Freds Character arc !

[Btvs fan]

Can anyone find it ?

OK so on the Untouched rewatch with Ian from Passion of the Nerd and Lani from Chipperish, Ian asks the question, when talking about Fred, besides dating Gunn and until she dies and becomes Illyria what arc does she have. Lani struggles to think of an answer. I kind of agree. Ian does mention Supersymmetry but that's 1 episode in 2 and a half seasons and as Gunn murders the Professor it becomes about him anyway. So can anyone else think of an arc that Fred has ?

Personally I always preferred Illyria over Fred and the idea of Fred coming back (if the show hadn't cancelled) made groan. I know they tried it in the comics and it was stupid there too.

 

[thetopher]

I think Fred finding her place in the world again after being lost for so long is her arc. She regains her sanity, her identity, her family, and finds a new one at the same time.

It could be said that Illyria coming into being was not necessarily the end of Fred's arc but we'll never know for sure.

 

[Puppet]

I do think Fred's arc exists but is smaller. I also don't think it helps that the same show has far more interesting arcs like Wesley, Angel and, like it or not, Cordelia. Like thetopher said, hers is about overcoming what she went through in Pylea, which is why the first part of her arc takes place throughout S3, as she slowly grows more confident in herself and her place in the group. Then, in S4, she continues to be a confident researcher, especially in light of Wesley's changed role with them, until Jasmine comes out and her arc takes over again, when she is forced to be alone and try and come up with a solution; she and the audience learn that when push comes to shove she can be pretty badass. This bleeds over into S5, where she starts being far more comfortable with handling weapons and the nasty side of life, like when she goes with Wes on that trip with the arms dealer.

Much like Xander, Gunn and Dawn, Fred does have an arc but you have to read between the lines to find it, sometimes, because it's far more subtle than the bigger ones that people usually mention.