Supersymmetry

Angel Episode Review

In which Fred has Issues and deals with them in a not-entirely-adult manner.

What Happened

One of Fred's papers is published in a scientific journal and she is invited to speak at a conference. In the middle of her presentation, a portal opens up on stage, and the gang begins to wonder if Fred's trip to Pylea was as accidental as it seemed. They eventually realize that Fred's jealous physics professor has been ridding himself of students who might one day show him up by transporting them to other dimensions. When Angel and Gunn suggest she not kill the guy, Fred goes to Wesley for a spell that will provide her the vengeance she craves.

The Good

• Fred's screams of joy. She's a little too perky, sometimes, but I like her anyways.
• "Can I go now?" Connor is such a teenager.
• "Will you tell Fred that? If she thinks we're both stupid, I won't stand out." Gunn has a real inferiority complex developing.
• "Yeah. Yeah. Hulk smash." Did I mention that Lilah rules?
• Fred's earlier mini-explosions (after Gunn got hurt and the whole tasaring Connor thing) make her actions more believable. She has been balancing on the edge for a while.
• Wesley commenting on Fred's article, in complete sentences and with knowledge. He knows the others didn't understand a word of it and takes the opportunity to make himself look good.

The Bad

• Cordi the Slayer. Boo. Hiss.

The Cliche

• Big scary build-up of threatening music. It's a non-reveal of Connor getting some of Cordi's things.
• I love how they flip open a book, turn a page or two and just happen to find what they're looking for.
• Gunn killing the professor, so that Fred doesn't. (See below for more extended griping.)

What Did I Think?

Gunn snaps the professor's neck and tosses him into the portal Fred summoned, telling her that if she kills the guy it will... what? Warp her forever? Like summoning the portal and knowing that your boyfriend killed him because of you isn't going to be a heavy psychic load?

To compound an already annoying situation, we are left hanging in regards to these two. Hero-centrism (the need for the show's "hero" to get the last word) rears its ugly head and we get dragged back into Angel and Cordelia's non-romance. Where was the scene where Fred and Gunn processed what happened? Why did they decide to lie to Angel? Did he guess that they were lying? I kind of got the feeling he did, but now we may never know.

Would it have been so bad to postpone Cordelia's return and her and Angel's talk in the garden until the next episode? One character just went vengeance-crazy and tried to off someone; another character actually committed what amounted to cold-blooded murder. And the story shrugs it off as nothing much. More lines were given to fate of the demon Angel was battling in the Professor's office ("It had nine lives! Isn't that funny?").

I'm not necessarily against Cordelia and Angel being romantically involved, but not only is their burgeoning relationship being handled clumsily, it's being given priority over other, more interesting, elements of this storytelling environment. If this was a Fred-and-Gunn episode, they should have remained the center of attention, right up to the last minute. It was a poor, poor decision to end this episode the way they did.