Angel

"Conviction" Written and Directed by Joss

Open with a dark alley and a woman being chased by a vamp. From the rooftops Angel watches and follows. She screams for help, Angel jumps down and saves the day, dusting the vamp. As she’s leaving a group of lawyer types from Wolfram andHart come up, they say they got the report and were there for back up and if he needed any help, they give the girl forms to fill out to wave liability in her bing saving by Angel C.E.O and president of W & H.

Then we see a kid, gradeschool in school in class a trouble maker, named Matthew, his story unfolds later.

Back in the big W and H Office we see Fred talking to Wes, she’s raving about the hugeness of her office and carrying a bunch of junk with her, Wes offers to help but she says no. Knox, another scientist walks up and helps her with her belongings, Wes seems shocked a little. Fred and Knox leave as Gunn shows up to show Wes to their offices, both nice with a nice view. Lorne is fitting right in with the vibe of the office, complete with an assistant with carpet swatches.

Angel shows up, not really digging the new set up, he goes into his office to see Eve sitting behind his desk, she introduces herself as a liason to him and thre senior partners... for irony’s sake she tosses him an apple. She says most of their clients are evil, and he needs to keep them happy because thats teh only way he’ll keep them in check. There’s a huge conference room of files tehy go through looking at all the bad guys. They find a winner- Corbin Fries, on trial for smuggling Asian girls for cheap labor and prostitution... drugs etc. They also realize they need to check their whole staff (of vamps) to see who’s with/against them.

Eve later confronts Gunntelling him he needs to revamp his image. When Angel calls to his assistant he sees its none other than Harmony... yes, we remember Harmony, she’s a vamp and eager to please him, when he threatens to kill her. She said Wes hired her, a familar face is helpful in this atmosphere. She mentions Cordy, they brush it off, letting her know Cordy is in a coma.

Wes mentions the Corbin Fries trial to Angel, they both realize how low of a person he is. Corbin enters with A/H lawyer Desmond Keel. He admits his guilt but wants Angel to get him off anyway. If Angel doesn’t, he’ll release a bomb that’ll get rid of all of California.

Lorne starts to check the company for potential bad blood by making everyone sing, while Gunn disappears to what looks like a most creepy doctor’s office. Angel and Wes discuss the bomb, and how it could very well not be the explosive kind... it’s to be released when Corbin says the magic word... The gang settles on the fact that this bomb would release some sort of virus. They realize Corbin will release the bomb if/when he loses his trial.. Thus they get Lorne to sit in on the trial and keep them posted on how they’re doing for time while they look to find an quarantine the bomb. Harmony chimes in letting them know about Spanky a freelance mystic who’s done work for Corbin.

Angel, selecting form his small fleet of expensive cars, get ready to head over to Spanky’s when Hauser, a lawyer, stops him, saying its his job to do such "wetwork." "Fieldwork" Angel corrects him, and continues on his venture alone. Spanky is in his 50s, a muscle man past his prime with a weird S & M fetish. Angel says he refuses to spank a guy. After a little threating, Angel gets spanky to fess up to what he did for Corbin- built him a container to house the bomb til the magic word dissolves it. He then tries to choke/suffocate Angel, but because Angel doesnt breathe he’s in the clear and ends up pummelling Spanky.

Fred and Knox continue to do research, she realizes the disease/bomb in question is called "The Black Tomorrow" Now they just need to find out where its hidden. Again, we see the boy from the beginning of the show... Hmm... They realize this will be tricking, seeing as how they dont know what strain of Corbins viruses they’re looking for, and even still don’t know the magic word. They think they could kill him, but fear that may trigger it too.

Angel sits in his office, distrught that Corbin has chosen to hide the virus bomb in his son (Matthew, the boy) Eve says it must hit too close to home because he gave up his son. Its obvious Connor is not someone he wants to discuss. He decides he needs to isolate the boy. Eve: "Newsflash, if every case hits you this hard, you’re not gonna last a week."

Knox, Fred and some other techs continue to work out the sciencey details, while at the trial it seems the judge is mocking Keel and Corbins case. Lorne tells Angel he has some time, but not alone. Meanwhile Hauser and an Ops guy have overheard this and go to kill the kid.

Angel heads back to the office where Harmony tells him the Ops guys are already at the school. He’ll never make it! ...or will he? When the ops guys get to the school, Angel is already there, another perk- a free helicopter. By this time he’s already isolated the boy and the fight ensues. The ops guys with their guns, and Angel in vampface.

Back in court the case is suffering until BAM Gunn walks through the door saying Corbin needs another attorney. He’s all law now. He says they move for a mistrial because the judge is some hoe distantly financially connected to W & H. Turns out Gunn was injected with law degree smarts and such, he’s big time now.

In the final show down, Hauser tells Angel he’s a fairy, and he lacks the most powerful thing in the world- conviction. Angel lets this sink in, and says there’s but one thing more powerful than conviction- mercy. He holds his shot gun to Hauser’s chin. BAM. Bloody end. The other guy asks Angel what happened to mercy, Angel: "You just saw the last of it."

Meanwhile back at the office, the gang discusses Gunn’s newfound law expertise. Angel then opens an envelope from his desk (delivered to him at the top of the show by Fred) and amulet falls out and onto the carpet. The amulet spins ad swirls which turns into a screaming burning Spike.