Spoiler Slayer

As expected from the casting information released yesterday, further info has now become available. The big news, a familiar face from Sunnydale is in this episode. Titled 'Damage', you can get the scoop below.

Angel: Damage

The episode opens at a mental institution. A doctor (Dr. Rabinaw) and the head nurse (Carol) are chatting when a nurse rushes up to them, because a patient is not reacting well to their medication. There was a mix-up, and the patient was given the wrong sedative. Dr. Rabinaw is horrified when he discovers exactly who wasn't sedated. We discover why, as the heavily-reinforced door that contains this patient begins to take a beating from the occupant inside.

Rabinaw and some orderlies move to the door to the cell. Rabinaw is not worried, as the door can certainly handle this patient. Until it flies off the hinges and across the corridor. Inside, we see the patient. A young woman. A very tiny, slim and 'not the type to burst through metal doors' woman. To further disprove this assumption, the young woman (Dana), quickly disables the orderlies and escapes.

Angel and Spike arrive at the aslyum, thanks to an anonymous phone call.

Note: Spike makes reference to Angel maybe needing to check himself in, due to some mind-twisting parasite that Spike saved him from. I would guess that this is what induces the hallucinations/dreams in the previous episode.

They ask for more information from Rabinaw, who explains that Dana's family had been killed when she was only 10, and she was abducted and found wandering the streets months later. As Angel and Spike examine her room, which is covered with crayon drawings of a girl being accosted by demons, Rabinaw explains that up until a few months ago, she had pretty much catatonic. Then suddenly she came out of it, in a clearly agitated and schizophrenic state. She also seemed to be incredibly strong. Spike quickly takes a page from the 'Tru Davies book of Wrong Conclusions', and deduces that she must have been possessed by a demon. He heads out to find her, while Angel ponders the drawings further.

Meanwhile, Dana has wandered into a nearby store, hugging a bone-saw to her chest. While eagerly devouring snacky goodness from the shelves, a stock boy confronts her with the old 'you eat it, you buy it' routine. Which turns out to be a bad idea, as she breaks his arm without hesitation and heads off to get some clothes in another aisle. Where a armed security guard confronts her.

Back at the institution, Angel is approached by Carol (the nurse). He realizes that Carol was the one who called. Turns out that she's heard about a few openings at the firm, and figures this could give her an 'in'. She takes Angel to a room where Rabinaw has been taping sessions with Dana. One of the tapes features Dana in restraints speaking in multiple tongues (just like your standard victim of demonic possession), which seems fine until she says something in a language that Angel understands.

Back at the store, Spike walks by as the security guard's body is wheeled out under a bloody sheet. He smells some blood on the pavement, realizes that it's Dana's, and starts tracking her.

Missing a bit of the action here, but at some point Spike gets into a tussle with Dana. Dana is more than able to go head to head with Spike (have you figured it out yet?), and gets away. She is discovered at the docks by one of the workers, who goes over to her to see if she's alright (his first, and final, mistake). Meanwhile at Wolfram and Hart, Wesley and Angel have figured out that Dana has been dreaming about Slayers.

At the docks, Spike stumbles upon Andrew, who stumbles himself on the remains of the dockworker. (yes, that Andrew. I think he shows up at the end of the previous episode, as Spike tells him to go back to the offices and isn't surprised that he's in town).

While this is going on, Angel and Lorne have gone with a Wolfram and Hart psychic (Vernon), to the house where Dana used to live. We discover what happened when Dana was 10, as her family was targeted and killed by a mysterious 'humming man', who abducted Dana and tortured her until she escaped. Vernon realizes that she's trying to return to the basement where she was imprisoned for so long

Which is where Spike finds her. It's unclear if he's figured out what Dana is (A Slayer), as she rambles on like the mad-woman she is. Spike tries to talk to her, since he has some experience with half-insane women, but she manages to get the drop on him and uses some medication she found in the basement to render him unconscious (the same thing that used to be done to her by the 'humming man'). Spike, mercifully, blacks out.

Warning: If you are eating, or thought that nothing could be worse than last season's 'Kick-The-Spike' on Buffy, stop reading now

Final scenes in the episode are a Wolfram and Hart strike team rushing the basement and Wesley tranquilizing Dana. Angel and the others discover Spike chained to a radiator, sans hands. As Spike is rushed out to a waiting ambulance, Fred is communicating with the medical team back at the firm. Another employee comes out with a cooler containing Spike's hands. That's all I have for now

I have a feeling, based on all the info on hand at the moment, that this could be the first episode of February sweeps. Either that, or it's going to be the one right before that. I'm also rethinking who may be appearing in the episode that follows this one, the 100th episode of the series. Rather than it being Cordelia who returns, the appearance of Andrew and the Slayer-storyline makes me think that a hefty chunk of the Scooby gang may be on hand for the following episode. It's still what I would consider a longshot, but the tone of the episode indicates that there may be continuing storyline here.

Whether or not that means Buffy is going to show up, that's another question entirely. I just don't see how this storyline could possibly roll into the return of Cordelia. Unless, through a bizarre twist, we discover that Cordelia was a Potential as well.

(Big Thanks to 'T' for the info)