Angel

In the teaser, we see two lawyers walking out of the building, the receptionist is getting ready to leave. It’s obviously after hours. Then we see Fred headed back up to the lab, leafing through papers. Creepy music. She says goodnight to a co-worker, then goes over to some lab tables, where artifacts (including Spike’s amulet) are, and then BAM— there’s Spike. She lets out an unconvincing scream and drops her papers. That isn’t the end of the teaser, but it’s all we’ve got!

Anyway. Apparently all of these spooks are haunting W&H. Spike is actually sharing a light moment with Angel when he sees one of them. Starts freaking out. They scan the building for spirits, but none show up on the radar except for Spike. Spike turns to Fred, is desperately trying to tell her to check again. Suddenly she can’t hear him at all, and he vibrates and fizzles out.

They recruit Claire, the college student chick who is all condescending (apparently that’s "hip" these days). She has them all sit in a circle (Eve is there, too), and recites a chant. Spike appears beside her, and she says she senses a presence, to which he retorts, "Damn right you do!" And then she talks about how it’s a dark soul. He thinks she’s talking about him until all of a sudden a shadowy thing comes flying in. Next thing you know, Claire is choking, grabbing her throat as her nose starts to bleed. It finally stops. Fred leans in, asks her if she’s all right. Claire responds by spewing blood all over her. Pan up over the table as the blood slowly spreads, everyone in a state of shock.

It seems that all of the evil spirits are taunting Spike. Somehow they strip him naked, and it describes him as very alone and vulnerable. They call him William the Bloody, call him a little nancy boy, and then BAM! He’s wearing a dress. Then he’s naked again The ghosts are all there, whispering around him.

One of the spirits, Palayne, is really coming after him. He catches Spike offguard because he’s able to hurt him— he uses cutlery and slices him up a bit. Somehow Pavayne is able to "bend reality to his will," which is why no one else can see Spike anymore. Also— I thought it’d be worth mentioning that Palayne calls Spike a "vampire soul." I don’t know if it means anything, but could possibly have just upped the chances of him becoming a soulled vamp again when/if he is returned to a physical state.

Spike tries to communicate with Fred while she’s in the shower. Is surprised that he’s able to touch the foggy mirror, with much concentration, and write a word. Fred comes up and sees it, it says REAPER, but then the mirror shatters.

Fred is working on a machine combobulator thing that’ll make Spike have a body again. Her research is very intense, she’s described as being in a pretty much post-Pylean state-scribbling like mad, using up entire whiteboards. Finally figures out how to save him. But of course, plans go awry, and he has to make a decision— save Fred, or jump into the thing in time to become corporeal. The spirit killing Fred thinks Spike won’t save her, but lo and behold, he saves her and gives up his chance at corporeality!

In the end, Pavayne is almost about to kill Fred, but Spike stops him and inadvertently shoves him into the room where the corporeal thing takes effect. They can’t kill him because then the spirit will still haunt the place.

The scene with Spike and Fred after the whole thing. Sounds to me like she says something along the lines that he’s proved himself, and he says, "I’m a handsome devil that brightens the place up?" And she says, in a soft voice, "That you’re worth saving." They look at each other for a moment, and he’s touched by that. Then he says that being a ghost isn’t so bad, leans down and (with some effort) picks up her coffee mug, and she laughs delightedly.

Angel has Palayne locked up and strapped down with electric things, I think, and so he’ll be unable to go anywhere for the rest of eternity. Angel tells him he at least has a windows, and says, "Welcome to hell." And as they close the metal door, the episode ends.

From Spoilerslayer.com :

Angel: Hell Bound

The episode has a Halloween-theme, with what seems to be several spirits trapped at Wolfram and Hart coming out to play. Their interest seems to be mainly in Spike, who himself is obviously a spirit in the material world.

The episode opens with night falling on Wolfram and Hart, where a few associates grumble about ’Mr. Good Fang’ and Fred heads to her lab. It appears that she’s investigating the amulet. The next bit is Spike in the offices, hearing a woman crying somewhere. He finds the spirit of a young woman from the turn of the century (err, not Y2K). She asks Spike to hold her because something is coming and then passes through him and vanished.

There is another scene, where Angel confesses that he liked Spike’s poetry. In this scene, Spike is being haunted by the spirit of a hanged man. But, much like Angel’s visions in ’Amends’, Spike is the only one who can see him.

Later, the ’Fang Gang’ has gathered in a conference room confused because the can’t find any ghosts (except for Spike). While they are discussing this, Spike is being taunted by the spirit of an armless woman. She tells Spike that "it’s" coming for him. Spike begs Fred to help him, as he vanishes once again.

Spike ends up, where else, in the basement (even he’s not surprised). He’s followed one spirit, only to discover another. It’s a young woman with a shard of glass through one eye. She tells him that the Reaper’s going to come for him. That takes the glass shard out and slashes him across the cheek with it. It actually cuts him.

We then turn to Fred’s lab, where she’s furiously researching. Spike is there, but Fred can’t see him. Spike must do something that Fred recognizes, because later Angel is insisting that Spike is gone. The mystics at Wolfram and Hart also can no longer detect him. Fred disagrees, stating that she knows what she felt, and she’s trying to find a way to contact him before he’s gone for good.

Cut to an office later that night. Eve has brought in a psychic, Claire, who’s going to conduct a seance. Spike is in the room, at while at first it seems she’s made contact with him, she’s actually discovered something much worse. What’s behind Spike’s torment, the Reaper. It possesses Claire and ends up killing her. There is some brief consideration that Spike might have been behind that, but it’s quickly dismissed.

Fred heads off to take a shower (her outfit fell victim to Claire’s bloody demise). Spike appears in the bathroom and is able to concentrate enough to write the word ’Reaper’ into the steam on mirror. (and I’m going to be honest, it really does appear that they are looking to pair up Spike and Fred). As Fred notices it, the mirror cracks and a shadowy form rushes at Spike and pushes him through the wall.

Spike appears in the lobby, He sees a lawyer, but it turns out to be another spirit. Spike begins to undergo attacks ala ’Hellraiser’. Nails, Stakes, lots of pain. As it reaches a climax, Spike’s tormenter appears. It’s a creature that calls itself Pavayne.

Elsewhere, the ’Fang Gang’ seems to have a handle on what’s going on. Something exists in Wolfram and Hart that feeds on spirits. That’s why they couldn’t detect any spirits other than Spike, and Wolfram and Hart should be overflowing with spirits of the dead. Essentially, Pavayne is the cleanup crew for the building. He cleans up the loose spirits, sending them to hell. There is an extensive scene with Pavayne showing that he can distort reality, with the various spirits (illusions of Pavayne) taunting and tormenting Spike, and Spike coming to a realization of what Pavayne is and what lies ahead for himself.

Fred is driving herself to the edge with her research, making the others wonder if she’s gone Pylea-mad again. She hasn’t, but she’s determined to do whatever it takes to save Spike. Not only that, but she’s managed to figure out a way to make him corporeal. In the meantime, Spike has begun to understand a bit of Pavayne’s power. He’s not just a janitor, he’s a spirit himself, who figured out a way to stay out of Hell. As Spike and Pavayne spar, Fred activates the device that will bring Spike back. Unfortunately, Spike has momentarily left the room and Pavayne goes after Fred.

As Pavayne strangles Fred, Spike reappears. He has a difficult decision to make, he can either save Fred, or he can become flesh again. He pushes Pavayne away from Fred, and into the area of effect for the machine. Which explodes as Pavayne becomes flesh and blood, and the ’Fang Gang’ steps in to clean up. Spike warns Angel not to kill him, as it will only make Pavayne a spirit again.

As the show wraps, Fred and Spike are talking in her lab as she disposes of the remains of her gadget. Spike’s acting as if it’s all right that he’s still a ghost, learned a few things, like how to pick things up with some effort. Fred makes a comment that he’s worth saving (and I don’t think there is any denying that they are playing up Spike/Fred).

The episode ends on a very dark note, as we discover that Angel has caged Pavayne in much the same way Connor caged him. Locked away in the basement, Pavayne will spend eternity in a metal box, unable to do anything but look out through a small peephole. Fade to black