Fredinator 2 ? This Time It's Personal

Angel Episode 4.5 Supersymmetry
AirDate: 3rd Nov 02

Pay attention, gentlemen. You can send flowers, you can write poems, but nothing says "I love you" quite like snapping the neck of the physics professor who sent your girlfriend into cross-dimensional slavery for five years. Gunn, you old smoothie.

In episode 4.5 'Supersymmetry', Angel relaxed into more of a sidekick role, as Fred was clearly the central figure of the evening's tale – both for her return to prominence as a physics smarty, and for her graduation to crossbow wielding renegade, hellbent on retribution. There were a few lines and moments that I wasn't so crazy about, but on the whole this script by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain put the Fang gang through their paces in a story that finally brought closure to Fred's Pylean exile – we learned not only how and why she ended up there, but who was responsible. And you remember what they say about payback? According to Angel and Gunn, beware of it because it wrecks everything.

"That's Rex – Oedipus Rex", said the suave young vampire offspring as he romanced the object of his old man's affection. I get that Cordy isn't actually Connor's mom, but with her memory intact she'd be the closest thing to a maternal figure in the little firecracker's screwed up life. So his temporary success at wooing her away from Angel probably goes down as a major achievment in his quest to get back at dad. I have to think that Holtz is watching this play out from somewhere in the misty beyond, and he's laughing himself SICK! "Go boy! That's it! Now hide his hair gel!" Holtz was a perfect example of how the need for vengeance, and each instance of its exaction, can rot you from within. But now Connor's personal vendetta has suffered a setback as Cordy has decided to follow her instincts and return to the Hyperion. The "little hellspawn" will no doubt see this as one more thing that Angel has taken away from him.

Speaking of stealing, I loved the moment where we learned about Cordy's tendancy to steal the covers. How great was that? Tight close-up on Angel's brooding face as a lone trombone plays a big droopy WAH-WAAAAH to herald the egg on it. It appears the acorn has one-upped the tree, as ANGEL'S feet have never been uncovered by Cordy's late night selfishness (remember when Cordy used to be selfish? I kinda liked her more back then). Which brings me to a thought that flashed through my mind at that point. Note to all women who fantasize about having Spike or Angel as a bedmate – Better get an electric blanket, because you'll never be warming your feet on THEIR corpse-cold legs (sorry, but ick!).

The amnesia angle has been used to great effect since Cordy's return, even if only as another hurdle placed to further delay her inevitable romance with Angel. Wait – maybe inevitable is too confident a word. By this point I should stop assuming I know where Joss is headed with each season's story. Also, I must again invoke the memory of Moonlighting, and remind Joss that it's always more interesting BEFORE they get together. Well, unless of course they finally become lovers and Angel finds himself really happy. Maybe even blissful. Hmmmm…

But as I said, this episode belonged to Fred. First Wesley made the transition from awkward academic to tough talking master of disaster, and now our resident shrinking violet (who I must say looked FINE in that skirt as she climbed all over Gunn) has found her own inner gorilla. It's not that I couldn't sympathize with her need to punish the man who sent her to Pylea to protect his own status in the physics community (although I think the writers' choice for his motive was a bit weak) – it just felt so strange to hear her utter lines like, "You remember what they say about payback? Well I'm the bitch!" With such action hero witticisms boiling up from her usually gentle heart, I half expected her to take up smoking and grow some stubble before the episode's conclusion. Okay, maybe not the stubble.

Not that the sidekicks didn't earn their keep this week too. Angel & Chuckie G's trip to Thwack Comics was amusing. It was interesting to learn that Gunn is one of two regulars who obviously reads comics (I read 'em regularly for about 20 years and I can't cite specific issues by number), and we learned that even the fanboys on Angel spend a lot of time discussing his adventures in "the chatty rooms". At first that bothered me and I thought they shouldn't have included it, but on further consideration I suppose it's not unbelievable. A lot of regular citizens have been helped by Angel since he moved to L.A., and it only stands to reason that word has gotten around – even if only as legend. Gunn's crack about the decoder ring was funny. You think this was another example, on the heels of Buffy's nerdy trio, of Joss poking a little fun at his harshest critics? It's kind of like Kevin Smith's parody of the AICN Talkbackers in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Both Smith & Whedon live under the geek microscope, so they take occasional opportunities in their art to say, "Keep talking, but I know who you are, Mister Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game." Be glad their only form of payback is some friendly kidding – I hear Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is available for hire.

"Yeah, yeah – Hulk smash", smirked Lilah as she tore out of the underground parking lot. With this quip, she gave us our second nod to comics of the evening (with both being upcoming movie releases. Coincidence?), and she also proved once again that NOTHING scares her. Aren't the bad guys supposed to be at least a little intimidated by Angel? Not our Ms. Morgan. She knows fully well that calling the shots at Wolfram & Hart (but still answering to the senior partners, of course), means you can pretty much slide through life like you're wearing margarine pants. Unfortunately, her ruthless manipulations may have finally put a stake in things with Wesley, as her impressive gift ("Here – this is to protect your melon from all that repetive contact with the headboard") doesn't change the fact that he's still stinging from last week (not from THAT! From the way she played him), and he's proven that he doesn't take kindly to being used. The timing couldn't be better, as he not only seemed more than willing to help Fred exact her vengeance just for its own sake, but he also clearly still has a gleam in his eye for her.

Will this be an issue in the coming weeks? Last season we had the Gunn, Fred, Wes triangle. Are we now about to explore the Gunn, Fred, Wes, Lilah, um… rectangle? While I initially saw Gunn's solution to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Pylea as touching (see first paragraph), it doesn't change the fact that he and Angel were firmly opposed to killing the prof. Now that the job is done (Jenny Calendar-style), will his sermon to Fred about the unshakeable burden that comes with taking a human life resonate in their relationship? When Gunn shocked all of us (congrats to the writers, by the way – that was quite a "twist") by doing the dirty work so Fred wouldn't have to, I couldn't decide if the slackjawed look on her face was one of love, or one of cold realization. She just said to Wesley earlier in the episode that Charles wasn't capable of such ruthlessness, and that's why she loves him. So what happens now that she knows he is? Chuck & Fred now have a pretty hefty secret to keep from the rest of the Angel Investigations team – will it be too much for their relationship to bear? If they split up, will Wesley be there to console Fred? It's obvious that Lilah isn't prepared to give up on her man, and don't forget what I said about the nasty resources she has at her disposal. Fred found her game face this week, but hell hath no fury like Lilah Morgan scorned. Maybe Lilah's jealousy is the apocalyptic force that Lorne prophecized in 4.4. I wouldn't be surprised.

Take care, everybody. Sorry for the delay in getting this one finished (the "WE'RE WAITING" emails started arriving last night), but I've been way too busy busy and I also suffered a touch of my chronic writer's block for a while there. 'Spin The Bottle' looks Tabula Ras-iffic enough that I should have plenty to say about it next week.

See you then.

Ron