Angel # 7: Sleep Tight

Season 3, Episode 16
First Aired March 4, 2002

The preceding episodes followed Wesley as he tried to translate a prophecy about Angel's new son Connor. Eventually, he discovered that it said "The Father will eat the Son", and although it scared Wes, he initially brushed it off. But various portents had come to pass that made him believe there was merit to the prophecy after all, and by the time "Sleep Tight" started, Wes was all but convinced that Angel would kill his infant son. In this episode, Angel started to show signs of bloodlust and became very agitated with Connor, prompting Wes to seek out Holtz, Angel's time-displaced nemesis. Wesley and Holtz make a deal; Wes will stop Angel from killing Connor and Holtz will give up his revenge scheme.

Elsewhere, Angel learns that Wolfram and Hart has been spiking his pig blood supply with some of Connor's blood they stole in an effort to make Connor smell like food to Angel. Angel confronts Lilah and finally meets Sajahn, the demon responsible for bringing Holtz to the present. Sajahn tells Angel that they are sworn enemies, but Angel has never seen the demon before.

That night, a desperate Wes prepares to take Connor, only to run into Lorne. When Wes hums a lullaby to soothe Connor, Lorne discerns (some of) Wes' intentions, forcing Wes to knock Lorne out. While escaping, Wesley runs into one of Holtz's lieutenants, who cut Wes' throat and stole Connor. Angel eventually learned of what Wesley did and tried to find him to get his son back. This led to a stalemate when every party interested in the son of two vampires converged in one spot. Holtz, who was in physical possession of the infant Connor, wanted to raise Connor as his own to hurt Angel the way Angelus had hurt Holtz (he and Darla killed Holtz's wife and turned his daughter into a vampire). Wolfram and Hart wanted Connor for study. Angel wanted his son back. And Sajahn wanted Connor dead. Angel knew that if Wolfram and Hart got his son, he would become nothing but a lab rat. He also knew that W&H wouldn't kill something of such value, so he finally told Holtz to take his son and raise him as his own. Sajahn intervened and opened a portal to a hell dimension, and threatened that he would widen it to consume everyone present if someone didn't kill Connor. Instead, Holtz ran through the portal, taking Connor with him. Pleased with himself, Sajahn disapparated. Dejected, but knowing business would continue as usual, the Wolfram and Hart employees left. But Angel fell to the ground, crying at the loss of his son.

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