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Guise Will Be Guise - 2ADH06
At Cataras Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn enjoy the entertainment as Angel talks
to the host demon about his Darla obsession. The host advises him to seek
help with a mystic named T'ish Magev (see Reference #1-#5
& Continuity #2-#3). The whole gang is relieved Angel won't
need to sing. Angel takes off to meet T'ish as Wesley and Cordelia talk
at the office. She makes a joke about imitating Angel (see Cool Quotes #1). Angel shows up at a
cabin where he meets T'ish Magev (see Goof #2). Back at Angel Investigations a man with
a gun jumps Cordelia looking for Angel. He threatens to kill her if she
doesn't produce Angel. Wesley hears this from the next room and quickly puts
on Angel's leather coat and walks in saying he's Angel.
At the cabin T'ish talks with Angel about his car and clothes and asks why
he obviously hates himself and is so concerned with his image. At Angel
Investigations the man forces Welsey to come with him. He takes Wesley to
the home of his employer, Magnus Bryce. They give Welsey a drink of blood,
which he forces down. Magnus says he's a wizard who makes custom spells
for the rich. He says someone, probably a business rival, is trying to hurt
his daughter and he wants Angel to be her bodyguard. Magnus gives him no
choice, but says he'll pay him well. In the cabin T'ish says Angel has two
personas, then challenges him to a fight with staves. At Magnus's home
''Angel'' is introduced to Virginia. She
seems cynical about him protecting her, but they get along. Virginia
wants to go shopping, so they leave together. At Angel Investigations
Cordelia explains what happened to Gunn. Cordelia wants Gunn to get Angel
while she tries to find Wesley. Wesley and Virginia window shop at an
expensive magic shop. She's looking for a present for her father's 50th
birthday, which is coming up. She picks out a talisman of the goddess Yeska,
her father's favorite deity. She tells him about how she loved magic as
a child and shared it with her father, but now she doesn't. Two men try to
take Virginia quietly, but when they learn the famous vampire Angel is her
bodyguard, they are impressed. With some quick talking Wesley manages to
intimidate them into leaving her alone. They admit they are working for
Lanier and then leave. At the cabin Angel is fighting T'ish with staves.
T'ish says Angel is holding back (see Reference #6 and Goof #3). Angel insists he can't let the demon inside
him get out, but T'ish insists he is the demon. Later T'ish calls Paul and
tells him he's not sure how long he can hold out with Angel. It seems
this is an imposter hired by Paul to keep Angel busy for the weekend, the
real T'ish is dead (see Reference #7). Paul wonders if Angel is there then who was the guy he
saw working for Magnus.
At Angel Investigations Cordelia is getting bored looking through mug shots
on her iBook then starts to read a magazine article instead. In it she
notices the man who pulled the gun on her standing behind Magnus Bryce and
his daughter. Wesley and Virginia return to her home. Virginia says she's
wasting her life by living under guard. When she gets to her bedroom she
finds two robed guards standing watch. The guards jump them, but Wesley
fights them off. Virginia is impressed, but notices he didn't vamp out, he
just says he's not like a regular vampire. At the cabin Angel is explaining
Darla's return to T'ish. T'ish says Angel blames her for what happened to him.
T'ish recommends Angel go find a young blonde thing and bed her then leave
her, taking out his anger against Darla. Angel then has to explain the
mechanics of his curse. In the house Wesley and Virginia sit on her bed and
talk, then they get closer. They start to kiss, then she worries about his
curse. Back at the cabin T'ish is really shocked about the curse. Back on
the bed Wesley plays down the whole thing, saying it's overblown. They get
hot and heavy. Wesley tries to confess his identity, but she keeps kissing
him and won't let him speak. In the morning Gunn pulls up to the cabin in
his truck. T'ish greets him then knocks him out (see Reference #8). Angel sees this from the porch
but can't get to the man because of the sunlight. Angel figures out he's an
imposter and pulls the man into the shade with a fishing line. The next
morning Wesley watches Virginia sleeping next to him in bed. He gets up,
kisses her good-bye and sneaks out. Right then Cordelia walks in, saying they
let her in. She tries to get him to leave, but he insists on staying and
protecting Virginia. Magnus then walks in and confronts Wesley. An anonymous
call let him know the real Angel is elsewhere. The guards pull Wesley near
a window and they clearly see the sunlight doesn't burn him. Virginia is
crushed. Magnus tells them to leave. Benny says he should have been allowed
to kill him. Magnus is upset because he risked the sacrifice, which is in a few
hours. We then see that Magnus has an alter with chains waiting for
Virginia.
At Angel Investigations Cordelia consoles Wesley as Gunn and Angel walk in.
Angel wonders why Wesley is wearing his coat, then explains how it was all
a setup. Welsey figures out that Lanier must have tipped off Bryce
to get Wesley out of the way to make Virginia vulnerable. Angel isn't
following this at all. Wesley says that there is a party with tributes to the
goddess Yeska going on right now for her father, but Angel says Yeska isn't
a goddess, she's a Davrik demon. Wesley knows Davrik demons don't serve
humans unless on their 50th birthday they sacrifice their daughters to them.
He realizes Bryce is going to sacrifice Virginia to the demon. The team
head out to protect her. At the party Virginia wonders what the alter
with the chains is for. Magnus then starts the ceremony for the sacrifice.
Virginia is chained up. Wesley and
company break in to save her. There is a big fight, during which
Magnus is able to finish the ceremony and the demon appears to eat Virginia.
Yeska rejects her sacrifice saying she is impure and quickly disappears.
Virginia is thankful to Wesley for protecting her. Magnus is shocked to
learn his daughter isn't a virgin. Magnus blames Wesley, saying he hired
Angel because he couldn't sleep with her. Virginia tells him she hasn't been
a virgin for quite a while, having slept with chauffeur when she was 16 years
old and several other men since then. She then punches her father and leaves
him. At Angel Investigations Cordelia shows Angel a magazine article about
how Wesley is now a famous bodyguard and private investigator for the stars (see Goof #4).
Angel tries to play it down but is clearly jealous when the article calls
the company the Wyndham-Pryce Agency.
Magnus Bryce is a wizard who casts custom spells for the rich. We discover
there are several companies in Hollywood who provide this kind of service,
including another one run by Paul Lanier, whose firm grants wishes. They
also mention Briggs at Consolidated Curses.
Magnus says ''The goddess Yeska does not give with both hands.''
Yeska is a Davrik demon. Davrik demons don't serve humans unless they make
a sacrifice of a virgin daughter to them on their 50th birthday. They then eat
the sacrifice. The incantations to summon Yeska are ''Yeska, of the razor
eyes and stone heart, take this offering. I cast my most precious emerald
into the ocean on the moment of my birth plus 50 years. Take this gift. Let
her death return tenfold onto me my power. The hour approaches Yeska.
Do not be blind to my plea. Yeska I beseech thee. Appear!'' Her actions
seem similar to Makida from Reptile Boy and the Haxil Beast from Expecting,
in that they demand a sacrifice from humans in return for power or success.
The whole plot of this episode reminded me of the 1991 fantasy film
To Cast A Deadly Spell. Set in early 20th century Hollywood, a powerful
sorcerer hires a private detective to get magic book back, which he needs
to cast a spell that will sacrafire his virgin daughter to a demon and grant
him great power. The whole plan blows up when at the end we find
out the policeman the detective asked to watch over the daughter had
sex with her!
David Boreanaz as Angel
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce
J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
Andy Hallett as the Host Demon (Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan)
Art LaFleur as the man pretending to be T'ish Magev
Brigid Brannagh as Virginia Bryce
Patrick Kilpatrick as Paul Lanier
Todd Susman as Magnus Bryce
Danica Sheridan as Yeska
Saul Stein as Benny
Frankie Jay Allison as Thug #1 (Left)
Michael Yama as Japanese Business Man #1
Eiji Inoue as Japanese Business Man #2
Ed Trotta as the Man
Julie Benz as Darla (Uncredited, seen in flashback from Dear Boy.)
Christian Kane as Lindsey McDonald (Uncredited, seen in flashback from Dear Boy.)
Brigid Brannagh, who
played Virginia, played the part of Sasha, a Brujah vampire, on Kindred: The Embraced and
played Tuatha, an evil witch, in the Charmed episode That Old Black Magic 2.06. She has a nice fan web site at http://www.homunculus.com/eikona/brannagh.html.
Todd Susman, who played
Magnus Bryce, has played many parts in his time, including the P.A. voice
on M.A.S.H. and more recently he can be seen as the Tooth Fairy in a series
of commercials for Sonicare.
Patrick Kilpatrick, who played Paul, played the part of the horseman Death in the Charmed episode Apocalypse Not 2.21. He also played Reese in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode The Siege of AR-558 7.08 and Razik in the Star Trek: Voyager episode Initiations 2.02. He also played Randall Cooper in the X-Files episode Surekill 8.08.
Ed Trotta, who played the
man, played Pit in the Star Trek:
Voyager episode The Chute 3.03.
