Skip is trapped in a shiny red circle of FX, which fades away because it'd get expensive pretty fast. He assures the MoG that he'll escape from it in time. Angel says they'll make things permanent. Angel has changed into a deep purple V-neck button-down shirt which I think I love. This sentence is here to prevent the last two words of the previous sentence from even appearing next to the first word of the next sentence. Fred advances and shows Skip a book while saying, "Sphere of the infinite agonies. I should be able to whip one up in, um, twenty minutes?" Angel says, "Everything you know, or she starts whippin'." Wesley suddenly swoons. Skip says, "I'm just a merc," and agrees to spill. Angel demands to know where "the real Cordelia" is. Oh, his shirt is collarless, too. I definitely love it. Skip says, "That thing that has turned your life into a burning ring of fire? She is the real Cordelia. Or at least, she's in there somewhere." Angel asks if something possessed Cordy on the higher plane. Skip asks, "How d'ya think she got there in the first place?" Wesley asks if the ascension was part of the Forced Evil's plan. Skip says, "No, Cordelia was chosen to become a higher being because she's such a pure, radiant saint. Puh-lease!"

Cordy's gone back to the chanting. She sits cross-legged on the floor in a circle of candles. Her outfit looks especially silly when she's sitting on the floor and has to pull it up so it's not tangled in her legs. I guess most outfits would look odd in that situation, though. Connor watches unhappily.

In the next room, the girl is in a corner, her hands bound. She opens her eyes suddenly, and sees Connor kneeling in front of her. He offers her water, and she instantly bursts into tears and begs to be let go. It doesn't take her any time at all to process what's happening; she just opens her eyes and starts crying. I mean, she's got reason, but, well, I'm petty. She wails, "My mom's gonna be so mad!" and I like the fact that her mention of a family seems to pain Connor. He apologizes to her, and then an echoey voice says, "Listen." Connor looks around suspiciously and asks if someone's there. The echoey voice is more clearly Darla's this time, and she says, "I've always been here. Close to your heart." Just to the left of the aorta. She continues, "After all --" and then materializes in a pale dress and white sweater. "Isn't that where a mother belongs?" She smiles us into the commercials. Parents always drop in right when you're doing something embarrassing, don't they?