#3.11 Birthday

#3.11 Birthday Feb 5, 2009 17:29:12 GMT 1

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Post by Cynni on Feb 5, 2009 17:29:12 GMT 1

from http://www.cityofangel.com:

Episode 11, Season 3
Title: "Birthday"

Written by: Mere Smith
Directed by: Michael A. Grossman
Original Air date: 14 January 2002

Teaser:

An emotional Cordy is teary eyed and her hair is tousled carelessly as she delivers her award acceptance speech, �To all my fans, this is for you!� She waves the scrubbing brush in the air and Fred claps in awe. Gunn brings them back to the reality of cleaning up Angel�s exploding grenade marks and the grime left behind my Wolfram & Hart�s goons off the floor of the Hyperion. Angel comes downstairs with his baby and Cordy goes to the bathroom to wash her hands but once inside we see our vision girl is still taking pills to control her mando-big headaches. She steps out and the crew sings Happy Birthday holding up a cake brought just in time by Wesley. Cordy is happily surprised and blows out the candles. She holds Conner while the others bring her presents but she quickly returns the baby to daddy�s arms as a vision hits her of a girl in danger. She crashes into the glass weapons cabinet and falls on the floor unconscious.

A moment later she gets up, �I�ll be okay. I�m just . . .� but she turns and sees the crew occupied with a body lying on the floor that looks just like her, � . . . dead?�

Act I

Cordy�s body lies on the floor while everyone is frantic trying to help her. A few feet away, Cordy�s astral self is watching as they take her body to the couch. Cordy tries to talk to them, but no one can hear her - it�s all very a la Ghost with Patrick Swayze. Lorne comes downstairs but is unable to sense her, to our Vision Girl�s disappointment, but he makes it clear that her state is of the mystical. They discover a bottle of Seltrax, migraine medication but Angel refuses to take her to the hospital; instead, prefers to keep her in his room. Wes will research his books, while Gunn and Fred search Cordy�s apartment for clues as to what may have happened as Lorne takes the baby. Everyone goes on their task and astral-Cordy is left to herself. She hears whispers and decides to try and leave a message, but her astral body cannot hold onto anything solid, much less a pen.

At Cordy�s apartment, Dennis surprises Gunn and Fred with a party hat, confetti and birthday banner. They inform Dennis about the bad news and begin to search the apartment.

Back at the Hyperion, astral-Cordy joins Wes in his office as he researches Astral Projection in his books and realizes that she could be there but not able to communicate. She looks over his shoulder as he turns the page hoping for any kind of help.

At Cordy�s place, Fred and Gunn find nothing out of the ordinary. Fred has a clue as to what is going on and Gunn has a heart-to-heart with Dennis about Cordy�s serious condition. Dennis reveals what he�s been hiding beneath the bed: A box full of MRI and CAT scan results along with bottles and bottles of medication with year-old prescriptions.

In his bedroom, Angel is sitting by Cordy�s unconscious body, upset with her secret medical examinations and prescriptions. Lorne enters to try to contact Cordy by going into her mind, but Lorne cannot sense a thing. �Cordelia�s not in there.� This frightens astral-Cordy and brings out Angel�s determined side. He orders Lorne to contact the Powers That Be. Lorne leaves reluctantly and Angel returns to his seat beside Cordelia.

Later, Angel falls asleep while on his post and astral-Cordy jumps into his body as she read in Wes�s book. Angel, now with astral-Cordy inside, rises and grabs a pen by the lamp and writes on the wall, �171 Oak�. Suddenly she is forced out of his body and Angel falls on the floor just as Wesley walks in with bad news. The CAT scans he studied have revealed widespread neuro-electrical deterioration; meaning Cordy is dying. Angel takes a break, while Wesley stays as astral-Cordy realizes the danger she is in and becomes frightened when a shadow transforms into a creature before her eyes. She cowers in the corner as it speaks, �Hey! How�s it going?�

Act II

In Angel�s bedroom, the creature introduces himself as �Skip.� She mistakes him for death, but he claims, �He�s just a guy.� He explains that Cordy no longer belongs there anymore, now astral-Cordy is afraid and sighs heavily, �I don�t want to die!� Skip, a self-proclaimed guide offers, �Then don�t.� She takes his hand and they disappear from Angel�s bedroom.

In the main office, Fred explains the scans of Cordy�s cerebrum to Gunn and Angel. The latest scan should have Cordy in a vegetative state along time ago. Lorne, beaten and with a horn hanging by a thread, returns from his visit with the Powers That Be. He cannot speak about his tribulations and the info he retrieved because a spell cast upon him. Lorne instead gives Angel a note and as Angel peruses it, Lorne warns him about confronting the Conduits but Angel leaves with a determined look that we so often see on his face.

At an empty mall, astral-Cordy and Skip appear. He shows astral-Cordy the moment Doyle passed his gift to her and he reveals that it was a mistake for her to receive the visions. The Powers That Be aren�t exactly perfect at catching everything and Doyle�s emotions for her caused the visions to pass to her. Cordy�s had visions for two years, but Skip says, �Strong yes, demon no.� Humans are not meant to have visions. To prove his point, Skip introduces Tammy, a 17th Century girl that had visions and the last one blew her brains out, literally and astral-Cordy starts to think really hard about her situation and the choice she has to make.

Somewhere, not here, Angel falls into a darkened, stone pit lit with a fire in the center. He is met by voices that speak to him and around him. He demands to get his message to the Powers and refuses to leave. Why aren�t we surprised?

Back at the mall, Skip shows astral-Cordy the night she met Angel in Los Angeles and plays a different scenario that has our Cordy meet a powerful talent agent that night instead. Skip offers her the possibility of becoming a famous actress. Everyone knows their purpose in life deep inside, and for Cordy, being a great actress is it. The Powers won�t turn back time, �They don�t go for that, much,� but Skip explains to think of it as �writing over history.� As astral-Cordy thinks about her vision and the girl in need, Skip reminds her that with the next vision, she will die. Cordy is still hesitant because she knows Angel needs her. Skip takes her to Angel, where she hears him argue against the Conduits, �She doesn�t have what it takes to do this! She�s weak!� Cordy leaves upset, before she can see Angel�s fear for her death. Cordy takes Skip�s offer.

In a studio sound stage, an announcer calls out, �The gal with the million dollar smile!� Lights and cameras surround her as Cordy stands on the set of her highly acclaimed television show, Cordy! while the audience applauds and cheers. Cordelia beams with delight.

Act III

We are treated to the introduction of The Cordy! Show. Exiting her set for the day, Cordy goes behind the stage and signs a few autographs as her personal assistant Nev, joins her, catering to her every need on his cell phone to Josh, his lackey. She seems bothered and asks Nev, �Don�t you have that nagging feeling that you�re supposed to be somewhere else doing something?� She talks out loud about what she�s thinking and she comes up with the �Hyperion Hotel.� She immediately leaves to visit it.

At the Hyperion, the hotel has been renovated and it is a popular place. The Concierge is beside himself with celebrity awe and he personally takes Ms. Chase to the Luxury Suite, but Cordy prefers another room that strangely attracts her. She walks inside and a flash of Angel�s bedroom occurs for a second. Cordy is drawn to the wall where she peels back the wallpaper and finds the address, �171 Oak.� She leaves to follow the trail.

At 171 Oak, in Reseda, Cordy rings the doorbell. A girl answers and immediately recognizes our now famous vision-free girl. Cynthia introduces herself and praises Cordy�s show and the character, but she wonders why a Hollywood celebrity is in Reseda? Cordy inquires if there is anything amiss and Cynthia confesses that her father left several months ago and her mother is away in Ojai visiting friends. Cordy is about to leave, but Cynthia shows her a pentagram on the floor that is part of a Retrieval spell to bring back her father. Cynthia confesses she spilled diet coke on the spell book and had to improvise. Suddenly, a light flashes and a no-eyed, three mouthed creature appears.

Act IV

Cordy springs into action and attacks with a lamp, but Wes and Gunn enter through the door just in time to fight the creature. Wes attacks with a sword and does his best with his one arm. Gunn takes Cynthia outside and returns to help Wes slay the creature. Cordy recalls the last time she saw Wes, he was fainting in front of demons not slaying them. He wants to know why Cordy is in that specific house and she confesses that something �Sunnydale Weird� is going on with her. They leave the house and Gunn loads the demon in their truck as Cordy gives him the 411 on her hunt. Wes introduces Gunn, who never believed Wesley knew the famous actress let alone kiss her and she confesses the truth about the humiliating smooch. Wesly, it turns out, lost his arm to a Kungai demon a few years ago. Cordy also finds out that Angel is also in L.A.

They take Cordelia to Angel but Wesley tries to warn her about what has happened to the vampire with a soul. We find out that Angel retreated into himself when he lost his only friend Doyle and the pain has multiplied by the visions that have taken their toll. They enter a dark room, where Angel is barefoot and talking to himself. Restraints hanging from the ceiling are used when he gets violent. Cordy tries to reach out to him but Angel crawls into a corner, mumbling incoherently. Instinctively, she kisses him and the visions return to her. She rises and remembers what has happened as everything stands still and Skip appears as astral-Cordy realizes that the visions are her destiny not being a celebrity. Skip thinks she�s noble but the reality is that humans don�t have the strength for visions. Our astral-Cordy knows her mission in her life and it includes them. The only loophole is by becoming part demon � a painful process with unpredictable and numerous side effects. Her decision is an easy one, �So? Demonize me already!� Skip holds his hand over her head and she screams.

In Angel�s bedroom, Cordy screams out as she awakes from her catatonic state. Angel hugs her and the rest of the crew runs in as she checks to see if she has horns or a tail and jumps out of bed glad to be solid again. The crew stares at Cordy�s miraculous recovery. A pain-free vision comes to her and she simply talks it out: A young man in Glendale is being attacked by a five-horned evil. The crew stands around her, surprised and stunned. Angel calls her name but Cordy is floating a few feet above the floor, �What?� Don�t look down Cordy!

Once more,with feeling & friends

Post by Gin on Feb 4, 2009 22:58:40 GMT 1

Post by Cynni on Feb 5, 2009 17:29:12 GMT 1

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