Did Fred ruin the show?

[Willow Tara]

Now that you say that there were a couple of things Anya says that could play into a Anya/Willow ship. There was something when they were doing the map spell.

Yes Anya sais after the spell: It did get a little sexy didn't it?
And in Tough Love Willow sais she can't sleep without Tara and Anya sais:

(I don't ship Anya and Willow... I just immediately had to think of these two scenes. Didn't find a picture of the spell thing in season 7.)

 

[MarieVampSlayer]

No no no I refuse to even think about this, Fred is smart, Fred is kind, Fred is important!

 

[FaithLehane16]

No. If anything she made the show more interesting. She made better sense as a cast member and character to the show than Charisma/Cordelia did. She proved to be very useful to the team. Fred DIDN'T ruin the show.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I would say Angel was ruined by 1. Ad-Hoc Casting and characterization. 2. No sense of series setting or direction, and 3. Season 4. Fred was a different character from Cordie and Willow, and at least had nice legs, and gave us "A Hole in the World," of the best episodes of the series. As for the relationships, well, it's Buffy. Shippers are a big deal in this fanbase. You can't get rid of the relationships any more than you can get rid of the lesbians in season 6.

 

[FaithLehane16]

At least Fred served more of a purpose in the group than Cordelia does. At least Fred didn't willing fully die. Fred worked her ass off more than Cordy did.

 

[ChaseRules]

I think Fred was a very good part of the show . She did a lot more for it then Cordelia did . I love Cordelia but by the time Fred came around the writers were lost ion what to do with Cordelia & it showed . I really liked Fred myself .

And for the record Fred & Willow would have made a great couple .

 

[BattleofDuty]

She made Season 4 of AtS redeemable, losing Fred in that series would just destroy it as we had Angel being Angelus... Cordy who wasn't Cordy, Wesley 2.0 and Gunn, who was fastly losing himself in the team. So I would say no.

 

[CHK DeWilSon]

I love Fred growth from her first appearance to when she died in Wesley's arms.

I wasn't keen on the relationship with Gunn especially because for me it came out of no where. And I always expected at some point that she and Wesley were going to get together so I am not a fan of the prolonged game of them waiting to do the inevitable when they were planning on going that way in the end. Plus I will admit that they had Wesley a little over intense about his feelings for Fred.
However I just loved them and as there wasn't many great options IMO for ATS couples they have ended up being my favourite in the show.

And I don't think that there couldn't have been a place for Cordy in the team still just because Fred was there. The problems were with CC strain relationship with JW and them seemingly making the perplexing decision to kill Cordy off even if it wasn't suppose to be done in the way it was done. Of course it they had just kept her as Angel's BF and give her a possible outside romance from the team or even one with Gunn. A shame for an original permanent cast member from BTVS.

Ok back to Fred! I think her coming on made the team better and more interesting. If they hadn't put her in a love triangle then it would not had the predictable problems that came about with her, Wesley and Gunn. Although I don't have any problems with Wesley going into his complicated relationship with Lilah. I enjoyed all of Wesley's relationships.

And I could understand her crush on Angel considering he (and the team) saved her and brought her back. She got over it relatively quick with no internal damage to herself. And she blossom quite lovely and organically. And even if they hadn't brought her in it doesn't mean that Cordy still wouldn't have had the same fate and I'm not sure if I'd have found AI team that interesting to watch with it just being all boys!

 

[AnthonyCordova]

I thought most fans appreciated the evolving, changing relationships and the soap opera-y aspect of Buffy and Angel, so I have to say the question surprises me. Wouldn't most fans find static and unchanging relationships boring? Fred made things more complex but I thought that was a good thing!

Me personally I always preferred these shows to others precisely because of the verisimilitude. In real life, friends fall in and out of friendship and love all of the time. In real life, relationships have their highs and their lows. We have to constantly work at relationships and cultivate them. I'll admit watching Fred inadvertently and unintentionally drive a firm wedge between Wes and Gunn pained me greatly, but it was a good pain, because it was true to life and because it made for captivating television!

 

[GraceK]

Fred made the show better. Amy Acker is an amazing actress, and she brought a lot to the show besides a love triangle. We needed more than just Cordelia 🙄. Sorry not sorry, but she’s not the be all end all. A show can have more than just one female character and Cordelia wasn’t enough. Especially given the hijacking and assassination her character in season 3, it ended up being a godsend we had Fred.

 

[Btvs fan]

While I thought Amy Acker was a good actress, I was never a fan of her character until she became Illyria.
The Fred character was always shown as a sort of puritanical/ evangelical Good is good and Bad is bad type of person, with a disposition of an old style evangelical vengeance on anyone she thinks has wronged her. Not really a fan of that type of person anyway. Besides for her to suddenly join W&H with no motivation (Angel/Wes and Gunn all did) never made sense. Even when she's asked direct in Home, the writer doesn't really anwser it and moves on quickly.
When she became Illyria though, yeah she was great

 

[VisionGuy]

I'm not a huge fan of Fred cause she's Mary Sue-ish. But I wouldn't say she ruined the show. Amy Acker is an amazing actress.

 

[LeeJones41]

In a way . . . yes. I never liked her romance with Wes. I found it disturbing in ways in which I would have to write an essay about my feelings. I didn't care for the Charles/Fred/Wes "love triangle". I never had a problem with the idea of a romance between Angel and Cordelia. I had a problem with Fred constantly announcing how "perfect" they were for each other. I didn't need that. I could see for myself that Angel and Cordy balanced each other nicely. And Fred's pronouncements about the relationship nearly ruined the mood.

 

[Anyanka Bunny Slayer]

I thought she died in the middle of S5 not 3?

I'm pretty sure he meant that she arrived at the end of S2 (the best season) and died in the middle of the second best one (S5).

 

[katmobile]

I think Amy Acker just had chemistry with everyone - Aly Hannigan is the same and DB and JM.

 

[telperion66]

Far from it! I wasn't a big fan of the Pylea-based storyline, but from the start of season three onward, Fred just gets better and better.

Her and Gunn are so sweet together, plus they had a real watchability in the third season that I think was unique to anything we've ever seen in the Buffyverse.

In season four, Fred continues to be a strong character, but her performances lack the stardust that we saw in the second half of season three. You could, I suppose, put that down to the writing.

I ignore season five because I am just, well, ignorant!

 

[Taake]

I ignore season five because I am just, well, ignorant!

Yes!
Season 5 is not only amazing, but from a Fred point of view - big wardrobe update! So many cute skirts.

I mean, not to mention the whole dying and Illyria thing.

 

[BaskingINBangel]

No, no way, not even close! She made the show better for me. As someone who has never really been able to connect with Cordy as a character, I needed another female on the show. Lilah had not yet won me over as a character, and Kate was just not my cup of tea.

I loved Fred the moment she was on screen. She is the most adorable character ever, and she had me at "Tacos!" Without a doubt, she definitely made the show better.