Otto, dude, are you on crack? Skip is a good guy. Even if he wanted revenge on Angel for freeing the psycho misogynist dude, why the hell would he take it out on Cordy? Especially by first saving her life and giving her superpowers? Worst. WAG. EVER! 
My WAG: Angel worked with Harry Houdini for a while and learned all his tricks; thus he will rescue himself.
I have a feeling that Cordy’s “ascension” to a higher plane is your basic Bad Ideasup[/sup].
Y’know, I really disliked Wesley when he first showed up in Buffy, mostly because he appeared to be determined to be really, really stupid. But now . . . whee!
Now if only we didn’t have to wait for months to find out What Happens Next. 
That’s my pet theory too. He could bite his lip, bleed a bit and attract a shark to mutilate the cage enough to escape.
I could also see him giving a passing diver a heart attack by saying hello. 
Bingo! That was…deeply, deeply lame. But, does anyone know…is CC really leaving the show? I’ve tried web searches but they’ve come up dry. What would they do without her visions as a Convenient Plot Device?
“We’re right there with ya, buddy.” Or anyway, I am. One of many things that made no sense to me. Like, what exactly was Holtz up to at the end there? What was the purpose of that note?
<< No, Lyllyan, I don’t think Angel can starve to death; I think he’ll just get hungrier and hungrier. >>
If they remain consistent with the Buffy world, it was reasonably well-established that a vampire who can’t get blood starts to go crackers… really, really bonkers. Mad, raving, foaming at the mouth.
I found this episode totally ended my interest in the show.
Cordelia has had the most amazing personality change in television history, from whiney bitch with no sense of tact (I loved that character) to “mommy” for the Angel crowd, to super-powered mommy, and now – surprise! – into some sort of angelic wossname. Pfui. The whole bit about her superpowers – she’s used them, what, once? twice? That’s a test?
Lame.
The season plot with Wes turns the whole premise of the show upside down, and seems ridiculous – “Oh, golly, it was a fake prophecy.” Ummm… didn’t Wes consult the hamburger-machine, which confirmed the prophecy? The whole notion of prophecies is critical to the various show plots, and always has been. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve got a few time-travellers who can plant false prophecies at whim? So, how about all those other prophecies about the vampire with a soul and so forth and so on? Maybe they’re planted, too?
Very lame. Very very lame.
Pfaugh.
Am I the only one who is putting her money on Connor saving old dad? He had a pang of a conscience when he was bolting Angel in. I saw it!
Maybe Fred will feed him some porridge, and AngelicCordy will sprinkle some magic forgiving dust on him…hell, I don’t know. He knows where he dumped Angel so I’m thinking he’ll crack eventually.
I’m thinking CC will be back but only in cameos.
If he doesn’t come back next year, they’ll all be forLorne.
[Tim Curry from Clue]To create confusion![/Tim Curry from Clue]
Seriously, if he has a mad-on for Angel, would it be without precedent to take it out on the people he loves? I don’t trust Skip.
After watching this week’s ep, I have one wish: that I had started watching Angel earlier than midway through this season.
I’m thinking Angel will get rescued by a fishing trawler. Or a nuclear submarine. Or the fishpeople from the first or second season of Buffy.
Well, I kinda liked the “they’re going in different directions” bit at the end.
I, too, hope that (a) Fred and Gunn will, in the absence of everyone else, team back up with Wesley, and (b) that Wesley will be the one to find and rescue Angel.
So I take it that Angel’s son is still a teenager? I haven’t watched steadily since the first season, but the episode descriptions I’ve read in tv guide have been stranger than usual… maybe I’ll start watching again at some point.
Angel’s son was just born/hatched/unstaked a few weeks ago. He was taken to another dimension and time runs differently there. We’ve only seen Conner/Steven as an infant and a teenager.
Wes- I agree that he’ll go undercover. Though, the show might make it appear that Wes has actually gone to the Dark Side. The truth will be revealed when Wes saves somebody’s life, grabs an artifact or two and heads for the exits. Security and Lilah show up and explain that they’ve known Wes was a double-agent the whole time. Wes tells them that he’s been aware of the surveillance since day 1. He then uses a remote control/says a magic word/smashes a crystal immobilizing security and destroying large parts of the building.
Angel- Being a VtM player (as I’m sure plenty of Buffy and Angel Fans are) I can think of a bunch of ways Angel could free himself. Some of these methods are even based on vampire info from other episodes. (EG When Bufffy and gang flee Glory in an RV Spike has his hands burned by the sun and cut by swords. The wounds healed rapidly and completely. So-I figure Angel could rub a cable rapidly between his thumb and forefinger until the friction weakened or broke it. Water is a better heat conductor than air, but I still think he could do it. Once free of the cables, Angel could crouch with back pressed to the glass lid. Attempting to stand would put pressure on the lid and the bottom.)
BUT, I don’t think he will save himself. The writers won’t pass up the opportunity for Justine/Wes/Connor/Groo to make some dramatic speech after they finish freeing Angel.
Trion-Me too! I kept thinking it was a test. If Cordy is really worthy to become a higher being, then her concern for other people will get her to move her car. The fact that she, Skip, and the Powers leave in empty car in the middle of traffic shocked me more than anything else in the episode.
Re-Holz
I’m still not sure whether he wrote the letter as part of a plan to frame Angel. It would make sense. Connor would know that Angel had been in the room and left. Angel would be headed home an unable to interfere while Justine frames Angel.
OR
Was Holz being honest? What if his speech to Angel is the truth? He asks Justine to send him to Hell. He knows that he’s done plenty of evil himself. He knows Connor will be safe with Angel and his hatred is gone. Since Holz’s only reasons for living were love of Connor and hatred of Angel, he has no reason to go on after giving Angel the letter. He finds himself unable to commit suicide. So, he asks Justine. She kills him. Then , she blames Angel for Holz going to Quartoth, and for taking away his will to live. Justine gets really mad and frames Angel. Thus, Justine is going against Holz’s wishes because she loves him. This sets her up for a dramatic breakdown a la Faith.
I believe that the frame up of Angel was Holz’s plan all along. When Justine killed Holz, it was with a weapon that could be used to simulate a vampire bite. I don’t believe that was an accident, I believe that Holz asked her to kill him in exactly that fashion. She didn’t want to kill him, but he needed his dead body as evidence. Holz is perfectly capable of commiting suicide all by himself.
He is using Connor as a weapon against Angel. Make Connor believe that Holz is taking the high road, “giving” him back to his real father, proven by the letter. Heck, even us viewers thought that Holz was changing his tune. Then have it seem that Angel betrayed and murdered Holz. Thusly, Connor will have all thoughts of reconciliation with Angel destroyed permanently, and will make damn sure that Angel suffers, and suffers a whole lot.
Physically Holz is capable of suicide. But I wonder if he has some moral/emotional hang up that prevents him.
Upon learning Angel had a soul, Holz commented that now that soul could suffer eternal punishment for Angel's sins.
The lullaby Holz sang to his children (IMO a beautiful song. I'd love to hear the whole thing) was about guardian angels.
Holz's education of Connor seems to have been largely based on Holz's Christianity.
combine this with Biblical prohibitions against suicide and the passage (chapter ? verse ?0 'He who spills the blood of others, so must his blood be spilled'
Re The Weapon-
all I saw was a knife. It’s possible I missed a full shot of the thing though
If Holtz didn’t feel it was moral to commit suicide, he certainly wouldn’t ask someone else to kill him. I had a slight nagging feeling that Justine came up with the “bite wound” idea after Holtz was dead, but after reflecting on it a bit it just doesn’t seem to fit. It makes much more sense that Holtz planned the whole thing out, he wouldn’t have done all he has done just to change sides at the last minute.
Holz was in Quartoth for at least a decade. The only other human (or whatever Connor is) was the child he stole from Angel. Holz had plenty of time to think about things.
Re Suicide- Josephus comes to mind. He and group of other Jews were trapped in a cave by Roman soldiers. They didn’t want to surrender. But, they thought committing suicide would be wrong. They decided on a system in which they would pair. The members of each pair would kill eachother. BTW This is not from the Bible. It’s from the books Josephus went on to write after rigging the lots, surrendering, and becoming a historian.
Holz is basically making the same distinction and using the same loophole.
It’s not that different from someone honestly believing ‘oral sex is not cheating.’.
I have it on tape and I’m pretty darn sure it’s an icepick. That’s what made the holes in his neck, and, if you’ll recall, Holtz specifically told her to do it again, and placed the tip a bit below the first hole. Voila! Homemade vampire bite.
Or Aquaman. Everyone forgets Aquaman.
I thought it was a BBQ fork. I suppose one of us needs to watch again and answer the question of knife, ice pick or BBQ fork.
As far as Angel’s rescue, I think that Cordy will appear to Wes in a vision and tell him where to find Angel. Wes collects the Clueless Duo and saves Angel, thus redeeming himself. Or, Wes pretends to join W & H, and finds out about Angel. Or, Justine has an attack of concience, tells Wes, etc…
OR,
Lorne calls the hotel, hears Conner singing in the background, tells the FG.
Cordy, finding out with her new uber powers, rushes back to Earth.
Connor, after hearing of all the wonderful things his dad has done for the helpless/hopeless, has a change of heart.
Lilah tells Wes.
Is there any evidence that W&H were involved? They wanted Angel turned to the dark side, not driven insance in a watery crypt.
On the other hand, the boss at W&H was pissed enough to take out revenge on Angel for the torture, and Lilah wants him dead as well. Was the attack at the drive-in coordinated with Conner/Steven or did he really thwart the boss’ plans?