Episode 5, Season 3
Title: "Fredless"
Written by: Mere Smith
Directed by: Marita Grabiak
Original Air date: 22 October 2001
Teaser:
At the Hyperion Hotel, the Angel-less crew is conducting an inventory of all
the weapons, while Fred is keeping track of each minute that
passes by, impatiently waiting for Angel's return from his visit with Buffy.
Fred innocently asks about the B&A relationship, to which Cordy pretends to be
Buffy and quiet humorously overly play acts. Wes jumps in as Angel,
overacting and both summarize the tragic timeless romance for
Fred and an amused Gunn. Angel walks in on them, "How about you both bite me!"
He's reluctant to talk about his meeting and Cordy is left with her curiosity
in tact. Angel prefers to go out for ice cream and Fred is only too happy to
join him.
Moments later, Angel and Fred are in the sewers.
Fred holds an ice cream cone as they search for the Durslar Beast that
attacked them in the Haagen Dazs shop and followed to the sewers. Angel
notes that it's uncharacteristic for this type of demon to come up from the
sewers. Fred spots some crystals on the sewer walls and they hear a roar.
The beast must be near. Angel sends Fred home, while he stays behind to fight
the Durslar Beast.
ACT 1:
The dull and dreary inventory continues at the Hyperion, and Gunn asks
Cordy to have a vision. She moans, but it's not a vision. She bumped into Fred's
invention, a weapon of some sort that uses an axe but it could also be a toaster
knowing Fred. An older couple interrupts them and Wes quickly ushers them into the
office, ready to take their case. They explain that their daughter is missing and
our Crew assumes demon kidnapping or possibly vampires were involved. They quickly
change their minds when they realize that sitting before them are Fred's parents,
Roger and Trish Burkle, who hired a private eye, to trace Fred's return address
free letter, to the doorsteps of the Hyperion.
Unknown to those inside the office, Fred comes in munching on her cone and
spots her parents. She panics and quickly runs up the stairs.
Inside the office, Cordy plays down her previous demon talk.
Roger and Trish question Fred1s five year absence and Wes lies, explaining that
they found Fred in a state of depression due to her adjustment to a new location.
The letter asked them not to look for her, but how could her parents deny their
desire to see their daughter? Angel walks in with the head of the Durslar Beast and
Cordy quickly explains that Angel works in movies and that the head is just a prop.
Angel plays along and is introduced to Fred's parents.
Upstairs, Fred is frantically trying to clean her walls.
Since Angel is alone, the crew asks for Fred and he tells them that
he sent her home before he picked up that prop. She is probably up in her room,
her parents are happy at the thought of their daughter being so close. They
go upstairs to find Fred's room empty, only the ice cream wrappers serve as
evidence that our in-hotel physicist was even there. The parents recognize the
writing on the walls. Cordy is suspicious of Roger and Trish because Fred would
only leave for a very, very good reason by herself. Aside, Roger comments to Trish,
"We may have to call them in sooner than we thought."
Meanwhile, Fred is alone walking the streets of LA.
Act II
In the main office, Wes deduces that Fred must have walked in on them and
spotted her parents. The crew is protective of their most recent member.
Cordy pokes her head out into the lobby where the parents are waiting.
Fred rarely talked about her family. Gunn offers to look at the local taco stands,
but Wes suggests the library where Fred once worked. Angel will check the sewers,
since Fred liked their cave-like qualities. They inform Roger and Trish that
Angel will visit his industry contacts, while the rest including them will head
for the library.
At Caritas, the karaoke bar is still in shambles. Fred comes in and
quickly sings, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat!" with her cracked voice. Lorne knows
what she's there for and despite that it's late and that he was watching Judge
Judy, he sits down with her, "You are in a bad place. You thought you could out
run them." Fred asks for cash, and Lorne lets her know that she has not run far
enough.
In the same sewers visited earlier that night, Angel calls out for Fred.
In the shadows two large glowing insect-like eyes watch him.
At the library, Cordy waits with Roger and Trish. She discovers that
Trish is a school bus driver and Roger wonders about Fred's purpose in the agency
since she is a physicist. Gunn and Wes return empty handed and stand aside to
confer with Cordy. The three are at a loss for their next step and Wes says,
"Where would Fred go for help and guidance?" Indeed, where would she go?
In the sewers, Angel is startled by his cell phone. Wes tells him where
to meet. Unknown to him, the tall insect demon steps out from the shadows and
watches him leave.
At Caritas, the entire group arrives to find Fred gone. Cordy again
plays off Lorne's appearance as make-up and fake horns, but he refuses to play
along. Gunn is asked to leave considering the last time Lorne saw him it wasn't
under the best circumstances. Angel takes Lorne aside and he finally reveals Fred's
location with some advice, "Play this one delicately bro, cause it's gonna get
messy."
At the bus station, Fred is talking to herself on the bench.
The homeless man next to her quickly leaves. The crew and her parents
arrive and she tries to run, but she's cornered. She begins to cry, "I got lost
and they did terrible things to me, but if you're here and you see me then it's
real. I didn't mean to get so lost." Fred finally faces the reality of her
experiences in Pylea. Her parents hold her and comfort her as the rest look
on with understanding eyes. Suddenly, the big insect demon from the
sewer jumps into the center of the bus station.
Act III
At the bus station, Angel stays inside to fight the insect demon,
while everyone else steps outside. Roger and Trish are given the short-short
version you-know-what but the fight moves outside and everyone joins in to
defeat the powerful insect demon. Gunn strikes with bow and arrow, while Wes uses
a golf club. Angel is pinned to the bus by the insect and Fred quickly whacks
it with a nine iron. She is knocked against a wall by the insect. To the surprise
of everyone, a bus driven by Trish squishes the insect. Purple slime splatters
all over Fred and the crew.
At the Hyperion, Cordy bandages Fred's arm and she checks out the
crystals forming on the nearby Durslar's beast head. Roger and Trish face
the reality of demons and vampires with positive acceptance. Gunn,
thinking the head is papier-mäch³, places it on the counter, but to his dismay
heads for the bleach after discovering it1s real. Wes and Angel look on as Fred's
parents dot on her. After Fred, Angel gets patched up. She wonders what her place
in the agency is, but has no answer. Roger reveals, "And to think that we were
wondering when to call the police!" He's a practical man and accepts Angel's
vampirism and the mission of the agency with stride. Roger is grateful for Angel
having saved Fred. She wants to go home because she believes she1s not cut for LA.
Home is quiet and safe.
Moments later, Fred is upstairs in her room saying goodbye to her
walls. Angel drops by and she explains that the writing on the wall is her
story of Pylea, of being saved by a handsome man and of being brought back
to a castle. She also confesses that she created another cave for herself
upon returning to LA in the hope that she would be saved again. She concludes,
"But you can1t save me now can you?"
Downstairs, Cordy and Trish bond, while Gunn and Roger inspect Fred's
weapon invention. They leave it near the entrance of the lobby careful not to set
it off. Fred comes down and she says her goodbye and leaves with her parents.
In the taxi, Fred takes out her shirt with bug guts that she took as a
souvenir but she discovers it covered in crystals and orders the taxi to
turn around.
Back in the office, the crew is missing Fred and her parents.
Unknown to them, the Durslar head begins to move.
Act IV:
As the crew continues to talk, an insect demon peers through the window. Cordy is
about to head home only to discover the insect demon has entered the lobby and it's
accompanied by a whole hive! They quickly head for the newly inventoried
weapons cabinet. Angel fights the insect, as Fred barges through the front door
with parents in tow. Angel is down and yells, "Who's helping me here?"
Fred responds, "I am!" and she pushes a lever with her foot of her odd
machine and an axe flies through the air. It hits true, and the Durslar
head is sliced in half, revealing small insects. The insect stops
fighting Angel and retrieves the head with the young and leaves, the rest of
the hive follows. Fred explains that she figured the crystals were part of
the insects, not the Durslar. The Durslar had crystals on its head because he had
been inoculated with the seed of the insects, which explains why he left the
sewers. This sure seems a popular way for demons to procreate! When the
mother/father insect was killed, the rest of the hive had to retrieve
their young. Wes congratulates her on her deduction and Gunn admires her weapon.
Fred also realizes that this is her place. The crew is glad to have her back.
Roger and Trish will stick around to get reacquainted with their daughter and
to make sure she1s made the right decision.
The following day, everyone is helping repaint Fred's room.
Cordy comes in with pizza and Angel chats with Roger. Before she gets a
bite to eat, Fred must paint over a special part of her room-a drawing of a
horse with a girl and boy on top. Fred smiles, reminiscing and it
disappears beneath white paint. Fred is finally coming home.
Summary by Council member Raciella.
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