Angel

Eps 07 LINEAGE

When Wesley’s father visits Wolfram and Hart, the firm is attacked by a troop of spooky Ninja cyborgs.

When Wes and Fred bring a new weapon to a customer at a warehouse, they’re attacked by a black-clad, Ninja-like warrior with no eyes in its black mask. The assailant kills the customers, but then Angel flies in and snaps its neck, revealing that it’s really some sort of android. Later, back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel scolds Wesley for bringing Fred (who was badly cut in the attack) into such a dangerous situation, but a bit later Fred tells Wesley that she can take care of herself. Then, as they talk, Wesley’s father Roger arrives. Wes asks what he’s doing there, and Roger says he and the remaining Watchers have decided to reform the Watchers’ Council and that he’s come to evaluate Wesley for a possible return to their ranks. Roger notes, however, that it doesn’t look good for Wesley to be working for Wolfram and Hart (“the haven of evil”), but Wesley insists it’s different now. Still he’s a bit flustered as he introduces Roger to Lorne and Gunn. A bit later, in the lab, Fred and Angel watch as Knox technicians analyze the Ninja cyborg. Wesley and Roger join them, and Fred shows Wes some odd symbols they found on some of the cyborg’s parts. As Wes runs his fingers over the symbols, there’s an ominous click, followed by a red light and the alarming hum of a bomb being activated.

Everyone starts to panic and Wesley tells them to run while he tries to defuse the bomb. Then the humming stops and they see Roger holding a piece of the circuitry. Roger explains that Wes misinterpreted the symbols, which really explain how to disarm the cyborg… which embarrasses Wesley. A bit later, as Lorne entertains Roger, Wes confesses to Angel that his father’s visit has rattled him. A few minutes later Wesley asks for Roger’s help in continuing the research on the android. They go to Wesley’s library, and when Roger sees the sacred texts there, he notes the lack of security. Wes assures him that the firm’s most valuable items are kept in a nearby vault. Meanwhile six more black-clad cyborgs land on the roof, and then a security alarm blares as both the power and security systems are disabled. Angel asks Gunn if it’s a false alarm, but then four cyborgs surround them. At the same time, another cyborg attacks Wes and Roger in the library and heads for the valuable books. Wes eventually stabs the cyborg with a sword. Then, on Roger’s advice, he opens the vault to secure the books. After he places them in a locker, Roger pulls out a gun and clubs Wes with it, knocking him unconscious. Then Roger grabs the master key from Wes, scans the lockers, opens the one containing the Staff of Devosynn, and reports into a mic/earpiece he wears that “phase one” is complete.

A bit later, as Angel and Gunn continue to battle their attackers, Wes wakes up and realizes he’s been locked in the vault. He jimmies an electrical panel, disables the electric lock, and returns to the library, where he begins to examine the cyborg that attacked him. Meanwhile, as Roger flees, he runs into Fred and tells her Wesley is in trouble on the roof. She offers to take him there. Back in the library Wes discovers the cyborg is still “alive.” He reaches into its chest and activates its bomb mechanism, threatening to blow it up if it doesn’t reveal what Roger is really up to. Back in the hallway Roger, Fred, and Spike find Angel and Gunn still battling the cyborgs, and help them defeat the last of them. Then everyone heads for the roof, where Roger still insists Wes is in trouble. When they get there, there’s no Wes, and as a helicopter hovers, ready to pick up Roger, he pulls out the staff of Devosynn and utters a code word, which causes beams of light to shoot out of Angel, who drops to the ground, convulsing in pain.

Roger says into his earpiece that he’s “ready for extraction,” but then Wes appears and rips the Staff from Roger’s hand, saying he knows Roger is using the Staff to extract Angel’s will and make him a slave. For a moment they face off and trade accusations of disgrace. Then, as Roger points his gun at Wes, Wes holds the Staff out over the edge of the building, threatening to drop it, break it, and release Angel from its power. Roger starts to lower his gun, but then he grabs Fred and tries to hold her hostage. Then Wes empties his gun into Roger’s chest, and Roger drops dead. As Wes begins to react to what he’s done, Roger’s body starts to spark, revealing that it’s just another cyborg. Later, as Wes tries to get over what he thought was killing his father, he speculates that whoever chose him for this deception did so because he’s psychologically weak. Angel points out that the real villains must have had access to the Watchers’ Council’s old files, which would have given them the information they needed to target Wes. Fred also notes that some part of Wes must have known it wasn’t the real Roger before he pulled the trigger, but Wes insists he didn’t, and remains shaken that he could have killed his own father. Finally, a bit later, after he’s alone in the office again, Wes calls his parents’ home. Instead of his father, his mother answers and scolds him for calling so late at night, and Wes finally hangs up without ever speaking to his dad.