"Home" is the season finale of the fourth season of Angel and the eighty-eighth episode in the series. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on May 7, 2003, on The WB network.
Synopsis[]
Angel and the gang are made an offer they can't refuse when they are given the opportunity to take over Wolfram & Hart and obtain all of the firm's secret and powerful information. Meanwhile, Angel has a chance to change the future for his son Connor, who is physically and emotionally lost and wandering through the city.[1]
Summary[]
Angel has returned to the Hyperion Hotel following the death of Jasmine, finding Lilah waiting for him. Wesley refuses to believe that she is the real Lilah, but Angel confirms that she is now undead. Lilah explains that her contract with Wolfram & Hart extends beyond her death; she will return to hell once she's made them an offer on behalf of the Senior Partners.
Lilah explains that the Senior Partners have decided to offer Angel Investigations control of the restaffed and rebuilt Wolfram & Hart L.A. branch as a reward for ending world peace. The gang argues that Jasmine was devouring people and creating a world with no free will. Lilah tells them that all suffering could have ended for the simple cost of a few dozen lives per day. Instead, chaos and destruction have reached an all-time high, for which Lilah is grateful. As Angel and the others struggle with the idea they may have caused more harm than good, Lilah tells them that a limo will be waiting outside the hotel before dawn to take them on a grand tour of the new law firm.
Meanwhile, Connor wanders the streets of Los Angeles, which is still filled with rioters following the end of Jasmine's spell. He spots a policeman on a roof, planning to kill himself. Connor initially tries to help him, but when he learns the officer would have left behind a family, Connor gets angry and starts to beat him.
At the hotel, the gang work on locating Cordelia and Connor to no avail. Lilah's offer is weighing hard on everyone's minds, knowing what they could do with the massive resources that are being offered to them. When Gunn brings up the idea of taking the tour, Angel tells the others that he can't stop them from going but warns they'll be corrupted even before the limo ride is over. Angel then leaves to look for Connor as the others head off to bed.
Fred wakes up in the middle of the night and sneaks downstairs, being careful not to wake the others. She finds the limo parked at the curb, eventually spotting Wesley, Gunn, and Angel, who have all snuck outside with the same intentions. As they contemplate whether or not they should take Wolfram & Hart’s offer, Angel opens the limo door and finds that Lorne has been inside for a while, enjoying the amenities.
Arriving at Wolfram & Hart, the gang are overwhelmed as they walk into a huge lobby with the workers all welcoming "Mr. Angel" to the building. Lilah arrives with four guides who will show them each around a relevant part of the firm. They initially object to being split up, but Lilah points out they could have blown up the limo if they were intending to kill them. When she offers them guns for protection, the gang agrees. Fred picks up a semi-automatic rifle, and the group splits up: Lorne is sent to the Entertainment Division with Preston, Wesley is partnered with the fellow Englishman Rutherford, Gunn is assigned to the beautiful Lacey, Fred gets the company of the fellow scientist Knox, and Angel will be escorted by Lilah herself.
As they tour the facility, Gunn doesn’t understand why he is being offered a position since his special skill is solely being the muscle, which he knows the firm will likely have plenty of. They briefly stop outside the security office, and Gunn assumes this is why he's there, but Lacey explains they have bigger plans for him.
Fred converses with Knox, whom she assumes to be the head of the Practical Science Department. Knox explains that he just reports to the head, who would be Fred if she accepts the position. Fred is barely able to believe that she's being offered such a job and is amazed to find the lab she'd run is fully staffed and filled with state-of-the-art equipment.
Rutherford takes Wesley to the firm's collection of books. Wesley is unimpressed to find such a small collection, but Sirk explains that the Wolfram & Hart source books can call upon any text in the firm's archive. He proves this by summoning up the text of the obscure Devandiré Sibylline Codex. Wesley knows that Sirk is a former Watcher, and stole it from the now-destroyed Council. Wesley cuts his tour short by knocking Sirk unconscious.
Lilah shows Angel his potential office, complete with its own private elevator and access to a motor pool. Suddenly, Lilah opens the blinds, exposing the vampire to direct sunlight. As Angel raises his hands to shield himself, Lilah explains that all the windows in the building have necrotempered glass to prevent vampires from bursting into flames during the day. When Angel declines her offer, Lilah insists that Angel could make a huge difference with Wolfram & Hart's resources; the world doesn't need an unyielding champion, but someone who knows the value of compromise.
Lilah hands Angel a file on the upcoming Sunnydale apocalypse, as well as an amulet that is supposed to be crucial in the final battle. Angel is uninterested, insisting that Buffy can handle it herself. Angel then tells Lilah that he's truly sorry for what happened to her, but he intends to leave with his friends. As he goes to exit, Lilah gets a call from the Senior Partners and switches on the television, showing a news report of a hostage situation involving explosives at a sporting goods store. The security cameras reveal the suspect to be Connor.
Gunn's tour guide takes him to the next part of his tour, and he panics when he realizes that they are going to the White Room. Despite his protests, he arrives alone and meets Meseket’s replacement: a black panther. Gunn's initial fear is replaced by curiosity as he gazes into the panther’s eyes.
At the Jackson Sports store, the hostages are wired to a main explosive. Connor orders a man to hold his scared daughter properly, despite his broken arm. Connor then realizes Angel has arrived as the vampire leaps down to face his son.
In Wolfram & Hart's records room, Wesley punches out the guard and starts searching through the firm's files. Lilah appears and admits she is surprised he took so long to arrive. Although Lilah thinks that Wesley has come to plunder the Senior Partner's secrets, he reveals that he is there for Lilah's eternal contract with Wolfram & Hart. He sets it on fire, telling his former lover that she deserves to rest in peace. Lilah tells him that she knew what she signed up for, and she tells him to look in the drawer again; the contract has been returned completely unharmed. Lilah thanks him for the thought but points out that such a contract is not so easily destroyed.
In the store, Angel tries to talk Connor down. He shows Angel that the hostages are wired, including himself, along with a still-comatose Cordelia. Angel tries to assure him that he will get over losing Jasmine, but Connor says that he doesn't feel pain or sadness; he's as dead as Angel. Angel apologizes for not being present during Connor's childhood and professes that Darla loved him so much that she sacrificed her life so that he could be born. Connor argues that Angel didn't love him enough to stop Holtz from taking him away. He then looks down at Cordelia, wondering aloud why she stopped loving him.
Angel promises Connor that he will take back all his mistakes and help him start again, but Connor assumes he is lying. Connor decides to end his pain by killing everyone and reaches for the bomb to detonate it. Angel leaps to action, disconnecting Connor and beating him back before releasing all the hostages. Connor and Angel begin to fight, with Connor attempting to set off Cordelia's explosive. Angel forces Connor to the ground, promising his son that he truly does love him. He tells him he will prove it and swings the knife at Connor's neck.
Back at Wolfram & Hart's lobby, the gang are impressed by what they've seen. Gunn tells Fred and Wesley that he intends to take the job even if the others don't. Wesley concurs that they could do a great deal of good with what they could gain by accepting what the Senior Partners are offering. Angel appears and tells everyone he's already accepted the offer on behalf of the group, as the gang looks at him in disbelief. Lilah assures them that Cordelia is safe and being cared for by the firm; they will do what they can to wake her up. Angel asks to see "him," and although Lilah initially objects, she accepts her new boss' request. Lilah hands Angel the file on Sunnydale and the amulet, telling him a limo is waiting to take him to Connor. As he leaves, the rest of the gang question who Connor is.
A family is having dinner, with Connor seated at the table among them. This version of Connor is happy and healthy. As the family celebrates Connor's graduating in the top tenth percentile and his choice to attend any college, the boy makes a toast to family. Angel smiles as he watches from the outside, then walks away.
Continuity[]
- The nature of Lilah's contract with Wolfram & Hart binds her even after death. In this episode, she returns, undead, at the behest of the Senior Partners. The very same thing happened to her former boss, Holland Manners, who was killed in "Reunion," but returned, undead, in "Reprise," to do the firm's bidding.
- Lilah teases about Angel not being the only one that came back from hell, which he did in "Faith, Hope & Trick."
- Lilah explains she's not a vampire because she was already dead when Angelus drank from her ("Calvary"). To be sired, the vampire and the victim have to exchange their blood ("Welcome to the Hellmouth").
- Lilah bears the mark of where Wesley hit her with an axe to behead her in "Salvage."
- Fred mentions the Beast destroyed the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart ("Habeas Corpses"), but Lilah explains it's been restaffed and free of zombies.
- The Angel Investigations team argue with Lilah about Jasmine consuming people, which was first revealed in "The Magic Bullet."
- Wesley's Wolfram & Hart guide, Rutherford Sirk, comments that the Watchers Council no longer exists, a reference to its destruction in "Never Leave Me."
- Following the events of this episode, Angel takes a trip to Sunnydale for "End of Days" and "Chosen," bearing an amulet that Spike will wear in the battle at the Hellmouth.
- The toast that Connor offers to his new family at the end — "To family" — is the same as that offered by Wesley in Angel's hallucination at the beginning of the season, in "Deep Down."
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Angel
- Beast (Only mentioned)
- Big Cat
- Cordelia Chase
- Connor
- Darla (Only mentioned)
- Winifred Burkle
- Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan
- Charles Gunn
- Daniel Holtz (Only mentioned)
- Jasmine (Only mentioned)
- Knox
- Mesektet (Only mentioned)
- Lilah Morgan
- Matthew Partney (Only mentioned)
- Preston
- Colleen Reilly
- Laurence Reilly
- Richardson
- Jill Richardson (Only in picture)
- Sarah Richardson (Only in picture)
- Lacey Shepard
- Rutherford Sirk
- Buffy Summers (Only mentioned)
- Tracy (Only mentioned)
- Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
- Unidentified news anchor (Only in video)
Organizations and titles[]
- Angel Investigations
- Conduit to the Senior Partners
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Reilly family
- Senior Partners (Only mentioned)
- Slayer (Only mentioned)
- Watcher
- Watchers Council (Only mentioned)
- Wolfram & Hart
Species[]
- Demon
- Half-demon
- Human
- Vampire
- Zombie (Only mentioned)
Events[]
- Battle at the Hellmouth (Only mentioned)
Locations[]
- Los Angeles
- Lubbock, Texas (Only mentioned)
- 6200 Crestwood Boulevard (Only mentioned)
- Sunnydale (Only mentioned)
Objects[]
- Champion's amulet
- Devandiré Sibylline Codex
- Necrotempered glass
- Soul (Only mentioned)
- Wolfram & Hart source books
Death count[]
- None.
Behind the scenes[]
Production[]
- This is the last episode with Charisma Carpenter and Vincent Kartheiser as regulars. They will each make guest appearances in season 5.
- The sporting goods store that Connor has seized is a theater at Paramount Studios. The peak of the logo can be seen on the balcony.
- The scientist Knox is played by Jonathan M. Woodward, who also plays Holden Webster in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Conversations with Dead People."
- Originally, Tim Minear wanted to call Rutherford Sirk's character "Hitchcock" as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock and a reference to the Hitchcockian qualities of Wolfram & Hart, but it was deemed too obvious. They gave him the name "Sirk" instead after Douglas Sirk, a director who was a contemporary of Hitchcock.[2]
Broadcast[]
- "Home" had an audience of 2.6 million households upon its original airing.[3]
Pop culture references[]
- Lilah compares the tour of Wolfram & Hart with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Knox mentions Dungeons & Dragons while talking to Fred.
- Fred calls Knox "the MacGyver of Wolfram & Hart."
- While showing Angel his office, Lilah and Angel make reference to the game show Let's Make a Deal.
Goofs[]
- The word "Boston" is clearly visible on the supposedly LAPD vehicles surrounding Connor in the sporting goods store.
Music[]
- Andy Hallett — "Something's Coming"
- Robert J. Kral — "Home"
- Robert J. Kral — original score
International titles[]
- Czech: "Rodina" (Family)
- Finnish: "Uuteen kotiin" (To a New Home)
- French: "Une vraie famille" (A Real Family)
- German: "Ein verlockendes Angebot" (A Tempting Offer)
- Hungarian: "Otthon" (At Home)
- Italian: "Una nuova casa" (A New Home)
- Portuguese (Brazil): "Para Casa" (To Home)
- Russian: "Дом" (Home)
- Spanish (Latin America): "Hogar" (Home)
- Spanish (Spain): "Hogar" (Home)
- Turkish: "Ev" (Home)
Adaptations[]
- Tim Minear provided the audio commentaries for this episode on the Angel Season Four on DVD set.
Gallery[]
Promotional stills[]
Behind the scenes[]
Advertisement[]
References[]
- ↑ "angel: Home." TheWB.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2004.
- ↑ Tim Minear. Angel Season Four on DVD; audio commentaries for the episode "Home." [DVD]. 20th Century Studios, September 2004.
- ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Fourth Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008.