I've got you under my skin

Plot

Cordy’s making brownies from some secret recipe. Wesley and Cordy are arguing...for a change. In the midst of trying to break up the fight, Angel mistakenly calls Wesley “Doyle”. Across town, a mother and father are tucking their young children into bed. And padlocking the bedroom door of their son.

Cordy confronts Angel with the fact that since Doyle’s death, Angel never speaks his name. She tells him that he doesn’t need to be so stoic about losing him. Angel confesses that he misses him and he blames himself for Doyle’s death. Their discussion is interrupted by a vision. The vision leads Angel and Wesley to the house of that family, as a young boy is stepping out in front of an oncoming car. Angel saves Ryan and his grateful mother, Paige, invites him inside to tend to Angel’s wounded shoulder. The father, Seth, seems somewhat reserved and distant. Paige is effusive with her thanks and invites Angel over for dinner the next night. Wesley searches the perimeter of the house and finds a strange glowing green substance on the foundation. This substance is the excrement of a demon, indicating that someone in the house is possessed by an Ethros demon.

Cordelia researches the family and discovers they’ve moved at least 4 times in the past 3 years. And in every city there have been strange unexplainable circumstances. Disturbances; dead animals; a still missing friend of the family. Angel and Wesley decide that an exorcism is in order. Wesley works on getting in contact with a qualified priest and Angel heads to the family’s home, bearing brownies. These baked goods have a unique compound in them that will identify which human the demon is using as a host. Following dinner, everyone takes a brownie and has a bite of the not very good dessert. The daughter screams and everyone turns to look at Ryan, where the demon residing inside the little boy is now clearly visible.

Paige is angry with Angel but Seth seems willing to trust him, if it means that Ryan can get better. Angel brings Ryan and his parents back to his apartment for the exorcism. They place binding power around Ryan in a protective circle while Angel and Wesley go to find the priest. They go to his church and discover that the priest was killed 6 months ago exorcising another Ethros demon. The demon possessing Ryan keeps calling out for his mother and Paige wants desperately to go to him. Seth reminds her of what happened in Ohio where their friend, Uncle Frank, was killed in a fire. Seth clearly believes that his son was responsible for that death. When an Ethros demon is expelled, it jumps into another body but with such force that is usually kills its new host. Wesley decides that he will perform the exorcism. Angel doesn’t want him to take the risk but they are out of options and he reluctantly agrees to let Wesley perform the ritual. As the two return to the apartment, Paige is unable to take her son’s cries any longer. She enters the binding circle and all hell breaks loose. The bedroom door slams shut and seals itself. The elevator containing Angel and Wesley goes wiggy. And Ryan begins to choke his mother.

The others manage to pry the doors open. Wes pulls out a cross and starts reciting in Latin. The demon retreats deeper into the boy and releases Paige. Wesley recreates the binding circle. Cordelia does some research and discovers that there is a thing called an Ethros box. If you have one when the demon is forced out of the host, it will be drawn into, and can be trapped in, this special box. Angel sends Cordelia to a local Boogedy Boogedy Shop to pick one up as Wesley begins the exorcism. The demon plays upon Wesley’s emotions and memories, using the voice and words of Wesley’s own father against him. Wesley tries to continue but he is thrown by this attack. The demon tells Angel that Wesley plans to kill Angel. An angry Wes crosses the protective barrier and is thrown back against the wall, his cross embedding itself in his neck. Cordy can’t find a Ethros box at the store but the shopkeeper provides her with another box that he claims should probably work the same. The demon tries to use Doyle’s memory and Angel’s guilt over it against Angel. But Angel decides to put an end to it. He wraps his hand in a cloth and grabs a cross, performing the exorcism. The demon leaps out of Ryan’s body and blows straight through the demon box, escaping.

Angel and Wes figure that the demon has taken on corporeal form until it can recover from being expelled. He’ll need someplace damp with an abundance of salt. They track him to a sea cave. Wesley tries to raise the issue of what the demon said earlier. Angel reassures him. He knows Wesley doesn’t want him dead but he’s happy to know that Wes is willing to, if necessary. They find and confront the Ethros demon. The demon informs them that Ryan lacks a soul. Being inside of him was like being trapped inside a black void of nothing. He couldn’t even control the boy until Angel called the demon forth. The suicide attempt was his way of trying to escape “the blackest hell he’s ever known”. Angel and Wes race to the family’s home, where Ryan has locked his parents and sister in their room and set fire to the house. Paige and Seth manage to break down the door but the flames are too high and they can’t get to Stephanie. Angel bursts in through the window and rescues her as Wes herds the others outside.

Later, the firemen have put out the blaze. Kate is there, thanks to Angel’s phone call, to take him to Special Services. The tension is thick between Kate and Angel. Seth tells Angel that all this time he was covering for his son to keep his family together. Angel looks over to where Paige and Stephanie stand huddled together and reassures him that’s just what he did.