Shells

Angel Episode Review

In which Wesley acquires a new pet.

What Happened

Wesley tries to talk Illyria into going away, but that doesn't work. She smacks him around a little, then takes off. Going back to Wolfram and Hart, Wes hears about how Gunn and Harmony had been beating up on Knox, until Illyria rescued him.

Unaware that Illyria and Knox have only gone down to the lab, they stand around for a bit going on about how wonderful Fred was and how depressing this all is. Gunn admits that someone got the sarcophagus out of customs, but refrains from telling them who, exactly.

Angel and Spike insist that they can reverse what's happened. Plan A is to contain Illyria while they find Willow. Too bad, Willow's astral projecting in the Himalayas. They finally figure out where Illyria is and confront her. She decides not to stay and is out the door with Knox before Angel hits the sidewalk.

Gunn goes to see the doctor who gave him the brain upgrade, but the man swears there's no way to bring Fred back. That's about when Wesley shows up, shotgun in hand. He tells Gunn he understands why Gunn made a deal to keep his super-smarts and refrains from shooting him.

He stabs him instead.

Spike finds out that Illyria has a temple parked "out of phase" somewhere, containing an army just waiting for her to come along and wake them up. Catching up to her, Wesley undercuts Angel's big speech about Humanity by shooting Knox and killing him.

Illyria doesn't seem to care, nor is she impressed by the gang's fighting skills. She opens the door and strides into her temple; Wesley impulsively jumping in after. Her temple is empty, however, the army long ago turned to dust. Illyria runs, leaving Wes pointing his gun at empty air.

Angel and Spike continue making plans to find Illyria and she continues sneaking around right under their noses. Overwhelmed by the changes to the world over the past million years, she returns to Woflram and Hart and asks Wesley for help understanding where she belongs.

What We Learned

• Illyria is pretty twitchy.
• She's also pretty impervious.
• The body is the tip of the theological.
• Illyria's last Qua'hasan was taller.
• Knox is shrinking a bit in the glory of Her presence.
• A Rick Springfield screen-saver opens up a whole new set of questions.
• Nothing from Wolfram and Hart is ever free.
• Angel doesn't remember seeing "stab Gunn" on the agenda this morning.
• What humans lack in strength, they make up for in extraordinary sneakiness.
• In Illyria's time, "the Wolf, Ram and Hart" were very weak, barely above the vampires.

What Did I Think?

For a show that seems unafraid of occasionally making their characters unlikable, there is the weird fixation on convincing us that Fred is perfect. If just one person hadn't been all "she's so wonderful," I would have had more patience with this.

Angel's insistence that, having lost Cordelia, he wasn't going to see it happen again was the strongest moment. Part of what bugged was all these guys sitting around bitching because they'd failed to protect the poor little girl. Part of it was the mildly contrived timing of Wes and Fred's Ultimate Tragic Romance.

The biggest thing that disappointed me, however, was the ending. Illyria is cool. She looks cool. She fights cool. The idea of an Old One is very interesting, and putting Fred through such a radical change is appealing. It gives Amy Acker something active to do and spins off all kinds of story possibilities.

So, why does she wind up right back where she started, staring mournfully at Wesley while he stares back? Fred was at her most annoying when she was locked into some schmoopy co-dependent relationship. Illyria is a strong character; they had an opportunity to really play around with that. Suddenly, she wants to get in touch with her feelings?

This is not to knock either performer, but the whole "Seven of Nine" scenario gets boring after a while. Not to mention repetitive. We already have Angel and Spike and (in a way) Harmony learning What It Means To Be Human. What new ground is Illyria going to cover that they haven't?

Add to that, Wesley, with the shooting people at random and stabbing Gunn, was well on his way to the Dark Side. I was so waiting for him to snap and join Illyria on some twisted Bonnie and Clyde spree. Instead, he's got a grip? He's willing to take on Illyria as some sort of reclamation project? If he wants a pet, I'd suggest a puppy or a kitten, not a hell goddess.

It would be more interesting.