Previously: SADNESS. PURE FUCKING SADNESS.
—
Shells
Sweeney: We begin where we left off: Illyria saying, “This will do,” in Fred’s body. She goes to look at herself in the mirror and Wesley says her name. Illyria gets really pissy with Wesley for using her name. Wes asks if she knows who Fred is and she doesn’t know or give a shit. She says they’re done and Wes agrees, grabbing an ax.
Electric Cellos, complete with all those Fred scenes. Fuck. Are they going to be replaced with Illyria scenes or will we just die a little inside during the credits for the rest of the season?
Lorraine: You figured we’d be used to dying all kinds of deaths while watching Angel.
Sweeney: After the credits, Wes takes a swing and his ax shatters when it meets her head. Illyria remembers Fred as “the shell she’s in” and realizes she’s watching Wesley’s feels and decides that human grief is hella gross. So basically Illyria is the deity of Team Heartless Cow. (L: LOL. A+) (K: RUDE.) Wes latches onto this idea, saying that she’ll absorb all that gross feelingsy air if she stays on Earth where the humans now run shit. Better to go back to sleep and wait until the humans kill each other off before rising again, leaving the shell she’s in. There’s been a lot of use of the word shell here, but I’m going to be a stickler and wait for that plural, mostly because Illyria said it first and I don’t want her to have our shiny star. Illyria tells Wesley that he’s trying to save what’s rotted through and Illyria couldn’t separate Fred from her even if she wanted to. More importantly, Illyria’s gotta take care of this world-overrun-by-humans problem. She slams Wes into the wall and takes off.
Shipper Bait Airline. Spike is trying to get drink drank drunk on mini alcohol bottles but they are painfully small for the job. Their grief is well played, in a very fitting in-character manner: Spike talks his feels and Angel silently broods his feels. Spike assures Angel (and probably himself) that they made the right choice. Angel thinks that maybe death doesn’t have to be the end – vampires, and Buffy (!!!) (MY EMOTIONS) prove that. “Rules can be broken. All you have to do is push hard enough.”
Lor: If vampires and Buffy coming back from the dead are your examples of success, get a new idea.
K: Seriously. This is a terrible plan, Angel. TERRIBLE.
Sweeney: Wolfram & Hart. Gunn’s got Whedon Hat Trick tied up and that surprises me because I really assumed that he killed him in the last episode. (L: ME TOO.) (K: SAME. And I’m not even a Snow!) Harmony is there and eager to join the torture – not just for her bloodlust, but for Fred herself, having been Harmony’s (only?) friend.
Wesley arrives and Gunn explains that Hat Trick was involved in what happened to Illyria. Wes says it doesn’t matter now because Fred’s gone. Hat Trick starts laughing. He says it’s not what they think – it’s actually beautiful, and he wants Wesley to tell them what happened. Gunn tries to insist that Fred might still be there and Wesley assures Gunn, in an Imma-murder-your-face-off-if-you-don’t-shut-the-fuck-up voice, that Fred’s 100% gone. Hat Trick says that Illyria’s so much more than Fred and that he truly did love Fred and her warmth. I didn’t think it was possible, but Wesley’s murder face hardens even further. (K: Mine does too. Fuck you, Knox. Fuck you.) Hat Trick explains that Fred was the only one who was worthy. In the comments on the last episode there was some discussion of Whedon’s fanboy obsession with Amy Acker. You hear a bit of that echoed the way Hat Trick talks about Fred.
Anyway, Wesley’s face turns to, “LOL you’ll be dead soon.” Wes pulls out a gun and scoffs at the idea that Gunn could possibly get how he feels, since he didn’t feel Fred die. He says that Fred was better than anyone he knew and he chokes up as he says that she was gone. Angel enter-nounces that he knows and now it’s time to get Fred back. (L: Alexis Denisof did a great job showing us the progression of his anger-to-grief here. I want to hug him.)
Sweeney: A bit later, Angel and Spike are catching the others up and why they returned from England empty-handed. Lorne starts beating himself up for not having read Hat Trick better. (K: Is it just me, or is Lorne greener than usual??) Angel says that they could have done a lot of things differently – like not coming to the evil empire, for starters – but right now they need to be productive. Wallowing in feels is usually Angel’s M.O., though he does seem to get on point when he has something productive to do instead. It ties back to Wesley saying that it was so important for Angel to believe in the Shanshu Prophecy — he can only avoid being King Broody Pants when he’s got a project. Lorne, unfortunately, is an empath demon and his feels factor is just too fucking high for this shit. He apologizes, saying he’s got nothing, and takes his drink and leaves. Spike says they need to let him go because he won’t be much help if he’s doubting himself.
Angel explains the bit about how the pre-ordained rising of the sarcophagus couldn’t have been prevented. Dramatic music swells as Gunn explains why that’s not exactly true. He stops short, though, saying only that he’s working on the “who?” got the thing through customs. Wesley snarks at him and you can tell Gunn’s doing a, “Yeah, better keep this tidbit on the DL,” note-to-self. Angel says that they can still save Fred, because bodies ain’t shit – souls are where it’s at. Spike says they’re experts on the subject and re: liquified organs, he raises his hand and says, “flash-fried in a pillar of fire saving the world – I got better.” True.
K: I feel the need to add a Monty Python reference here, because of reasons.
Lor: I CHEERED. He just mentioned her name and I was all, “DAMN RIGHT THOSE ARE THE BIG GUNS.”
K: It’s interesting how much more they’re name-dropping Sunnydale characters this season. I mean, part of it is because of Spike’s presence, not to mention Andrew turning up. But it kind of makes me wonder if they weren’t even allowed to mention names more than once a season before courtesy of the shows being on rival networks…
Sweeney: This is interrupted by the arrival of Illyria, smashing shit up and tossing Harmony aside. Hat Trick jizzes himself blahblahing about how he knew she’d come because of his worship.
Evil Radio Shack. Hat Trick continues to embarrass himself, with the story of how he first masturbated to Illyria at age 11. (L: I’m so glad I wasn’t the only thinking that’s basically what he confessed t0.) He pulls up his shirt to show her that he stitched a thing under his skin, which bound her to him. (K: Any religion that requires you to surgically insert things into your body gets a big fat NOPE FOREVER from me.) Illyria is unimpressed. Her last Qwa’ha Xahn was taller. Hat Trick is crestfallen. GOOD. FUCK YOU. Illyria’s mad that the world is different now and she can fix it by ripping her shirt open. I guess that ancient knowledge also taught her how being a woman on TV works.
Lor: And she definitely knows what show she’s on…
Sweeney: Angel is on the phone with Giles and apparently Willow is on another plane right now. Angel is pissed AND SO AM I. YELL EXTRA LOUD FOR ME, ANGEL. Gunn assures Wes that it’ll work out because it has to work out. Wesley says that he’s lost all reason and, as such, has been unreasonable. Still, he apologizes for taking that out on Gunn, who has done all he can. Gunn gets choked up by this but still doesn’t confess. Ugh ugh ugh. I’m torn because I dislike the inevitable you-failed-to-use-your-words EXPLOSION but I’m also pretty sure Wes would throw Gunn through that magic manpire glass if he heard the truth right now. When Angel hangs up on Giles he throws his phone at the wall. NOT THE FIRST TIME ANGEL HAS DONE THAT! I only know because it happened back when I was regularly putting forth the effort to gif this show:
Lor: We called bullshit on the message Andrew had that Buffy was basically giving Angel a big fuck you. I buy this kind of behavior slightly more for Giles, but in general, the idea that they are snubbing him this way doesn’t ring true to me. That may just be my FEELS talking.
K: I dunno. Giles was always very much about protecting Buffy from things he didn’t think she was able to deal with. Like, for instance, Ben. He knew that Buffy would always see Ben as an innocent who needed to be kept safe, despite the fact that he was also Glory. So Giles did what he had to do to keep the world – and Buffy – safe. He’s doing to same thing here. He knows that Buffy would fly back to LA in an instant if Angel needed her, and he knows that Illyria is more than Buffy can handle. But she’d throw herself into the fight anyway because that’s what she does. He’s protecting his Slayer, but he’s also protecting himself from yet another situation where Buffy could die. #TeamReadingTooMuchIntoThings
Sweeney: Anyway, Angel says that they’re still on their own and they’re going to find Illyria, which his Harmony’s cue to come in and say they need to smack Illyria a new one for her, gesturing to her face and saying it’s so going to leave a mark.
Evil Radio Shack. Illyria’s doing a whole big ritual with her sarcophagus. It magically imbues her with the power of a sweet new leather bodysuit. That’s it. That’s its whole power. (L: That’s some major style foresight from this ancient evil.) (K: I’ll just be over here being grateful that she got a leather bodysuit rather than a ridiculous comic book style outfit with boob cutouts and legs for days. Thanks, Ancient Evil.) Illyria says she’s ready to begin because she’s got her Bad Girl Wardrobe on. Does she need her hair crimped too? Or is the blue an acceptable variant? Related question: does this mean Mac has Bad Girl Powers too? The deep philosophical questions of Traumaland are many.
K: Lucky for him that it’s night time!
Sweeney: Upstairs, they gang try to figure out how she managed to get by them and it takes them all of 15 seconds to figure out that she manipulated time. Cool.
In Angel’s office, Spike makes Angel pause from MISSION MODE for some real talk. He says that he was standing right in front of her but there was no scent of Fred there. Angel’s not ready to entertain the idea that Fred’s really gone. He hasn’t been reading the comments in which People Who Know The Future have been having All The Feelings for a week now. *AHEM* (I’m teasing. Snow Baiting’s counter is pointing-out-when-PWKtF-are-bad-at-secrets.) Angel says that he lost Cordelia because some THING crawled inside her and used her up and he won’t let that happen again.
K: That knife pull is the most ridiculous thing ever. Also, I feel the need to stop and rant for a moment. Because I’m pretty sure that Whedon’s justification of killing Fred was probably along the lines of “But it’s okay, because we replaced her with another female character – Illyria!”. Which, NO. Illyria is NOT a female character. Illyria is – as we established in the previous episode – an ancient and genderless demon, repeatedly referred to as “it”. And while “it” happens to inhabit the body of a woman, that doesn’t make Illyria a woman. It makes her Vincent D’Onofrio in Men in Black – an alien (in the original sense of the word) wearing a meat suit. The meat suit of a woman who was killed off because Whedon couldn’t be arsed coming up with a storyline for her. I hate everything. You know, just for a change.
Sweeney: Evil Radio Shack. Harmony is tearing the office apart while ranting about what a shit Whedon Hat Trick is. Wes stares forlornly at the sarcophagus. “She was curious. That’s Fred she didn’t put it into containment immediately. How things work. What makes them special. She was always searching for what other people couldn’t see. She was just curious. I think I hate her a little for that.” FEELS. He asks Harmony for tools to pry it open which she gives him, along with another helping of feels: “The girl of your dreams loved you. That’s more than most people ever get.” True, but also, that’s not much consolation. (K: Not even a little bit) Wesley says as much and starts smashing the sarcophagus, rather than trying to pry it open. Apparently the smashing helped release not only some aggression but also the purple stone that Fred touched. That was really convenient, Ancient Magicks! Also helpful: Harmony found Hat Trick’s cell phone. He already deleted outgoing and incoming calls, but Harmony thinks to check missed calls too. Good for you, Harm! (L: She has already improved immensely from being the only woman on the Fang Gang!) There are, indeed, three from the hours since he took off.
Pimp Your Brain Lab. Dr. Xhibit (L: A+) mocks Gunn for taking so long to get back to him. He laughs as Gunn roughs him up, but filled with Hat Trick’s basic It’s Too Late bravado, he starts talking pretty quickly. At first it’s stuff Gunn already knows, which earns him a punch. Dr. Xhibit says there is no way to get Fred back. Gunn says he needs to take all the knowledge and everything else too – whatever he needs – to bring Fred back. Dr. Xhibit says it’s too late and for better or worse, Gunn made a deal and he needs to learn to live with that. As Gunn reels from that statement, Dr. Xhibit is knocked out by Wesley, who asks if there’s something Gunn would like to tell him. He doesn’t. It’s basically: “No. I couldn’t confess to Ms. Norbury without getting blamed for the whole burn book.”
Wes explains that Hat Trick was already in contact with the doctor, which Gunn clearly already knew. Gunn confesses what was happening to him, that Dr. Xhibit could fix it, and all it took was a piece of paper. Gunn says he didn’t think anyone would get hurt, but Wesley reminds him that nothing from Wolfram & Hart is ever free. Gunn says he couldn’t go back to being just muscle and he didn’t know it would be one of them – surely not Fred. Wesley says that he understands that part – the not wanting to go back. He doesn’t understand, however, the failure to use his words. For that, he stabs him in the stomach. (L: Not using words makes me feel pretty stabby too, Wes.)
K: So basically, we’re going to recycle that whole Wesley-stole-Connor-and-got-his-throat-slit storyline, except with Gunn and a stab wound to the stomach. YAY…
Sweeney: Well, that’s a bit complicated, though: Wes doesn’t remember that he ever did that. It’s not a wholly faulty recycling when you consider that he had a lot of time in his life taken away from him.
Wolfram & Hart. Angel tosses Wes around a bit for the stabbing. Wes says he avoided the major organs so Gunn will *probably* live. Wes also gives no fucks about making this all right because nothing is or ever will be all right. Wesley again tells Angel shit he doesn’t want to hear, saying that Fred’s soul was destroyed in the process. Wesley says that what and when Gunn knew doesn’t change the fact that he let her die. Now it’s Angel’s turn for full disclosure. He could have saved Fred, but only if thousands of others died in her place. And worse, from what I gather: It’s kind of irrelevant now, but basically they made it sound like Illyria would have been contained in all those thousands instead of just the one? Y/N?
Anyway, Angel implores Wesley to bury his epic feels so that they can focus on THE MISSION, which is stopping Illyria before -. Spike enternouncefinishes, “she unleashes hell on Earth.” He’s wiping Dr. Xhibit blood off his hands. Dr. Xhibit gave up a name for them to look up in old books.
In the old books that name turns out to be a place. The location where she was supposed to rise, along with an army. It’s her old temple. “You think I would’ve seen something like that parked next to the Ralph’s,” Angel snarks. Quoted because hearing them mention Ralph’s now reminds me of Lorraine and the first time she came to Coachella with me. (L: Everyone kept mentioning Ralph and I thought it was some uncle or cousin. There was a huge and audible, “oooooh!” when I found out it was a grocery store.) (S: It was delightful.) Anyway, only Illyria can open the gateway to her magical temple.
Somewhere Near The Ralph’s. Illyria asks how the hell weak ass humans could come to control this world. Setting aside fire and opposable thumbs, Hat Trick offers that humans are pretty sneaky. True. We are indeed. “You are a race of deceivers,” Illyria says. There’s a meta joke in there: we are the race of television and movies. We’ve created countless jobs that involve various kinds of deception. Hat Trick once again talks too much and has to be silenced by Illyria. That’s my favorite thing that she does. She needs to keep doing that.
K: That would be a super handy power to have around certain can-never-shut-up people in my life. “You’ll get your voice back when you understand the value of being succinct, dammit!”
Sweeney: She tries to work her mojo and open the gateway, but it’s blocked. Hat Trick figures Wolfram & Hart is somehow involved, being that they really like for stuff to happen on their timetable. Illyria says that in her time The Wolf, Ram, and Hart were so weak as to be barely above the vampire. LOL. Fitting. You remove the biggest and baddest players and the former bottom-feeders rise up. Hat Trick’s prepared for this, though, having brought a skeleton key.
Wolfram & Hart Hospital. Gunn is beaten up but conscious. Harmony says that there are papers for him to sign. Gunn says Angel probably doesn’t want him signing stuff right now but that’s exactly what those papers are about. Harmony asks if the rumors are true and Gunn confirms. She wants to know how he could do that to his friends and to Fred. “Because I was weak. Because I wanted to be somebody that I wasn’t. Because I don’t know where I fit. Because I never did. Because a thousand other reasons that don’t mean a damn ’cause she’s gone. She’s gone and she’s not coming back, because of me. I did this, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Gunn cries and Harmony stays to comfort him.
Somewhere Near The Ralph’s. As Illyria and Hat Trick are making use of the skeleton key, Angel, Spike, and Wesley arrive for the big confrontation. Hat Trick tells them they should recognize that they’ve already lost. Wesley says that they’ll die trying if it comes to that. Angel echoes that sentiment and Illyria refers to him as the “protector” of these people. I’m reaching here, but I think we’re all at a feels level where it’s necessary. CHAMPION! shots again. Illyria asks why Angel would die for these lowly humans, asking if even Hat Trick is among the ones he’d die for. Angel confirms that he would because even Actual Worst humans like Hat Trick are still human and thus inherently better than the horror that came before, i.e. Illyria et. al. Just as Angel is in the middle of his big speech about how even Hat Trick is worth fighting for, a shot is fired, killing Hat Trick. Angel turns to ask Wes if he was even listening. I feel guilty because someone just died, but I chuckled a bit.
Lor: Me too. Just from his dramatic, “ugh, SERIOUSLY WES?” head turn. And murder is bad everyone… BUT FUCK KNOX.
K: Yup, you’re definitely not alone on the chuckling, Sweeney. And yes, murder is definitely bad. But THANK GOD.
Sweeney: After a Not Break, Illyria says they killed her Qwa’ha Xahn and it offends her that they think he matters. Angel says that he’s not the problem but her. A visually cool fight happens in which Illyria kicks their asses. It ends when Illyria shows herself to be the original McKayla Maroney, saying that they were unimpressive.
K: I got distracted in this scene, because I couldn’t help but picture how it had been shot. “Okay, so now Alexis jumps through the air and lands on a crash mat. Then David and James have to stop running RIGHT HERE so that you don’t trip over the crash mat, and look shocked. Cool? GO.”
Sweeney: On the other side of the portal, Illyria climbs some stairs telling Wesley that he’s too late because her army is about to rise, leaving the world to her again. At the top of the stairs, though, she finds her Temple Near The Ralph’s in ruins. She falls to the floor with all the sads about how her world is gone. Wesley points a gun at her head, saying that she now knows how he feels. She does her trick and jumps back through a portal before he can get that in shot. Probably would have bounced back at him, so I’ll wager it’s for the best. Looks like she left the portal open for him, too.
K: How thoughtful!
Sweeney: Wolfram & Hart. The defeated And Then There Were Three Fang Gang try to map out next steps. Angel says he doesn’t want any more surprises. This is episode 16, Angel. Your show has 6 episodes left. Surprises will be many. Illyria, in spite of being without her army, still has enough power to be a threat. Wesley says that the regrouping and taking care of it plan is really all they can do. He excuses himself to the lab. Spike askes if the offer to be sent abroad is still good, but doesn’t actually want to take it because him staying is what Fred would have wanted. He surprises himself when he realizes it’s what he wants too. What’s happening in LA is important and he figures that if Fred gave her life for it, the least he can do is give what’s left of his. Guys, I think I give a whole half a fuck about Spike now. We didn’t have nearly enough time to heal those deep, deep wounds and get us over the 50% mark but I’d say we’re super near it. Like, at least 40% of a fuck. This is a good speech. I’m a sucker for good hero speeches. “The fight’s coming Angel, and we both feel it. And it’s going to be a hell of a lot bigger than Illyria. Things are gonna get ugly. That’s where I live.”
Evil Radio Shack. Illyria is confused by Wesley continuing to grieve for a single life. He asks why she’s there, but she’s not entirely sure. Illyria refers to Fred as a shell again and Wesley snaps. She realizes that things having names is important to him. Illyria says that Winifred Burkle can’t return to him, but she has little memories. Illyria does this little lightning finger trick and repeats Fred’s last words in Fred’s voice. I’ve been meaning to point this out the whole episode but this moment, in particular, drives home how fucking AMAZING Amy Acker is. Holy shit. I used to think Denisof was the best actor on this show, but Acker may be stealing that title from him now. It’s a full-bodied, full-voiced transformation. Illyria and Fred are two distinct characters and it’s more than just the Bad Girl Styling. I’m not sure it’s quite Maslany levels of epic, but this girl is a powerhouse.
Lor: AGREED. I was waiting for the right time to bring it up, but hot damn, she’s completely embodied this other character. She does this wide eyed, almost robotic movement that is miles away from the awkward, all arms and legs way Fred used to move. (K: It’s PHENOMENAL. It’s sort of jerky in an I-don’t-know-how-this-body-works kind of way, but also really fluid and graceful. Which makes very little sense, I know. But there you have it.) It’s completely fantastic and you can almost see why Whedon wanted to murder one of the best characters on this show just to have Amy Acker play another one. Well, okay, no I still don’t actually see why, but good job Amy!
Sweeney: Continuing this scene that we so rudely interrupted: Wesley cuts her off, because, you know FEELINGS and that was shit was way ruder than my interruption. Illyria says that she has nowhere to go and has all these feelings she doesn’t understand. Wesley says that her place is dead and turned to ash with her people. She doesn’t argue, only says that she is here and must learn to walk in this world. Illyria says she’ll need his help. Wesley says that he can only help if she stops killing. They have a bit of an ethical conversation about his murder of Hat Trick – why he did it and whether or not it was just. Wesley agrees that yes, he will help if she abides. “Because I look like her?” she asks. Yes. My heart breaks. These two. The characters and these two actors. Shit.
K: Thank God we can all get rid of our feels by watching Much Ado About Nothing…
Sweeney: Illyria looks down at the sarcophagus and says that they cling to what is gone and asks if there’s anything else. Wesley says that there’s hope that they find something worthy. “That your life will lead you to some joy. That after everything, you can still be surprised.” Illyria asks if that’s enough to live on. Wesley just looks at her, sending us into a montage of feels. Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Spike, Angel all sit alone doing some solitary brooding. The montage brings us back to Wesley, putting Fred’s things into boxes. Packing up her life. That gut-wrenching part of the grieving process.
Illyria looks at the sarcophagus and we cut back to the Fred flashback that started A Hole In The World. She runs back to hug her mom goodbye one last time before getting into her car to drive off. She smiles as the music sings about dreaming of a place to call home. End credits.
FUCK. Feelings. I have them. As you all shared your feels dump after Smile Time, I asked someone who said she had to tap out for the rest of the season if it was just the epic feels or if it was badly executed, too. I won’t lie, you guys hyped up S5 a whole lot and the first ten episodes all pretty much sucked, so I was a little dubious.
Having gotten that out of the way, so far, this has all been fairly well executed, which is rare for this show. We’re talking two episodes, and yeah, there’s the occasional plot hole, but it has packed a lot of emotional punch. I hate that Fred was chosen for this plot but I do feel, between these two episodes, that Fred got a proper death. I phrased my question with reference to Tara, whose death, was just abysmally handled. (I talked about this at length in my Buffy worst-of vlog, if you care.) I hate that Fred died. I don’t want her to have died. I want her back, but these two episodes were the death she deserved if it had to happen.
I don’t particularly think it had to happen, though, which is another issue entirely. There’s still a lot to be said about the awful shit Whedon does to the women in the Buffyverse, and his reliance on all manner of mystical pregnancies. This episode brings that up rather directly – Cordelia is probably the shining example of a female character being downright abused by the writing. (Which is to say that we’re not just talking about bad shit happening to her – the character was violated in a myriad of ways.) To that end, I can’t pretend it doesn’t unsettle me a little that they chose to off Fred. Fred didn’t have to be the vessel. It’s frustrating that they chose to kill off the only title credits female character on this sausage fest of a show. Why couldn’t they actually get back to writing Fred as the girl who survived five years in Pylea instead, if they wanted to show off Amy?
I do appreciate the moments she got in the last episode – the first time in a while it felt as though she was written like the Fred we first met – as well as the sheer badassery that is Amy Acker’s portrayal of Illyria.
Lor: On the topic of Illyria, I will say that I was doubtful of her as a character. I mean, here we are with yet another evil, ancient, seemingly unbeatable power, yada, yada, right? The ending of this episode surprised me. I’m not sure where they are going to take Illyria, but they end the episode with her grieving her own loss in Fred’s body next to Wesley. Ballsy, and insane, and intense and not at all what I was expecting. It made the fact that Illyria finds her temple in ruins (convenient!) bearable. There are losses that we can do nothing about. There are losses that happen despite are best efforts, things that blindside us. That seemed to be the point, and I appreciated that, and this episode as a whole.
I, like Sweeney, don’t really think Fred’s death had to happen either, but now that it has happened, I’m excited to see where it will lead the other characters. Spike’s stepping up, Gunn hits rock bottom and Wesley is just firing shots and doling his own brand of payback left and right. I hope they follow through with this character changing momentum until the end.
K: Look, this and the previous couple of episodes have been much stronger than anything we’ve seen from this show in approximately 5eva. It’s a good episode, and it’s setting up a whole lot of stuff for the rest of the season. Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof are, as we’ve all said, brilliant throughout. But I don’t really like this episode. As I said before, I don’t see Illyria as a female character, so as awesome as it is to see Amy Acker doing amazing fight scenes, I still resent the fact that we had to lose a female character in order to get those scenes. Some of the plot lines – Gunn being responsible, Wesley being all rage and vengeance, a female character being killed off for no reason – feel really recycled. And I can’t help but wonder how much of what’s to come was meant to happen anyway and how much was changed because the show got cancelled unexpectedly. In short: SIGH.
Sweeney: I mentioned this in the recap, but to reiterate, isn’t the recycling sort of a consequence of unwriting part of the Fan Gang’s history? I’d like to see them actually address that element of it, and maybe they don’t and won’t, which would be annoying. Still, the vague feeling of, “We’ve been here before,” makes a certain kind of sense because even though we have, none of them remember it.
Anyway, I have all the feelings. Now I’d like to also have all the tissues. And alcohol.
Next time: Angel, Spike and Gunn track down Lindsay in a hell dimension in Angel S05 E17 – Underneath.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.