Sleep Tight

Starring: David Boreanaz as Angel, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia, Amy Acker as Fred, Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, J. August Richards as Gunn

Guest starring: Andy Hallet as Lorne, Stephanie Romanov as Lilah, Laurel Holloman as Justine, Jack Conley as Sahjhan, Marina Benedict as Kim, Keith Szarabajka as Holtz

Original air date: March 4, 2002

Written by: David Greenwalt Directed by: Terrence O’Hara

Wes is looking at his translation of the Nyazian scrolls: “the father will kill the son.” Connor is crying nearby. Angel, rather conspicuously drinking a glass of blood, tells Wes to pick the baby up when he starts to fuss. While Wes is barely getting any sleep Angel feels full of energy - he thinks he could drink a horse. They can hear a woman singing out in the garden - Lorne’s interviewing a possible client. Fred comes down the stairs talking on the phone with Gunn about the same time Gunn enters the lobby. They are obviously lovey-dovey. Wes suggests that he take Connor to the park or the beach in a day or two. Lorne pops his head in to the lobby and asks everyone to come out and hear his friend, Kim. She begins to sing and play her guitar when suddenly her face gets very demony, she growls that she’ll rip everyone’s eyeballs out, and bright green demon goo comes out of her mouth.

Everyone’s back in the lobby discussing Kim’s situation. Kim hooked up with a granola-like band a couple weeks ago, but recently the band members have been playing some very industrial rock music and growing spiny things and seventh fingers. Now Kim has been experiencing some changes, too. Wes confirms that Kim is human and that she can get rid of the demon infection by taking a mystical antibiotic. Lorne figures out that the members of Kim’s band are “wraithers,” demons that can appear human for a short period of time (10-14 days) but then they begin to revert to their demon form. Gunn wants to know why the wraithers would appear as musicians and Angel answers, “for the chicks.” Angel is also unusally perky about the prospect of taking out the wraithers. Wes sends Angel, Gunn and Fred to kill the demons and asks Lorne to watch Connor. Wes has some other business to take care of.

At Holtz’s hidey hole Justine training the recruits and showing them how to dust a vamp. She’s pretty good, too. Holtz asks Justine if she’s ready and she says yes, but has some concerns about killing the humans around Angel. Holtz, however, doesn’t have any concerns. We see Holtz palm a large knife and it looks like he’s going to kill Justine until she says that the humans chose to work with an evil being which makes them enemy soldiers. Just then Wes shows up.

Meanwhile the demon rock band is giving a performance for some groupies when Gunn smashes in a window. Angel announces that they aren’t record reps, they’re just here to kill them. Fred gets the groupies out of harm’s way and Gunn levels his crossbow at the three demons. They back up clearly afraid of something, but it’s not Gunn, it’s Angel. Angel has vamped out and leaps on the stage. Angel is pretty vicious as he fights the demons, ripping the arm off of one of them. After the fight is over Angel says, “that was fun.”

Holtz and Wes are discussing a plan. Wes doesn’t want anyone, including Holtz’s followers, to get hurt. Holtz still refuses to believe that Angel deserves any forgiveness for his past sins, even though Angel has a soul. Justine echoes Holtz’s sentiments and Wes correctly guesses that Justine lost a loved one to a vampire. That’s why she’s ready to die for Holtz’s cause. Wes tells her he’s sorry that she’s lost a family member, and that the Angel Investigations team are his family and that he doesn’t want any of them hurt nor will he stab anyone in the back. Wes pulls a very fast move here and takes Justine by surprise nearly disarming her. Holtz tells Wes that he has one day to do something to protect Connor or that Holtz will take matters into his own hands. Holtz also pretty much promises Wes that if Holtz has to protect Connor he will kill any of the AI team that gets in his way.

Back at the Hyperion Lorne’s telling Connor a story about the Rat Pack (Dean, Sammy, Frank, etc.) in Vegas. Angel, Gunn and Fred return from their fight. Angel goes straight to the fridge and pours himself a glass of blood, draining most of it in one gulp. Angel’s pretty agitated and starts to yell and complain about how needy Connor is, pretty uncharacteristic of Angel. Angel gets so angry he throws his glass of blood at the wall scaring Gunn, Fred, and Lorne. Gunn steps up and tells Angel to calm down. Angel is pretty distressed by what he’s just done and asks, “what’s wrong with me?” Lorne asks Angel why he’s been drinking so much blood, and Angel doesn’t know, but he’s been getting his blood from the same butcher shop as usual. But, this last batch seems very tasty. Fred compares Angel’s behavior to her Aunt Viola’s reaction to Southern Comfort. Lorne suggests that someone might be spiking Angel’s blood and Fred starts some tests.

Wes is walking home from his conversation with Holtz and realizes that Justine is tailing him, but very poorly. Justine wants to talk about Holtz. Wes tries to explain to Justine just how evil Holtz really is - Holtz doesn’t want justice he wants revenge, pure and simple. And, according to Wes, anyone who gets in the way of Holtz’s revenge will die. Justine tells Wes that it’s easier for him to hate Holtz than himself, especially considering what Wes is going to do. Wes tells Justine that there’s enough hate for both of them. Wes warns Justine to be careful and walks off. Holtz shows up behind Justine and spooks her.

At the hotel Fred discovers that there is human blood mixed in with the pig’s blood. Angel says that it’s Connor’s blood, he knows because Connor’s been smelling like food the past couple of days. Lorne figures out that someone wants Angel to crave the taste of Connor’s blood. Angel thinks he knows who is responsible.

Meanwhile Lilah has settled down for a drink at a bar when Angel shows up. Angel wants to know how and why Lilah could taint his pig’s blood with Connor’s blood. Lilah tells Angel that she’s had to work harder and longer than any of the men at Wolfram & Hart, that she puts on her game face every morning and does her job. Angel tells Lilah that, after awhile, you can’t take off the game face. Lilah tells Angel that she worked hard for that game face and that’s who she is now. Lilah wants to make the rest of Angel’s life as miserable as possible. Just the Sahjhan pops in and calls Lilah a “traitorous bitch.” Sahjhan thinks that Lilah is disclosing the plan to Angel, his sworn enemy. Angel figures out that Sahjhan is not only working with Lilah, but is also the demon that brought Holtz forward in time. Angel wants to know why Sahjhan has it out for Angel. Lilah thinks it might be because Angel boinked Sahjhan’s demon bride or killed Sahjhan’s mother. Angel still doesn’t know who/what Sahjhan is, but Sahjhan swears that Angel will pay.

Wes arrives back at the hotel and Lorne is alone with Connor (Gunn and Fred have gone out to pick up some eats). Wes starts to pack a small bag for Connor and explains to Lorne that he’s taking Connor for the night, they’re going to the park tomorrow morning. Lorne starts to explain why Angel has been acting weird for the past couple of days but stops when Wes picks up Connor to comfort him. Wes hums a lullaby to Connor and Lorne reads Wes and realizes what Wes is up to. Lorne gets a panicked look on his face and runs in to Wes’s office with Wes close behind. Wes beats Lorne unconscious, leaves him behind the desk, grabs Connor and finds Angel standing in front of him. Wes tells Angel that he’s going to take Angel to his place for the night and then go to the park tomorrow. Angel thinks it’s a good idea. As Angel is saying good-bye to Connor he asks Wes if he’s heard anything about a time travelling demon named Sahjhan. Angel asks Wes to do some research on it. Wes tells Angel he’s got better reference material at home so he wants to take Connor and do the research there. Wes hurriedly leaves the hotel.

Angel is a little out-of-sorts about being without Connor for a whole night, so Gunn and Fred promise to stay the night with Angel. They hear moaning (Lorne) from Wes’s office as a whole bunch of guys headed by Holtz surround Fred, Gunn, and Angel in the lobby. Holtz asks Angel where Connor is but Angel evades the issue. Holtz issues orders to his minions - keep Angel alive, but barely Gunn, Angel, and Fred are attacked by about 10 men who all have weapons. Angel gets to the weapons cabinet and tosses some weapons to Fred and gunn. There’s a big fight and the AI team is not doing well. Lorne wakes up and finds Gunn being pummelled by two big guys so Lorne starts to sing in some weird key that sounds like two bats screeching during sex. The tide has turned - Gunn, Fred, and Angel knock out the remaining Holtz minions. Angel tells Fred to call Wes and warn him about a possible attack but Lorne tells Angel that Wes saw Holtz twice behind Angel’s back and that Wes doesn’t intend to bring Connor back.

Wes comes out of his apartment building with Connor and a suitcase. As he is packing up his car, a bruised and bloodied Justine comes toward him. Justine tells Wes that Holtz was everything that Wes said and that Holtz didn’t keep his word and when Justine questioned Holtz he beat her up. Wes tries to help Justine into his car but she pulls a knife on him, slashes Wes’s throat, and takes Connor. She leaves Wes bleeding and drives off in his car.

Back at the hotel Angel goes ballistic. He wants Holtz and Wesley, so Angel “questions” one of Holtz’s minions rather roughly to find out where Holtz is. Angel goes off to find Holtz while Gunn and Fred look for Wes. Meanwhile Lilah has assembled a security detail looking for Holtz and Connor. They get ready to leave and Angel “commandeers” one of their vehicles. Justine picks up Holtz at a pre-arranged location and Holtz introduces himself to Connor as his father, that Justine is his mother, that Connor’s name is “Stephen Franklin Thomas,” and that they are going to Utah.

As Justine drives off the Wolfram & Hart team, followed by Angel, catch up to Holtz and Justine. Holtz quickly gets out of the car, grabs Connor and threatens to snap Connor’s neck if anyone comes any closer. It’s a stand-off: Holtz vs. Angel vs. Lilah. They all want the baby alive but Holtz is willing to kill Connor to prevent anyone else from getting him. Suddenly, Sahjhan shows up but, unlike everyone else, Sahjhan wants Connor dead. When the security team gets too close Angel grabs a gun from one of them and points it at Lilah. At this point Angel figures out that the only way to keep Connor alive is for Holtz to leave with him. Angel tells Holtz to take Connor and warns Angel not to come after Holtz or the baby. Sahjhan starts chanting and opens up a portal to a hell dimension. Sahjhan threatens to make the portal larger so that the whole planet is swallowed up unless somebody kills Connor. When no one makes a move Sahjhan makes the portal larger. Holtz bolts toward the portal and jumps through with Connor. Angel tries to stop him but lightening from the portal knocks Angel down. Sahjhan says his problem is now solved, closes the portal, and shimmers away. Lilah whines about a mountain of paperwork and leaves Angel to suffer with Connor’s loss.

Summary by Kirsten.

Quotes

Key: A=Angel C=Cordelia G=Gunn W=Wesley F=Fred H=Holtz Sj=Sahjhan J=Justine Li=Lilah

A: “You look like hell. Not the fun one, where they burn you with hot pokers for all eternity, but the hardcore one, you know, Nixon and Brittany Spears?”

A: “God, I could drink a horse!”

A: “It’s alright. It’s your uncle Wes. Yeah, he loves you bunches! He’s just… English.”

F: “What’s so great about California?” G: “Everything. It’s got the climate, the ocean…” F: “The earth that opens up and swallows you whole…” G: “The Lakers, the music…” F: “The traffic, the smog…” G: “It’s got you.”

Kim: [singing] “My heart is breaking in two. No love, no light left, no you…” [morphs into demon] “I’ll hack your eyeballs out and rip your children in two!”

L: “Catchy finish, huh?”

Kim: “They were mellow, organic types. They never touched drugs or played a diminished chord.”

A: “I like nuns. How did the flying nun fly anyway? Was it god or magic? …What? You think about these things sometimes!”

Kim: “Uh… well, then they started changing. Stevie, the lead guitar, grew a seventh finger like overnight.” G: “Seventh?” Kim: “Well, he already had six.”

G: “I wonder why they would wanna look like musicians?” A: “For the chicks. Musicians get the chicks! What? They’re gonna appear as dentists? Let’s take ’em out!”

Hz: “I don’t like it.” Js: “They’ll learn or they’ll die.” Hz: “Oh, not that. They’re coming right along. I don’t like tea in these cotton cups.” Js: “It’s called styrofoam, and I’ll get you some china ones.”

A: “We’re not the A&R guys. We’re just here to kill you.” Drummer: “Ah, dude, they wanna kill us!” Singer: “Okay. But they’re still paying for the window.”

A: “That was fun!”

W: “You lost family… I’m sorry. Angel and the people I work with are _my_ family. And when I say I don’t want to see anyone to get hurt…[grabs the knife and turns it on her] …I mostly mean _them_.”

L: “So, Sammy’s at the Flamingo, and Frank, Dino, Peter, Joey, and Shirley are all front row center. Well, Sammy starts singing ‘I Did It My Way’ then he suddenly stops and says ‘I can’t sing this song in front of you, Frank!’ The crowd loves it. They’re laughing. So, then Frank calls out ‘Hey, you’re short, you’re one-eyed, and I heard somewhere you’re Jewish. Don’t be intimidated!’ And the crowd goes wild!”

A: “Gosh, no, Lorne, everything’s just great! I got a kid that cries, pees and moans, and never gives me a moment to myself!”

A: “Connor, shut up!” F: “Don’t yell at him. He’s just a baby!” A: “He keeps it up he’s not gonna be a baby for long!”

A: “Something’s not right.’ G: “You could say that.”

F: “Just like my aunt Viola and her Southern Comfort.” A: “Hey, vampire. Need to drink something red. Doesn’t make me a blood-aholic!”

W: “Oh, for god’s sake. I know you’re better at following people than this. So, what’s the play?” Js: “I just… need to talk to you. I’m alone. He doesn’t know that I’m… I wanna talk to you about him.” W: “Holtz? Great guy, not overly tall. Is this where you offer to help me behind his back?”

W: “You work for a man, who you think is noble and good. I respect that. Trouble is, he’s not.” Js: “You work with a vampire.” W: “Who in fact *is* noble and good. Quirky, but there it is.”

Js: “What you’re about to do to your friend? I imagine it’s easier to hate Holtz than yourself.” W: “There’s enough to go around for both him and me. Be careful.”

A: “There’s human blood in it. I can feel it. It’s his. It’s Connor’s.” G: “How do you know that?” A: “The past couple of days he’s… smelled like food.”

Li: “Like a cat. Can’t hear you. But I’m starting to feel you when you’re near. Isn’t that nice and creepy? How’d you find me?” A: “Your assistant.” Li: “I’ll have his arms broken.” A: “Already taken care of.”

A: “Thing about a game face, Lilah, you wear it long enough, it stops being something you can put on and take off.” Li: “Wow. We’ve spent so much time and money on you. You’re so pivotal to the coming cataclysm, that I sometimes forget how dense you can be.”

A: “Speaking as one non-human to another: Sorry if I hit a nerve.”

Li: “I’m glad you came along, because I was sitting here feeling a little ‘What’s it all about?’ and now I know. It is all about making the rest of your eternal life miserable.”

Sj: “I have a lot of work to do. I can’t be in every time/space at once, and here I find you drinking with my sworn enemy.” A: “Sworn enemy? Really? Have we met? Because I don’t remember swearing.”

Sj: “You will learn nothing from me.” Li: “Other than that you’re his sworn enemy, who brought Holtz back, and when that didn’t work out, you came to me. Idiot!”

A: “So, why do you wanna kill me?” Li: “He wouldn’t tell me either. Not that I need a reason. I was just curious. Did he boink your demon bride? Eat your mother?”

G: “Hey. Where is Lorne? He better show his green face pronto, or Fred’ll eat his hoagie.” F: “I will not! I already had two.”

A: “Well, my first whole night without the kid. This’ll be good for both of us. He can bond with his Uncle Wes… I can get some rest…” G: “We’ll stay up with you.” A: “Really?”

A: “Did you come here to fight or shall I make some tea?” Hz: [to his troops] “I want to keep Angelus alive… but not well.”

A: “Holtz knew Connor wasn’t here when he walked through that door. He would have torn the place apart top to bottom. He was stalling.” L: “Buying Wesley some time to get away.” A: “Holtz is the key. I want Holtz. If I find Wesley with him…” G: “Angel, we don’t know the whole story here. I don’t think you should get too pumped…” A: “I’m not interested in what you think!”

F: “We better find Wes before he does.”

Hz: “It went well?” Js: “Very well. But you’re paying for my dental work.”

Hz: “Hello, son. I’m your father. And that strong lady with the black eye is your mother. Your name is Steven Franklin Thomas. And you’re going to grow up with me on a little ranch in the middle of nowhere. What’s it like in Utah?”

Li: “That’s cute. You’d rather see the fanatic with the baby than us? Those are automatic weapons pointed at you. They didn’t have them in your time. They fire sixteen bullets per second.” A: “And if they were going to use them they would have already. They want the baby alive.” Hz: “Something we all have in common.” Sj: “Not all of us.”

Sj: “You do not want the child alive. You want the child dead. That was our arrangement.” Li: “Yeah. I’m a lawyer. Have you met me? We have a new arrangement. I’m keeping the baby.” Sj: “You can’t do that!” Li: “Ignore the loudmouth with the bad skin. He’s impotent in this dimension.”

Hz: “He’ll be dead before I hit the ground.” A: “I know.” Hz: “So. I’m going to leave now, right? With me, he gets to live, anyone tries to take him, he dies.” A: [long beat] “Take him.”

Sj: “Whoa! No! What is *wrong* with you people?”

Sj: “Wow. I didn’t count on that. Kinda takes care of my problem.”

Sj: “All right then. Have a good summer.”

Li: “Hmph! Well, I’m looking at a mountain of paperwork.”

Commander: “Should we do something about…” [indicates Angel] Li: “Yes, we should. We should let him suffer.”

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