Expert: Kellen Tyler - 8/6/2006

Question
Alrighty, I have been considering this question in deep thought and concluded that it is a possible plot hole in the TV show Angel. Remember how Angel changed everyone's memories at the end of season 4? Well, there is some debate about what was altered and what wasn't. I have always wondered if Wesley remembered everything about his relationship with Lilah, bits in pieces, or not at all. In the episode where Wesley's 'father' comes to visit and asks about Wesley's love life he responds something to the effect of, "The last girl I was with I had to chop into pieces because a higher power saw it fit to stab her in the neck." This obviously talks about Lilah, so I thought, 'Mystery solved!' Alas, no. Because in the ep. when they get their memories back when the jar is smashed, they show clips of everything they are remembering. And a few of the clips were about Lilah. One with her and Wesley having sex and another with her dying. So, I was confused. Also, another thing that might help is that the writer of 'Home'(The last ep of season 4) said in the commentary after the spell had been cast that he was going to put another wes/lilah moment into the script, but it didn't fit with the audience's reaction to 'where's connor'. So, since it was after the spell, maybe that means Wesley didn't forget. Anyways, I'm confused. So maybe you can help.

Answer
Hi Jessica,

Wesley may have remembered bits and pieces but not the whole story of what happened.  Before Wesley broke the Orlon Window in ORIGIN, we get little glimpses here and there of what people remember... Wesley's comment about Lilah to his dad in LINEAGE is one such example.  But we see that their full memories return in ORIGIN whereas previously it was fragmented -- events and times shifted around to explain away Connor's presence.  

So, in answer to your question, Wesley certainly remembered Lilah and their relationship before he broke the Orlon Window.  However, when his full memory was restored, it was filling in the truth about how they met and initially got together (since the only reason he got together with Lilah was because he was abandoned by the group for kidnapping Connor -- if Connor never existed, then why would Wesley have been estranged from the group?).

Hope that helps... if you have follow-up questions, I'd be glad to discuss further.

K