User Reviews

In "Quickening" Holtz, back for his plan of vengeance, adjusts to the modern world. Wolfram & Hart get wind of the pregnant Darla and go into full-on panic mode as they attempt to retrieve the child. Darla starts having contractions and the gang tries to figure out how they're going to have this child and whether they need to kill it. A cult of vampires who worship the unborn baby show up and attempt to kill Darla and everyone else in the hopes of C-sectioning the child and taking it. Holtz and WR&H both converge on the hotel; Holtz makes quick work of the mercenaries. Angel shows up to grab some scrolls before hitting the road and the two stare each other face to face for the first time in 200 years as the episode ends.

While nothing extremely noteworthy or exciting takes place in this episode, it does a good job of developing the season-long plot further. Darla's pregnancy seems imminent now and Holtz & Angel reunification foreshadows some kind of showdown to start the next episode.

My main question at this point is "Who is Sahjhan?" He seems to also have beef with Angel & Darla and yet we know practically nothing about him. He gives Holtz minions at the end but we don't seem them at the hotel. Interesting.

I enjoyed seeing a bit of the inner workings of WR&H, seeing all their demons and psychics and lawyers working on solving a problem behind closed doors.

The writers have been hinting at a Darla personality change as of late. She seems to be (little by little) falling for her unborn son. Perhaps she will cast aside her hedonistic ways for her child? Time shall tell.

While this episode wasn't mindblowing, it's important in the grand scheme of things.

I guess I'm suppose to think that Holtz's rampage is understandable and even a little sympathetic. Angelus and Darla killed his family, he's suffering, he's human, they're demons... Blah, blah, blah. Really, though, I flat out DON'T CARE. Not even a teeny little bit. I hate the guy with a raging passion and I have zero compassion for his troubles. Angel was a soulless vampire when Holtz's family got killed. He had no control over his actions. Holtz, on the other hand, hurts innocent people. He put his family at risk in the first place by targeting Angelus and Darla. Of course they were going to go after Holtz if Holtz went after THEM! Now, Holtz arrives in LA with his single-minded, self-righteous quest for revenge and manages to hurt Angel more than anyone. I love Angel and, knowing how this storyline plays out, I watch this episode and just despise Holtz intently. (On a side-note, "Lies My Parents Told Me" in season seven of BTVS has a similar plot line with someone seeking vengeance against Spike. It's a great episode and I enjoy watching Spike's reaction even more when I daydream about Holtz getting a similar style beat-down. Unfortunately, here on "Angel" things are a bit less straightforward.) Anyway, this is a good episode, where Wolfram and Hart learn about Darla's pregnancy, Angel meets up with Holtz, and Team Angel discovers that the baby is human. All in all, you shouldn't skip it if you're watching the season on DVD.

The episode revolves around Holtz arriving in LA. He's determined to get vengeance against Angel and Darla. Shajahn is eager to guide him towards that goal and even hires some demon minions to help with the slaying. Meanwhile, the bugs that Gavin planted in the Hyperion a while back are finally paying off. Lilah recognizes Darla on one of the surveillance tapes and quickly spreads the word that she's pregnant. Wolfram and Hart tortures its mind-readers for some answers, but comes up with only one clear idea. They decide to steal the baby for themselves.

Back at the Hyperion, Team Angel is still trying to deal with the pregnancy themselves. Gunn suggests a net in case the baby "skitters," then there's a call for the ever popular flame throwers, and finally they settle on an old fashion ultra-sound. At the hospital they determine that the baby is human. However, as news of the pregnancy spreads, more and more people (and demons) want to get their hands on it. After a vampire fight, Team Angel decides to head out of town. First, though, they have to swing by the Hyperion and pick up that mystical scroll.

Little do they know that Wolfram and Hart's goons and Holtz are already at the hotel. Holtz kills the other Black Hats and then prepares to capture Angel. Team Angel parks in an alley way (I think it's the same alley way from season five's "Not Fade Away," which is sort of prophetic.) As Angel heads for the hotel, he finally comes face to face with Holtz. In the alley, Darla's water breaks and she goes into labor.

There are some really great parts to this episode. I love that Cyril kid calling his "master" with news of Darla's pregnancy. He gets an answering machine that goes something like: "You've reached the Tribbles. If you're calling for Trisha, press one. For Steve, press two. If you want to speak to and/or worship Lord Talfore the Destroyer, press three." It just cracks me up every time. Also, I really like the scene in the hospital, with the ultra-sound. Angel is so amazed and happy when he sees the baby. Then, vampires attack. Then, a ninja guy attacks. Then, the vampires attack the ninja. Then, the vampires attack Team Angel. Angel kills a bunch of them, but not before taking a moment to gloat that someone called his son "special." And the paranormal OB-GYN is hilarious. He and the other Wolfram and Hart guys arrive at the hotel, only to be confronted by Holtz. "Who's the pirate guy with the sword?" Lindwood demands and Lilah and Gavin just shrug. It all works really well.

On the downside, I think its sort of sad to see Wes and Angel in this episode. In order to protect the baby, Angel wants Wes to leave the alley if he's not back from the Hyperion in five minutes. And Wes agrees to do it because he knows that Angel loves his son. Wes is always loyal to Angel. So loyal that he'll do unthinkable things to try and protect him and what Angel loves most... Conner. Knowing how this will play out, this episode is like foreshadowing. Here, Angel tells Wes to take the baby and go to keep Conner safe. Next time, Wes will do it on his own, from that same sense of loyalty and with very different, tragic results. It just breaks my heart.

My favorite part of the episode: Lilah vowing to peel off that Cyril kid's skin inch by inch, then staple it back on inside out. Possibly my favorite threat ever.

Have you followed this part of the history? American Revolution, manifest destiny, westward expansion, the Beach Boys? - The follow up of 'Offspring', while the flashbacks and Darla-story lines were much better, the episode had a few scenes that could have easily been left out like, what the hell was that Doctor with chicken feet? Also didn't care for the miracle child worshipers or the very random Ninja that got eaten. Also the episode introduced my least favorite ANGEL character, 'Lindwood Murrow', I hate his cowardness. But besides those things, the episode did carried the main storyline about 'Darla', we learn that her baby is a boy, a human boy. But there is something wrong with it, something is protecting it and it doesn't let it get born either. I love 'Darla' to death once again, her facial expressions when the vampire cult told her they were gonna feed the fang gang to her - I guess i'm getting dinner after all. The flashbacks were also superb, in the teaser we see 'Angelus' and 'Darla' kill 'Holtz' family, his wife, daughter and little baby. The reason I like 'Holtz' is because he isn't evil, he's just a bitter old man who wants to revenge on the vampires that murdered his family. I also like 'Sahjhan', he is quite witty and has fun dialog, too bad we only saw his human form once in this episode and never again, I liked it. An excellent episode all around except for a few unnecessary randomness. ANGEL: Darla? Darla, everything okay? DARLA: Yeah. Fine. WESLEY: You all right? DARLA: It's nothing! ANGEL: It's the kid, isn't it? Seeing him on the monitor. DARLA: No, I'm just disappointed that the vamp cult didn't kill all of you guys. (8.5 out of 10)

QUICKENING

The Good; Love Angel's pride at 'Our kid, special!", everything else just moves at SUCH a frantic pace

The Bad; Fred is introduced to Phantom Dennis but didn't they meet before in That Vision Thing? How non-corporeal is Sahjhan, it seems to vary?

Best line: Linwood; "We're going to give you a second chance" Psychic; (reading him) "No you're not, you're going to have me killed!" Linwood; (doing just that) "See, why couldn't you come up with insight like that earlier?"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? Killing the psychic with the plastic bag, euuuughhh!

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés Inverting the Hollywood cliché; Love the fact that the all powerful WR&H are once more betrayed by an underling, their security really does suck.

In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 12

Cordy's tatt; 9,

Cheap Angel; 7

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 11 Wes: 6 Gunn; 3 Lorne; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 11 Angel: 14 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 2

Kills: one vamp for Wes and one for Angel Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 28 vamps, 41 and 1/2 demons, 3 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 7 demons+2 vamp Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 8 vamps+ 6 demons.

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 2 Angel: 7

Characters killed: 45

Recurring characters killed; 7;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 5, Angel, Cordy, Wes, Gunn and Fred

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 11 Wes; 1

Packing heat; Wes; 4 Doyle; 1 Angel; 1 Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 3 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde

Kinky dinky: Angel; "I'd had a bad day" Darla; "So you pushed me onto the bed and took what you wanted?" Angel; "Seemed the thing to do" Never got THAT on Party of Five! Which is probably why Buffy/Angel are the most popular series for adult fanfic ever. Gavin is quite the voyeur. It seems that everyone knows about Marcus/Lilah on the desktop. Angel remarks to Darla that she likes pain. Linwood dumped his wife for a younger model (perhaps literally?).

Know the face, different character; 3

Parking garages; 5,

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

Questions and observations; The title is derived from the term when a pregnant mother feels her child move inside her for the first time (rather puts a different perspective on 'Highlander' huh?). How does Wes know so much about childbirth? WR&H lose audio for a crucial 2 days, Jasmine/PTB interference? Linwood is played by the same actor who was in 80s detective show 'Crazy like a fox'.

Marks out of 10; 8/10