Angel 5x20 The Girl in Question
Well, I think this is our very last flashback Angel and Spike episode and it was SO GOOD. I've said it before, but I could easily watch and Angel/Spike backstory adventure and I'm sure a lot of you would love it as well!
I'm seriously going to have to look up some fan fiction when I am done haha or finally find the Buffy/Angel books!
yt edit: https://youtu.be/6ZGc2OHngOs
Comments (10)
I love the subtle character shift/development with Illyria this episode. She goes from saying "I go because it suits me" to almost immediately doing what Wesley asks and saying, "As you wish" at the end. There is great one shot comic set sometime between this episode and the next one, where Illyria goes on a side quest to understand why Wesley so strongly rejected the idea of a relationship with her 'Fred' persona, and to try and figure out what it actually means to be human and who Fred really was. You can read it for free here https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Angel-Spotlight/Issue-1?id=176517#1 No spoilers for the end of the season, but don't go any further than this comic and read the rest of them.
Despite a myth building up about it, Sarah Michelle Geller was never approached to be in this episode. It was always intended to be long shots of a blonde. however Dawn was intended to appear but Michelle Trachtenberg was busy so they had Andrew appear instead. It a real fun episode but I always feel it would have been better place a bit earlier in the season.
I'm so glad seeing your reaction *you completely got this* (Did you record your intro after watching or was the reference to 'Buffy' just synchronicity? I didn't get it. It took me many rewatches. Before I saw the light, (that it is a great capital-c Comedy), I thought it a lukewarm filler sucking the pace of drama out of the back run. And as mentioned by Jade there was a rumour about SMG appearing: a false story persisted for years that she had to cancel TGIQ at the last minute. I felt as Jade did. That it'd be better placed earlier in the season. But I concede we couldn't have had the heartbreaking B-plot in parallel. So as to thinking this episode is filler, we will speak of it NO MORE! The episode is in some ways reminiscent of the season 1-3 tangential adventures with their own humourous twists, though much better. In that way it acts as a goodbye to the show we once knew. The title, TGIQ, reflects in both Fred and Buffy and the theme of moving on. And the B-plot is POW! As to behind-the-scenes of Buffy, yes, there were issues. There were splits with Whedon and Hannigan on one side (and the piece of trash that is Nicholas Brendon), and SMG on the other. Without digging up the uglies, Boreanaz went out of his way to play peacemaker. He took SMG under his wing and protected her from negative characters in the production - there were others - where she worked very long hours. They developed a close professional and personal relationship and it sounded to me like we may never have got BtVS in its glory years without that friendship.
Amy Acker is fantastic in this episode.
Illyria is so good it... almost makes me not miss Fred NOOOOO I take it back!!
Ciao Juliette 👋 I hope your week got off to a good start. Such a good episode! I'll never get bored of Angel & Spike and their petty (but hilarious) quarreling. I honestly enjoy their interactions more then any other characters in the Buffyverse. We really did need to see more of them together. I agree with you, it is crazy that nobody told Fred's parents what had happened to her. Did they forget or has there just been too much going on and they were waiting for the right time? In regards to Illyria pretending to be Fred, I don't know how I feel to be honest. It spares Fred's parents the heartache of knowing their daughter is dead, but they're bound to find out sooner or later anyway so it's just delaying the inevitable right? And of course seeing Illyria looking & acting like Fred would be devastatingly hard for Wesley. (also, this episode made me realise how much I miss Fred and her super endearing ways) We're so close to the end now and I can't wait to see what you make of the remaining episodes. As always, thanks for another excellent reaction Juliette. Have yourself a lovely day 💜
Ciao, Neil! As long as we don't speak French, we're okay! I adore seeing Spike and Angel together. Bringing Spike on board was the best move for this season. It adds such a wonderful tension and comedy! I wish we had a spin off show of them, but... them's the breaks. Thank you, Neil. I hope you have been looking after yourself and keeping well 💜
The audible Slayers: A Buffyverse audio book is really good and is done by quite a few of the Buffy cast. You should definitely listen to it and if you can it would be great to here your reaction.
Hi Juliette! You will find tons of Buffyverse books/comics out there. Recently two backstory books about Tara and Spike were published and were quite fun to read. (“The Bewitching Hour” and “Bloody Fool for Love”). 😊
WOW I didn't know they were still making books! I need to get into the books and comics, I keep forgetting to look them up on Ebay or somewhere similar!