Players

Template:Angelepisode

Players is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of Angel and the eighty-second episode overall. Written by Sarah Fain, Elizabeth Craft, and Jeffrey Bell and directed by Michael Grossman, it was originally broadcast on March 26, 2003 on the WB network.

Synopsis

Gwen Raiden returns to ask Gunn to help her rescue a little girl from a wealthy and powerful tycoon during a posh party at his high-tech security mansion. Gunn soon realizes he's been tricked by Gwen: her target is actually a high-tech military device titled L.I.S.A. which will enable Gwen to control her electrical powers and touch other people. Although Gunn initially is angry with Gwen for lying to him, she observes that he's having more fun than he's had in a long time and he eventually relents and assists her. Once they have the device, Gwen admits to Gunn that she has never been able to so much as hold hands. He touches her back to test whether the device has worked, and when they both realize it has, they have sex. Meanwhile, Angel and the rest of his team, researching Cordelia's sudden pregnancy, are hindered by an overprotective Connor.

Cast

Starring

• David Boreanaz as Angel
• Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
• J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
• Amy Acker as Winifred Burkle
• Vincent Kartheiser as Connor
• Andy Hallett as Lorne
• Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Guest Starring

• Alexa Davalos as Gwen Raiden

Co Starring

• Dana Lee as Takeshi Morimoto
• David Monahan as Garrett
• Hope Shin as Little Asian Girl
• Wendy Haines as Overly-Jeweled Woman
• Michael Patrick McGill as Checkpoint Guard
• John Fermont as Security Guy

Continuity

• This episode implies that roughly two weeks has passed since at least "Awakening", with Cordelia explaining her awareness of her pregnancy since Angelus has come back. Gunn makes a later reference that could put "Apocalypse, Nowish" within the same time frame, referencing to the battle on the rooftop between The Beast, Angel, Gunn, Wesley and Lorne.

• This is the final episode with Gwen Raiden. She will reappear again in the Angel Season 6 comic.

• Angel Investigations discovers Cordelia is the Master behind The Beast and Angelus.
• Gwen told Gunn he shouldn't buy into the notion that his only value to Angel's group is as "the muscle," which may have influenced his decision later to let Wolfram & Hart implant him with legal knowledge, making him a super lawyer.