Bachelor Party (Angel)

"Bachelor Party"
Angel episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	David Straiton
Written by	Tracey Stern
Production code	1ADH07
Original air date	November 16, 1999 (1999-11-16)
Guest stars
Kristin Dattilo as Harriet "Harry" Doyle Carlos Jacott as Richard Straley Ted Kairys as Ben Chris Tallman as Nick Brad Blaisdell as Uncle John Robert Hillis as Pierce Lauri Johnson as Aunt Martha Kristen Lowman as Mother Rachel David Polcyn as Russ
Episode chronology
← Previous "Sense & Sensitivity" Next → "I Will Remember You"
List of Angel episodes

"Bachelor Party" is episode 7 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Written by Tracey Stern and directed by David Straiton, it originally broadcast on November 16, 1999 on the WB network.

Plot

Doyle is caught off guard when his estranged wife, Harriet, asks for a divorce so she'll be free to marry her new love, Richard. Though quite surprised to learn this piece of Doyle's past, Angel and Cordelia do all they can to support their friend. With the wedding a few days away, Cordelia accepts Harry's invitation to her bridal shower. That night, Angel shadows Richard and discovers that Harry's affable fiancé is an Ano-movic demon. Since Doyle believes that Harry's rejection of his own half-demon heritage caused their breakup, he must contend with a certain amount of rekindled pain and anger. Nevertheless, Doyle reluctantly accepts Richard's sincere invitation to the bachelor party. Apparently, the wedding cannot proceed without Doyle's express blessing on Harry's second union. Little do either the bride-to-be or Team Angel know, a sacred Ano-movic tradition involves ritualistically eating the first husband's brain.

Harriet and Cordelia discover Doyle is in danger and crash the party, followed soon after by Angel. Doyle morphs into his demon form and tries to help out but in the ensuing fight, he is knocked senseless. Cordelia does not understand Doyle actually transformed in the fight. Harriet learns her husband won't go through with the marriage unless they can kill Doyle, so she breaks it off.

Angel and Cordelia watch Doyle mope in the darkened outer office until Cordelia goes out and cheers him up in her straightforward way. All of a sudden, Doyle has yet another painful vision. This time, he recognizes the blond woman from Angel's bookmark photo, apparently fighting for her life against multiple foes. When Angel asks, wide-eyed, what he saw, Doyle hesitates to speak Buffy's name.

Acting

Guest star Carlos Jacott also appeared in two other Mutant Enemy produced television shows: he played Ken in "Anne", the first episode of the third season of Buffy, and Lawrence Dobson on the pilot episode of Firefly.

Continuity

• Crossover with Buffy: In the last scene, Doyle has a vision of Buffy in danger. Angel goes to Sunnydale in "Pangs".
• Doyle fulfills the first half of his promise ("Rm w/a Vu") to tell Angel the story of his life by confessing salient points of his failed relationship with Harriet.
• Cordelia also mentions her previous relationship with Xander Harris during the second and third seasons of Buffy.

Arc significance

Doyle has at least two significant opportunities to show Cordelia his demon face, neither of which he takes. The first is when he fights the stalker vamp and chooses to struggle unaugmented rather than reveal his mixed heritage. The second comes when Harry and Cordelia walk in on the boys' mêlée. Doyle has just been knocked flying and is lying out of sight under the table in one of the restaurant booths. He groggily sits up during Harry's tirade—still in demon form. Cordelia, in an excess of concern for her friend, Doyle, vents some of her anger and anxiety by grabbing a handy serving tray and repeatedly bashing the blue-green, spiny thing she believes to be one of the evil, brain-eating demons. Angel hastily comes to Doyle's rescue, both pulling Cordy off and distracting her so she won't see him morph back to human form. It remains unclear whether Cordelia recognizes him as the same person when Doyle deliberately shows her his demon face in "Hero".

External links

• "Bachelor Party" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Bachelor Party" at TV.com