Home

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"Home" is the season finale of the fourth season of Angel and the eighty-eighth episode overall. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on May 7, 2003 on the WB network.

Synopsis

After finally defeating Jasmine, Connor roams the streets of Los Angeles alone and confused about his place in the world. Meanwhile, an undead Lilah Morgan offers Angel Investigations a deal they cannot refuse: Control of the LA branch of the newly reopened Wolfram and Hart. They can work there, allowing them access to every secret file. Lilah explains that the "Senior Partners", the ruling counsel of the demonic firm whom are based in Hell, have now relinquished the evil firm as thanks for the gang's part in the recent events in bringing back chaos and discord in Los Angeles (see "Peace Out"). Angel will also be rewarded with a file on the Sunnydale apocalypse. Meanwhile, Connor, realising he has no future in a world he cannot comprehend, takes hostages in a nearby mall, and plans to blow himself up with them. When Angel discovers what's going on, he is offered a chance to give Connor what he desires, even if it means giving him up. Wesley, Gunn, Fred and Lorne cautiously consider joining the evil outfit to get access to wealth and power on Earth. Angel makes an "executive decision" and accepts Wolfram & Hart's offer on behalf of his team. The trade was that Connor is erased from every person's memory, and he is placed within a loving family, with no recollection of his dark past. Angel drives to Sunnydale, but stops and silently watches his son happily having dinner with his new family.

Continuity

• The episode contains a number of connections with Buffy. Wesley's Wolfram and Hart guide, Rutherford Sirk, comments that the Watchers Council no longer exists, a reference to the events of the Buffy episode, "Never Leave Me". However we later see that some members of the Council, such as Giles, have survived. Following the events of this episode, Angel takes a trip to the Hellmouth for "End of Days" and "Chosen", bearing an amulet that will be worn by Spike in Buffy's final battle.

• 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".
• Gunn's spirit guide in The White Room takes the form of a black panther, similar to the puma which acts as Buffy's spirit guide in Intervention.  

• The so-called "false" prophecy—"The Father will kill The Son"—seemingly comes to pass when Angel erases Connor, the son of the vampire with a soul, from the world.

Appearences

Locations

• Los Angeles, CA
• White Room

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.
• This is the last episode with Stephanie Romanov, though her character, Lilah, does make appearences in the Spike graphic novels.  This episode also contains the last scenes set at the Hyperion Hotel, and is the last we see of Angel's convertible.

• The sporting goods store that Connor has seized is, in fact, the lobby of Paramount Studios. The peak of the logo can be seen on the balcony.

• The scientist Knox, who shows Fred around the laboratories of Wolfram & Hart, is played by Jonathan M. Woodward, who also plays Holden Webster in the Buffy episode "Conversations with Dead People". Woodward also appeared in an episode of Firefly, meaning that the actor has a "trifecta" — he has appeared in Buffy, Angel, and Firefly.

Pop Culture References

• 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, so they gave him the name "Sirk" instead, after Douglas Sirk, a director who was a contemporary of Hitchcock. On the commentary track, the director says that Angel is akin to a Sirk movie in that it is about men and women and their relationships, it's a melodrama, and it's a potboiler.
• During their tour of Wolfram and Hart, Lilah makes a reference to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".
• Knox makes a reference to Dungeons and Dragons while talking to Fred.
• Fred calls Knox "the MacGyver of Wolfram and Hart."
• While showing Angel his office, Lilah and Angel make reference to the game show Let's Make a Deal.

Music

• Robert J. Kral - "Home"
• Robert J. Kral - original score

Spoilers

• Connor returns in two episodes of Season Five: Origin and Not Fade Away.
• Cordelia Chase would awake from her coma in You're Welcome.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

• The word 'Boston' is clearly visible on the supposedly LAPD vehicles surrounding Connor in the sporting goods store.

Other

• Though Connor says that "you can't be saved by a lie", Angel does just that by giving him a new identity.