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The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco Review by Nemo

Big Summary | Quoteable | 3 W's | Ficcable? | Rating

Big Summary (for anyone who wants to fic, but missed the episode):
Fade up on a security guard, who is checking out a strange, ajar door at his place of work. It turns out to be nothing more than the plumber, though, and the two of them exit. They head up, only to have the plumber get tossed across the room, and then a horribly, unseen assailant attacks and kills the security guard.

Cut to our strange, masked mail man, going desk to desk, collecting people’s outgoing mail. He is briefly stopped by Lorne, who asks him which card to send to an aging sexpot. He stares at the demon blankly as Fred walks up. He turns to Fred, stating that she’s a lot like a woman. She points out that that wasn’t a compliment. She also overheard the situation, and suggests flowers, and no mention of a birthday. Lorne is thrilled, and she reminds him that she is a lot like a woman.

The mail guy moves on.

Meanwhile, Gunn and Angel are filling out legal forms, and Gunn tells him that he’s just bankrupted a company that dumps demon waste in the bay, banish a clan of pyro-warlocks into a hell dimension, and set up a foster care program for children whose parents have been killed by vampires. Gunn is enthused, stating that, for the first time, he’s actually excited about coming to work each day. Angel’s less enthusiastic. Spike appears, and overhears Gunn admit that he’s finally got his superpowers. Spike caustically wonders if Gunn wants to switch powers.

Angel, on the other hand, feels disconnected. Spike is incredulous about Angel’s feeling. He says that if he wants to know about a disconnect, he should try on being a ghost. There’s nothing worse than that. Then, our masked mail guy, who I will now refer to as #5 (due to the number on his mask), walks in and Spike concedes that his fate is worse.

Gunn understands about Angel’s disconnected feeling. As much as he loves being the legal wonder, he does sometimes miss a little old-fashioned violence.

Luckily, that’s never hard to find, and Wesley hurries in with reports of people having been brutally killed with their hearts removed. He doesn’t think this is a serial killer, but probably a demon of some sort.

#5, meanwhile, has frozen momentarily, before he starts to beat a hasty retreat. Angel notices that he missed a package and hurries after him. However, when he grabs the man’s arm to stop him, #5 whirls around and sends Angel flying through the window of his office. From where he lies, Angel admits that he really hates working at Wolfram & Hart.

Everyone is in shock about the surprise attack, and it also seems that the rumors flying are none too flattering. Most paint Angel as the attacker (and Spike is more than willing to perpetuate that rumor), and both Fred and Lorne are more than a little shocked at Angel’s behavior, though Lorne promises that his P. R. people are putting a positive spin on it.

Gunn insists that they find him and fire him, and calls security to escort him off the premises.

Meanwhile, Angel’s rather insistent that they get back to Wes’ bodies, which confuses Fred, until it’s cleared up that Wes doesn’t actually possess them. Wesley continues his explanation, telling Angel that last night, when the murders were committed, was the Mexican Day of the Dead (which places this episode date-wise probably on November 2).

The boys are cruising, looking for this thing, and Gunn is wondering why exactly Spike decided to come along. Spike replies that since he can’t drink, smoke, or “diddle my willy”, there really isn’t much else to do besides watch them trip all over themselves. Wes, on the other hand, is a bit more concerned with why Spike got the front seat. Spike replies that he called shotgun, and Wesley says that he thought that was a weapons check, brandishing his shotgun for emphasis.

Suddenly, Angel whips the car around in a screeching halt and hops out. Spike sighs, saying that he always was a drama queen, and then the others pile out and follow.

Angel’s found a new victim with his smell for blood. Wes discovers that the man’s heart removed by a crude knife, and from his estimate, while it was still beating. They don’t get much time to discuss, however, because the demon that did it suddenly attacks. It’s a big, toothy thing with armor on its head and chest.

Angel attacks with a sword, while Wes, behind him, waits for a clear shot. Then, when the Demon flings Angel across the courtyard, he takes it, closing in and blasting at the demon’s armor repeatedly before the thing catches him and flings him through the air hard enough to do a full flip before landing, presumably unconscious.

Gunn tries his luck, and manages to bury his axe in the demons back. He gloats, and realizes his mistake when the demon turns and hurls him. Spike tries to help, but can’t concentrate enough to pick up a board to hit the demon with. He walks away, irritated, as Gunn tries to hold his own. Angel is there, however, and attacks, too. He is thrown down again, and when he looks up, the demon’s gone.

When they return to Wolfram & Hart, Gunn gives his axe to Fred to examine. He leaves, and Spike comes in, saying that he’s not really interested in the demon, so much as getting away from “General Grumpy-Pants”. Fred smiles and says that he gets like that sometimes. It’s not easy being a champion. Spike claims that he has no idea what that would be like. She points out that he saved the world and closed a Hellmouth. He admits that he honestly didn’t do anything. Just stood there and let the fire come. She also points out that he saved her life.

We finally see Wesley’s department (a nice, wood-paneled place, very old-world, very Wes, and, in my opinion, the coziest office). He’s working with his team to cross-reference the demon’s poker-sword with Aztec and Incan artifacts. He also is instructing the sketch artist about what the demon looked like, and generally keeping very busy.

He picks up one of the general index books we last saw in “Home” (the ones where you whisper the title of the book you want, and it just appears in the pages.) In this case, he’s looking for the Zhasha-Mayan Codex.” Angel walks in as he opens it, and Wesley fills him in on their search. Angel admits that it’s good, but still seems to be disconnect-boy. Wes picks up on this as Angel excuses himself.

Wes sits down and starts reading the book, then looks up slightly, commenting that he didn’t even know “you” could read Qoud’Itlan pictograms. Spike, behind him, admits that he can’t. He wonders if that’s the book that shows prophecies. Wesley says that it isn’t. It’s a source book, and each one connects to a different discipline in the Wolfram & Hart Archives. He points to a book on the table across the room, stating that that one has the prophecies. Spike goes to it, and asks if it has the Shanshu prophecy in it, the one where Angel gets to be a real boy. Wesley says that he could, but the prophecy is a bit more complicated than that.

Spike is interested, and Wesley describes that there is an apocalyptic battle, though the prophecy doesn’t go into detail. Spike states that it *was* specific about who would Shanshu. Wesley admits that it wasn’t, but that any vampire with a soul could apply. Spike wonders about one who closed a Hellmouth. Wesley says that it might work, if that vampire wasn’t a ghost.

Spike asserts that the prophecy is nonsense cooked up to get vampires to play nice. Wesley scoffs at that, saying that Spike would say that. Spike counter that it wasn’t him who said it. It was Angel

That gets Wesley’s attention. Spike goes on to say that Angel doesn’t believe in the Shanshu prophecy anymore.

Before he can respond, one of his team members tells him that she’s finished the sketch.

Wesley takes it to Angel, telling him that it’s an Aztec demon called Tetzcacoatl, but they don’t know much about it, because they’re missing some key pictographs. It’s also been to L. A. before, fifty years ago to the day. It rose in the same place, and it killed dozens before it was finally defeated by five brothers, who were basically the champions of their time. Unfortunately, in the battle, they were all killed but one. And, in fact, they know that one. That one goes by the name #5.

Angel goes to #5’s house to address the man, but is immediately thrown against a wall, and #5 accuses him of trying to get him to help with the demon before. Angel denies it, saying that he was only trying to give him some male. #5 seems a little embarrassed, but then Angel adds that *now* he’s come for his help, and throws #5 across the room. He tells #5 that he needs to know how he killed the demon the first time around. #5 tells him that he’s retired from that life, and the only thing it taught him is that it’s foolish to want to be a champion. Angel asks him if that’s what he thinks of his brothers. #5 smacks him and says that he should never disrespect the memory of his brothers. They were the greatest Mexican Wrestlers that ever lived, Los Hermanos Numeros, the Number Brothers. They all wore masks with their number on them, just like #5.

Flashback as the brothers take down opponents with style, grace, and a whole lot of fun choreography, all set to some very fun Hispanic Music. The mood of the flashbacks is almost comic-book like, with the teasing, playful heroes that are larger than life and wonders to behold. They fought in the ring and out with equal flair and teamwork. They were brothers of the truest nature. They were connected, fighting monsters and gangsters to protect the Mexicans. They never fought, never grew jealous of one another.

Those were the happiest days of #5’s life. They always wore their masks because they always had to be vigilant and ready for action. He asks Angel if he’d ever heard of their great victory over the Devil’s Robot, but Angel has to admit that he hasn’t. #5 laments that nobody remembers the good stuff.

What Angel is interested in, however, is the Aztec Demon. #5 asks him what he could say about the demon that killed those who mattered most to him. Angel tells him that he could start by telling him how he killed it back. #5, however, is not forthcoming. He tried to help people after they died, but eventually, people stopped calling. Then, a man came to him, offering him a job at a law firm called Wolfram & Hart. A man whose business card bore the name Holland Manners. Even though that company was everything his brothers despised, nothing mattered to him anymore, and he took the job.

Every year on the Dia de los Muertos, he sets up the altar for them, but they never come. He laments that he didn’t die with his brothers. Angel rails that they don’t come because he gave up and stopped caring. #5 takes Angel to their old wresting wring, where midgets and fat men now chase each other in a farce that #5 believes dishonors the memory of the heroes who have gone before.

Angel points out that they don’t fight to be remembered. They fight because they can, because they need to use their strength to help people. Even if there’s no reward, there’s still the work itself. However, after his rousing speech, he realizes that, somewhere during it, #5 left.

Back at Wolfram and Hart, Gunn and Wesley discuss the various grotesqueries of their culture versus Aztec culture as they research. Wesley’s worried about Angel, and Gunn admits that he said he was disconnected. Suddenly, Gunn finds the link between all the victims, a veteran who earned the bronze star, a woman who worked to help children involved in gangs, and a fireman who saved his crew.

They’re all heroes.

Angel follows #5 out into the street and arrives just in time to see him ride off in a bus. Then, at that moment, he is attached by the demon, which proceeds to skewer him to the hood of a car before pulling out his heart removal knife. However, the demon, which leans closer, suddenly stops, rips out his poker-sword, and then leaves a very confused Angel on the car.

When Wes and Gunn fill Angel in on their theory, he tries to debunk it by saying that the demon didn’t take his heart. Gunn protests that the demon eats hearts, and as far as the meat of things goes, Angel’s just a crusty hunk of heart-jerky.

Wes steers them back to the main topic: how to kill the demon. Gunn wonders if #5 told him anything before he took off, but all Angel can come up with is to ask Wes if he’d heard that the Devil built a robot. Wes seems stunned, and confirms it, much to Angel’s dismay at his lack of information.

Gunn’s going to go check on contracts, thinking that maybe the Aztec demon’s deal to come back each fifty years is some sort of mystical deal. If so, it’s more than likely that Wolfram & Hart have it on record.

That leaves Angel and Wes alone, and Wes admits that he doesn’t believe Gunn’s heart-jerky theory. He believes that the demon turned away from Angel because of his work. Not because he’s working for an evil firm, however, but because his heart’s no longer in it. He’s going through the motions, but he’s lost all sense of purpose when he stopped believing in the Shanshu prophecy.

Angel snorts and says that all prophecies are a bunch of bull. Wes can’t believe Angel would think that, and Angel caustically reminds him of “the father will kill the son”. Wesley looks deeply troubled and confused as Angel realizes what he just says. He quickly changes topics to more general distrust of prophecies, but Wes still looks troubled. Angel tries to convince him that, so long as he does his job, his belief in this or that prophecy doesn’t really matter.

Wesley strongly disagrees, insisting that the hope will be the only thing that will save Angel from #5’s fate.

However, before they can finish their conversation, Fred calls and tells them that she’s got something. Angel hurries out, but Wesley lingers, looking troubled and sad.

In the lab, Fred’s discovered that the demon eats the hearts of heroes, and their blood keeps it alive. However, it also does more than that. It supercharges the demon, giving it strength.

They’re not sure how to kill it, until Spike posits that they go for the heart. If it’s aiming for their hearts, get its heart first. It’s the poetry of it.

Gunn confirms this. He found its contract. The demon was one of the Aztec’s mystical warriors, who forged a mystical talisman that would allow it to harness the power of the sun. However, when it was killed the first time, and it made the deal to come back every fifty years, the talisman was taken and given to someone heroic and worthy to guard it. It’s been passed down through the generations of that family, and that’s what the demon seeks. If it finds it, they’ll all die. However, as Gunn describes the talisman, Angel remembers something he saw on #5’s alter. A small golden disc. #5 has the talisman.

And it’s up to Angel to find it first.

However, when he gets to #5’s home, the altar is gone.

There’s only one place, according to Mexican culture, that #5 would have taken it: the graveyard.

And he did. #5 is at the graveyard, and uses the talisman to summon the demon. Then, a few minutes later, he pours a cup of coffee as Angel walks up. Angel states that #5 wants the demon to kill him, but it won’t. It won’t kill either of them because they simply don’t care enough. #5 states that the talisman is gone, and that Angel is a very strange man. Angel tells him that he’s not the one in a mask standing in a graveyard in the middle of the night.

#5 tells him that he will be.

Then the demon comes and Angel begins pouring over #5, trying to find the talisman. #5 finally tells him that he swallowed it. If the demon wants the talisman, it’ll have to rip him open to get at it.

He throws Angel across the graveyard, and turns to the demon, goading it to attack. It complies, knocking him across the graveyard and it gets ready to stab him, but Angel intervenes, telling him that he won’t make it that easy for him.

Then, as Angel is knocked down, #5 springs back in, saving him, telling the demon that if it’s looking for heroes, it’s wasting its time. The demon replies by stabbing #5 through the gut. Angel screams and gets up, fighting as #5 staggers to the grave of his brothers, and falls against it, leaving a bloody handprint.

Angel’s knocked flat again, when, suddenly, the ground erupts. He scrambles away and sees four masked men rise. #5 stares in wonder. The men scream a war cry and grab some wrought-iron fence posts, then urge Angel to join the fight. With high-flying acrobatics, they team up on the demon, and Angel can only gawk as they proceed to use their posts to pin its hands and feet to the ground. Angel steps up and stabs it through the heart, watching as it dissolves.

Then, the four men walk over to their fallen brother, and they all help lift his lip form up, carrying him to the grave, all five finally fade away, leaving a speechless Angel with a realization that he has just witnessed true heroes.

He looks a little humbled.

Back at Wolfram & Hart, he gives Wes the talisman, and Wes, undeterred, asks him if he’s okay. Angel says that he’s fine. He got the job done, and that’s what matters. Wesley looks extremely sad about this, and Angel looks away, at the others in the room. He tells them all that it’s been a long day. He’ll see them in the morning.

Fred asks if #5 helped in the end, and Angel tells them that he died a hero.

Angel, meanwhile, sneaks off to Wesley’s office, picks up a book, and whispers to it, 'Shanshu Prophecy, English translation.' Then, he opens the book, sits down, and starts reading.

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Quotable Wesley: (and a few others):
Lorne: Don’t sweat it, Sweety-Pie; I have my flak catchers spinning this into P. R. gold. Once the word spreads that you beat up an innocent old man, the truly terrible with think twice before going toe to toe with our avenging angel.
Spike: Yeah, the geriatric community will be soiling their nappies when they hear that you’re on the case. Bravo.

(Re: #5’s penchant for throwing Angel across rooms)
Angel: Stop doing that!
#5: Perhaps I was not clear in our last conversation.
Angel: What conversation? You threw me through a window!
#5: I heard you speaking! You were going to drag me into your quest for the Aztec Demon!
Angel: No I wasn’t! I was going to give you some mail!
#5: (embarrassed) Oh.

#5: You must understand, we were more than muchaderos. No one cared about Mexicans or Chicanos. So we protected our own. The five of us were always joined, always connected, and when necessary we came together as a fist. We fought monsters and gangsters. We were heroes. We protected the weak, and helped the helpless.

Wesley: I had forgotten Aztec culture was so violent.
Gunn: Yeah, ‘cause our culture’s so at peace.
Wesley: All right, but, by and large we don’t *eat* our victims.

Angel: Am I honestly supposed to believe that it had no problem sticking a sword in my stomach, but then decided that, oh, wait, his heart’s not heroic enough! Ha. I don’t think so.
Wesley: I understand you’re feeling rejected, but this Aztec warrior . . . it wants the hearts for sustenance. It wants it for the meat, not the metaphor.
Angel: What are you saying?
Gunn: As far as meat goes, your heart’s a dried up hunk of gnarly-ass beef jerky.

(Possibly the most beautiful exchange between Angel and Wes this season)
Wesley: Angel, what Gunn said about your heart . . . the dried-up bit. I don’t think that’s the problem.
Angel: But you do see a problem?
Wesley: It’s the work.
Angel: Oh, yeah, eighteen hour days, the constant slaying of evil, and the being sheshkabobed to a Chevy.
Wesley: I didn’t say you aren’t working. I’m just saying your heart’s not in the work.
Angel: Well, yeah, I’ve been feeling a little bit . . .
Wesley: Disconnected, yes, I heard. But I think it’s more serious than that. You blame your melancholy on your new position, but I don’t think it’s about the type of work. I think it’s because you’ve lost hope that the work has meaning.
Angel: Of course it has meaning. We save people’s lives.
Wesley: I’m not talking about them, I’m talking about you. It’s lost meaning for *you*. Spike says you no longer believe in the Shanshu prophecy.
Angel: Of course not. Prophecies are nonsense. You know that. (Wes looks disturbed and confused) Oh, come on, Wes! After everything we’ve seen in the past couple years? (Wes is still lost) ‘The Father will kill the son.’ . . . (Now Wes is *very* troubled by what he’s hearing. He’s making connections. There’s something he’s missing that Angel thinks he should know. Something important.)
Wesley: What are you talking about?
Angel: (realizing what he just said) Look, we’re getting the work done. As long as I keep doing what I do, it doesn’t matter if I believe in the Shanshu, or any other prophecy.
Wesley: I’m sorry, Angel, but nothing matters more. Hope. It’s the only thing that will sustain you, that will keep you from ending up like #5.

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The 3 W’s:
Weapons:
Whoo! Wes has his shotgun back! Happy day, although, honestly, Wes. If the demon is wearing a breastplate of armor, but no face guard, once you shoot him once in the chest, and it doesn’t work, perhaps aim for that unguarded face? I mean, seriously, you’re the smart one. Armor, no armor, you decide. Still and all, it’s nice to see Wes with his baby, again. Warms the heart.

Angel’s still wielding a sword, his usual weapon of choice; Gunn got an axe, which is also standard. Nice job with it, too, but once again a not smart move was committed when he let go of it go gloat. Never let o of your weapon until you’re *sure* it’s dead!

A quick note, but our boys have definitely picked their own, unique weapons that they like to work with. I find that nice and realistic. People usually do specialize, weapons-wise, to fit their skills, and weapons can tell a lot about the person.

Angel, as aforementioned, likes swords. This is a nice, old fashioned weapon. Solid, but more importantly, heroic. Angel, even though it’s revealed he doesn’t feel this way, still wants to be regarded as the knight in shining armor, and the sword helps.

Gunn likes his axe, which really means he likes the heft. You can feel the damage you’re doing in an axe far better than you can with a sword. Swords slice, but there is a certain simplistic sort of hacking that goes on with an axe. Gunn wasn’t lying when he said that he missed mixing it up. It’s simpler, and always will be, and I think that there are moments when he misses that simplicity. The axe really is a symbol of that.

Then, there is our wonderful Wesley, and his love of guns. This shows a deep thought behind his actions. Guns are easily concealed, pack an enormous punch for little effort, and, more importantly, allow a certain distance. Wesley, for all his skill, is still not the team’s best hand-to-hand combatant, and he’s accepted that. He is, however, the team’s best shot, and he sticks with what he’s good at. He still seems to have a worry of getting his hands dirty, and, honestly, the gun might imply a certain remaining self-doubt. He doesn’t think he can aid the team in the thick of things. His place is on the periphery. It’s an interesting contrast to his badass persona.

Also, Angel and the four dead Number Brothers wielded wrought-iron fence-posts with great panache as our found-weapon of the week (have you noticed that there’s usually at least one in every episode) to first crucify, and then kill, the demon. Definitely not a bad job, boys.

Oh, and the demon also carries a sort of crude poker-sword thing, with his smaller, heart-removing knife. The poker-sword appears to be made out of obsidian, which is very appropriate, given the demon’s Aztec origins, and the smaller knife is made out of some gray rock, possibly slate or granite. Couldn’t honestly tell much more than stone.

Wear:
Jesus God! Hey, Mr. Pinstripe shirt! It’s nice to see you in something without any undertones of brown! Royal blue and white are a good start, though a little more boldness would be appreciated, even now. Still, the shirt was rather a hearkening to the old Wes, as was his attitude, though more on that in the next section . . .

Wesley:
Wow. And wow again. Can I just say that the scene between him and Angel where they discuss the Shanshu prophecy and Angel lets slip about 'the father will kill the son' was amazing?

First off, I *so* missed Concerned Wesley. The way he desperately tries to help Angel regain his hope was beautiful, and really a testament to Wesley’s care for his friend. He’s really the only person who sees that sort of thing in our dark revenger. He’s the only one who looks for it, and that’s saying something. That boy is doggedly loyal. His friends are his family, and as such, he’ll do anything for them, tell them anything they need to know in order that that they have a better existence. He’s the only one in the group that’s really willing to go toe to toe with Angel on important issues, and that’s incredibly important.

Then, there was the slip of Angel’s tongue about Connor’s prophecy. My jaw dropped when he said that, which only supports my theory that Wes will be the one to first regain his memory. Angel accidentally let slip and extremely important clue, and I doubt Wes will just let it slide. And, as much as I fear what might happen when Wes does remember, I really think it needs to happen. He and Angel need to bury the hatchet, and that won’t happen until Wesley remembers. If this was the first seed, let me say that the writers did a fabulous job. A wonderful, goosebumpily moment, without overstressing the statement any. If this unfolds slowly, it’s going to be a beauty to behold.

Wes, my boy, I somehow think you’re going to have one hell of a ride coming.

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So, is the episode ficcable?:
*Hell* yes!!! You have so many nuggets of gold, you should just start a mine and call it good! Wes now has the first seeds of his missing memories. Does he research them? Does he discover the truth? How does this affect his relationship with Angel? What changes between them? What remains the same? Will they become enemies again, or will it actually strengthen their friendship?

Wes showed obvious concern for Angel in this episode, which is also a key point. Why is it that Wesley’s the only one who sees the truth of Angel’s condition? How does he understand what he’s going through?

You decide, my fellow ficcers, then write away!

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Episode rating:
(“That’s an Angel? It looks like a lobster with some sort of . . . growth.)
5 lobsters out of 5

All right, I have to admit that I LOVED this episode! What an amazing tale of fallen heroes, and the final revelation of Angel’s present darkness was beautiful. The continuity was brilliant (mentioning the no-longer existent prophecy was beautiful and painful, and the business card that said Holland Manners was a stroke of genius!) I found myself with a sad smile and a sense of nostalgia throughout this entire episode, and that’s stupendous! The music was amazing, the man who played #5 was one of the best actors I’ve seem do a guest spot for them for a long time. He had such a sad, ragged dignity to him that he really made me believe that he had once been a hero, and now he really just didn’t know what he was.

And then, there was Wes. Good God, for the second week, they give him some fabulous material, and this time with Angel. He’s really starting to be that friend again that he always was. He’s the shoulder that Angel could lean on, but it seems obvious that the air is still not totally clear between them. The problem is, there will be no clearing so long as Wes can’t even remember what happened.

A truly beautiful episode, from beginning to end.

Next Week: Batten down the hatches, kids. Daddy’s home.
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