Lindsey McDonald
Encyclopedia
Lindsey McDonald is a fictional character
from the television series Angel
. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last episodes of Angel. Lindsey is portrayed by Christian Kane
.
While primarily an antagonist, Lindsey is shown to be a morally ambiguous character. Serving as both an enemy and ally to the Angel Investigations
team, he occasionally allied himself with them to stop some of Wolfram & Hart
's particularly heinous agendas. There were moments where he could have genuinely switched sides, and others where he displayed camaraderie, affection, and, in later episodes, admiration for Angel despite their history. Kane has described the character as being driven by cynicism and ambition: "I still think this cat looks at the glass as being half empty. And so, damn it, I’m going to drink the rest of that water."
in the south-central United States, Lindsey worked hard to overcome his upbringing. His exact origin is ambiguous though he has an Oklahoma
license plate on his truck in "Dead End"
, Angel comments in "You're Welcome"
Lindsey was "a tiny Texan". While studying at University of California, Hastings College of the Law
, Lindsey was recruited for the corrupt corporation known as Wolfram & Hart
. Starting in the mailroom, he quickly worked his way up, becoming one of Wolfram & Hart
's most valued lawyers. Lindsey legally represented many a vampire and demon, as well as evil humans. He also became a regular at the Host's Caritas club, associating with vampires and demons even in his private life, often not only singing for the Host to gauge his future but even providing his own music on guitar. He developed respect for the Host's sanctuary rules, which declared everyone welcome; in Season Two, he even, though enraged, refuses to fight Angel on the club's premises because of this. In turn, the Host did not judge Lindsey's evil actions for the firm.
He meets Angel in the first episode in the series, when Angel kills Russell Winters, one of his vampire clients, by hurling him out the window of a building just after Lindsey claimed Angel couldn't touch his client. From that point on, Lindsey works to kill Angel, and is the co-architect of a plan to hire then-renegade Slayer Faith
to do just that. This is not particularly well-received by his superiors, who want to keep Angel alive for their own reasons.
Lindsey experiences a crisis of conscience later, when Wolfram & Hart
plans to kill a trio of blind children with psychic abilities, and so he forms an alliance with Angel to save them. After this, he is poised to leave Wolfram & Hart
, but is wooed by a promotion and stays, becoming an integral player in the plan to resurrect Darla, to the extent he takes over the chants when the demon Vocah, originally performing the ritual, was distracted when Angel attacked him; the monks participating in the ceremony were distraught by the interruption, but Lindsey seized control and recited the unfamiliar incantations expertly. During the ensuing battle, Angel chops off Lindsey's hand to stop him burning a scroll Angel needs to save Cordelia
, forcing Lindsey to use an artificial one. This only further cements his hatred for Angel.
. With only himself and Lilah Morgan
left of Wolfram & Hart
's Special Projects Team, their rivalry reaches an all-time high as the two start a power struggle for the vice-presidency of the team.
Darla manipulates Lindsey's feelings, which she never reciprocates, to gain his help after Angel sets her and Drusilla on fire. Darla stays at Lindsey's house, manipulating him to gain insight into Wolfram & Hart, and attempts to steal a mystical ring from the Senior Partners. Angel is at the meeting and beats her to the ring, and she is almost staked by guards but Lindsey saves her. After finding Darla with the ring, he figures out Darla has slept with Angel.
Lindsey responds by brutally beating Angel with a sledgehammer
, as well as hitting the vampire with his truck a few times, demanding to know what happened with Darla. Angel eventually turns the tables on Lindsey, smashes his prosthetic hand (noting that Lindsey should be grateful he recently had an epiphany as Angel could have easily destroyed Lindsey's remaining real hand instead), knocks him out with a kick to the head, and steals his truck. Returning to his apartment, Lindsey finds Darla had left town, taking all her clothes with her. Lindsey is left alone, and broken.
Consequently, his work at the firm suffers, but he is still in a race with Lilah for the promotion. Hoping his performance will pick up again with the return of his hand, Lindsey's superiors arrange for him to receive a mystical transplant, but the new hand acts up, writing "kill" whenever Lindsey doesn't concentrate. Fearing the hand is evil, Lindsey goes to Caritas
and sings for the Host, revealing he used to be a regular customer and musician at Caritas until he lost his hand. Perhaps significantly, he sings a song (written by Christian Kane, the actor who plays Lindsey) about Los Angeles undergoing an apocalypse
("The sky's gonna open / People gonna pray and crawl / It's gonna rain down fire / It's gonna burn us all."), presumably the one Wolfram and Hart has spent years engineering for the Senior Partners, which later occurs in the Angel: After the Fall
comic book series; in the song, he admits that he "can't feel a thing" about such a catastrophe, implying his years at Wolfram and Hart have made him utterly indifferent even to the potential deaths of millions.
Lorne sets him and Angel on the path that will end with the two working together to discover a Wolfram & Hart
facility specializing in unwilling transplant donors. Among them is the donor of Lindsey's hand, an old friend of his from his mailroom days. After figuring out his hand isn't evil but rather suicidal, Lindsey pulls the plug on his friend and destroys the facility, while saving those that can still be saved. It is then Lindsey decides to leave Wolfram & Hart
permanently, casually informing the board in a meeting he's bored with the firm's games and warning them not to follow him due to his "evil hand issues".
In a last confrontation between Angel and Lindsey, the two bury the hatchet, and Lindsey warns him of the games Wolfram & Hart is trying to play. Lindsey leaves Los Angeles
and goes on a soul-searching trip, including, amongst other places, Nepal
. He does not reappear for two seasons.
, when he learns Angel has taken over the Los Angeles
division of Wolfram & Hart
. Although it seemed he and Angel had reconciled, Lindsey is unable to cope with the fact a "Eurotrash
vampire" (as he called Angel in "You're Welcome
") had become the C.E.O.
of Wolfram & Hart almost overnight, while he had worked extremely hard just to become a normal lawyer. His hatred for Angel returns in full force. Runic tattoo
s cover Lindsey's body, mystically hiding his presence from the Senior Partners. At some unrevealed point, he begins a relationship with Eve, for whom he shows true affection. (Kane has said that he considered Lindsey to be driven in his hate for Angel over losing Darla to him – "Even though I’m in love with Eve, Darla was a true love. And Angel did that.")
Together, Lindsey and Eve manipulate events so that Spike, not Angel appears to the Senior Partners to be the ensouled vampire foretold in the Scrolls of Aberjian, the one who will have a crucial impact in the Apocalypse and fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy
. Lindsey hopes that once the Senior Partners realize the folly of attempting to seduce Angel to their cause, he will be stripped of his position at Wolfram & Hart
, leaving a power vacuum which Lindsey could fill, gaining a measure of revenge on Angel.
The seeds of this plot are planted in the finale of Season Four of the series when Angel is given the amulet which Spike eventually uses to destroy the Hellmouth in Sunnydale
. At an off-screen point between "Chosen
" and "Conviction
", Lindsey travels to the ruins of Sunnydale and digs Spike's amulet out of the Hellmouth, proceeding to anonymously mail it to Angel at Wolfram and Hart. Deposited and incorporeal in Wolfram & Hart
, and unable to leave the city limits, Spike gradually grows attached to L.A. and reconsiders his initial intention to seek out Buffy
in Europe
, preferring to allow Buffy to remember him as a hero who died to save the world.
Lindsey then initiates the next stage of his plan, sending an anonymous package to Wolfram and Hart that emits a bright flash of light, which restores Spike's physical form. He later seeks out Spike under the assumed identity of a drifter named Doyle, closely paralleling the initial encounters between Angel and the real Doyle before the two and Cordelia officially formed Angel Investigations
. Claiming to receive visions from the Powers That Be, he gains Spike's cooperation and trust.
Lindsey and Eve contrive a situation where Spike saves Angel from a demonic parasite (placed on an unconscious Angel by Eve), which simultaneously disheartens Angel, galvanizes Spike, and adds weight and veracity to the claims made by "Doyle"/Lindsey. Although the "mind numbing" visions that Lindsey reports are non-existent, the events described are true, such as Spike rescuing a woman from a vampire attack. For a time, Spike appears to be the far more likely candidate to fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy
.
However, when Cordelia
seemingly returns to life, Lindsey's plans are upset. Lindsey sends Spike to kill her, claiming she was possessed by Jasmine; he later admits he did not expect the plan to succeed, but it "was worth a shot". Meanwhile, he infiltrates Wolfram & Hart. When informed by Eve that Spike had failed, Lindsey intends to activate the Senior Partners' program meant to kill Angel if he turned against them. The plan is averted though as Spike, Cordelia, and Angel are able to uncover Lindsey's actions.
While Spike battles the zombie defenses protecting the creature meant to kill Angel, Angel and Lindsey face off in the chamber where the "contingency plan" is stored. The pair fight on a rising container that holds the creature, while Cordelia tries to stop the process. Lindsey displays the new abilities he has learned on his journeys, enabling him to keep up with Angel in a physical confrontation. Despite this, Angel finally defeats Lindsey, informing him, no matter what he tries none of it won't matters, because, "I'm Angel. I beat the bad guys." As soon as he defeats Lindsey, his comrades complete a ritual dissolving the tattoos that protect Lindsey from the Senior Partners' wrath, resulting in him vanishing through a portal.
Lindsey is incarcerated in a hell dimension which emulates suburbia, complete with a wife and son. Time operates in a loop; each day, after waking up and sharing a normal day with his "family" he has his heart cut out by a demon hiding in the house's basement, only for it to regrow. He is eventually rescued by Angel, Spike, and Charles Gunn
for information they need. They are only able to leave by the sacrifice of Gunn, who remains behind to take Lindsey's place.
Lindsey later reveals the existence of the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners' instrument on this plane, a secret society
devoted to maintaining man's inhumanity in exchange for power. He notes while Angel is sidetracked at Wolfram & Hart
, the Apocalypse is already underway, and Angel and his team are becoming more and more corrupt by the day.
Lindsey and Angel ally once more in an effort to stop the Circle, Lindsey willing to do so because such an undertaking hasn't been done since the beginning of human history, and he wants a part of it. The two agree to fight the upcoming battle together and leave Lindsey the possibility to take the L.A. office of Wolfram & Hart for himself should they fail/succeed.
Lindsey destroys the Sahrvin demon clan with Lorne's assistance as planned. However, Angel knows Lindsey can never be trusted. Consequently, Angel secretly instructs Lorne to assassinate Lindsey once the Sahrvin are eliminated. Lindsey insists to Lorne he has changed. But Lorne, no longer Lindsey's friend, remarks that he can't change, shooting Lindsey twice in the chest with a silenced pistol. A stunned Lindsey slumps against by a wall, both outraged and humiliated he was killed by one of Angel's "flunkies" instead of the vampire himself.
Extra information released in the graphic novel of Angel: After the Fall reveals Lindsey was originally going to appear in a First Night storyline where he killed Eve to prove himself to the Senior Partners and was subsequently told to 'wait' before they sent him back, but the storyline was rejected because it was seen as out-of-character for him to kill Eve and it gave the impression Lindsey was going to be more important than he would have been.
Thanks to an unrevealed mystical process, Lindsey became gifted with superhuman physical attributes before his appearance in the fifth season, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with Angel in single combat, as well as runic tattoos meant to hide him from all known surveillance methods other than the naked eye. He was also capable of transmuting a small knife
into a sword
and was an adept swordsman, as well as some telekinetic
abilities. Lorne remarks that, with or without his mystical strength, he is still a "master swordsman," after he had dispatched the Sahrvin clan alone and without much apparent effort.
Angel
: Appearing in 21 episodes in total, Lindsey appeared as a guest in the following episodes:
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the television series Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last episodes of Angel. Lindsey is portrayed by Christian Kane
Christian Kane
Christian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
.
While primarily an antagonist, Lindsey is shown to be a morally ambiguous character. Serving as both an enemy and ally to the Angel Investigations
Angel Investigations
Angel Investigations is a fictional detective agency run by the title character Angel previously on the WB television series Angel . It is sometimes abbreviated as AI...
team, he occasionally allied himself with them to stop some of Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
's particularly heinous agendas. There were moments where he could have genuinely switched sides, and others where he displayed camaraderie, affection, and, in later episodes, admiration for Angel despite their history. Kane has described the character as being driven by cynicism and ambition: "I still think this cat looks at the glass as being half empty. And so, damn it, I’m going to drink the rest of that water."
Season one
Born into a dirt-poor dysfunctional familyDysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
in the south-central United States, Lindsey worked hard to overcome his upbringing. His exact origin is ambiguous though he has an Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
license plate on his truck in "Dead End"
Dead End (Angel episode)
"Dead End" is episode 18 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 24, 2001 on the WB television network. In "Dead End", Lindsey receives a new hand from Wolfram & Hart, which appears to have an evil...
, Angel comments in "You're Welcome"
You're Welcome (Angel episode)
"You're Welcome" is the twelfth episode of season five of the television show Angel. Written and directed by David Fury, it is the 100th episode of the series, and originally broadcast on February 4, 2004 on the WB network. In "You're Welcome", former series regular Charisma Carpenter returns as a...
Lindsey was "a tiny Texan". While studying at University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
University of California, Hastings College of the Law is a public law school in San Francisco, California, located in the Civic Center neighborhood....
, Lindsey was recruited for the corrupt corporation known as Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
. Starting in the mailroom, he quickly worked his way up, becoming one of Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
's most valued lawyers. Lindsey legally represented many a vampire and demon, as well as evil humans. He also became a regular at the Host's Caritas club, associating with vampires and demons even in his private life, often not only singing for the Host to gauge his future but even providing his own music on guitar. He developed respect for the Host's sanctuary rules, which declared everyone welcome; in Season Two, he even, though enraged, refuses to fight Angel on the club's premises because of this. In turn, the Host did not judge Lindsey's evil actions for the firm.
He meets Angel in the first episode in the series, when Angel kills Russell Winters, one of his vampire clients, by hurling him out the window of a building just after Lindsey claimed Angel couldn't touch his client. From that point on, Lindsey works to kill Angel, and is the co-architect of a plan to hire then-renegade Slayer Faith
Faith Lehane
Faith is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku in the TV series and by Whitney Thompson in the motion comic series, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's...
to do just that. This is not particularly well-received by his superiors, who want to keep Angel alive for their own reasons.
Lindsey experiences a crisis of conscience later, when Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
plans to kill a trio of blind children with psychic abilities, and so he forms an alliance with Angel to save them. After this, he is poised to leave Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
, but is wooed by a promotion and stays, becoming an integral player in the plan to resurrect Darla, to the extent he takes over the chants when the demon Vocah, originally performing the ritual, was distracted when Angel attacked him; the monks participating in the ceremony were distraught by the interruption, but Lindsey seized control and recited the unfamiliar incantations expertly. During the ensuing battle, Angel chops off Lindsey's hand to stop him burning a scroll Angel needs to save Cordelia
Cordelia Chase
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series Angel...
, forcing Lindsey to use an artificial one. This only further cements his hatred for Angel.
Season two
When Darla is returned to life, Lindsey becomes enamored of the now-human Darla, and is present when she is re-sired by Drusilla. His infatuation does not end when Darla becomes a vampire, and he is one of only two Wolfram and Hart employees spared by Darla and Drusilla in the massacre at Holland Manners' wine cellar; ironically, Lindsey had claimed he would not "mind" if Darla killed him, demonstrating a borderline death wishDeath Wish
Death Wish is a 1972 novel by Brian Garfield.-Plot:Paul Benjamin is a CPA in New York and lifelong liberal. However, his staid life is overturned when his daughter, Carol, and spouse, Esther, are attacked by muggers. His wife does not survive the attack, and his traumatized daughter is left in a...
. With only himself and Lilah Morgan
Lilah Morgan
Lilah Morgan is a fictional character from the television series Angel, played by Stephanie Romanov. She is first introduced in the episode "The Ring," and appears in the show's first and second seasons. After Lindsey McDonald leaves Los Angeles, Lilah becomes the primary face of Wolfram & Hart,...
left of Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
's Special Projects Team, their rivalry reaches an all-time high as the two start a power struggle for the vice-presidency of the team.
Darla manipulates Lindsey's feelings, which she never reciprocates, to gain his help after Angel sets her and Drusilla on fire. Darla stays at Lindsey's house, manipulating him to gain insight into Wolfram & Hart, and attempts to steal a mystical ring from the Senior Partners. Angel is at the meeting and beats her to the ring, and she is almost staked by guards but Lindsey saves her. After finding Darla with the ring, he figures out Darla has slept with Angel.
Lindsey responds by brutally beating Angel with a sledgehammer
Sledgehammer
A sledgehammer is a tool consisting of a large, flat head attached to a lever . The head is typically made of metal. The sledgehammer can apply more impulse than other hammers, due to its large size. Along with the mallet, it shares the ability to distribute force over a wide area...
, as well as hitting the vampire with his truck a few times, demanding to know what happened with Darla. Angel eventually turns the tables on Lindsey, smashes his prosthetic hand (noting that Lindsey should be grateful he recently had an epiphany as Angel could have easily destroyed Lindsey's remaining real hand instead), knocks him out with a kick to the head, and steals his truck. Returning to his apartment, Lindsey finds Darla had left town, taking all her clothes with her. Lindsey is left alone, and broken.
Consequently, his work at the firm suffers, but he is still in a race with Lilah for the promotion. Hoping his performance will pick up again with the return of his hand, Lindsey's superiors arrange for him to receive a mystical transplant, but the new hand acts up, writing "kill" whenever Lindsey doesn't concentrate. Fearing the hand is evil, Lindsey goes to Caritas
Caritas (Buffyverse)
Caritas is a fictional demon-friendly karaoke bar in the U.S. television series Angel. Caritas makes its first appearance in season two's "Judgment" episode, and its final appearance in season three's "Lullaby".-History:...
and sings for the Host, revealing he used to be a regular customer and musician at Caritas until he lost his hand. Perhaps significantly, he sings a song (written by Christian Kane, the actor who plays Lindsey) about Los Angeles undergoing an apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
("The sky's gonna open / People gonna pray and crawl / It's gonna rain down fire / It's gonna burn us all."), presumably the one Wolfram and Hart has spent years engineering for the Senior Partners, which later occurs in the Angel: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall
Angel: After the Fall is a comic book published by IDW Publishing. Written by Brian Lynch and plotted with Joss Whedon, the series is a canonical continuation of the Angel television series, and follows the events of that show's final televised season...
comic book series; in the song, he admits that he "can't feel a thing" about such a catastrophe, implying his years at Wolfram and Hart have made him utterly indifferent even to the potential deaths of millions.
Lorne sets him and Angel on the path that will end with the two working together to discover a Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
facility specializing in unwilling transplant donors. Among them is the donor of Lindsey's hand, an old friend of his from his mailroom days. After figuring out his hand isn't evil but rather suicidal, Lindsey pulls the plug on his friend and destroys the facility, while saving those that can still be saved. It is then Lindsey decides to leave Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
permanently, casually informing the board in a meeting he's bored with the firm's games and warning them not to follow him due to his "evil hand issues".
In a last confrontation between Angel and Lindsey, the two bury the hatchet, and Lindsey warns him of the games Wolfram & Hart is trying to play. Lindsey leaves Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and goes on a soul-searching trip, including, amongst other places, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. He does not reappear for two seasons.
Season five
In season five of Angel, Lindsey finally returns to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, when he learns Angel has taken over the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
division of Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
. Although it seemed he and Angel had reconciled, Lindsey is unable to cope with the fact a "Eurotrash
Eurotrash (term)
Eurotrash is a derogatory term used in North America for Europeans, particularly those perceived to be arrogant, affluent, and expatriates in the United States....
vampire" (as he called Angel in "You're Welcome
You're Welcome (Angel episode)
"You're Welcome" is the twelfth episode of season five of the television show Angel. Written and directed by David Fury, it is the 100th episode of the series, and originally broadcast on February 4, 2004 on the WB network. In "You're Welcome", former series regular Charisma Carpenter returns as a...
") had become the C.E.O.
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Wolfram & Hart almost overnight, while he had worked extremely hard just to become a normal lawyer. His hatred for Angel returns in full force. Runic tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s cover Lindsey's body, mystically hiding his presence from the Senior Partners. At some unrevealed point, he begins a relationship with Eve, for whom he shows true affection. (Kane has said that he considered Lindsey to be driven in his hate for Angel over losing Darla to him – "Even though I’m in love with Eve, Darla was a true love. And Angel did that.")
Together, Lindsey and Eve manipulate events so that Spike, not Angel appears to the Senior Partners to be the ensouled vampire foretold in the Scrolls of Aberjian, the one who will have a crucial impact in the Apocalypse and fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy
Shanshu Prophecy
The Shanshu Prophecy is a prophecy that appears in the fictional universe of the television series Angel. Contained in the Scrolls of Aberjian, the prophecy first appears in the episode "Blind Date" and is more fully revealed in the season finale of the show's first season, "To Shanshu in L.A."...
. Lindsey hopes that once the Senior Partners realize the folly of attempting to seduce Angel to their cause, he will be stripped of his position at Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
, leaving a power vacuum which Lindsey could fill, gaining a measure of revenge on Angel.
The seeds of this plot are planted in the finale of Season Four of the series when Angel is given the amulet which Spike eventually uses to destroy the Hellmouth in Sunnydale
Sunnydale
Sunnydale, California is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror...
. At an off-screen point between "Chosen
Chosen (Buffy episode)
"Chosen" is the series finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It serves as the 22nd episode of the seventh season, and the 144th episode overall. The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on UPN on May 20, 2003...
" and "Conviction
Conviction (Angel episode)
"Conviction" is the first episode of season 5 in the television show Angel, originally broadcast on the WB network. In this episode, Wolfram & Hart C.E.O. Angel and the rest of the group cope with their new, morally ambiguous lifestyle. Their client - an unsavory, violent gangster - threatens to...
", Lindsey travels to the ruins of Sunnydale and digs Spike's amulet out of the Hellmouth, proceeding to anonymously mail it to Angel at Wolfram and Hart. Deposited and incorporeal in Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
, and unable to leave the city limits, Spike gradually grows attached to L.A. and reconsiders his initial intention to seek out Buffy
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, preferring to allow Buffy to remember him as a hero who died to save the world.
Lindsey then initiates the next stage of his plan, sending an anonymous package to Wolfram and Hart that emits a bright flash of light, which restores Spike's physical form. He later seeks out Spike under the assumed identity of a drifter named Doyle, closely paralleling the initial encounters between Angel and the real Doyle before the two and Cordelia officially formed Angel Investigations
Angel Investigations
Angel Investigations is a fictional detective agency run by the title character Angel previously on the WB television series Angel . It is sometimes abbreviated as AI...
. Claiming to receive visions from the Powers That Be, he gains Spike's cooperation and trust.
Lindsey and Eve contrive a situation where Spike saves Angel from a demonic parasite (placed on an unconscious Angel by Eve), which simultaneously disheartens Angel, galvanizes Spike, and adds weight and veracity to the claims made by "Doyle"/Lindsey. Although the "mind numbing" visions that Lindsey reports are non-existent, the events described are true, such as Spike rescuing a woman from a vampire attack. For a time, Spike appears to be the far more likely candidate to fulfill the Shanshu Prophecy
Shanshu Prophecy
The Shanshu Prophecy is a prophecy that appears in the fictional universe of the television series Angel. Contained in the Scrolls of Aberjian, the prophecy first appears in the episode "Blind Date" and is more fully revealed in the season finale of the show's first season, "To Shanshu in L.A."...
.
However, when Cordelia
Cordelia Chase
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series Angel...
seemingly returns to life, Lindsey's plans are upset. Lindsey sends Spike to kill her, claiming she was possessed by Jasmine; he later admits he did not expect the plan to succeed, but it "was worth a shot". Meanwhile, he infiltrates Wolfram & Hart. When informed by Eve that Spike had failed, Lindsey intends to activate the Senior Partners' program meant to kill Angel if he turned against them. The plan is averted though as Spike, Cordelia, and Angel are able to uncover Lindsey's actions.
While Spike battles the zombie defenses protecting the creature meant to kill Angel, Angel and Lindsey face off in the chamber where the "contingency plan" is stored. The pair fight on a rising container that holds the creature, while Cordelia tries to stop the process. Lindsey displays the new abilities he has learned on his journeys, enabling him to keep up with Angel in a physical confrontation. Despite this, Angel finally defeats Lindsey, informing him, no matter what he tries none of it won't matters, because, "I'm Angel. I beat the bad guys." As soon as he defeats Lindsey, his comrades complete a ritual dissolving the tattoos that protect Lindsey from the Senior Partners' wrath, resulting in him vanishing through a portal.
Lindsey is incarcerated in a hell dimension which emulates suburbia, complete with a wife and son. Time operates in a loop; each day, after waking up and sharing a normal day with his "family" he has his heart cut out by a demon hiding in the house's basement, only for it to regrow. He is eventually rescued by Angel, Spike, and Charles Gunn
Charles Gunn
Charles Gunn is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series, Angel. The character is portrayed by J. August Richards, and was named by Whedon after filmmaker James Gunn and actor Sean Gunn, both of whom had worked with Whedon...
for information they need. They are only able to leave by the sacrifice of Gunn, who remains behind to take Lindsey's place.
Lindsey later reveals the existence of the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners' instrument on this plane, a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
devoted to maintaining man's inhumanity in exchange for power. He notes while Angel is sidetracked at Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart
Wolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
, the Apocalypse is already underway, and Angel and his team are becoming more and more corrupt by the day.
Lindsey and Angel ally once more in an effort to stop the Circle, Lindsey willing to do so because such an undertaking hasn't been done since the beginning of human history, and he wants a part of it. The two agree to fight the upcoming battle together and leave Lindsey the possibility to take the L.A. office of Wolfram & Hart for himself should they fail/succeed.
Lindsey destroys the Sahrvin demon clan with Lorne's assistance as planned. However, Angel knows Lindsey can never be trusted. Consequently, Angel secretly instructs Lorne to assassinate Lindsey once the Sahrvin are eliminated. Lindsey insists to Lorne he has changed. But Lorne, no longer Lindsey's friend, remarks that he can't change, shooting Lindsey twice in the chest with a silenced pistol. A stunned Lindsey slumps against by a wall, both outraged and humiliated he was killed by one of Angel's "flunkies" instead of the vampire himself.
Angel: After the Fall
In issue five of the canonical Angel: After The Fall comic book continuation of the television series, while conversing with Wesley in the White Room, the Senior Partners propose the possibility of resurrecting a "zombified McDonald" (or Eve) to be their liaison to Angel. Wesley, while unhappy with being forced to be their current liaison, shoots that possibility down, saying the presence of either alongside Angel would not help the Senior Partners get what they want as he would ignore them in a worst-case scenario and kill them in a best-case one.Extra information released in the graphic novel of Angel: After the Fall reveals Lindsey was originally going to appear in a First Night storyline where he killed Eve to prove himself to the Senior Partners and was subsequently told to 'wait' before they sent him back, but the storyline was rejected because it was seen as out-of-character for him to kill Eve and it gave the impression Lindsey was going to be more important than he would have been.
Powers and abilities
His long career in Wolfram & Hart gained him a great deal of legal knowledge, and until the removal of his strumming hand he was also a competent guitarist. Although rarely called upon to use magic, he was quite knowledgeable about the supernatural and dealt with unexpected situations with exceptional aplomb; at the end of Season One, he took over a complicated mystic ritual at a moment's notice.Thanks to an unrevealed mystical process, Lindsey became gifted with superhuman physical attributes before his appearance in the fifth season, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with Angel in single combat, as well as runic tattoos meant to hide him from all known surveillance methods other than the naked eye. He was also capable of transmuting a small knife
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
into a sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
and was an adept swordsman, as well as some telekinetic
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
abilities. Lorne remarks that, with or without his mystical strength, he is still a "master swordsman," after he had dispatched the Sahrvin clan alone and without much apparent effort.
Canonical appearances
Lindsey has appeared in:Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
: Appearing in 21 episodes in total, Lindsey appeared as a guest in the following episodes:
- Season 1 – "City Of", "Five By FiveFive by Five (Angel episode)"Five by Five" is episode 18 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Written by Jim Kouf and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 25, 2000 on the WB network...
", "SanctuarySanctuary (Angel episode)"Sanctuary" is episode 19 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Co-written by Tim Minear and series creator Joss Whedon and directed by Michael Lange, it was originally broadcast on May 2, 2000 on the WB network....
", "Blind DateBlind Date (Angel episode)"Blind Date" is episode 21 of season 1 in the television show Angel. Written by Jeannine Renshaw and directed by Thomas J. Wright, it was originally broadcast on May 16, 2000 on the WB network. In Blind Date, Angel reluctantly agrees to help lawyer Lindsey McDonald save a group of three blind...
", "To Shanshu in L.A." - Season 2 – "Judgement", "Dear BoyDear Boy (Angel episode)"Dear Boy" is episode 5 of season 2 in the television show Angel.-Plot synopsis:Angel wakes up to even more bickering from Cordelia and Wesley then Cordelia gets a vision with sketchy details. While Cordelia and Wesley try to find the demon and location from Cordelia's vision, Angel daydreams of...
", "DarlaDarla (Angel episode)"Darla" is episode 7 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written and directed by Tim Minear, it was originally broadcast on November 14, 2000 on the WB television network. In this episode, Angel tries to rescue Darla from the clutches of Wolfram & Hart and Lindsey's affections, as she...
"; "The TrialThe Trial (Angel episode)"The Trial" is episode 9 of season 2 in the television show Angel. The episode was written by Doug Petrie and Tim Minear with a story from David Greenwalt and directed by Bruce Seth Green, this episode was originally broadcast on November 28, 2000 on the WB network...
"; "ReunionReunion (Angel episode)"Reunion" is episode 10 of season 2 in the television show Angel.-Plot synopsis:Angel tells his associates that Drusilla has returned and, working with Wolfram and Hart, has made Darla a vampire again. Wesley and Cordelia investigate the law firm's plans for Drusilla and Darla as Angel prepares to...
", "RedefinitionRedefinition (Angel episode)"Redefinition" is episode 11 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written by Mere Smith and directed by Michael Grossman, it was originally broadcast on January 16, 2001 on the WB network. As Wesley, Cordelia, and Gunn reel from the shock after Angel fires them, they end up at the Caritas...
", "Blood MoneyBlood Money (Angel episode)"Blood Money" is episode 12 of season two in the television show Angel, originally broadcast on the WB network. In this episode, demon snitch Merl reveals Wolfram & Hart is scheming to steal money from contributions made to a shelter for runaways, prompting Angel to investigate the shelter's owner,...
", "RepriseReprise (Angel episode)"Reprise" is episode 15 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written by Tim Minear and directed by James Whitmore, Jr., it was originally broadcast on February 20, 2001 on the WB network. In this episode, Angel learns that during the impending Wolfram & Hart 75-Year Review, the firm is...
", "EpiphanyEpiphany (Angel episode)"Epiphany" is episode 16 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written by Tim Minear and directed by Thomas J. Wright, it was originally broadcast on February 27, 2001 on the WB network...
"; "Dead EndDead End (Angel episode)"Dead End" is episode 18 of season 2 in the television show Angel. Written by David Greenwalt and directed by James A. Contner, it was originally broadcast on April 24, 2001 on the WB television network. In "Dead End", Lindsey receives a new hand from Wolfram & Hart, which appears to have an evil...
" - Season 5 – "DestinyDestiny (Angel episode)"Destiny" is episode 8 of season 5 in the television show Angel. Co-written by David Fury and Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Skip Schoolnik, it was originally broadcast on November 19, 2003 on the WB network...
"; "Soul PurposeSoul Purpose (Angel episode)"Soul Purpose" is episode 10 of season 5 in the television show Angel. Written by Brent Fletcher and it was the directorial debut of David Boreanaz, who plays Angel, and was originally broadcast on January 21, 2004 on the WB network...
"; "You're WelcomeYou're Welcome (Angel episode)"You're Welcome" is the twelfth episode of season five of the television show Angel. Written and directed by David Fury, it is the 100th episode of the series, and originally broadcast on February 4, 2004 on the WB network. In "You're Welcome", former series regular Charisma Carpenter returns as a...
"; "UnderneathUnderneath (Angel episode)"Underneath" is episode 17 of season 5 in the television show Angel. Written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain and directed by Skip Schoolnik, it was originally broadcast on April 14, 2004 on the WB television network....
"; "Power PlayPower Play (Angel episode)"Power Play" is episode 21 of season 5 in the television show Angel. The gang starts to have doubts about Angel's loyalties when he appears to have become very close with the Circle of the Black Thorn, an evil secret demon society...
"; "Not Fade AwayNot Fade Away (Angel episode)"Not Fade Away" is the 22nd and final episode of season 5, and the series finale of the television show Angel. Written by series creator Joss Whedon and directed and co-written by Jeffrey Bell, it was originally broadcast on May 19, 2004 on the WB network...
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