provider

"Provider" is episode 12 of season 3 in the television show Angel.

Plot synopsis

Summary

Angel and co. build the Angel Investigations website and distribute fliers all over LA. On some days, they have more customers than they know what to do with. Three of them are of a rare species who come asking to hire Fred's intelligence to resolve a puzzle, and they bring 50,000 dollars to pay. She accepts and goes to their place with Lorne.

After a while, Lorne finds out that the leader of the demon species is dying and their purpose is to behead Fred and sew her intelligent and worthy head onto the shoulders of the leader. Fortunately, Cordelia discovers it and calls Gunn, Wesley and Angel, who get there in time to save her.

Expanded overview

Angel works on the beginnings of a college fund for Connor while his coworkers spread the word about Angel Investigations through a new website and fliers. Cordelia kindly reminds Angel that he needs to keep his mind focused on the right mission and not be so concerned with money that he forgets that. Elsewhere, a young man runs away from a demon and stumbles onto a flyer for Angel Investigations. While the gang wait impatiently for the phone to ring, the young man calls the number on the flier and reaches a pizza place.

Wesley returns to the hotel the next day with corrected flyers, apologizing for the mistake. As Wesley and Gunn watch Fred hold Connor, Angel talks to Lorne about searching for Holtz. Suddenly, the phones start to ring and the website racks up hits. Justine talks with Holtz about her taking orders from him and her abilities to work for him while her hand remains pinned to a table by a sharp object.

The office quickly fills with prospective clients and the gang spread out to deal with each one. Lorne talks with demons as best he can in their native languages, trying to translate the problems to Angel and crew. A group of Nahdrah demons seek the help of the smart leader, Wesley. Angel eagerly takes a case from the phone once he determines that the caller has money.

Meanwhile, Gunn talks with a young woman about her dead ex-boyfriend, Brian, who is stalking her. Fred makes a mathematical observation about the Nahdrah demons' tunics, but the demons rush off quickly. Angel meets with a man, Harlan Elster, at an office building about a case, which involves destroying a nest of vampires. These vampires though have more interest in money than blood. Harlan offers Angel five thousand dollars before and after destroying the nest and Angel accepts. As Angel leaves, another man—the real Mr. Elster—enters the office and is promptly knocked out by the impostor.

Holtz returns to find Justine still pinned to the table, having made the decision to stay with him. He pulls the object out of her hand and directs her to find more humans with the same mindset as hers. Back at the hotel, Angel shows off the check he got in advance. Cordelia mentions how she doesn't like the idea of running so many cases at once, but Angel's more concerned with the money it'll bring in. Lorne returns to the hotel, incredibly drunk from special firewater. Along with deadly breath, he offers Angel some new info about Holtz and his plans of a human army.

The Nahdrah demons return to the hotel and ask for Fred to translate a puzzle for a gift to their prince. Angel immediately accepts their offering of fifty thousand dollars in return for Fred's services and Lorne's translating. Wesley and Gunn secure Allie's home while their egos battle for supremacy and control of the conversation with Allie about why her dead boyfriend would be after her. Her ex-boyfriend starts to break through the door and it's concluded that her ex is a zombie. Lorne and Fred are escorted to a barge where the Nahdrah reside and where Fred is shown the puzzle that needs solving.

Angel arrives at the vampire nest and fights with one of the vampires before staking it then taking on two others. He returns to the office building in search of Mr. Elster, but finds the real one and learns the truth about Sam Ryan who conned Angel in the first place. Sam became obsessed with the vampire nest and was fired when it became too much for his boss. While searching for a restroom, Lorne finds a curtained area where the Nahdrah prince is being kept barely alive. A computer displays plans to place Fred's head on top of the prince's body. Before he can sneak away and warn Fred, Lorne's knocked out by one of the demons.

Cordelia attempts to levitate again for Connor, but can't manage it. Instead, she tells him the history of her visions and his father while she changes his diaper. Sam Ryan searches around the vampire lair for a watch. Angel catches him and takes the watch, suggesting that he keep it in payment. The man explains that the watch belonged to his friend who was killed by the vampires of that nest. Sam apologies for lying to Angel about it, but he figured it was the only way to kill the vampires that took his best friend away from him. Angel still wants payment in return and finds out that he didn't even complete the job—there are still four more vampires left.

Cordelia gets a vision of Fred in trouble and with the rest of the team unreachable, she is forced to take Connor with her as they go to rescue Fred from potential death. The zombie Brian gets into the house through a skylight and is beaten up by Wesley and Gunn. The guys hide with the woman in the bedroom as Brian tries to break in and talk with Allie, but finally gives up and "pouts" in the other room. Finally, Allie talks with him and Brian accuses Allie of poisoning him. Shocking to Wesley and Gunn, Brian offers to forgive her for killing him if she'll just get back together with him. It takes a little convincing, but she agrees to reunite.

Angel refuses to kill the four remaining vampires until something is worked out for payment. Fred completes the pyramid puzzle and is promptly taken back to the room where the dying prince is kept and Lorne is tied up on the floor. Fred's tied to a chair as Lorne explains the intentions of the Nahdrah demons—to take her head. Cordelia shows up in time to try and talk about exchanging the money for Fred, but the offer isn't taken well. Lorne thinks that Angel, Wesley and Gunn are around and threatens the Nahdrah, but Cordelia informs him that there is no back-up.

Angel finally tries to sneak the man out of the vampire hideout before the vampires attack. Sam refuses to leave which forces Angel to stake the attacking vampires, but he doesn't do it without complaining a little about the bills that he has to pay. Cordelia attempts to kick one of the demons between the legs, but only hurts her foot in the process. Wesley and Gunn show up just in time to take out a couple of the demons and behead the prince before Fred can be harmed. It only angers the remaining demons, but fortunately, Angel literally drops in to finish off the rest.

Fred comments about kissing Wesley and Gunn in return for saving her and the two lean in eagerly for the kiss, but Lorne interrupts with his desire to be untied. With Connor in his arms and his mind on the open case of fifty thousand dollars across the room, Angel admits to taking things too far with his money obsession, but is relieved when his friends agree that they earned the money from the Nahdrah demons. Later, Angel and Cordelia lie on a bed with Connor between them, enjoying a bottle. Cordelia thinks the money should go towards Connor's college fund, bills, and a boat, but Angel doesn't agree. He does like the idea of a ski condo, though.

Cast

Main

• David Boreanaz as Angel
• Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
• Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
• J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
• Amy Acker as Winifred Burkle

Guest stars

• Andy Hallett as Lorne
• Laurel Holloman as Justine Cooper
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Sam Ryan
• Eric Bruscotter as Brian
• Sunny Maybrey as Allison
• Tony Pasqualini as Harlan Elster
• Keith Szarabajka as Daniel Holtz

Co-stars

• Alan Henry Brown as Lead Nahdrah
• David Ramirez as Pizza Chef
• Brett Wagner as Nahdrah Prince
• Benjamin Benitez as Tat Vamp #2

Translations

• French title: "Soutien de famille" ("Family support")
• German title: "Rätselraten" ("Guessing game")
• Italian title: "Il fornitore" ("The provider")

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Angel#Provider

• "Provider" at the Internet Movie Database