Angel/Spin the Bottle

Spin the Bottle
Season 4, Episode 6
Airdate	November 10, 2002
Production Number	4ADH06
Written by	Joss Whedon
Directed by	Joss Whedon
← 4x05 Supersymmetry	4x07 → Apocalypse, Nowish
Angel — Season Four

Spin the Bottle is the sixth episode of the fourth season of Angel, and the seventy-second episode overall. The gang attempts to cast a spell that will return Cordelia's memory, but when something goes horribly wrong they all regress to their 17-year-old minds.

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Amy Acker (Winifred "Fred" Burkle), Vincent Kartheiser (Connor)

and Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Pryce)

Special Guest Star: Andy Hallett (Lorne)

Guest Starring: Vladimir Kulich (The Beast)

Co-Starring: Sven Holmberg (Delivery Guy), Kam Heskin (Lola)

Plot Overview

Lorne presents a foolproof means of restoring Cordelia’s memory. However, it goes awry, causing everyone’s memories to default to teen age. Confused, they scramble to figure out their situation.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• There is no monster of the week in this episode.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1	Vampire	Connor	Staked	Alley

Music

There is no licensed music in this episode.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Cordelia: Something occurred between Cordelia coming down from the higher reality and showing up in the hotel. All that is revealed in this episode is that it involves a red demon. By the end of the episode, Cordelia regains all of her memories.

• Wesley: As a young man, Wesley attended the Watchers Academy in order to train to become a Watcher for potential slayers. At the academy, he was "Head Boy," which is presumably a high ranking student.

• Fred: It has already been mentioned that Fred is from Texas. She mentions that she went to school in San Anton. As a teenager, Fred was very different from how she is as an adult. She was apparently a conspiracy theory spouting pothead in high school.

Referbacks

• 3x19 - The Price: Angel painted a pentagram on the floor as part of a ritual that would give Sahjhan a corporeal body so that he could force him to reopen the port to Quortoth. His plan eventually backfired when mystical slugs started to infest the hotel.

Gunn: Oh, good, symbols on the floor. That always goes well.

• 3x05 - Fredless: Gunn refers to something said by Fred when she was unsure of her place in Angel Investigations. She said that Wesley was the brains, Gunn was the muscle, Angel was the champion and Cordelia was the heart.

Gunn: So I guess I'm the muscle, huh?

• 3x16 - Sleep Tight: Wesley's throat was cut by Justine after he kidnapped Connor because of a prophecy that said Angel would kill his son. Although he was trying to protect them both, his friends turned their backs on him and Angel tried to kill him.

Wesley: I had my throat cut and all my friends abandoned me.

• BtVS - 3x16 - Doppelgangland: Buffy talked about an insanity test in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which asked the person taking the test if they ever hear voices or they ever wanted to be a florist. Willow responds that she always wanted to be a florist, but stops herself when she realizes that florist means crazy.

Fred: They ask you about politics and your bowel movements and if you want to be a florist.

• BtVS - 1x05 - Never Kill a Boy on the First Date: Cordelia uses the same term to describe Angel as she did in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when she first saw him.

Cordelia: Hello, salty goodness.

• Wesley tells the others of a test of people being locked in a house with a vampire. He mentions that it's been done in the past with Slayers, the same kind Buffy underwent on her 18th birthday in "Helpless".

Trivia

The Show

• This episode differs narratively in that it's being told by Lorne at an unspecified time in the future.

Behind the Scenes

• Ratings: On its first airing, this episode scored a 3.2/4 in the overnight Nielsen ratings.

• Cut Scene: In the original script, there was a longer description of the spell that was supposed to return Cordelia's memory. The scene, as follows, was cut for time:

Lorne: Now, we represent the six spheres of consciousness, the six gifts from the Lords of Shah-teyaman, the six walls of the house of truth. We're all one with Cordelia, we bring to this circle only trust and imagination. The bottle in the centre of the circle contains the liquid essence that has passed through the wraith and been gathered here...

Gunn: We're curing Cordy with a urine sample?

Cordelia: Okay, not drinking it.

Lorne: Hush, puppies. All we do is join hands and concentrate. On the bottle, on Cordy, on calling her back to the way she was.

Allusions and References

• Marie Antoinette: Marie Antoinette was the Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria during the late 1700s. Anger over a non-French woman having so much power over the destiny of France was a contributing factor to the French Revolution. During the revolution, Antoinette was one of the first to be beheaded by a guillotine.

Wesley: Thank you very much, Marie Antoinette.

• Slayer: Not to be confused with The Slayer, Slayer is a Californian thrash metal band that was founded in 1982. The band is popular among casual metal fans for the speed and intensity of their music. Among the albums released by the band are Reign in Blood, Seasons in the Abyss and God Hates Us All.

Fred: Slayer? The band?

Goofs

• Despite picking up immediately after the previous episode, Angel no longer has the cut on his face.

Quotes

• Cordelia: You have no idea how much this is killing me. I know my ABC's, my history. I know who's President and that I sort of wish I didn't. I know the name of every shoe store in the Beverly Center, but I don't... I don't even recognise the sound of my own name.

• Lorne: So I'm an idiot. What are you, perfect?

• Gunn: Oh good, symbols on the floor. That always goes well.

• Lorne: It's always nice to hear the mother tongue, as long as its not from my mother.

• Gunn: What happened to you, man?

Wesley: I had my throat cut and all my friends abandon me.

• Cordelia: (seeing Angel) Hello, salty goodness.

• Wesley: So who are you?

Gunn: I'm the guy that's gonna be kickin' a whole messa ass if somebody don't tell me what's goin' on.

Cordelia: Whadda they call you for short?

• Wesley: In fact, I happen to be head boy.

Cordelia: Gee, I wonder how you earned that nickname.

Wesley: A lot of effort I don't mind saying.

• Gunn: (introducing himself) Gunn.

Wesley: (ducking) Where?!

• Wesley: Where do you hail from, friend?

Angel: I'm not your friend, you English pig.

• Cordelia: Oh, God! Oh, God! My hair! My hair! (sobbing) The government gave me bad hair!

• Wesley: Perhaps the whole point of this experiment is hair!

Gunn: I vote he's not in charge.

• Lorne: Poor Connor. Engine revving and stuck in park.

• Fred: Have you got any weed?

• Wesley: All right. I'm going to let you all in on something you may have trouble comprehending. But I assure you that however--

Gunn: Vampires are real.

Wesley: I was telling!

• (about Wesley and Gunn fighting)

Cordelia: Are you going to get in there and stop them?

Angel: About time that the English got what's coming to him. I'm rooting for the slave.

• Lorne: I know I'm still unconscious during this part of the story, but can you believe these mooks?

• Fred: I sorta see his point. Not one of ya'll looks exactly seventeen. It's like time's been pushed forward, like we missed a bunch of years.

Cordelia: (looking down) Kind of have filled out even more.

Fred: (likewise) And... I apparently ain't gonna.

• Fred: I'm ready. I'm okay. It'd be cooler if we could score some weed, though.

• (returning from a commercial break)

Lorne: Well, those were some exciting products. Am I right? (applauds) Let's all think about buying some of those.

• Wesley: The cross obviously doesn't affect me, or our friend, the pugilist.

Gunn: Oh, your ass better pray I don't look that word up.

• Angel: You're stronger than the rest. Are you not a vampire yourself, then?

Connor: You don't remember?

Angel: I remember waking up here in this madhouse with that fine lot of hypocrites.

Connor: Hypocrites?

Angel: I'm supposed to be evil, but they attack me without cause. They gang up on me because I'm different. They're as bad as my father.

Connor: Fathers. Don't they suck?

Angel: Say on thing, then, "Be good. Fear God. Do as your told." And the whole while I know good and well he's done his share of sinning.

Connor: Sounds kinda like my father.

Angel: Is he a self-righteous bastard?

Connor: You'd be amazed.