aired on: February 29, 2000

written by: Howard Gordon

directed by: Nick Marck

A man named Darren McNamara appears at the office, looking for Angel. His brother, Jack, was kidnapped last night. He found a finger in his mailbox this morning. Darren explains that Jack has a gambling problem, and asked him for help. When he arrived, creatures were dragging Jack away. While Darren writes down everything he saw, Angel goes to chat with Jack's bookie. The bookie suggests a place Angel might look. There, Angel finds two howler demons. Using force, Angel gets answers - Jack has been sold.

Angel's next stop is a private club, where spectators are cheering, and wagering on, a demon steel cage match. When Angel spots Jack in the crowd, he follows him toward a back room. When he finds Jack, he also finds that he's been set up - Jack and Dennis are waiting for him. Angel resists, but is subdued with electric shocks. Jack and Dennis are going to put Angel in the steel cage.

When he finally comes to, Angel finds himself locked in a cell. He's one of many prisoners, mostly demons, who will be used for sport. They've all been fitted with steel bracelets that will cause them to be disintegrated if they try to escape. The only way they can earn their freedom is to make 21 kills in the steel cage. Back at the office, Wesley and Cordelia start to worry about Angel. Wesley decides to follow in Angel's footsteps and go see the bookie. When Wesley arrives, the bookie is roughing somebody up, and laughs when Wesley asks for information. But Wesley knows how to play rough, too.

Back at the gambling club, the slaves on that night's fight card are warming up. Angel's being sent out for his first fight, and one of the other slaves tries to give him some pointers. But Angel says he won't kill anyone. In the ring, he doesn't really fight - he just defends himself. The crowd boos. Soon, that crowd includes Wesley and Cordelia, who, posing as detectives, duped two fightgoers out of their tickets. Once inside, they spot Darren, and then they spot Angel, fighting in the cage.

When Darren provides a knife for Angel's opponent, Angel can play pacifist no longer. Cut on the arm by the demon, Angel turns vampire, and makes the kill for the victory.

Back in the slave quarters after his fight, Angel tries to persuade his fellow prisoners not to fight. "We can fight them, but only if we stop fighting each other," he says. "I'm giving you another way out." But the slaves ignore him. Outside the club, Wesley and Cordelia discuss strategy. They can't call the police; the McNamaras would just destroy the evidence, and kill Angel. They need to get Angel out of his cuffs. Wesley thinks he might be able to make a key, if only he could get his hands on one of them. Conveniently, Cordelia has sticky fingers. Later, in slave quarters, Jack comes by to insult the demons. But Angel's not taking it - he reaches across the line and grabs Jack, pulling him over to the slave side and putting him in a headlock. But none of the other prisoners moves to help. Guards summon Darren, and Angel tries to negotiate for freedom. But Jack's life isn't that valuable to Darren - he shoots Jack through the heart, killing him. Two guards jump over and subdue Angel with electric shockers.

When Angel awakes, he's not in a cell, but in the office of Lilah Morgan, fight fan and Wolfram & Hart associate. She convinced McNamara to sell Angel's contract to the partners. He's free - as long as he pretends nothing happened. Lilah proposes they work together, but Angel's not interested, so he's taken back to the club, where he's scheduled to fight Trepkos, a demon going for his 21st kill.

As Angel and Trepkos fight, Wesley and Cordelia, who've made a key to the cuffs, sneak into the arena. Wesley tries to get one of the demons to help him, but the demon instead steals the key.

Angel gets the upper hand in the fight, with the tip of a spear at Trepkos' throat. But Angel can't kill him. He lets him up. But Trepkos, one kill away from freedom, goes after Angel, battering him. Then, as Trepkos readies to deliver a fatal blow, he holds back, sparing Angel. The crowd goes silent, and Darren orders the guards to kill them both. But the demon that stole Wesley's key has freed himself - and the other demons. Before the guards kill anyone, the demons burst into the ring, killing the guards and freeing Angel and Trepkos from their cuffs. The final kill is Dennis, who's fitted with a bracelet, tossed from the ring, and turned to a pile of dust.