Spoiler Slayer

I thought the big story of the day would be FilmJerk.com's casting information for 'Angel', Episode Four. But it was quickly followed by my usual source passing along even more detailed info. Because of this, I'm going to link to the FilmJerk article, but the major spoilers here are from the my source.

Update: Episode Title looks to be 'Hell Bound'.

Angel: Hell Bound

The episode has a Halloween-theme, with what seems to be several spirits trapped at Wolfram and Hart coming out to play. Their interest seems to be mainly in Spike, who himself is obviously a spirit in the material world.

The episode opens with night falling on Wolfram and Hart, where a few associates grumble about 'Mr. Good Fang' and Fred heads to her lab. It appears that she's investigating the amulet. The next bit is Spike in the offices, hearing a woman crying somewhere. He finds the spirit of a young woman from the turn of the century (err, not Y2K). She asks Spike to hold her because something is coming and then passes through him and vanished.

There is another scene, where Angel confesses that he liked Spike's poetry. In this scene, Spike is being haunted by the spirit of a hanged man. But, much like Angel's visions in 'Amends', Spike is the only one who can see him.

Later, the 'Fang Gang' has gathered in a conference room confused because the can't find any ghosts (except for Spike). While they are discussing this, Spike is being taunted by the spirit of an armless woman. She tells Spike that "it's" coming for him. Spike begs Fred to help him, as he vanishes once again.

Spike ends up, where else, in the basement (even he's not surprised). He's followed one spirit, only to discover another. It's a young woman with a shard of glass through one eye. She tells him that the Reaper's going to come for him. That takes the glass shard out and slashes him across the cheek with it. It actually cuts him.

We then turn to Fred's lab, where she's furiously researching. Spike is there, but Fred can't see him. Spike must do something that Fred recognizes, because later Angel is insisting that Spike is gone. The mystics at Wolfram and Hart also can no longer detect him. Fred disagrees, stating that she knows what she felt, and she's trying to find a way to contact him before he's gone for good.

Cut to an office later that night. Eve has brought in a psychic, Claire, who's going to conduct a seance. Spike is in the room, at while at first it seems she's made contact with him, she's actually discovered something much worse. What's behind Spike's torment, the Reaper. It possesses Claire and ends up killing her. There is some brief consideration that Spike might have been behind that, but it's quickly dismissed.

Fred heads off to take a shower (her outfit fell victim to Claire's bloody demise). Spike appears in the bathroom and is able to concentrate enough to write the word 'Reaper' into the steam on mirror. (and I'm going to be honest, it really does appear that they are looking to pair up Spike and Fred). As Fred notices it, the mirror cracks and a shadowy form rushes at Spike and pushes him through the wall.

Spike appears in the lobby, He sees a lawyer, but it turns out to be another spirit. Spike begins to undergo attacks ala 'Hellraiser'. Nails, Stakes, lots of pain. As it reaches a climax, Spike's tormenter appears. It's a creature that calls itself Pavayne.

Elsewhere, the 'Fang Gang' seems to have a handle on what's going on. Something exists in Wolfram and Hart that feeds on spirits. That's why they couldn't detect any spirits other than Spike, and Wolfram and Hart should be overflowing with spirits of the dead. Essentially, Pavayne is the cleanup crew for the building. He cleans up the loose spirits, sending them to hell. There is an extensive scene with Pavayne showing that he can distort reality, with the various spirits (illusions of Pavayne) taunting and tormenting Spike, and Spike coming to a realization of what Pavayne is and what lies ahead for himself.

Fred is driving herself to the edge with her research, making the others wonder if she's gone Pylea-mad again. She hasn't, but she's determined to do whatever it takes to save Spike. Not only that, but she's managed to figure out a way to make him corporeal. In the meantime, Spike has begun to understand a bit of Pavayne's power. He's not just a janitor, he's a spirit himself, who figured out a way to stay out of Hell. As Spike and Pavayne spar, Fred activates the device that will bring Spike back. Unfortunately, Spike has momentarily left the room and Pavayne goes after Fred.

As Pavayne strangles Fred, Spike reappears. He has a difficult decision to make, he can either save Fred, or he can become flesh again. He pushes Pavayne away from Fred, and into the area of effect for the machine. Which explodes as Pavayne becomes flesh and blood, and the 'Fang Gang' steps in to clean up. Spike warns Angel not to kill him, as it will only make Pavayne a spirit again.

As the show wraps, Fred and Spike are talking in her lab as she disposes of the remains of her gadget. Spike's acting as if it's all right that he's still a ghost, learned a few things, like how to pick things up with some effort. Fred makes a comment that he's worth saving (and I don't think there is any denying that they are playing up Spike/Fred).

The episode ends on a very dark note, as we discover that Angel has caged Pavayne in much the same way Connor caged him. Locked away in the basement, Pavayne will spend eternity in a metal box, unable to do anything but look out through a small peephole. Fade to black

If there was any doubts that the 'Fang Gang' was being lured by the dark side, I think this episode lays those to rest. In some ways, this really does echo earlier storylines. However, there is a bit of newness to it as well. While I'm not entirely sure what is going on between Fred and Spike, I think it would be wrong to deny that the writer's aren't playing up the chemistry between the two of them. I don't think this build-up will go on much longer. Sweeps is probably going to be dominated by both the changes to the 'Fang Gang' and Spike's future. Although, since they did not take this opportunity to bring back Spike, it might be beyond Sweeps before we see a change in his status. Who knows, maybe he'll stay ghostly for the full season (somehow I still doubt that).

One thing to note. While this does have the feeling of a Halloween episode, it will air over a week before the actual holiday. Does it mean we might not have new Angel episodes throughout October? Will the WB not choose to compete if it ends up against the World Series on one of those Wednesdays?

As always, thanks to 'T'