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"Dad" is the tenth episode of the third season of Angel and the fifty-fourth episode in the series. Written by David Goodman and directed by Fred Keller, it was originally broadcast on December 10, 2001, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

Angel discovers how hard it is being a new dad — especially when the demon underworld is after your newborn son.[1]

Summary[]

The Angel Investigations team returns with the baby to find the Hyperion Hotel a mess. Lorne announces he'll be moving in on account of Caritas being destroyed yet again. Although everyone wants to hold the baby, Angel holds his son protectively and keeps everyone at bay. He struggles with the father role when he cleans a cut on his son's face, while the rest of the team plan to keep the baby safe from the inevitable attackers looking to steal and kill him. A demon barges into the hotel, but Gunn and Wesley quickly kills it. Angel realizes his son is crying because he needs to be changed and attempts to change the diaper on Wesley's desk.

At their underground lair, Sahjhan complains about Holtz's refusal to kill Angel, but Holtz is content with his behavior. They discuss Darla's pregnancy and sacrifice, and Holtz goes on about his plans despite Sahjhan's insistence that Angel just be staked quickly to stick with the prophecies. Sahjhan's temper rises as he discovers that Holtz poisoned all of his demon minions; Holtz explains that he doesn't want paid lackeys, but dedicated soldiers to follow him into his coming battles.

While the Transuding Furies set up a mystical barrier around the hotel, Angel continues to care for his fussy child, and Cordelia and Fred investigate the demon websites offering bounties for the baby. Cordelia informs Angel that the newborn needs to see a doctor, and that he can't do everything for his child — for example, be outside in the sun — and needs to accept their help.

While watching the hotel via their spy cameras, the lawyers at Wolfram & Hart ponder how Angel's baby could have been born despite the prophecy's translation stating it would not happen. Meanwhile, Angel can't get his son to stop crying until he changes to his vampire visage, which fascinates the baby enough to stop him from crying. In attempts to discover Holtz's identity, Lilah has "Files and Records" retrieve information about how Angelus and Darla killed Holtz's family in the 18th century.

Holtz tracks a young woman named Justine, whose twin sister was recently killed by a vampire. She had been killing vampires on her own since then, and Holtz offers to be her mentor.

Gunn returns with weapons and news of the crowd forming outside waiting to break the barrier and claim the child. The Cult of Ul-thar has returned, as well as a gang of human bikers who are into kidnapping and extortion, and four Lilliad demons who make magical broth with children's bones. The demons outside chant and break down the barrier around the hotel while, inside, the team prepares to defend themselves and retreat if necessary. Angel decides to leave with the baby, as Wolfram & Hart watch on television screens. They send a squad out to get the baby from him.

The Angel Investigations team ready themselves for the attack as the barrier breaks down. Angel escapes through the sewers and drives away in his car. While the team disposes of the demons and vampires who enter the hotel with a flame-thrower, Angel drives to an abandoned mine shaft. His pursuers demand the child, and Angel throws the baby's bundle to them as he escapes to the surface. The demons unwrap the blanket to find a teddy bear with a ticking time bomb strapped to it. The bomb destroys them and the mine shaft while Cordelia, Wesley, and Fred take the baby to the hospital for care.

At Wolfram & Hart, Linwood examines footage from the hotel and discovers a moment when Lorne slipped Angel a note into his coat and, in the conversation, identifies a location where Angel could read the note without being seen by the cameras. Earlier, Lorne heard a humming noise and concluded that the team was being spied upon. The vampire alarm goes off, and Angel barges in, attacking Linwood with a knife and giving him a cut equal to the one on his child's cheek. Angel promises that any harm that comes to his son will be equally repaid to Linwood. As appointed "godfather," Linwood is given the job of keeping everyone and everything away from the vampire's child unless he looks forward to revenge at Angel's hands.

At the hospital, the doctors report that the baby is healthy, and Angel shows up in time to announce the name of his son: Connor. Gunn arrives with a stroller, and the team head home, where they hope to be safe for a while.

Continuity[]

  • The meeting between Holtz and Justine calls back that between Merrick and Buffy in "Becoming, Part One."
  • Gunn wishes that one of the Powers That Be would intervene directly and "step up to the mat." As it'll be revealed in "Shiny Happy People," this is exactly what is happening.
  • Lorne asks if there are any fluorescent lights in the hotel when asking about the humming. In "Doublemeat Palace," Spike says that some demons enjoy fluorescent lights for this very reason.
  • Angel reveals the name of his son: Connor, which is a traditional Irish name, Angel's country of origin ("Angel"). Angel will comment when his son returns with the name Steve: "It's a good name. Not Irish, but..." ("A New World").

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • A demon, stabbed by Gunn and Wesley.
  • Grappler demons, poisoned by Holtz.
  • A vampire, dusted by Holtz helping Justine.
  • Two Lilliad demons and two bikers, incinerated by Wesley with a flamethrower.
  • A biker, snapped by an Ul-thar vampire.
  • Ul-thar vampire, incinerated by Wesley with a flamethrower.
  • Eight Connor's enemies (two Ul-thar vampires, two bikers, two Lilliad demons, and two Wolfram & Hart agents), killed by Angel with a bomb.

Behind the scenes[]

Broadcast[]

  • "Dad" had an audience of 2.5 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Pop culture references[]

  • Wesley imagines himself as John Wayne in Rio Bravo.
  • Gunn imagines himself as Austin Stoker in Assault on Precinct 13.
  • When Holtz offers to teach Justine how to fight, she asks whether it is "some kind of Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi groove thing," quoting: "Wax on, wax off."
  • Lilah makes an allusion to William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which the character Macduff was from his mother's womb "untimely ripped."

Goofs[]

  • When Lorne slips Angel the note, his left hand is fussing with the baby. Later, when the lawyers are watching the scene on video, his left hand is down by his side.
  • Angel pushes a round manhole cover off of a square manhole.

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Czech: "Táta" (Dad)
  • Finnish: "Iskä" (Dad)
  • French: "Papa" (Dad)
  • German: "Vaterfreuden" (Joys of Fatherhood)
  • Hungarian: "Apa" (Father)
  • Italian: "Papà" (Dad)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Papai" (Dad)
  • Russian: "Отец" (Father)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Papá" (Dad)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Papá" (Dad)
  • Turkish: "Baba" (Dad)

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

References[]

  1. "angel: Dad." TheWB.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2004.
  2. "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Third Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008.
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