Written by Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Vern Gillum, it was originally broadcast on November 17, 2002 on the WB network.
As the Beast rises from the bowels of the Earth to bring a rain of fire over the city, Cordelia and Connor make love.
Cordelia tells Angel that she still loves him, but that during her time as a higher power she saw and felt all the carnage he formerly wrought as Angelus.
Suddenly, Cordelia starts breathing hard and her eyes turn white as she warns Angel that "he's coming."
Angel goes to Wolfram & Hart to demand that Lilah return the information the law firm sucked out of Lorne's head about the impending apocalypse.
Meanwhile, unable to locate Fred, Gunn is restless and tries to leave to find her, but Wesley appears and interrupts his departure.
Aware of all the strange occurrences around town, he offers to work with them to deal with this problem, but Gunn's too angry with Wesley to even consider the idea.
Executive producer Jeffrey Jackson Bell employed the effects shop Almost Human to design Vladimir Kulich's costuming and make-up.
Almost Human makeup designer Chris Burdett says it took 2–3 days for four people to sculpt the costume and another 7 hours to fill and shape the huge fiberglass mold; a life cast was made of Kulich so that the suit would fit him exactly.
[2] Kulich went through an eight-hour make-up process to transform him into the character of the Beast, including prosthetics and fiberglass body suit, but "The worst part was the contact lenses...[that] cover the entire eyeball," the actor said.
When fans speculated why Cordelia would sleep with Angel's son, DeKnight cautions, "There is a bigger reason for it that will become apparent as well... You have to remember it's a long story arc.