and what we do with our personal lives is none of his business, right?"
 * The Bait: Holtz's team lure Fred and Gunn into a nest of vampires to get some idea of how they fight.
 * Bait and Switch Comment: Gunn finds out that Wes has been getting on at Fred about their office romance.

Fred: (nods) "You bet I, uh...didn't.""

"Loa: "You risk your life, human, calling on the Loa. Perhaps what you really seek is death. The pain in your heart begs for it."
 * Big Brother Is Employing You: As insurance in case her office is bugged, Lilah writes her answer to Sahjahn on her legal pad.
 * Blood-Splattered Innocents: Blood from the cut on Angel's head drips onto the towel in which he's wrapped Connor.
 * Bond One-Liner: When Wes turns up alone at Holtz's place, one of his mooks suggests cutting out his tongue as a message to Angelus. Wes punches him in the throat. "Or perhaps you could lie on the floor and gag for a while."
 * Conflicting Loyalty
 * Conspicuous CGI / Red Eyes, Take Warning / Milking the Giant Cow: The Jollyburger Loa
 * Daydream Surprise / Bad Dreams: In The Teaser Fred and Gunn find Wesley asleep at his desk and kid him about working too hard. Angel enters holding Connor. "Do you wanna see Connor do something cool? (Angel morphs into vamp face) I'm teaching him how to DIE!" Blood starts pouring from Wesley's Tome of Eldritch Lore and he wakes up at his desk.
 * Death Seeker / It Has Only Just Begun

Wes: "Then do it and be done. Nothing else will stop me."

Loa: "Simple mortal, your pain is just beginning.""

"Loa: (zapping Wes with lightning from its eyes) "Your insolence is displeasing."
 * Decoy Damsel: Aubrey -- she actually has lost her son to vampires, but went to Holtz for vengeance, not Angel Investigations.
 * Description Cut: A clever one where Wesley's encounter with a prophetic god-like hamburger cuts to Lilah Morgan in a bar saying, "I need a drink", no doubt reflecting how Wesley feels at that moment.
 * Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Wesley starts arguing with the Loa about the meaning of the prophecy.

Wes: (picking himself back up) "You try chatting with a cranky hamburger.""

"Justine: "I don't understand. How can these people work for a vampire."
 * Enemy Mine: COUNT ME IN.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Holtz has shaved off his goatee (perhaps because Justine mentioned his 'creepy stalker look') while Wesley now has a Perma-Stubble as he's been neglecting his appearance.
 * Even Evil Lawyers Love Their Mamas: Lilah talks to her senile mother on the phone.
 * Failed Attempt At Drama: Sahjahn does a Villain Teleportation into Lilah's office; she doesn't even blink, much to his disappointment. Then he starts off on a dramatic spiel about the extremely difficult to obtain item he needs, only for Lilah to butt in saying they've already got a sample of Connor's blood.
 * Gallows Humor: Angel sees his blood dripping on the towel and makes a quip about if he were trapped in the room, at least he would have something to feed on. As the towel is wrapped around Connor at the time, Wesley takes a very different interpretation.
 * Grey and Gray Morality

Holtz: "I once made a pact with a demon."

Justine: "So you could get to Angelus. So you could kill a vampire."

Holtz: "I'm sure they believe their reasons are good, however misguided. Things aren't always black and white, Justine, good and evil."

Justine: "What about Angelus?"

Holtz: "He is evil.""

"Loa: "The first portent will shake the earth. The second will burn the air. The last will turn the sky to blood."
 * Heroic BSOD: Wesley shows increasing strain as he is divided between loyalty to Angel and his desire to protect Angel's child.
 * Hollywood Voodoo: Spoofed with Wesley seeking answers from a loa that takes the form of a plastic hamburger-man statue at a fast food joint.
 * Honey Trap: Aubrey asks Wesley out, but he's already worked out what her game is.
 * Kick the Dog: Fred (who is unaware of Wes feelings for her) suggests Wesley needs to get out from behind his desk and find some romance. Wesley works off some of his frustrations by snapping at Fred about her office romance with Gunn.
 * Foreshadowing: Loads of it.
 * I Never Said It Was Poison: Aubrey thanks Wesley for dusting the vamps who killed her son. Wesley says he never said there was more than one. Aubrey covers it well though, pointing out that Wesley did say there might be a nest of vampires.
 * Meaningful Echo: Fred after staking a vampire. "I got your back! Well, actually I got his back."
 * Neck Lift: The boardwalk vampire does this to Gunn.
 * Portent of Doom

Wes: "An earthquake? That's the first portent? We live California!"

Loa: "Earthquake, fire, blood. Be heedful of the signs, human, and trouble the Loa no more.""

"Sahjhan: "You owe me a dead vampire."
 * Relative Button meets Tranquil Fury

Holtz: "Yes. Well, how shall I put this? What are you going to do about it? Nothing. That's what you'll do. That's all you can do - or else you wouldn't have brought me here in the first place. (Holtz turns back to the table) You've done your part, Sahjhan. Now let me do mine."

Sahjhan: "What is your part? Recruiting a bunch of paramilitary moonie freaks, who run around playing Candid Camera with Angel's buddies? That's crap. Admit it. You're a coward...and I bet Caroline would agree. You remember her, don't you? Your dead wife? Mother of your dead kids? How'd they die? Who swore revenge? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Holtz is silent for a long moment, then says quietly:

Holtz: "Get out."

Sahjhan: "Or what? You can't kill me."

Holtz: (turns suddenly to face Sahjhan) "But I can trap your dimensional essence in a Resikhian Urn. Wonderful devices the urns. They last a lifetime. That is, if you live forever."

Sahjhan: "This isn't over, Holtz.""

"Wesley: "Well, I must have misunderstood. Here I thought it was a simple blood vendetta, when... what you really want is to protect Angel's son."
 * Revenge Myopia
 * Sarcasm Mode

Holtz: "You don't believe me."

Wes: "Hmm. Not sure really. Could be the low scary voice that's giving me trouble.""

"Angel: What's so funny?
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: Wesley tries to argue that Angel is a different person who should not be punished for Angelus' crimes. Holtz responds that Angelus always exists within Angel, has emerged in the past and will do again in future.
 * Smooch of Victory: Fred/Gunn after killing the boardwalk vamps.
 * Staking the Loved One: A different version of the trope is related by Aubrey. Her son came back near dawn after being turned into a vampire. Aubrey was too afraid to invite him in, and he was killed at sunrise.
 * Suggestive Collision: Holtz falls on top of Justine after pushing her out of the way of a collapsing cabinet. They are implied to have become lovers in the next episode.
 * Take Me Instead!: Wes offers his own life to Holtz in the place of Angel's. Holtz of course isn't interested, but the act shows the Loa might have been right about Wesley seeking death to escape his dilemma.
 * Tempting Fate: Played for Drama when Wesley laughs thinking he's reading too much into everything, whereupon all three portents happen at once. An earthquake causes a gas explosion setting the room on fire, giving Angel a head wound that drips onto Connor's blue blanket.
 * Tension-Cutting Laughter: After being wound tight for the entire episode, Wesley starts to laugh after hearing Angel talk about how much he loves his son.

Wes: "Life. Life is funny. Listening to stupid people talking to hamburgers is funny. Worrying about things that will never... It's all so incredibly funny and...and beautiful.""

"Holtz: "This tiny girl; outsized, outmatched, outnumbered -- and she survived. Why? Because she was willing not to. She was prepared to die for the cause rather than abandon her comrade.""
 * Tested On Vamps: Vampires are chained up in Holtz's hideout so his soldiers can be trained to fight them.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Justine has learned unarmed combat and sword fighting skills from Holtz.
 * Trick and Follow Ploy: Wesley follows Aubrey to Holtz's hideout.
 * True Companions: Lampshaded by Holtz who shows his troops the video they took of Fred saving Gunn's life.

"Loa: "That the vampire will devour his child is certain. The dark question you harbor is only 'when.'"
 * You Can't Fight Fate

Wes: "No. The dark question I harbor is 'how do I stop it?'"

Loa: "It can not be stopped.""