"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 guest star, when the character of Cordelia Chase miraculously awakens from her coma. It is her duty to put Angel, who has recently been feeling ineffective at fighting the powers of darkness, back on the right path. Meanwhile, Angel's old enemy Lindsey McDonald has resurfaced and is plotting revenge. This episode features the death and final onscreen appearance of Cordelia.
The episode was written to reinforce the show's earlier themes, and examine the evolution of the characters in the show's one hundred episodes. The original plan was for Sarah Michelle Gellar to return as Buffy Summers, but when she could not appear due to the death of her aunt and work obligations, it instead focused on rounding off the character of Cordelia. The episode proved generally popular with critics, who praised Charisma Carpenter's final performance as Cordelia and the sense of resolution for the character.
Plot
Cordelia emerges from her coma after experiencing a vision of the symbols painted on Eve's apartment door and tattooed on Lindsey's chest. After Angel and Wesley collect Cordelia from the hospital, she reveals that the vision which woke her from the coma showed Angel in peril. She finds the symbols from her vision in a book, and Wesley recognizes them as runes to protect and conceal, effective against surveillance. Cordelia apologizes to Wesley for killing Lilah while under Jasmine's control.
Spike complains to Lindsey (who is impersonating Doyle) that the deranged slayer chopped off his hands. Lindsey reveals he also had one of his hands severed. Spike bites Cordelia until Angel fights him off. Spike explains he was tasting whether she was evil, as his source claimed. Angel questions the source, and Spike says it was Doyle. Angel confronts Eve, suggesting she is working with the Doyle impersonator manipulating Spike. Eve confesses that Lindsey is activating a fail-safe left by the Senior Partners to destroy Angel. When Spike mentions "Doyle" had a hand chopped off, Angel deduces that "Doyle" is Lindsey. Angel battles Lindsey, who is strengthened by his runes. While Angel and Lindsey fight, Cordelia disables the fail-safe. Wesley and Fred perform a spell that causes Lindsey's tattoos to disappear, making him visible to the Senior Partners. Lindsey is sucked into a portal.
Angel and Cordelia say their goodbyes and share a kiss. Angel receives a phone call informing him that Cordelia has died. He realizes, with teary eyes, that Cordelia never awoke from her coma.
Production
The fight scene between Lindsey and Angel in the underground chamber, which took three days to film, was written by Steven S. DeKnight. Christian Kane, who went through months of sword training for his role in Secondhand Lions, approached the writers to see if they could work his new skills into the episode; Kane ended up performing his own stunts for the sword fight sequence, including wire work. He also did his own stunts for the scene when Lindsey moves through the lasers in the tunnel, which were not CGI, but actual lasers. During the fight scene between Eve and Harmony, Sarah Thompson says Mercedes McNab slapped her accidentally. "She was... so worried she'd hurt me but it actually worked well for the take because I reacted by really screaming," Thompson says.
David Boreanaz had just had knee surgery prior to filming, so writer David Fury did his best to keep Angel sitting down as much as possible. Fury used tight camera angles during Spike's apartment scene with Lindsey to disguise the fact that the same set was used earlier for the opening teaser. "Everything is a bit contained; the reason is if I turn around, this is where they found the dead nuns," Fury explains.