Angel # 8: Destiny

Season 5, Episode 8
First Aired November 19th, 2003

Season 5 of Angel was the only season of the Buffyverse that I watched when it was actually on television, so in these posts, I may throw in bits about what it was like watching the episodes as they aired, as opposed to on DVD. "Destiny" was the last episode before the winter break, and it was a great episode to go out on, in that it had me begging to see what happened next immediately after it ended. So much happened in this episode: Spike became corporeal again, Spike won a fight against Angel for the first time, and a certain character returned (more on that later).

After about 6 episodes (Spike didn't show up until the final scene of the season premiere) as kind-of-sort-of ghost, a mysterious package showed up that gave Spike his body back. But along with his body came chaos because now the world had two ensouled vampires who fit the bill of "champion". Although Angel and Spike both existed with souls for about a year (end of Seasons 6/3 through the end of Seasons 7/4) Spike wasn't a champion until he closed the Hellmouth in "Chosen", the series finale of Buffy. However, he had to die to do it, so he and Angel were never simultaneously champions. Now, the a weird force started overtaking Wolfram and Hart, and Angel and Spike tried to find a way to stop it. They learned about an artifact that would once and for all determine who the subject of the Shanshu Prophecy was, and they both go after it.

This leads to a ruthless and bloody fight between the two as they each try to prove to the other that one of them is destined to become human again, even if it means suffering unspeakable torment before it happens. They each argue about their love for Buffy, the good deeds that they've done (and use the other's evil ones against them). At one point, Spike shows his conviction by picking up a huge wooden cross to use as a weapon against Angel, even though it burns his flesh just as much as it burns Angel's. Eventually, Spike is the victor, but just barely. When he drinks from the cup, he realizes that the liquid inside is Mountain Dew, and that they were scammed.

Back in Los Angeles, Angel confides to Gunn that Spike's victory, even though it was meaningless in that moment, has him worried that maybe Spike is the vampire in the prophecy after all. Meanwhile, Eve, the team's liaison to the Senior Partners, enters an apartment and tells her lover that their plan is going smoothly; Angel and Spike nearly killed each other, and the Senior Partners were as in the dark about the true nature of the chaos as Angel. She eventually gets in bed and the audience learns that the man pulling the strings is none other than Lindsey McDonald, Angel's old nemesis, who has been gone since Season 2.

Up next: Angel #7...