You're Welcome (Angel) - Plot

Plot

In a hospital room, Cordelia jolts out of her coma after experiencing a vision of the symbols painted on Eve's apartment door and tattooed on Lindsey's (Christian Kane) chest. Angel elaborates on his decision to resign from his position of CEO of Wolfram & Hart's L.A. office, saying instead of ridding the world of evil, they are now negotiating with, or for, evil. As Gunn argues that quitting may incur dire consequences, he is interrupted by a phone call from the hospital, with the news that Cordelia has awoken from her coma.

Angel and Wesley arrive at Cordelia's hospital room and see a woman's body lying in bed, partially covered by drapes (head not visible), who they assume is Cordelia. When Angel calls out her name, Cordelia suddenly appears from the opposite side of the room saying, "Yep, that chick's in rough shape. You'd think they'd give Miss One-Foot-in-the-Grave her own room." She then closes the drapes.

Back at Wolfram & Hart, Cordelia asks after Conner, which surprises Angel, who thought he was the only one to remember his son. Cordy later reveals the vision that woke her from the coma showed Angel in grave danger. Eve enters, despite being banned, saying Angel has no control over the liaison for the Senior Partners. Meanwhile, Spike complains to Lindsey (who is impersonating Doyle) that the deranged slayer Lindsey/Doyle sent him after ended up chopping off his hands. Lindsey/Doyle reveals he also had one of his hands cut off.

Angel finds Cordelia watching an Angel Investigations commercial Doyle (Glenn Quinn) recorded more than four years earlier, shortly before his death and she notes Doyle gave his life to guarantee that Angel kept fighting. She subtly quotes Doyle's final words about the fight against evil: "I get that now." Cordelia accuses Angel of letting Wolfram & Hart seduce him with glamor and power, but Angel says he took the job only so his son Connor could have a happy, stable life. Later, Cordelia apologizes to Wesley (Alexis Denisof) for killing Lilah while under Jasmine's control. She finds the strange symbols from her vision in a book, and Wesley recognizes them as runes to protect and conceal, effective against modern surveillance. In the basement of W&H, Lindsey (invisible to the guards monitoring the video screens) passes into a restricted area. He uses a crystal as a key, allowing an underground tank to rise.

Spike bites Cordelia until Angel fights him off. Spike explains he was tasting whether she was evil, as his source claimed. Angel questions the source, and Spike says it was "Doyle", the tattooed man who gets visions from the Powers That Be. Angel confronts Eve, suggesting she is working with the Doyle impersonator who has been manipulating Spike. Harmony says, being "technically evil", she doesn't mind torturing Eve, after which Eve quickly confesses Lindsey is activating a fail-safe left by the Senior Partners specifically designed to destroy Angel. When Spike unwittingly mentions "Doyle" had a hand chopped off, Angel deduces that "Doyle" is in fact former W&H crony Lindsey McDonald. Wesley says he and Fred will perform a spell to counter-act Lindsey's tattoos, while the others attempt to disable the fail-safe.

In the rooms below, Angel battles Lindsey, who is wreathed in protective strength from his tattooed runes. Cordelia throws Angel a katana; while Angel and Lindsey sword-fight she removes the crystal from the control panel, causing the fail-safe to descend into the floor. Wesley and Fred perform a spell that causes Lindsey's tattoos to float off of his body, leaving him unprotected from detection by the Senior Partners. Lindsey is sucked upwards into a portal.

Upstairs, Angel is left alone with Cordelia, who confesses that the Powers That Be owed her one. Angel says he doesn't understand and she said she got what she wanted. Cordelia tells Angel that she is now on a different path and must leave. She heads out the door but then runs back to Angel, and they kiss passionately. This was their first real kiss, though they did kiss while under a mystical influence in the Season 3 episode Waiting in the Wings. A ringing telephone interrupts, and as Angel picks up the receiver after Cordelia sadly tells him he needs to, Cordelia says, "Oh, and you're welcome." The voice on the phone says that Cordelia has died. Angel's office is suddenly empty; Cordelia has vanished. Angel realizes Cordelia never awoke from her coma. He hangs up the telephone and says, "Thank you."