Angel/Recap/S02 E15 Reprise

Tension mounts at Wolfram & Hart as their 75-year review approaches. Convinced he'll never be able to atone for his past, Angel decides to use this opportunity to make an end run on Hell itself.

"Holland: "Our firm has always been here. In one form or another. The Inquisition. The Khmer Rouge. We were there when the very first cave man clubbed his neighbor. See, we're in the hearts and minds of every single living being. And that -- friend -- is what's making things so difficult for you. See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil, Angel. It works with us. It works because of us.""
 * As Long as There Is Evil

"(reading from a booklet) "Make sure all troths are securely fastened and sacrifices tilted as shown in diagram F-12 to ensure full drainage into sacred offering bowl. Using a clean, diagonal motion, slit throat of sacrifice with the pre-blessed ceremonial dagger provided...I didn't see that in the box.""
 * Back From the Dead: Holland Manner operates the lift to Hell. As he tells Angel, Wolfram & Hart contracts continue beyond death.
 * Bait and Switch: Angel creeps down the corridor of an abandoned building, listening to what appear to be ghostly screams. He enters a room and switches on the light. My God, it's full of goats!
 * Bait and Switch Comment: Virginia appears to be asking Wesley to leave his demon-hunting life for her, but Wes surmises she's actually working up the nerve to break off with him.
 * Blood Magic: Spoofed with the two Wolfram & Hart employees following a list of instructions for a goat sacrifice.

""Nearly half of mid-management was sacked. And Lindsey, they use actual sacks.""
 * Borrowed Biometric Bypass: Angel kidnaps Lilah saying that he wants the same thing from her that he took from Lindsey. Lilah clearly thinks she's about to have her hand chopped off, but then we cut to her sensibly pressing her still-intact thumb against the scanner as Angel waits menacingly by her shoulder.
 * Call Back: To the end of BTVS "Surprise" where Angel lost his soul after sleeping with Buffy -- once again as Dramatic Thunder crashes outside, Angel wakes next to a sleeping Darla in evident pain.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Denver from "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been" reappears - 50-odd years older. And is promptly killed.
 * Creator Cameo: Writer David Fury as an unsuccessful goat sacrificer.
 * Death Glare: Angel goes to Caritas and finds a bunch of Wolfram & Hart lawyers there, checking to see if they'll have a future post-review. The Host points out that they want one other thing -- Angel dead. Angel turns to see every one of the lawyers glaring hate at him.
 * Death Seeker: Angel
 * Despair Event Horizon: Angel and Kate
 * Destination Defenestration: Angel goes out the window of Wolfram & Hart. Won't be the last time either.
 * Driven to Suicide / Drowning My Sorrows: Kate gets drunk and takes an overdose of sleeping pills after being fired.
 * Dramatic Shattering: Darla starts to give an Evil Laugh as Angel kisses her passionately -- Angel asks her why she's laughing and throws her through the French doors.
 * The Elevator From Ipanema: The usual annoying music plays at the hellevator descends. Those Senior Partners really are evil!
 * Exact Words: Lilah tells Lindsey what happened at the last 75-year review.

"Lilah: "I heard Henderson actually pulled her firstborn out of company daycare to offer it up to... Brown noser. My mother was right. I should have had children.""
 * Hellevator: Angel is invited to finally enter the "Home Office", the source of Wolfram & Hart's power, and gets into an elevator... which goes down. And down. And down. And down... and finally arrives at street-level, the exact same spot. Even Angel has to point out the Anviliciousness of the "Our world is Hell" moral.
 * Hero Insurance: Averted; Kate loses her job -- letting Angel rough up Captain Atkinson is the final straw for the police department.
 * Humans Are Bastards: If they weren't, they'd be angels.
 * Hopeless War
 * Human Sacrifice

"Angel: Look, will the ring get me there or not?
 * Killed Mid-Sentence: Denver, right in the middle of saying that this time things are going to be different.
 * Lady in Red: Darla
 * Limited Social Circle: Wesley suggest that, being an attractive woman on a Friday night, Cordelia should forget work and go out with her friends. Cordelia frankly admits she doesn't have any -- things have certainly changed since Sunnydale.
 * Loophole Abuse: The Host refuses to tell Angel what he saw in the futures of the W&H lawyers, but he can reveal what he overheard them talking about in the mens restroom.
 * Meaningful Echo: Darla's "It's about power." -- Arc Words from Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
 * Mundane Utility: Denver had been using the Kleynach gauntlet as an oven mitt.
 * Names for Evil Lawyers to Run Away From Really Fast: Senior Partner.
 * Neck Snap: Mrs Sharp
 * Noodle Incident: The Christmas Purge of '65.
 * Nothing Good Ever Happens in A Parking Garage: Averted; Angel notes that Lilah isn't using the underground garage any more. Not that it does any good.
 * Ominous Latin Chanting
 * Power Fist: The knight's gauntlet used to kill the Kleynach.
 * Plot Coupon

Denver: Well, you got to get it first. And to get the ring you've got to kill the Kleynach.

Angel: How?

Denver: You happen to be looking at the one guy who can tell you how.

Angel: How?!

Denver: To kill the Kleynach and get the ring you need the glove.

Angel: Okay, now you're making this up."

"Cordy: "What a jerk. I mean if it was anybody else I would just say 'get laid already!' But no, not him. One decent boff and he switches to evil psycho vamp.""
 * Punch Clock Villain: The two W&H employees sacrificing the goats.
 * Ring of Power: The band of Blacknil is a plain-looking ring that enables the wearer to move between dimensions.
 * Sex for Solace: A despairing Angel sleeps with Darla, not caring about the consequences.
 * Super Speed: Angel Perp Sweating the two goat sacrificers.
 * Sideboob: We get a nice Fan Service shot of Darla's sexy side when she jumps into bed with Angel.
 * Single-Stroke Battle: Angel knocks out both of Lilah's bodyguards at once.
 * Suicide Mission: Convinced he'll never be able to atone for his past sins, Angel decides to launch an assault on Hell itself.
 * Talk to the Fist: Lindsey punching Lilah when she urges the guards to "Stake the bitch!" (Darla)
 * Throwing Off the Disability: Subverted. Wesley, confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the previous episode, literally rises to Cordelia's defense against Angel... and as soon as Angel is out the door, he collapses back into the wheelchair and asks Cordelia to call an ambulance, since he just pulled all his stitches.
 * Turn in Your Badge: Poor Kate.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: After having successfully exorcised the demon hatching in Stephanie, the Fang Gang find that the parents don't want to pay -- after all Angel Investigations can hardly take them to court and claim an eye was growing in the back of her head.
 * Well Done Daughter Gal: After being fired, a member of the review board twists the knife by telling Kate that it's a good thing her father isn't alive to see this.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Kate leaves a drunken message on Angel's answering machine, cursing Angel for making her believe in him.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Lindsey is letting Darla recover at his apartment; once he's left the room to shower she throws off the blanket and starts going through his files.
 * You Need to Get Laid: Lampshaded by Cordelia. By the end of the episode Angel seems to agree.