Angel/Sacrifice

Sacrifice
Season 4, Episode 20
Airdate	April 23, 2003
Production Number	4ADH20
Written by	Ben Edlund
Directed by	David Straiton
← 4x19 The Magic Bullet	4x21 → Peace Out
Angel — Season Four

Sacrifice is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of Angel, and the eighty-sixth episode overall. Angel, Wesley, Lorne, Gunn, and Fred escape Jasmine's army by going underground, but there they run into trouble of another kind. Wesley finds a link to another dimension which might help them solve their Jasmine problem.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Amy Acker (Winifred "Fred" Burkle), Vincent Kartheiser (Connor), Andy Hallett (Lorne)

and Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)

Guest Starring: Gina Torres (Jasmine), Avery Kidd Waddell (Golden), Michah Henson (Matthew), Jeff Ricketts (Monster)

Co-Starring: Tristine Skyler (Holly), Bradley Stryker (Sculpture Vamp), Taylor Lundeen (Little Girl)

Plot Overview

Gunn, Lorne, Fred, Wesley, and Angel escape the hotel and head underground. There they meet up with some people who went underground when the Sun went down and aren't aware of its return. They have secured a location that prevents the intrusion by a particularly gruesome monster down there. Angel decides to go after this monster. One kid runs away when he sees Angel's vampire face and Wesley is kidnapped by the monster.

Gunn and Fred go after the kid, but he escapes to the surface. There he learns that the Sun is now out again and Gunn has to knock the kid unconscious in order to haul him back. However, when they return with the kid and he wakes up, he has been turned. Meanwhile, Wesley is with the monster who says that his kind have worshipped Jasmine for centuries. He hints that the source of her power is in her true name. Angel shows up to save Wesley and kills the monster. As this is happening Gunn, Fred, and Lorne escape the capture of Connor and his army. The find Angel and Wesley and hold the door shut. Wesley opens a portal to the monster's dimension but says that only Angel can enter.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• Spider Demon: The spider demon that captures Wesley is part of an ancient race of demons who live in another, older, dimension. Their high priests are the ones who know the true name of Jasmine and have been awaiting her return to their dimension for what seems like centuries. The demons are very fast and strong, but are vulnerable to their own claws.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1/2/3/4/5	Followers	Jasmine	Consumed	Hyperion
6	Spider Demon	Angel	Stabbed in the Neck	Sewer

Music

There is no licensed music in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Big Bad: Jasmine is known as the devourer to another race of demons who worshipped her prior to her arrival on Earth. One of the demons that worshipped her has descended to this realm in order to regain her attention using a blood magic spell, but he lets slip that Jasmine's power is taken away from her by her true name.

Referbacks

• 4x09 - Long Day's Journey: The Beast blotted out the sun over Los Angeles through several items taken from the corpses of the Ra-tet. As a result many humans went into hiding due to the huge influx of demons into the city.

Golden: Tommy was running our unit when the sun went out.

• 4x05 - Supersymmetry: After finding out that Fred was sent to Pylea by her physics professor, she vowed to either kill him or send him into a hell dimension worse than the one she was sent to. Instead of allowing her to take on the guilt, Gunn killed him before she could.

Gunn: When you and I killed a man.

Trivia

The Show

• Jeff Ricketts previously played Weatherby in the episode "Sanctuary", a role he reprised from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes "This Year's Girl" and "Who Are You?". He is also one of the Joss Whedon hat-tricks as he also guest starred in Firefly.

Behind the Scenes

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 3.4/5 in the overnight Nielsen ratings.

• Newcomer: This is the first episode of Angel written by Ben Edlund. He was moved over to the series from Firefly and given a producer credit in order to help prepare for the fifth season, if WB allowed them another season.

Allusions and References

• The Stepford Wives: In The Stepford Wives, the men in the Connecticut town of Stepford have replaced their wives by submissive robots. More well-known than Ira Levin's 1972 novel is the 1975 movie version.

Lorne: Anyone else feel like the last feisty wive on Stepford?

• The Body Snatchers: In Jack Finney's 1955 science fiction novel The Body Snatchers, alien invaders take over humans by growing identical looking replacement bodies in plant-like pods; the duplicates eventually kill their human victims. The story has been adapted into three movies.

Lorne: That's a whole lot of pod people.

Quotes

• Angel: Someone who knows the truth has to live through this.

• Angel: There has to be a way. We just need time.

Gunn: To hell with that. We need a damn break. But the universe don't seem to be handin' breaks out to the underdog lately.

• Fred: We should have taken Connor with us. He looks... What if he doesn't wake up?

Angel: What if we took him and he did?

• Connor: You're... indescribable.

Jasmine: I know.

• Lorne: Oh, I don't know, kids. That's a whole lotta pod people.

• Fred: Look at 'em. They're all so happy.

Gunn: Yeah, they'd be happier when they're gouging out our eyes and stompin' us until their shoes get sticky.

• Gunn: That's right! It's the big bad free will gang gassin' up!

• Monster: We loved her first!

• Wesley: And ow does your kind define "love"?

Monster: Same as all bodies. Same as everywheres. Love is sacrifice.

• Lorne: And that's why when we use words like "ugly-ass" and "beastie" we can sometimes do more damage than we intend to.

• Wesley: I think the universe just handed us our first break.

• Lorne: I really hate today!

Gunn: I'm more worried about tomorrow myself.

• Wesley: Someone who knows the truth has to live through this. Angel, that's you.