Birthday (Angel)
| "Birthday" | |
|---|---|
| Angel episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Michael Grossman |
| Written by | Mere Smith |
| Production code | 3ADH11 |
| Original air date | January 14, 2002 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
|
"Birthday" is episode 11 of season 3 in the television show Angel. Written by Mere Smith and directed by Michael Grossman, it was originally broadcast on January 14, 2002 on the WB network. In "Birthday", Cordelia has a precognitive vision so painful that she goes into a coma. She is met by a demon guide who allows her to go back in time and choose a different path, so that she can avoid becoming afflicted with the visions that are killing her. Although in this alternate timeline Cordelia is a successful sitcom actress, she decides to accept the visions once again so that she can help people.
During Cordelia's 21st birthday celebration at the Hyperion Hotel, Cordelia experiences a vision so painful that she is rendered unconscious. Fred and Gunn find Cordelia's prescription pain pills and the results of a CAT scan that reveals severe brain damage - Cordelia is dying. When Cordelia wakes, no one can see or hear her and she concludes that she has been knocked into an astral state. A friendly demon called Skip (the one that used to guard Billy) introduces himself as her guide, and says the visions which Doyle gave her were never intended for a human and that they are killing her. She has two options: go back in time and choose a different path, or return to her body and die when the next vision strikes. Skip tells Cordelia that if she hadn't reconnected with Angel at the party where she first ran into him, she would have instead become a famous actress - and she can choose to have that life instead.
Skip brings Cordelia's astral body along; when she overhears Angel call her "weak", she is hurt and decides to go back in time to become a famous actress. She is instantly transported to a luxurious life where she is a celebrity, an Emmy winner, and star of her own television show. However, she is haunted by the name of the Hyperion Hotel, and heads over there after the show wraps. She makes her way up to the room she recognizes as Angel's, which triggers her memory of the vision that knocked her unconscious earlier - a young girl in danger. She goes to the girl's house, Cynthia, who confesses she was trying to use magic. A demon materializes, and they try to defend themselves, until a one-armed Wesley and Gunn burst in to kill the demon. When Cordelia explains what has happened, they take her to see Angel, who - in this timeline - inherited Doyle's visions instead of Cordelia, which appear to have driven Angel insane. In truth - it was because he didn't have Cordelia. However, depressed and saddened by her friend in such a horrific state, Cordelia takes the visions back.
...
Wikipedia