Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

I've only got a few minutes before I have to go to my doctor's appointment, but I woke up this morning going over and over last night's Angel in my mind, and I wanted to jot down some ideas while I still remember them. Even though I didn't find last night's episode as profound or intriguing as the previous three episodes (possibly that has something to do with the latent 'shipper in me, drumming its heels on the floor and screaming, "No, no, no, no, no!" while threatening to hold its breath until it turns blue, unless I 'say it's not so!' -- but of course, I can't be sure), after a night of turning things over and around, there's plenty to talk about and wonder about.

"Just like old times"...only, not.

After the way last week's episode "Time Bomb" ended, I was surprised to see an apparent "back to business as usual" attitude in some many of our folks this week. Except for Gunn's pointed remark to Angel about not wanting to lose another baby with the bath-water and Illyria no longer being able to hear the plants sing, you'd almost think nothing had changed. Almost . . . if it weren't for the fact that the dominant theme of this episode was yelling, "You better move on, 'cause you sure can't go back to the way things used to be."

Of course, in order to demonstrate, unambiguously, that you can't go back, many people in this episode do go back, almost appearing to turn back time (though we've been told that that's one of the things Illyria CAN'T do any longer, at least not like she used to).

Angel and Spike go chasing after Buffy, agreeing to put aside their mutual dislike in favor of their mutual desire to see her safe and happy...with whichever one of them she might happen to choose, in the end. (Spike: "Partners, then?" Angel: "Just like old times.") In the end, of course, it's just like old times only in the sense that they've once again been thoroughly out-done and over-matched by 'The Immortal.' And Andrew, of all people, ends up giving them the 'get a life and get on with it' speech ("The point is, she's moving on. You guys do the same. You might catch her one day . . . one of you, anyway. But, you keep running in place, you're gonna find she's long gone." "Buffy loves both of you, but she's gotta live her life. People change. You guys should try it sometime.") Our guys finish the episode saying they're going to move on, only not making any actual moves at all, except to stay where they are, side by side, having (reluctantly, it almost seemed) decided that keeping Buffy in stasis or under mind-control to keep her from moving on without them wasn't really an option.

Meanwhile, Fred's beloved-by-all-the-A.I.-gang-'cause-they're-just-so-great-and-supportive parents make a surprise appearance (I, at least, was surprised to learn that nobody had thought it necessary or their responsibility to tell her parents that Fred was even sick, much less that she was dead and being inhabited by a demon-king -- I guess our gang isn't used to dealing with real, permanent human death in their co-workers and doesn't know the protocols expected by the rest of us), in response to which Illyria demonstrates an unnerving ability to 'pass' as Fred. That just twists the knife in Wesley, of course, but Roger and Trish go on their way to Hawaii, apparently content and unaware that their darling daughter has ceased to be. When Illyria then offers Wesley everything he seems to want -- the illusion of Fred, alive and in love with him -- Wesley ends up telling her to never, ever do that again: "Stop it! Change back. Be blue, be anything. Don't be her. Don't ever be her." To which Illyria, once more blue after Wesley has left the room, responds menacingly, "As you wish." No going back of any kind, for either of them, it seems, and they're both left rather pissed off about it, I'd say.

"When in Rome . . ."

VERY briefly, since I'm completely out of time for now:

Is the Immortal what Angel (in the foreshadowing from last week's episode) is going to try to turn himself into? Darla: "...I mean, he's not some common vampire, he's... I don't know what he is -- a giant, a titan straddling good and evil, serving no master but his own, considerable desires."

Or is the Immortal just a shout-out to "Superstar" and the impossible paragon of everyone's ideals that Jonathan turned himself into, once, with no more lasting impact than the comic relief of seeing our two 'champions' feeling like they're doomed forever to be "Shemps" to his "Mo"? (Unless the intended implication was that the Immortal isn't a stooge at all, in which case it's really lowering for them to be the Shemps.)

Is Illyria about to go major-league evil on our gang, in order to play in the WR&H club, since Wesley doesn't want to let her play with him?

And what about the niggling question of Fred's soul -- is there any hope of a "phoenix"-like rebirth out of the ashes? If Fred's soul was consumed in the process of bringing Illyria back to life, is there any slightest possibility that it's starting to come back, rising almost un-noticed in the back of Illyria's mind?

More later.