This is a really great episode that highlights the darker side of Fred and deals with her past. To understand it, you have to go back to the final five episodes of season two. That's when we're first introduced to Fred, then a missing grad student. It turned out that she was sucked into the alternate dimension of Pylea, where humans were treated as cow slaves and Fred was stranded for five long years. It understandably messed with her head and she's just now recovering from the ordeal. This episode deals with her trauma and leads to her break up with Gunn. It also sets the stage for the Wes and Fred romance that drives a large part of season five. All in all, you shouldn't miss it.
The episode revolves around Fred and the new physics paper she's written. It's causing quite a stir in the brainiac community and Fred is thrilled to be back among physics stuff and scientists. Angel, Gunn and Lorne are bored and confused by her theories, but they agree to go to hear Fred's guest lecture at her old college. Wes sneaks into to see her speak, and as Team Angel looks on, a portal opens up right over Fred's head. She's nearly swept back into an alternate dimension. Fred is terrified and goes back to writing on walls for awhile. Soon she realizes that her old professor is behind the portals and that he's been sending a lot of students into other dimensions. Fred decides to get some revenge and kill him.
Gunn and Angel try to talk her out of it. They say that if she murders the professor, it will always weigh on her soul. Fred won't listen. She goes to Wesley for help. Wes agrees to assist her in coming up with a plan. When another portal almost gets her, she heads to the university. While she's there, Gunn and Angel arrive. Angel fights one of the professor's demon goons. Fred opens a portal, ready to send the professor to another dimension. Gunn tells her that she can't do something like that and live with herself. Rather than have Fred have the professor's death on her conscious, he steps forward and snaps the professors neck himself. Then he tosses the body into a portal. Afterwards, Fred and Gunn can't look at each other.
There are some excellent parts to this episode. I just love Wes and this episode really highlights his continued longing for Fred. He's reading her articles and actually understanding it. He's sneaking into her lecture and smiling at her jokes. He's helping her plan her revenge and saving her from a portal. Plus, there are some nice Wes and Lilah scenes in this episode. I actually think that they're starting to care for each other more than they know. He accepts that armored helmet she gives him as a "gift," not a "bribe." Which is sweet. It's too bad that the helmet doesn't come back into the show later on. And Lilah follows him around, which confuses Angel and kind of shows that she's getting emotionally attached to Wes. Also, this episode really shows the harder side of Fred. She's usually so sweet that when she decides to really kill her professor, you just have to go "woah!" Finally, I love Angel all happy that he's semi-famous on the internet. "They talk about me in the chatty rooms?!?"
On the down side, why doesn't Gunn just let Fred toss the professor into a portal? It's such a good plan, in a poetic justice sort of way. I don't see why Gunn had to hurt his own sense of morality by killing the guy first. Also, on a nit-picky note- Fred wasn't an undergrad history student in LA, who changed her major like she says here. Season five's "Hole in the World" shows some flashbacks of her saying that she moved to LA from Texas specifically to attend the graduate physics program.
My favorite part of the episode: Fred practicing her speech for Angel, Gunn and Lorne. Lorne's bored, horrified, "ick!" sort of facial expression when she asks them to come to the lecture just cracks me up.
The episode revolves around Fred and the new physics paper she's written. It's causing quite a stir in the brainiac community and Fred is thrilled to be back among physics stuff and scientists. Angel, Gunn and Lorne are bored and confused by her theories, but they agree to go to hear Fred's guest lecture at her old college. Wes sneaks into to see her speak, and as Team Angel looks on, a portal opens up right over Fred's head. She's nearly swept back into an alternate dimension. Fred is terrified and goes back to writing on walls for awhile. Soon she realizes that her old professor is behind the portals and that he's been sending a lot of students into other dimensions. Fred decides to get some revenge and kill him.
Gunn and Angel try to talk her out of it. They say that if she murders the professor, it will always weigh on her soul. Fred won't listen. She goes to Wesley for help. Wes agrees to assist her in coming up with a plan. When another portal almost gets her, she heads to the university. While she's there, Gunn and Angel arrive. Angel fights one of the professor's demon goons. Fred opens a portal, ready to send the professor to another dimension. Gunn tells her that she can't do something like that and live with herself. Rather than have Fred have the professor's death on her conscious, he steps forward and snaps the professors neck himself. Then he tosses the body into a portal. Afterwards, Fred and Gunn can't look at each other.
There are some excellent parts to this episode. I just love Wes and this episode really highlights his continued longing for Fred. He's reading her articles and actually understanding it. He's sneaking into her lecture and smiling at her jokes. He's helping her plan her revenge and saving her from a portal. Plus, there are some nice Wes and Lilah scenes in this episode. I actually think that they're starting to care for each other more than they know. He accepts that armored helmet she gives him as a "gift," not a "bribe." Which is sweet. It's too bad that the helmet doesn't come back into the show later on. And Lilah follows him around, which confuses Angel and kind of shows that she's getting emotionally attached to Wes. Also, this episode really shows the harder side of Fred. She's usually so sweet that when she decides to really kill her professor, you just have to go "woah!" Finally, I love Angel all happy that he's semi-famous on the internet. "They talk about me in the chatty rooms?!?"
On the down side, why doesn't Gunn just let Fred toss the professor into a portal? It's such a good plan, in a poetic justice sort of way. I don't see why Gunn had to hurt his own sense of morality by killing the guy first. Also, on a nit-picky note- Fred wasn't an undergrad history student in LA, who changed her major like she says here. Season five's "Hole in the World" shows some flashbacks of her saying that she moved to LA from Texas specifically to attend the graduate physics program.
My favorite part of the episode: Fred practicing her speech for Angel, Gunn and Lorne. Lorne's bored, horrified, "ick!" sort of facial expression when she asks them to come to the lecture just cracks me up.
