Fredless (Angel episode)
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Summary
Fred’s parents, Roger and Trish Burkle, arrive in town from Texas for a visit and to take her home with them, prompting Fred to run away. Angel and the gang then put their detective mode into full force to try to find out what Fred’s beef is with her parents. But then Angel learns that Fred’s problems with her mother and father are purely emotional while Mr. and Mrs. Burkle prove themselves to be formidable fighters against demons. Meanwhile, the gang is unknowingly in danger after Angel beheads a vicious demon whose head is the breeding ground for a strain of insects in which a swarm of giant cockroaches lay siege to the hotel to retrieve their offspring.
Expanded overview
While the gang work to reorganize the weapons cabinet, Fred questions Angel's relationship and works on a project of her own. Cordelia and Wesley put on a dramatic, humorous play that summarizes the unfair relationship between Buffy and Angel and what their reunion might have been like. Angel returns, annoyed with his friends and invites only Fred out to ice cream, leaving the rest of the group to never know what really happened with Buffy. Later, in the sewers, Angel and Fred track a sewer-dwelling Durslar demon that they encountered at the ice cream shop. Fred notices some crystal formations on the wall but is sent away when they hear the demon.
The Fang Gang continue with their work at the hotel, bored and anxious for a job. Cordelia discovers an object that could be a weapon or a toaster that Fred was making. A couple, Roger and Trish Burkle enter the hotel searching for assistance in finding their lost daughter. It's concluded that their daughter is Fred and that another private detective traced her to Angel Investigations. Fred returns, but after seeing her parents at the hotel, she runs upstairs. The Burkles are oblivious to the supernatural so Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn go out of their way to lie about Fred's disappearance and their work.
Angel returns with the severed head of the Durslar demon and is introduced to the Burkles as their associate who also works in movies, hens the "fake" demon head. Upstairs, Fred tries to erase the writing on the wall before running away from the hotel. The gang and Fred's parents find her room empty and all start to worry as Fred has never left the hotel alone before. While the Burkles wait out in the lobby, Angel and crew converse about the possible reasons for Fred to run away from her parents and whether the Burkles are being completely honest. They join the Burkles again and everyone splits up to find her.
After roaming the streets alone, Fred ends up at Caritas and tries to get help from Lorne who is bitter about the recent fight that destroyed much of his bar. She sings without provocation and exposes her obvious fear and panic to him. He knows what she's running from and she doesn't realize she's strong enough to face it. Angel tries to find Fred in the sewers, but something else finds him instead. The rest of the group search for her at the library and Cordelia learns that Mrs. Burkle is a bus driver.
Failure to find Fred sends everyone to pursue the place they should have started at, Caritas. The host has particularly harsh feelings towards Gunn, who waits outside. Tension remains high in the bar as Lorne refuses to play along with attempts to keep the Burkles oblivious to demonic activity and expresses his distaste for being used all the time. Finally though, Fred's location is revealed and the whole gang head to the bus station where she is. Fred occupies herself at the station before her family and friends show up. Fred doesn't want to admit that her parents are real because it means Pylea was real, but finally does and breaks down.
A giant bug demon that followed Angel from the sewers attacks the group. Weapon-less, Angel tries to handle the demon alone, but the rest of the gang goes to Gunn's truck for whatever fighting tools they can find. All attempts to hide the truth from the Burkles are forgotten as the group takes golf clubs and a bow and arrow to the demon. Fred tries to assist but gets knocked aside, which then involves her father as he defends his daughter. Angel continues the fight with the bug demon until a bus barrels towards the station and hits him and Trish Burkle at the wheel.
Back at the hotel, Fred gets her arm bandaged and then Angel gets the first aid treatment from Cordelia. Fred notices the crystals she saw in the sewers on the Durslar's head. Fred wonders about her place in the "Fang Gang" while her parents are just grateful to have their daughter back. They reveal how they were prepared to call the police, thinking Angel and friends kidnapped their daughter. She decides that she wants to go home with her parents because she doesn't really belong with the rest of the group.
Angel visits Fred in her room as she packs and she tells the story of the writing on the wall, which in essence is her life story as of Pylea. Fred leaves with her parents and everyone is happy for her, but also sad to see her leave. In the cab, Fred questions her place with her parents and then realizes from her shirt with bug guts on it that she has to get back to the hotel. Another bug demon appears at the hotel with friends as the severed head moves as something tries to escape from beneath the skin.
Fred arrives with her parents and puts her toaster weapon to use and sends an ax flying at the demon head, splitting it and spreading little bugs everywhere. The demon collect the little bugs and departs. Fred explains how she figured it out, realizing that the little crystals were from the bug demon and it wanted the head so it could retrieve its eggs from inside. Fred is congratulated for her smart thinking and invention, then decides to stay with Angel and friends. Everyone gathers in Fred's room to paint the walls and eat. Fred paints over a picture she drew of her and Angel on the horse from Pylea.
Continuity
Arc significance
Crossover with Buffy: Buffy met Angel immediately before this episode. It is the subject of Jane Espenson's Buffy/Angel comic, Reunion.Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: Fall 2001 - December 2001 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| L.A., 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Cursed (Buffy/Angel novel)>Cursed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.01 Heartthrob (Angel episode)>Heartthrob |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy UPN promos: Buffy Season 6 UPN promos>Scooby Gang talk about Buffy |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.01 Bargaining, Part One (Buffy episode)>Bargaining, I |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.02 Bargaining, Part Two (Buffy episode)>Bargaining, II |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.02 That Vision Thing (Angel episode)>That Vision Thing |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.03 After Life (Buffy episode)>After Life |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Sanctuary (Angel novel)>Sanctuary |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.03 That Old Gang of Mine (Angel episode)>That Old Gang of Mine |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.04 Flooded (Buffy episode)>Flooded |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.04 Carpe Noctem (Angel episode)>Carpe Noctem |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy comic: Reunion (Buffy comic)>Reunion |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.05 Life Serial (Buffy episode)>Life Serial |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.05 Fredless (Angel episode)>Fredless |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Blood and Fog (Buffy novel)>Blood and Fog |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.06 All the Way (Buffy episode)>All the Way |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Note from the Underground (Buffy comic)>Note from the Underground |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.06 Billy (Angel episode)>Billy |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel anthology book:The Longest Night (Angel novel)>The Longest Night |
| Sunnydale, L.A., Monster Island, 2001 | Buffy/Angel novel: Monster Island (Buffy/Angel novel)>Monster Island |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Endangered Species (Angel novel)>Endangered Species |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Impressions (Angel novel)>Impressions |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.07 Once More, with Feeling (Buffy episode)>Once More, with Feeling |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.07 Offspring (Angel episode)>Offspring |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.08 Tabula Rasa (Buffy episode)>Tabula Rasa |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.08 Quickening (Angel episode)>Quickening |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.09 Smashed (Buffy episode)>Smashed |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.09 Lullaby (Angel episode)>Lullaby |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.10 Wrecked (Buffy episode)>Wrecked |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.10 Dad (Angel episode)>Dad |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.11 Gone (Buffy episode)>Gone |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.11 Birthday (Angel episode)>Birthday |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Creatures of Habit (Buffy comic)>Creatures of Habit |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B6.12 Doublemeat Palace (Buffy episode)>Doublemeat Palace |
| L.A., 2001 | A3.12 Provider (Angel episode)>Provider |
External links
| Buffyverse | ||
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| People | Adam | Amy | Andrew | Angel | Anya | Buffy | Caleb | Connor | Cordelia | Dawn | Darla | Doyle | Dru | Eve | Faith | Fred | Giles | Glory | Gunn | Harmony | Holtz | Illyria | Jasmine | Jenny | Joyce | Jonathan | Kate | Kennedy | Lilah | Lindsey | Lorne | The Master | Mayor Wilkins | Oz | Professor Walsh | Riley | Spike | Tara | Warren | Wesley | Willow | Xander | |
| Places | L.A. | Sunnydale Bronze | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High | |
| Music | Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | | | Once More, With Feeling | |
| Key Terminology | "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon | |
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