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"Lullaby" is the ninth episode of the third season of Angel and the fifty-third episode in the series. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on November 19, 2001, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

As Darla violently begins childbirth, Angel faces the responsibility of becoming a father and the possibilities of what miracle or destruction this new being may bring to the world.[1]

Summary[]

Holtz captures Angel in the Hyperion Hotel and starts to talk with him, but he believes nothing Angel says.

At Wolfram & Hart, Linwood tells Lilah that she is going to be the one who will get in trouble for this whole mess. Since they have gotten no word from their commandos in a while and have lost visual, Lilah heads over to the hotel to see what is happening. She ends up getting caught by one of Holtz's men, who thinks she's Darla.

Lilah tells Holtz that Angel now has a soul and must atone for his past misdeeds, which Holtz treats with more belief. Angel uses Lilah's distraction of Holtz to grab a wayward grenade that had belonged to one of the dead commandos, and he escapes, with Lilah and Holtz suffering no major injuries. Lilah finds the Nyazian Scrolls and brings them back to Wolfram & Hart for study by their scholar.

Holtz thinks upon what Darla and Angel did to his family. When he returned to find their dead bodies, it turned out that they had not killed his daughter. At first overjoyed, Holtz sees bloody bite marks on her neck and realizes she has been turned into a vampire. He sits, and he thinks, and he sings a lullaby over and over. When the dawn comes, he leaves the house, carrying his daughter, kicking and screaming and begging not to be taken outside. He hurls her into direct sunlight, and watches as she is destroyed.

Meanwhile, at the car, Darla gets frustrated at Wesley's attempts to teach her Lamaze breathing techniques, since she doesn't need to breathe, and hits all of them, knocking them away from her. When they get ready to leave again, they are attacked by Holtz's forces. A fight ensues but is quickly ended when Darla runs over most of the enemy with the car. She then drives away, leaving Gunn, Wesley, Cordelia, and Fred with no transportation.

Angel finally reunites with them and tells them what just happened to him. The group realize that Holtz was one of the prophesied forces, brought forward in time to kill Angel, Darla, and their child in order to stop the hope of mankind, therefore bringing about the destruction of the world.

Holtz confronts Sahjhan for not mentioning before that Angel has a soul, which means he must hunt him differently. He is not perturbed at killing a being with a soul — on the contrary, he realizes that killing a being with a soul will free that soul to suffer damnation for eternity. Sahjhan, who hasn't told Holtz about Darla's pregnancy, lies that he hasn't withheld any other important information.

Angel locates Darla on a roof in Los Angeles. The soul of their unborn son is nourishing Darla, causing her to feel overwhelming love for the child. She realizes she will no longer feel love after she gives birth, will even forget that she ever did love her son, and she will hurt it. She begs Angel to protect the baby from her, and Angel comforts her when she starts to cry.

Back at Wolfram & Hart, the translator working on the Nyazian Scrolls says that, according to them, there will be no birth, only death.

Angel takes Darla to Caritas, which is due to reopen the next day with a spell to stop violence of any kind within the club. Arney, a demon who had been working on the place but was fired by Lorne for stretching out the job to charge more, heads to Holtz and tells him where they are.

At Caritas, Darla's contractions have stopped and the baby's heartbeat has weakened. Wesley reasons that Darla, as a vampire, doesn't have a body that is designed to give birth to a child. Angel doesn't understand why the Powers That Be would give him a miracle only to let the baby die. Gunn suggests that the baby may not have been sent by the Powers That Be, but it may be the thing warned of in the prophecies, and the Powers are trying to end what could bring about the apocalypse. Angel refuses to believe it.

Angel joins Darla in Lorne's bedroom as she rests, and she tells him she's realized the baby is dying. She laments that she can't even offer her son life. Holtz shows up at Caritas, but no one else knows who he is. Lorne hands him a flyer, and Holtz starts to leave singing the lullaby. Lorne realizes Holtz is going to attack and gets everyone out of the main area as a barrel of gasoline and a grenade fall down the stairs. The grenade goes off, and the ensuing explosion destroys the bar.

Running to the back area, the group understands that Holtz explored a loophole in the club's magical protection: it prevents violence within the club, whereas Holtz attacked from the outside. As the building begins to crumble, Angel tells Darla about Holtz's renewed presence. She recalls what she and Angelus did to his family and understands what that must have been like for him. Outside the club, Darla collapses in the alleyway.

While the others run to get the car, Angel and Fred remain behind with Darla. She laments that her son is going to die in an alley, and reminds Angel that he died in an alley. She wants to say she is sorry and mean it, but she knows she can't, just as she knows Angel can never forgive her. She tells him they did many terrible things together and they can never make up for any of it. Admitting that creating life with Angel was the only good thing they ever did together, Darla makes sure Angel will relay that to their child. She picks up a piece of wood and stakes herself.

Darla crumbles to dust, leaving her baby behind, alive and crying. Full of emotion, Angel gently picks up his son as Holtz appears, armed with a crossbow. Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn drive up, blocked by Holtz. Angel and Holtz stare at each other until he lowers his crossbow. Angel, his son, and Fred make their way to to the car. Sahjhan yells at Holtz for not killing Angel, saying he wasn't doing what he swore he'd do. Holtz responds that he intends to follow his promise, and will show Angel no mercy.

Continuity[]

  • Cordelia chides Gunn for being "so damned honest." She was previously known for her plain speaking and professed that "tact is just not saying true stuff."
  • Caritas appears rebuilt and, then, is destroyed a second time. The karaoke bar was introduced in "Judgment" and destroyed by Gunn's former gangmates in "That Old Gang of Mine." It will only appear rebuilt again two years later in "Underneath," to be last featured in the series in its finale, "Not Fade Away."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Events[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • Sarah Holtz, pushed to burn in the sun by Holtz (in flashbacks).
  • Darla, staked herself.

Behind the scenes[]

Broadcast[]

  • "Lullaby" had an audience of 3.1 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Czech: "Ukolébavka" (Lullaby)
  • Finnish: "Kehtolaulu" (Lullaby)
  • French: "Le fils d'Angel" (Angel's Son)
  • German: "Wiegenlied für eine Liebe" (Lullaby for a Love)
  • Hungarian: "Altatódal" (Lullaby)
  • Italian: "Ninna nanna" (Lullaby)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Canção de Ninar" (Lullaby)
  • Russian: "Колыбельная" (Lullaby)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Canción de cuna" (Lullaby)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Una nana" (A Lullaby)
  • Turkish: "Ninni" (Lullaby)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Quotes[]

Wesley: "Now it's up to us to protect Angel's unborn child. Darla, we're trying to take you out of here. Relax. The trick is to breathe. Like this."
Darla: "I... don't... breathe!"
Darla: "Doesn't anyone wanna sit back here with me?"
Cordelia: "We're good."
Gunn: "Yeah, it's, comfy."
Darla: "I promise I won't throw anyone out of the car. Not while it's moving."
Fred: "It's not that we don't trust you. I mean, we don't trust you, but, the fact is, your water broke all over the back seat."
Darla: "Oh."
Darla: "Look at it. Listen to it. Can you smell it? This world. This horrible world. Why would anyone want to bring a baby into it?"
Angel: "To make it better, maybe?"
Darla: "Or to destroy it finally."
Angel: "Why is it everyone insists on planning my son's future before he's even born?"
Darla: "He's dying. Isn't he?"
Angel: "No."
Darla: "You lied much better when you didn't have a soul.
Angel: "You're gonna be okay."
Darla: "No. No, I don't think so. Once he's gone, I won't be okay. I won't be okay at all. I don't know what I'll be. Angel... Our baby is gonna die right here in this alley. You died in an alley, remember?"
Angel: "I remember."
Darla: "I wanna say I'm sorry. I wanna say it and mean it, but I can't. Aren't you gonna tell me it's okay?"
Angel: "No."
Darla: "No? It's really not, is it? We did so many terrible things together. So much destruction, so much pain. We can't make up for any of it. You know that, don't you."
Angel: "Yeah."
Darla: "This child, Angel, it's the one good thing we ever did together. The only good thing. You make sure to tell him that."

References[]

  1. "angel: Lullaby." TheWB.com. Archived from the original on October 18, 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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