Offspring

Offspring is episode 7 of season 3 of the television show Angel, and is the 51st episode overall. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by Turi Meyer, it was originally broadcast on November 5, 2001 on the WB network.

While Angel and the crew research a prophecy predicting the imminent arrival of a being who may have a profound impact on the world, Darla, pregnant and angry, arrives at the hotel looking for Angel. Baffled by Darla's condition, Angel turns to Lorne for some insight on this situation while Darla gets a sympathetic ear from Cordelia, unaware that Darla is still very evil. Also, more of Angel and Darla's murderous past is shown when they murdered an Englishman's family back in 1767 in which the man, Daniel Holtz, begins a life-long crusade as a vampire hunter-killer to exterminate them.

Synopsis
In Rome in 1771, Angelus is trapped in the sewers by his nemesis, Holtz. Finally having caught up with the monster who murdered his entire family, Holtz tortures Angel for a day, until Darla arrives and rescues him, killing everyone but Holtz.

In present day LA, Darla arrives in Los Angeles on a bus, having drained all of the other passengers first.

Meanwhile, Angel trains with Cordelia in her hand to hand combat skills. They discuss the hinted prophecies that the apocalypse is coming. Angel is skeptical as he's heard a lot of similar rumors in his long lifetime. Cordelia has decorated the dungeon with plastic flowers, and talks to Angel about plans for his birthday. Fred walks in on them sparring and, after Cordy has left, tells Angel that the two of them are attracted to one another, an idea that Angel greets with incredulity.

Gunn and Wesley break into a home to steal the lost Nyazian scroll, which has part of the prophecy. They are caught by the owner and make a deal with him to see the prophecy. Back at the hotel, the crew talks about prophecies, about the prophecy of Angel being turned into a normal man. Fred does calculations to figure out when the prophecy will come to pass, and they all show that it has already begun, starting with some unspecified bad thing.

At that moment, a heavily pregnant Darla walks in and tells Angel he's knocked her up. Cordelia is very upset that Angel would sleep with Darla, especially because he swore he would never do anything like that. Angel says this is impossible as vampires can't have children, and Wesley confirms this is true. Cordelia acts very protective of Darla, as one does for a pregnant woman, and is very angry at Angel. Fred wonders if this is the prophesied bad event. Angel wonders if she's really pregnant, and Darla offers to let him hear the heartbeat.

The gang goes to visit the host at Caritas, which he is in the midst of rebuilding. He is currently being visited by the three witches first seen in That Old Gang of Mine, and who are former lovers of Angel. Their presence further inflames Cordelia, who takes Darla to lie down in the back.

They talk with the host about what the pregnancy means. They wonder if this child is an evil being from prophecy, and its destiny is bad. But Fred says "screw destiny," that they can defeat anything.

Cordelia starts to bond with Darla over demonic pregnancies, until Darla attacks Cordelia and starts feeding off of her.The struggling Cordelia then has a vision, and Angel arrives and flings Darla across the room. Darla runs away and Angel tells Cordelia that he'll kill Darla for what she just did. Cordy remembers her vision--Darla has a neverending hunger now that she's pregnant, and she craves young blood. Angel prepares for battle as Cordy realizes she knows where Darla must have gone.

Angel catches up with Darla in an amusement park, about to feed off a toddler. The two struggle, and Angel strangles Darla, to no effect because she doesn't breathe. He grabs a stake and is about to strike her down, while she begs him to kill her and make her hunger stop. But Angel stays his hand--what Darla said has finally registered. He realizes that while they don't breathe, the baby has a heartbeat and breathes, and so the baby must have a soul. He takes her back to the hotel to take care of her, while taking precautions against her feeding off anyone there. Fred realizes that the thing from the prophecy is about to arise at any moment. In an underground cavern, there is chanting, and then out of a stone tomb emerges... Holtz!

Main cast

 * David Boreanaz as Angel
 * Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
 * Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
 * J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
 * Amy Acker as Winifred Burkle

Special guest star

 * Julie Benz as Darla

Guest stars

 * Andy Hallett as Lorne

Co-stars

 * Jack Conley as Sahjhan


 * Steve Tom as Stephen Mills


 * Keith Szarabajka as Daniel Holtz

==Quotes == Angelus: "Darla, shouldn't we be killing Hotlz?"

Darla: "I know. But it's just so much fun ruining his life. He's like family now" ==Trivia ==
 * Gunn suggests that Darla and Angel's child could become an "uber-vamp." This is a term that the Scoobies will later use to describe the Turok-Han Vampire.