Angel # 2: A Hole In The World/Shells

Season 5, Episodes 15 and 16
First Aired February 25th and March 3rd, 2004

"A Hole In The World" (which, for whatever reason, I always initially write as "Whole") is one of the most emotionally charged episodes of Angel; two seemingly minor events that happened in the previous episode ("Smile Time") come back in a big way. First, Wesley and Fred are now a couple, and Gunn signed papers to release some strange package from customs in exchange to make his legal education imprint permanent. I turns out that the package was a mysterious sarcophagus, and it was delivered to Fred's lab. When she touched it, it released dust that blew into her mouth and nose. Although the infirmary determined that the dust didn't do anything to her, the group quickly learned that it infected her with the essence of Illyria, an ancient demon. The various team members react to the situation differently. Lorne, the pacifist, becomes violent when questioning Eve about the situation. Gunn bargains with the doctor who gave him the imprint to remove everything from his brain in return for saving Fred. Wes obsesses over saving Fred, and demands that the entire staff of Wolfram and Hart devote all their time to finding a cure. And Angel and Spike head to England to find a cure; both of them care very much about her and are willing to do anything to save her (Fred endeared herself to Spike by not giving up on finding a way to restore him to corporeal form at the beginning of the season). Or at least, anything but the only way to save her, because it would sacrifice the lives of millions.

The episode ends with Fred dying in Wes' arms. The final shot is the resurrected Illyria examining his/her new body. "Shells", on the other hand, is a much more action-packed episode. Its main purpose is to show us Illyria's power and to set up where Wes will be going for the rest of the series. The death of Fred was a powerful blow to him, and he becomes absolutely ruthless; he visciously attacks anyone he believes responsible for Fred's death, including Gunn. The episode features some very good fight scenes between Angel, Spike, and Illyria, even though the two vampires barely pose Illyria a threat. Emotions were certainly running high in this episode, and it was a great way to leave the series before the final 6 episodes aired.

Up next: Angel #1...