S03.E05: Fredless

[Joe Hellandback]

The Good; Wonderful acting by AA when Fred's finally reunited with her parents. CC and Wes' Buffy/Angel show is FANTASTIC! A good ep all around. The scene where Fred calms herself at the bus station by reciting Pi and the crazy looking homeless guy moves away from HER is the funniest scene in all of Angel and may be my favourite Angel scene ever.

The Bad; Bit of a reach that they just let the bugs go?

Best line: Fred; (when reunited with her parents) "I didn't mean to get so lost, I'm sorry I got so lost" (tears me up every time)

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés Inverting the Hollywood cliché; Bugs ain't evil and neither really is the demon Angel kills, just driven mad by the eggs in it's skull. We think Fred's parents are evil but they're not. They're also able to accept AI's rather odd lifestyle

In disguise; 8

DB get's his shirt off; 9,

Cheap Angel; 7

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 11 Wes: 6 Gunn; 3 Lorne; 2

Fang gang knocked out: Cordy: 11 Angel: 14 Wes: 5 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 1 Lorne; 2

Kills: chalk up one demon bug for Fred's mum and one demon for Angel Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 28 vamps, 40 and 1/2 demons, 3 humans Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 7 demons+1 vamp Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 16 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 8 vamps+ 6 demons. Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 2 Angel: 2

Alternate Fang Gang: Cordy: 2 Angel: 7

Characters killed: 43

Recurring characters killed; 7;

Total number of Angel Investigations: 5, Angel, Cordy, Wes, Gunn and Fred

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 11 Wes; 1

Packing heat; Wes; 3 Doyle; 1 Angel; 1 Gunn; 1

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Cordy: 3 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis Angel: 5; Buffy, Darla and The Transcending Furies Wes; 2; Virginia and the bleached blonde

Kinky dinky: Fred's mum asks if Fred is making 'movies', LA's porn industry probably bigger than it's tourism, film and music combined. Check out CCs fishnets. She seems to revel in playing nurse for the gang and later tells Angel she could 'soothe his ass off'.

Captain Subtext; Lorne wears eyeliner which Fred's dad says men from Texas tend not to do (never been to a 'Gay Rodeo'?).

Know the face, different character; 3

Parking garages; 5,

Buffy characters on Angel; 16 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony

Questions and observations; A nice ep with Fred now part of the gang more than ever. AI are in awe of the PI the Burkle's hire who can find Fred with only a letter to go on. The Alien films are referred to with JW of course writing part 4. Fred's dad refers to Spiro Agnew who was Nixon's vice president (he was caught up in a corruption scandal before Watergate which is why Gerald Ford, the speaker of the house becomes President following Tricky Dickie's resignation). Famously his name is an anagram of 'grow a penis'. Angel likes ice cream, weird I thought he couldn't enjoy normal food. Lorne smokes and is still bitter about what Gunn's friends did to his bar. Fred considers going to Vegas for a new job,

Spoiler

well one day she will. Wes' talk of his own parents puts Lineage into perspective.
 

 Angel likes golf and apparently watched the Bob Hope Desert Classic which was presumably played in Vegas. In the daytime?

 
Marks out of 10; 7/10 a funny and touching romp before we get down to the more serious stuff of season 3