Review of Episode 15, Season 5 "A Hole in the World" Leave it to Joss Whedon to follow-up the hysterical puppet episode with an episode that rips your heart out and dances a jig on it. “A Hole in the World” is a wrenching, emotional showcase for both Winifred Burkle the character and Amy Acker the actress, who gives one of her best turns ever on the series. From the touching flashback to her old life with her parents, to sweetly romancing new-love Wes all the way through her agonizing decent into death, Amy gives a tour de force performance. As the writer and director of the episode, Joss puts the audience and the men who love her through the wringer watching her suffer bravely to the end offering up an episode that serves up the pain oh, so sweetly, in that singularly Whedon-way. With the Angel team acting increasingly distanced from one another this season, it was gratifying to see how a threat to Fred’s life, after she breathes in a parasitic demon slowly killing her body, completely coalesces the men around her into a focused unit bent on saving her life. Even Angel and Spike, who are down to bickering about warring cavemen vs. astronauts, cast aside their differences in order to find a cure to Fred’s perilous situation. What seems like a ridiculous argument ends up becoming a telling parallel to the situation at hand in the episode and an effective metaphor for their dire situation. Each member of the team steps up with chilling intensity trying to save Fred, from Lorne going all badass on a cagey Eve to Gunn confronting himself and his sins of ommission in the White Room, and it adds a remarkable sense of weight to the episode. The episode is truly one of the best examples this season of how to effectively utilize each member of the immensely talented cast. When Spike utters, “Not this girl, not this day,” and they all go into motion to find an answer to their tragic problem, there is such a sense of urgency you can’t help but be caught up in their quest. Of course it wouldn’t be Joss if he did weave his gift of wit into the drama such as in the Python-esque Drogan guarding the Well, and Spike and Angel’s exchanges when flying and fighting in the forest. All of it adds to the depth of the episode, hitting the right notes amongst the heavy drama. Yet for all of the great supporting contributions from the cast and the recurring characters, the episode truly belongs to Amy and Alexis Denisof. The just united lovers are brutally cheated of their “happily-ever-after” and even though we know love never runs smoothly on a Joss show, it still is agonizing to watch as they desperately cling to each passing second Fred can manage to hold onto. Alexis is a revelation in his pain and you just feel the intense love he holds for this woman in his very fiber. Fred’s final breath accompanied by her plaintive plea of, “Why can’t I stay?” followed by Wes’ sobs of “Please” as he holds his love’s body is one of the saddest moments in the show’s history and that’s saying something for a show like Angel. Of course, Joss can’t just leave us to our tears as he lays a whammy on the audience with the waking of a bluish Rogue-like creature known as Illyria, who wakes in the shell of Fred’s body in the last seconds making for one heck of a cliffhanger. It’s been said before, no one does the pain like Joss and while it’s devastating to lose Fred after three wonderful seasons, it will be amazing to see what this turn of events holds for us. Fun Fact: Eve's song was actually "L.A." which was written by David Greenwalt and sung by Christian Kane in "Dead End." I give it... Review by Staff Writer, Phoenix

CoA Stakes Rating Guide   = Disappointing, stake it, bury it!     = Not too bad, Lacking a few graves.       = Typical Dark Avenger saves the day Saga.         = Better still, Quality Headstones.           = Outstanding! Reward it with mortality!

Gunn: What's up? Wesley: I should ask you. You seem unutterably cheery. Gunn: I am. I am. Look...I gotta be straight with you, 'cause this is kinda blowin' my mind. Wesley: Tell me. Gunn: Fred and I are gettin' back together. (Wesley's smile melts) She was so keyed up from last night's fight, she asked me over. We ended up talkin' for hours, like old times. Then, all of a sud, I can't even keep this up, 'cause your face is gonna make me weep. Wes, I am so messin' with you. Spike: Look, if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win? Wesley: Ah. You've been yelling at each other for 40 minutes about this. (pauses) Do the astronauts have weapons. Angel and Spike: No. Lorne: Oh, sheesh. Get a balcony, you two, huh? Fred: You'll still find me for lunch, though, right? Lorne: I'll just look for the sun shines. (singing) You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Fred: (singing) You make me happy (Lorne whips around. Fred spits up blood on Wesley's face and falls back into Lorne's arms) Wesley: Get medical. Someone get medical now! Lawyer: I'm sorry to interrupt. I just need to know if the Holbein Clan history was here. It was supposed to be faxed to my office. Wesley: It can wait. Lawyer: These guys are really important. I just need...I mean, the whole company can't be working Ms. Burkle's case. Wesley: Of course. (takes out a pistol and shoots the lawyer in the knee) Lawyer: Aah! Aah! Aaah! (a woman stops in the doorway) Wesley: Jennifer...please send anyone else who isn't working Ms. Burkle's case to me. Eve: Why would we do anything to Fred? Why would we even care about her? (Lorne sucker-punches her) Lorne: Ooh! ooh, oh, I'm sorry, that was a knuckle-buster. (chuckles) I'm Jake La Motta over here. It's pathetic. (sighs) Here's the thing, Eve. You're going to sing for me, and I'm going to read you right now. And here's one more thing--Winifred Burkle once told me, after a sinful amount of Chinese food and in lieu of absolutely nothing, "I think a lot of people would choose to be green. You're shade, if they had the choice." If I hear one note, one quarter-note, that tells me you had any involvement, these two won't even have time to kill you. Oh, and anything by Diane Warren will also result in your death--well, except Rhythm of hte Night. Fred: I have to work. Wesley: You have to lie down. Fred: I am not...I am not the damsel in distress. I am not some case. I have to work this. I've lived in a cave for 5 years in a world where they killed my kind like cattle. I am not going to be cut down by some monster flu. I am better than that. (pauses) What a wonder...how very scared I am. Wesley: I swear on my life we will stop this, but you must be back in bed. That's where I need you to fight. Fred: Like I'm 6 years old. (collapses in his arms) This is a house of death. (looks at Wesley's tome) That can call up any book you need? Wesley: Every one. Fred: Then bring it. Take me home. Angel: (walks towards Spike who is looking down the hole) Spike... Spike: This goes all the way through to the other side. So I figure there's a bloke somewhere around...New Zealand standing on a bridge like this one looking back down at us. All the way down. There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known. Fred: Would you have loved me? Wesley: I've loved you...since I've known you. No, that's not...I think maybe even before. Fred: I'm so sorry. Wesley: No, no, no. Fred: (coughing) I need you to talk to my parents. They need to know I wasn't scared. That it was quick. Th-that I wasn't scared. Oh, God. Wesley: You have to fight. You don't have to talk just concentrate on fighting. Just hold on. Fred: I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared. Please...Wesley...why can't I stay? (goes limp in his arms) Wesley: Please. Please. (sobs. Fred's eyes turn blue. She twitches and throws Wesley off) Illyria: (rising from behind the bed) This will do. Quotes by Staff Writer, BCangel