Discussion of 5.16 "Shells" (WB-US) - Airing 3/3/04

I got all excited when I thought they were going to bring Willow over!

But it sounds like the whole Buffy group still does not trust Angel and gang.

Anybody get the feeling that Illyria is going to stick around for a while? Potentially the rest of the season. I was under the impression that this was all we were going to see of Amy Acker, but now I think Illyria will be around, so we will still have her, just not as Fred.

It was so sad to see the way Wesley was reacting. And Gunn... poor guy. He didn't mean malicious harm, so I kinda feel bad for him. "I don't believe stabbing Gunn was on the agenda".

I am glad that Spike is staying around. He is finally starting to be the character that he had become on Buffy.

Does anybody know when the next epsidoe is going to air?
 
they really do let everyone in W&H she just walked right in amy was sooooo great in this ep the eyes were creepy
 
the fact that because Angel is in charge of the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart he won't help and innocent girl who has been taken over by an old one....

Giles logic. Wolfram and Hart = Evil. Angel works for Wolfram and Hart ergo Angel = Evil. Fred works for Angel who works for Wolfram and Hart ergo Fred = Evil. Evil does not = good/innocent therefore Fred does not = Innocent.

As far as Illaria *sp?* "becoming good" I think everyone is reading it wrong. She wants/needs to learn about this world and how to interact/live in it. Her only real choice for a guide is Wes because as she says he will help her because she looks like Fred. She agrees to the no killing thing not because she want to be good, but because it is the only way he will help. Now this doesnt mean she cant choose to be good once shes seen all that Wes can show her. But right now I just think its an agreement of mutual gain.

Now out of wishful thinking. We dont know how many memories Illaria has of Freds. It might be possible that the process that created Illaria might be reversed if she realizes she just cant survive in this world and bring fred back in her place. Not likely but hey one can dream right?

PS. hi all Ive been poking around these boards for sometime since last season but been avoiding reading since at the end of last season I read a bunch of spoilers that kinda ruined the end for Season 4 for me. Lets see if I can resist the temptation this time.
 
Let me begin with the obligatory "That episode was awesome and all the actors are amazing!" comment. Secondly, I must say that I think that in all likelihood, the destruction of Fred's soul in the "fires of resurrection" means that the Fang Gang will not be able to resurrect Fred in the traditional sense, nor will they be able exorcise Illyria from her body, no matter how much any of us argues the logic. However, I think that people are overlooking the most likely possibility of Fred?s return in any form, which is through Illyria?s attempt at redemption. We already saw that Illyria was willing to reform herself, which shows that she has gained a conscience somehow, most likely from Fred during her resurrection. She also has fragments of Fred?s memories. This implies that rather than being completely destroyed, Fred?s soul was consumed by Illyria?s resurrection and is now an inseparable part of Illyria. With Wesley?s guidance, Illyria could use this soul to redeem herself and become more human, possibly imitating Fred?s personality. She would probably be different than Fred in many ways, but it seems that in this case we could see more of Fred in some way. It is impossible to predict the path the Mutant Enemy will decide to take, but I hope that they will choose something along these lines. Illyria would make a great regular character, who I would have loved to see in another season. Now, I fear that even if Mutant Enemy decides to make Illyria a regular, there will be too little of the show left for us to see much of her storyline. I imagine that if there had been another season, Illyria would have evolved into a character with all of the greatest aspects of Joss Whedon?s best characters. She would have had a quest for redemption similar to Angel?s, comically skewed morals and humanity similar to Anya?s, and the amazing hotness of the current Illyria. If it is possible, I am now even more disappointed that the WB has cancelled Angel.

Kuznya, you are probably right about this, but the repressed optimist in me wants the above to be true so badly that I am probably misinterpreting a lot of things. ::change::
 
While I like the idea of Illyria becoming a "good guy" and joining the fang gang I find it unlikely. First despite her willingness to reform she is an ancient demon from an age of pure evil who arranged to return after death to take over the world. One day on earth isnt going to make her think "Gee maybe I had it wrong all those century's of evil and chaos. Good is the way to go."

But on the more practical observation side *ok ok looking at it from an RPG's side*. Shes to powerful to be a part of the fang gang. So far shes nye indestructible, stonger and faster then Angel and Spike combined and possesses the ability to manipulate time around her. Unless she gets some serious downgrades she wont be a permanent part of the Angel crew. Course if noone takes up the show for another season I guess thats not really an issue Joss would have to worry about.

Ow and if you cant tell im an adamant pessimist 🙂
 
Illyria turned out to be a little of a disappointment to me. From the previews, it looked she was really going to kick some tail and then it turned out to be okay. Her powers are amazing, but I thought that she would have put up a better fight. I thought that maybe she would have some of Fred's memories. It's kind of sad really. You have an all powerful demon bad a$$ that is hindered by human emotion or a little of it. It's amazing how everyone is taking grief in their own way. This was a well written episode. 🙂
 
Kuznya said:
While I like the idea of Illyria becoming a "good guy" and joining the fang gang I find it unlikely. First despite her willingness to reform she is an ancient demon from an age of pure evil who arranged to return after death to take over the world. One day on earth isnt going to make her think "Gee maybe I had it wrong all those century's of evil and chaos. Good is the way to go."

But on the more practical observation side *ok ok looking at it from an RPG's side*. Shes to powerful to be a part of the fang gang. So far shes nye indestructible, stonger and faster then Angel and Spike combined and possesses the ability to manipulate time around her. Unless she gets some serious downgrades she wont be a permanent part of the Angel crew. Course if noone takes up the show for another season I guess thats not really an issue Joss would have to worry about.

Ow and if you cant tell im an adamant pessimist 🙂

I can totally see your point but Illyria is now in a human body and has human emotions.
And she has Fred's memories and feelings. And I know some people think I'm crazy but I also know that Fred is a part of her somehow.
 
I agree Blackarachnia, I do think that Fred is in there somewhere, maybe absorbed by Illyria?

As for Illyria reforming, how do we know that she is motivated by any "good thoughts" at all, as opposed to the desire to survive and look out for herself. The only reason she is "reforming" is so that Wes will help her. If you ask me, this is completely selfishly motivated.
 
Mandy C said:
Death on these two shows has never had to mean anything, because there are magic spells to bring people back, not to mention the PTB and the Senior Partners
Well, maybe Joss sees that as a problem that needs to be rectified. When death is not permanent, life loses its meaning.

Yes, I suppose the soul-burnt-up thing could be a big blow to those that believe strongly in the concept of an immortal soul. Personally, I always saw souls in the Buffyverse as a convenient means-to-an-end i.e. bringing back a character.

In the RPGs I've been in, the soul has always been a bit of a commodity. It's like the soul is "immortal*" where the "*" is very important. The soul, in these games, can sometimes be destroyed or spent or used as a part of some magical feat. So... the burned up soul thing wasn't so different to me.

If this were one of those games, it would mean that, that character could not possibly come back. However, this is not one of those games--it is a story. And that means that all bets are off. The writers can always do whatever they damn well please. So she could still come back. As I said, she already has done so once...
(I'm sorry, I realize that my statement doesn't quite dovetail with yours, it's just that's the direction my brain invariably takes.)

--------------

Kuznya said:
Kuznya :
Giles logic. Wolfram and Hart = Evil. Angel works for Wolfram and Hart ergo Angel = Evil. Fred works for Angel who works for Wolfram and Hart ergo Fred = Evil. Evil does not = good/innocent therefore Fred does not = Innocent.
I basically agree with you on the Giles logic. Only difference I'd throw in is: I think Giles might allow for a bit more fuzziness in their--as in the various quantities are only approximately equal, not exactly equal. It's possible that Giles, or one of the other Scoobies, might be persuaded to change their minds and help team Angel before the end of the season... especially now that there won't be any more seasons.

IMHO, the only reason the writers had the main characters bring up Willow and ressurection in this ep was because they had to. See, if the main chars hadn't tried to reach Willow, then all the viewers would have said, "why don't they call Willow?" It's called "answering objections in advance." It's useful when you're trying to sell people on something--like when you're trying to sell people on the idea of Fred being irrevocably dead.



Kuznya said:
As far as Illaria *sp?* "becoming good" I think everyone is reading it wrong. She wants/needs to learn about this world and how to interact/live in it. Her only real choice for a guide is Wes because as she says he will help her because she looks like Fred. She agrees to the no killing thing not because she want to be good, but because it is the only way he will help. Now this doesnt mean she cant choose to be good once shes seen all that Wes can show her. But right now I just think its an agreement of mutual gain.
I agree. IMHO, people are reading way too much into just a few lines. Never trust too much what happens at the very end of a scene or episode. It can easily be misleading either on accident or by design.

The purposes of that scene were to set up the idea that Illyria would be hanging around, and that Wes might be trying to teach her things about the world, in spite of (because of?) the fact that he's already broken many of the rules that he's going to try to teach her about. She made no sort of commitment to good there.

In fact, I strongly believe that the concepts of good and evil as we know them are alien to her. She is from a time when great monsters (demons) war with other great monsters for power. There's nothing good or evil there because they're not human. They either had a different moral code or no moral code at all. Right now Illyria is probably in Curious Learning Mode. She has to know what good and evil are first before she can decide which path makes the most sense for her.



Kuznya said:
Now out of wishful thinking. We dont know how many memories Illaria has of Freds. It might be possible that the process that created Illaria might be reversed if she realizes she just cant survive in this world and bring fred back in her place. Not likely but hey one can dream right?
Count Scarlioni: Time, professor. It is all a matter of time.



Kuznya said:
PS. hi all Ive been poking around these boards for sometime since last season
Hi.


Kuznya said:
but been avoiding reading since at the end of last season I read a bunch of spoilers that kinda ruined the end for Season 4 for me.
Well that was silly, wasn't it? 😉


Kuznya said:
Lets see if I can resist the temptation this time.
If you post often enough, perhaps the desire for spoilers can be negated.
 
Kuznya said:
While I like the idea of Illyria becoming a "good guy" and joining the fang gang I find it unlikely. First despite her willingness to reform she is an ancient demon from an age of pure evil who arranged to return after death to take over the world. One day on earth isnt going to make her think "Gee maybe I had it wrong all those century's of evil and chaos. Good is the way to go."
I considered this as well, but think about Angel and Spike. They were once demons, but with their souls have allowed them to see the evils of what they had done. Illyria has already demonstrated some very human emotions. She seemed distraught to discover that her kingdom was destroyed, and she felt confused and saddened by Fred's memories. These emotions are similar to those that Angel experienced when he first gained his soul. This seems to imply that she received parts of Fred's soul during her resurrection, and like Angel, is now tortured by her past and forced to reform.


Kuznya said:
But on the more practical observation side *ok ok looking at it from an RPG's side*. Shes to powerful to be a part of the fang gang. So far shes nye indestructible, stonger and faster then Angel and Spike combined and possesses the ability to manipulate time around her. Unless she gets some serious downgrades she wont be a permanent part of the Angel crew. Course if noone takes up the show for another season I guess thats not really an issue Joss would have to worry about.
This is my biggest concern, but downgrades are entirely possible. Perhaps her powers stem from her evil nature, and by repressing it, she will lose some of her powers. Also, her powers may be only maintained by her followers, and without them, she will begin to run out of power. However, because there is so little time left, she may be merely a temporary tool that the Fang Gang must struggle to keep on their side in the upcoming fight against a Big Bad. Just my own optimistic speculations...
 
Great ep,even tho I was a bit dissapointed with Illyria...Now I'm really curious what's going to happen next..
 
This is one of those Angel episodes that I thought was absolutely amazing. I came close to crying quite a few times. I don't have much to say about this episode other than good things. I just love this episode and now it's one of my most faves of this season. Fred is gone, though! *cries*

I really like the song playing at the end... it fit the ep well.
 
considered this as well, but think about Angel and Spike. They were once demons, but with their souls have allowed them to see the evils of what they had done. Illyria has already demonstrated some very human emotions. She seemed distraught to discover that her kingdom was destroyed, and she felt confused and saddened by Fred's memories. These emotions are similar to those that Angel experienced when he first gained his soul. This seems to imply that she received parts of Fred's soul during her resurrection, and like Angel, is now tortured by her past and forced to reform.

Angel and Spike are both unique cases and in both cases it was a process of learning and choice. Even after getting his soul back it took Angel quite sometime to actually choose to be a force of good *like 100 years*. Yes he had forsaken the dark ways of a vampire but that still doesnt make him good just somewhere in the middle. It took a key modivator *buffy* to actually get him into gear.

Spike again took time. He was forced *maybe like Illyria* by the chip to give up most of the vampire ways. Then enter a key motivator to do good *enter buffy yet again* to make him see and choose the "right" path. And even that took almost 2 years for him to do and by 2 years I mean his choice to do good for the sake of good and not for the woman he loves.

Im not saying she cant be good eventually im just saying that any of her actions arent because she wants to be good but because she needs to learn to survive in the new world.

I can totally see your point but Illyria is now in a human body and has human emotions.
And she has Fred's memories and feelings. And I know some people think I'm crazy but I also know that Fred is a part of her somehow.

Your reading to much into it. Demons have already demonstrated that they have emotions. What makes them different from us *as someone said* is there own understanding of morals and ethics. They live by there own rules that rarely coincide with ours. As far as Fred memories we dont know how many she has. My guess *not my hope* is that its most likely her more recent memories, say the last few weeks? since they are the strongest. I hope though that in "burning up" the soul it actually made it a part of her infusing Illyria with everything that was Fred it just has to find its way back through the demon. But thats just wishful thinking and rather unlikely 🙁.
 
WyrdDemonHunter said:
I basically agree with you on the Giles logic. Only difference I'd throw in is: I think Giles might allow for a bit more fuzziness in their--as in the various quantities are only approximately equal, not exactly equal. It's possible that Giles, or one of the other Scoobies, might be persuaded to change their minds and help team Angel before the end of the season... especially now that there won't be any more seasons.
I like the thought of the Scoobies helping out the Fang Gang, but I seriously doubt that Giles would ever help them with the Fred situation. Remember, he was still very mad at Willow for resurrecting Buffy, although he was obviously happy to have her back. Also, check out "Lies My Parents Told Me": it seems like he would want to destroy Illyria at whatever cost; not try to bring back Fred through her.
 
This Year's Girl said:
I like the thought of the Scoobies helping out the Fang Gang, but I seriously doubt that Giles would ever help them with the Fred situation.
And why should he? Unless Angel told him otherwise and I don't think Angel knew that Fred's soul was consumed. Giles thinks that Fred is in heaven so it would be wrong to reserect her. I don't know what Giles reaction to the fact her soul was destroyed would be though. He might be willing to help them or might not believe that such a thing is possible.
 
This Year's Girl said:
I like the thought of the Scoobies helping out the Fang Gang, but I seriously doubt that Giles would ever help them with the Fred situation. Remember, he was still very mad at Willow for resurrecting Buffy, although he was obviously happy to have her back. Also, check out "Lies My Parents Told Me": it seems like he would want to destroy Illyria at whatever cost; not try to bring back Fred through her.
"Valid points all," as Xander once said. But you and I aren't looking at this from the same perspective: you're looking at it from the point of view of how the characters relate to each other, whereas...

(With no mean or rantish intent, I yell that) I'm looking at it from the point of view that there's only six episodes left in the entire series so the Buffy cast only have one or two last chances if they're going to make a guest appearance. I wouldn't be surprised if the last couple eps are getting a bit of a rewrite right now. Then again, Joss is probably already locked into certain story arcs and probably commited to certain special fx shots and he can't just throw all that away, so he can't change things too much. We shall see. Will Tom Lenk turn out to have been the last BtVS crossover ever?
 
If it is at all possilble I think that someone will cross over to Angel. Also have you noticed that the last two seasons of Angel have focused on both Angel and Wesley. I wonder if Wesley is one of the writers'/producers' favorite characters. He certainly is great. Also as for why Fred became Illyria. Here's my humorous and mostly groundless reason. Can you imagine Wesley in blue makeup scary. Basically she was the character that hurt most to lose and her and Wes were the only probable people to look at an ancient relic. Amy Acker is hot so Fred died.
 
Hitome said:
Can you imagine Wesley in blue makeup scary

Now that you have mentioned that..😉 j/k..I think she was pcked coz she looked great in that tight costume..
 
Hitome said:
I wonder if Wesley is one of the writers'/producers' favorite characters. He certainly is great.
I don't know why they've focused on Wes so much. I know Wes is certainly on of my favorite characters though. 🙂

Hitome said:
Also as for why Fred became Illyria. Here's my humorous and mostly groundless reason. Can you imagine Wesley in blue makeup scary. Basically she was the character that hurt most to lose and her and Wes were the only probable people to look at an ancient relic. Amy Acker is hot so Fred died.
Makes sense to me. Now we get to see Amy in tight clothing! Yeah!

I also think they chose Amy because she had previously expressed a desire to play "evil Fred" or something like that. And, getting back into story mode for a bit, I think they chose Fred because she was the least likely to get corrupted by W&H in any conventional way... so they had her get consumed by evil (if Illyria is evil in the normal sense, which remains to be seen) in a non-traditional way. 🙂
 
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