Deep Down

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"Deep Down" is the season premiere of the fourth season of Angel and the sixty-seventh episode overall. Written by Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Terrence O'Hara, it was originally broadcast on October 6, 2002 on the WB network.

Angel, Cordelia, Connor, and the gang are enjoying dinner in what seems like true happiness, even Wesley was included. However, it is soon revealed to be a hallucination of Angel's as he remains trapped underneath the ocean. In the three months since Angel and Cordelia's disappearance, Gunn and Fred are frustrated by the lack of clues regarding their whereabouts while they deal with Connor who pretends not to know anything. Connor even resorts to killing the only witness to Angel's plight, a vampire named Marissa, to protect himself. Meanwhile, Wesley has Justine held as a prisoner and forces her to take him to where Angel's sealed coffin is located, 100 feet on the ocean floor. Also, the evil Lilah is continuing to court and seduce Wesley to pump him for information about Angel, while she eventually stages a one-woman coup against Linwood to take over the Special Projects division at Wolfram & Hart to stay ahead of the ever ambitious Gavin.

Synopsis

The entire gang, complete with Connor, Lorne, and Wesley sit around a table enjoying a happy meal together. Connor has a great relationship with his father and even Wesley is present. As plates are passed around the table and Angel is ignored, things start to change and soon the dream becomes reality and a physically weakened Angel is in his watery prison. Fred and Gunn run back to Gunn's truck, trying to escape vampires. One crashes onto the windshield and more arrive in another car.

Gunn and Fred ask about a girl named Marissa, but the vampires aren't really interested in talking. After giving up what could be accurate information about Marissa, the vamps attack. Several of the vampires are slain and Connor jumps in just in time to save Fred from a flying ax. Gunn and Fred lecture Connor back at the hotel about the danger of his wild actions, despite the fact that they're all still alive. In the office, Fred talks about their efforts to look for Cordelia and Angel and how little success they've had over the past three months.

Angel stands atop the cliffs, much like he did last season. Under the water, Angel wakes up yelling. Connor finally finds out from Gunn and Fred that they have another lead into Angel's whereabouts, and he's not pleased that they didn't tell him earlier. Fred agrees to let him to tag along as they check out a potential location for her. While Connor's out of the room, Gunn and Fred argue about the tough situation they are in with the hotel, business and the struggle to find two of their friends while a third has practically become their enemy.

Lilah collapses on top of Wesley after another round of sex. Seemingly on much better terms, Liliah attempts to weasel information out of Wesley on where Angel is. Wesley makes it clear to her that he doesn't know where Angel is and doesn't care, claiming that part of his life to be over. After she leaves, Wesley dresses and proceeds towards a closet. Inside, he has Justine chained up in a cage and he announces that it's time for them to go look for Angel. Later, Justine taunts Wesley as he directs a boat around the ocean in search of the steel box Angel is confined in. Connor kicks in a door at the building where the gang hopes to find Marissa. They find her and grill her about the cliffs where Angel last went to, but Connor lets her escape. He runs after her and kills her before Gunn and Fred show up. He cuts himself with the stake and pretends as if she attacked him when the others arrive and then runs off.

Angel finds Connor on a tall rooftop and they start to talk before they're rudely interrupted by a group of vampires. Angel and Connor fight and kill them all and then Angel snaps Connor's neck. In his underwater grave, Angel wakes and starts to scream again. Fred finally reaches Lorne in Vegas, but he's very busy and doesn't have any new information to share with her. At Wolfram and Hart, Linwood, Lilah and Gavin walk as Linwood praises Gavin's latest findings. Lilah realizes that they know about her and Wesley and tries to offer an explanation, but Linwood really isn't interested.

Wesley finally senses something metal on his sensor and sends Justine down to check it out. It turns out to be Angel and the steel coffin is raised from the ocean. Wesley opens it and frees Angel's arms only to have Angel wake up and catch Wesley's throat in a death grip. Angel relaxes back into the box, giving Wesley the opportunity to completely free him. Wesley slowly feeds Angel animal blood while Justine taunts him from the background.

Connor returns to the hotel to find Fred and Gunn worried and waiting for him. Connor gets testy when Gunn suggests Connor's like his father. On the boat, Angel hallucinates that Lorne is on the boat with him as Wesley comes below deck to check on Angel's progress. Angel sees Connor instead of Wesley and Wesley realizes that the animal blood isn't returning Angel's strength enough and cuts his own arm to feed Angel. Before a meeting, Lilah absentmindedly strokes the top of Linwood's chair. As the meeting begins Linwood asks a room full of lawyers about Lilah and her future at the firm due to her failures regarding Angel. Lilah smugly and quickly turns the tables on him saying "I may have failed on numerous occasions, but one thing I've never been, is afraid of Angel." She announces that she spoke with a senior partner. Linwood becomes visibly angry demanding from Lilah "You went over my head?" Lila smirks and says "Well, more like under it." Then, with a touch of a button, Linwood is beheaded and she's the new boss.

Fred brings Connor a sandwich and they start to talk as he eats. Unexpectedly, Fred promises him great suffering for what he did to his father and then subdues him with a stun gun. Downstairs, Fred speaks angrily to Connor as he's tied to a chair. She and Gunn reveal that Wesley called them and informed them about his finding Angel and Connor's connection to Angel's disappearance, and accuse him of also disposing of Cordelia. Meanwhile, Wesley buckles Angel into the car and leaves Justine handcuffed to the pier, telling her she can continue being a slave or live her own life. Back at the hotel, Connor argues with Fred and Gunn that Angel's not his father and shows no regret for his actions. Wesley carries a weakened Angel into the hotel and leaves without much of an explanation.

As Wesley leaves, a noise is heard in the office, drawing the attention of the humans. Connor knocks Gunn down and shocks Fred with the stun gun, but as he turns around Angel's standing in front of him. Angel orders him to sit and he explains to his rebellious son the truth about Holtz's death and Angel's lack of involvement in it. Realizing he's in trouble, Connor attempts a getaway, but Angel isn't done yet and throws Connor into the wall. After making sure that he had nothing to do with Cordelia's disappearance, Angel tells Connor, with a parting lecture about life and an admission of love, to leave, which he does immediately.

Meanwhile, Cordelia, now in a higher dimension, bemoans her boredom.

Continuity

Angel says, "I got stuck in a hell dimension by my girlfriend one time for a hundred years" referring to when Buffy sent him to hell in "Becoming, Part Two."

Fred uses Angel's wrist stakes, first seen in City of.

The Hunga Munga is one of the weapons Gunn, Fred and Connor carry at the beginning of the episode. It is first seen in "Anne" and appears a second time in "Happy Anniversary".

Before Wesley cuts himself to feed Angel, he raises his knife, creating the impression that he wants to cut Justine instead. Lilah performs a similar action towards Linwood Murrow before cutting herself to help Angel in Forgiving.

This episode is set three months after the season three finale "Tomorrow"

When Fred calls Lorne in Las Vegas, Lorne says, "Take care of yourself and ah, and make sure fluffy is getting enough love." Fluffy refers to a dog that Fred does not have. Lorne's meaning, which Fred does not understand, is that he is in distress and needs to be rescued. This is explained in "The House Always Wins" two episodes later.

This episode marks the final appearance of Justine Cooper .

Fred's violent and emotional reactions to Connor's betrayal are due to her (possibly over-)identifying with Angel. Both were torn from their lives, subjected to a terrible fate, and without anyone knowing where they were, had no choice but to endure a miserable life completely alone.

Behind the Scenes

Production

This is the first episode which shows Vincent Kartheiser in the series opening credits.

Andy Hallett is now credited as a "Special Guest Star," a credit he will retain until he is promoted to regular status.

This is the only season opener of Angel not written by either Joss Whedon or David Greenwalt.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

Early in the episode, Fred suggests asking Wesley for help, and when Gunn shoots that down, saying Wesley doesn't care about them anymore, Fred asks if they'd given him any reason to. Later, when Wesley explains the reason he didn't tell them about Connor was that they didn't need to know, Fred seems genuinely surprised and bothered that he doesn't care about them anymore.

After Wesley returns Angel to the hotel, Fred notes that "he's freezing," and Gunn says he'll get some blankets. Angel is a vampire: thermoregulation has no correlation with his health.

Quotes

Fred: "How could you do that to your father?"

Connor: "That thing is not my father."

Gunn: "Yes, he is."

Connor: "He got what he deserved."

Fred: "And how soon before we deserved it?"

Connor: [stunned silence]

Angel: "So, how was your summer? Mine was fun. Saw some fish. Went mad with hunger. Hallucinated a whole bunch."

Angel: "Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh and cruel. But that's why there's us: Champions. Doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done--or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be--to show it what it can be."