Trion answered who he was (Jesse), however, Buffy wasn’t forced to dust him - Xander did - sort of. Xander was holding a stake pointed out towards Jesse and someone running past to escape pushed Jesse onto Xander’s stake.
Spike showed that his nose is the best around. “What he smells of is scotch. 12 year old Lagavulin.” So Wes likes the Islay scotches…fitting, somehow. 
All in all, a good episode. I actually liked Connor in this episode! Beautiful touch as he got on the elevator…just the ghost of a smile. I wonder how many times they had to film that to get it just right?
DocCathode I think Angel’s halting attempts to explain were used for a variety of reasons. First we know Wes, we know what kind of man he is and knowing this we know that nothing Angel will say convince Wes to just live with the new memories. Second we know the truth so there is no need for explanation. Third Angel does deliver speaches in times of crisis, but only when he can fight. In the epsiode Wes had him at gun point, Angel had nothing to go with and was doing his equivellent of begging for his life. Finally, despite what Cordy said in Season 4, Angel is not a master of saying the right thing at the right time. He holds loyalty by being a Champion and by seeking redemption, not by talking. Seeing him doing a good job of talking down Wes wouldn’t be right. You’ll notice he first attempted to advance on Wes, and Illyria sent him flying. If she wasn’t there Angel would have just broken Wes’s arm and taken the box.
I think it’s interesting that Wes was implying that part of Angel’s deal was changing the memories of everybody else so that they would go along with running Wolfram & Hart. I think it is especially interesting because IIRC we don’t see them all together and agreeing to it until after the memory spell has taken effect.
[QUOTE=SkipMagicUh-oh. What’d I do now? [/QUOTE]
The sig line, dear boy(you changed it before I got a chance to say thank you, tho). I can’t believe you kept that quote around… 
I LOVE having Spike back. He’s the best foil for Angel that Whedon & Co. have come up with yet.
I wonder if Angel was forbidden from saying anything about the memory alteration spell to those whose memories were altered. It would explain his hesitation to tell Wes what was going on.
I don’t think he was so much “forbidden” as was stuck with “What can I possibly say?” How do you tell someone that you messed with their memories? Remember all the angst that occured over on Buffy when that sort of stuff happened. Angel knows what kind of response he would get from everybody. Saving Connor is not a good excuse. Angel made a Faustian bargain, and nobody was going to approve.
Man Angel broke my heart in this episode. 
When he was talking to Connor and Connor was so impressed with Angel and what he did. And Angel was all puffed up because finally his son doesn’t hate him, and of course, his son doesn’t remember him. Man, that shit crushed me. Everybody seems to hate Connor, but I’ve never hated Connor. For one thing, I thought Connor was entirely justifiable in all of his actions. For another thing, Angel really, really, really loved the boy. I can’t hate somebody when somebody I love loves them, you know?
Some people think “My father taught me that” referred to Holtz. I don’t believe that at all. Connor wasn’t vindictive, angry, cruel, confused, etc. The year with his new family really helped him become a well-adjusted, thoughtful, considerate young man. I think he absolutely took it all in stride and was referring to Angel. I have to believe that because the alternative is just too awful. Angel needed that validation that he did the right thing. And you know what? As much as losing Fred hurt, and still hurts, I think Angel did do the right thing.
Illyria is interesting. I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t think she’s purposely trying to seperate Wes from Angel. I think she’s fascinated by their relationship. She was worshipped because she was the most powerful being around. She was a God to the God. If demons didn’t worship her, they’d probably meet a bad end. She ruled through fear. Angel doesn’t rule through fear at all–and there’s no reason why Wes couldn’t kill Angel–and yet, Wes is loyal. I can imagine why this would be confusing, even disconcerting, to her.
“I can’t trust you” broke my heart. And then the flood of memories broke my heart. I just hate the thought that Wes said those words to Angel. I hate it hate it hate it. Ahhh, such highs, such lows, all in a single ep.
As for Spike–heh, it was like a mini-relationship for him. The only difference is that Illyria stated plainly she wanted him for a pet, whereas Buffy just sort of implied with every fucking thing she ever did to him. ahem
I wish we had more time to explore the fallout of all of that. I’m not even angry with the WB anymore, just really, really depressed.
All in all, I was extremely satisfied with this episode. It met all my expectations, and I’m glad that something finally, finally, went Angel’s way. Like I said, he needed that validation. I needed him to have that validation.
I didn’t notice, did Wes’ scar come back?
I think Conner was pretty clearly referring to Angel, not Holtz at the end. I think ME was trying to set up some tension since the audience knew he got his memories back, but Angel didn’t. Would Conner still want revenge on daddy but daddy was still trying welcome and comfort him? Was Conner about to kill Angel? I think that was what the question about the sunlight and windows was about, the audience was supposed to wonder if Conner was looking for a way to kill him.
But in the end ME let Angel have a happy resolution. Both of Conner’s sets of memories were valid, but he’s been changed and redeemed. He can now appreciate what Angel did for him without having to abandon his new life. That was nice.
But my guess is that only Wes and Illyria/Fred remembered the changes. I don’t think anyone else would have been affected, so presumably Gunn and Lorne still don’t know.
I think breaking the cube was implied there, since he was holding it at the time, and said that breaking it would restore everyone’s memories. So, yes, everyone’s memories should have been restored when the cube was broken. However, if I am correct, then logically Conner’s foster parents would know he wasn’t their true son. But it doesn’t seem that they did know at the end (or else Conner probably would have mentioned something), so perhaps i am wrong about the whole thing.
About Wes’s scar, although it wasn’t totally clear, I had the impression that everyone had their memories altered, but reality itself was not altered.
IIRC, Wes said that reality had been altered, along with people’s memories. I did notice that his scar didn’t reappear. The cube definately has a blast radius. Vale said something to that effect. So only Wes, Illyria, Angel and Conner had their memories affected, and Angel already knew everything.
Nah, that doesn’t follow. Even before he went psycho and was mind-wiped, Connor had long since stopped referring to Holtz as his father and accepted Angel in that role, even if he did so grudgingly. He doesn’t have any love for Holtz anymore in either of his sets of memories. Besides which, the lesson he’s referring to is certainly not something he’d have learned from Holtz, who manipulated Connor through out his entire life just to get revenge on Angel. I’m with you: Connor was talking about Angel when he said that.
Oh, and no, Wes doesn’t have the scar anymore. I think removing that was a seperate spell from the memory wipe: probably a simple cosmetic incantation. W&H can sew limbs back on, removing some old scar tissue should be a snap for 'em.
I think that, since the spell had primarily to do with Connor, if Vail had broken the cube, everyone in close proximity would have their memories restored, and Connor would have had his restored just because he was the primary subject of the spell.
I also think that Illyria has an attachment to Wesley because she has the memories of the woman he loved and who loved him, as well as her body. Wes seems to have a she’s wearing Fred’s body/I’m sort of an expert on demonology and this is a demon of a type I’ve never encountered before, so as long as it isn’t trying to kill me and my friends I think I’d like to study it combo thing going on. It’s a very sick fascination. Also, I don’t think she’s trying to make Wes her acolyte. I think she was being honest when she asked/demanded that Wes teach her how to play nice with the humans, since she’s stuck living with them. She sticks close to him because she needs him for that reason.
“I’ve been hitting the half-breed. He makes noises.” That was freaking hilarious, man.
Spyllira, anyone?
must write fanfic
I had a fleeting thought last night that just returned to me. I know Vail said breaking the memory box would restore anyone who’s had extensive memory damage, but was he referring to only the Connor-wiping incident? Or anyone who’s ever had memory modification and was within the blast radius would get everything back?
Because if it’s the latter, I wonder if Angel (or even Wes, now that I think about it more) is suddenly remembering life before Dawn.
I know it’s completely tangential and probably wrong, but my mind often follows strange paths. 
No, everyone’s memories should not have been restored.
If I am remembering correctly, Vale (or should his name be spelled veil?) (that was the name of the warlock, yes?) stated very clearly when he first introduced the cube to Angel as a blackmail weapon that it had a radius of effectiveness.
So not every one that knew Connor would regain their memories if they weren’t fairly near by. Of course he didn’t specifically state how large a radius, but I would think it safe to conclude a fairly narrow one (i.e. the same room or two) as judged from the blast when Wesley destroyed the cube.
It’s also a safe conclusion based on Connor’s conversation with Angel after regarding his (foster) parents. They were confused and concerned by what they perceived as “not normal”, and I’m sure disturbed by the demon attack. I think if all of a sudden they had memories that Connor was not their son (because everyone’s memories were restored due to the cube being destroyed), they wouldn’t be so quick to ignore it.
Well, who am I to argue with a woman thinking I have great shoulders? I heard once that if it’s written on the internet, then it must be true.
I would assume that Vale’ box would undo only his own spell and not the work of the monks who created Dawn.
Scars fade over time. I don’t pay close enough attention to Wes’ neck to see how frequently the scar appears but ME has a history of only showing established scars when it suits the plot (c.f. Buffy’s scars from Angel’s biting her, which show up once for Riley and once for Dracula and otherwise are forgotten).
Vail could summon the cube and make it vanish at will, so it’s not a stretch to think he could teleport it to wherever Connor was and blow it up.
Actually that’s not true. Erislover and I have practically made a study of staring at Buffy’s neck to see if the scar appears. I have seen it in at least one episode post Dracula and pointed it out to him (I’m sorry, for the life of me, I don’t remember which episode, but I believe it would be one of the first four because I think that’s all of seson 5 that we’ve watched so far - this time around, I mean). It’s not as obvious as it’s been (which could be put down to fading), but I have seen it. I swear!
Just as a side note: 12 year old Lagavulin single malt scotch is only available in “cask strength,” which in this case is 115.6 proof. Ole Wes isn’t messing around here. He’s out to subdue his brain cells by force, and right quick!
But so nice to see that Spike is a fan of good scotch.
One more thing. Has anyone else noticed that Marsters’ accent is not quite up to par lately? Last night I thought it faded in and out a lot during the scene with Illyria. The other time this season that I really noticed it was during the basement scenes in the episode where Spike was hellbound.
In all the eps I’ve seen of Buffy, Spike’s accent was always really tight. But for some reason my ear is picking up major lapses once he started on Angel. It’s not nearly as flawed as Boreanaz’s attempt at an Irish brogue, but IMO it was very noticeable last night.
Or maybe it’s just me.