Angel: Power Play

"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. When Drogyn, the guardian of the Deeper Well, arrives from England claiming that Angel has sent assassins after him, the gang's fears that Angel has become corrupted by wealth and power seem to be validated, especially when the imprisoned Lindsey confirms his theory about the Circle of the Black Thorn wanting to have Angel join their evil group. In the meanwhile, Angel continues dating Nina, but eventually tells her to leave town fearing for her life when his induction into the Black Thorn becomes a certainty. At the end, when the gang confronts Angel in his office about his questionable actions, a fight breaks out. With Lorne as a shield, Angel has time to take out a magical gem, using it to grant them a few unobserved minutes to set the group straight about what he is really planning, without anyone else knowing. It turns out that Angel has set up this whole charade of turning evil in an effort to infiltrate the Circle of the Black Thorn and identify its members.