Fred Burkle - A Place Called Home
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A tribute to the best character on Angel (apart from Wesley!)
To the song "A place called home" by Kim Richey, was played at the end of the Angel season 5 episode "Shells".
Tags: Fred Winifred Burkle Angel Place Called Home Kim Richey Wesley Wyndham Pryce Lorne Charles Gunn Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon Season five
Added: 3 years ago
From: BambiArmani
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From wikipedia.org:
Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Shawn Ryan and Mere Smith on the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker.
Character history
Fred was born in San Antonio, Texas to Roger and Patricia "Trish" Burkle. When she finished college, she moved to Los Angeles for graduate school at UCLA. Originally majoring in history, Fred took a physics class with Professor Seidel, which inspired her to take another path. Around this time, she began working at Stewart Brunell Public Library. In 1996, while shelving a demon language book, a curious Fred recited the cryptic text out loud and was accidentally sucked into a dimensional portal to Pylea (her future friend Lorne was sucked into the same portal on his side and ended up in Los Angeles). It was later discovered that the portal was actually opened by Fred's jealous college professor, Professor Seidel, who had sent every promising student to it, essentially sending them to their death. Fred was the only one of at least six to return (cf. "Supersymmetry"). In high school or college, Fred was a marijuana user as shown in the episode "Spin The Bottle." In that episode, she asks Wesley and "Liam" for weed and was also revealed to have had to take a personality disorder test and to be something of a conspiracy theorist.
Angel Investigations
For five years, Fred spent an arduous life as a "cow," the Pylean word for humans who are kept as slaves. The harsh life of solitude and serfdom took a serious toll on her social skills, as well as her mental health; when Angel meets Fred she is curled up in a cave, scribbling on the already-covered walls, having seemingly convinced herself that her previous life in L.A. had not been real.
It was revealed that Fred had once been forced to wear an explosive shock collar. However, Fred's salvation comes when Angel and his crew arrive in Pylea to find Cordelia Chase, who had become trapped there. It is notable that when Angel's demon came fully to the fore, it attacked just about everyone but Fred – including Gunn and Wesley. Despite this shocking display of violence, Angel never seemed to scare Fred, and even at his most demonic, he never attacked her. In fact, her presence seemed to have a calming effect on him.
When Pylea is liberated, Fred accompanies Angel and the rest of the gang back to Los Angeles and stays in the Hyperion Hotel to re-adjust to life on Earth and regain her mental stability. Despite several traumatic instances, such as being held hostage by Gunn's old vampire-hunting crew, she adjusts quite well to "normal" life.
Her knowledge of physics and mathematics make her an excellent asset when researching and developing strategies. Fred quickly develops a romantic relationship with Gunn, which lasts roughly one year. She is also the object of affection of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who attempts to step aside after Gunn and Fred started dating, but is still drawn to her. Near the end of her relationship with Gunn, Fred and Wesley share a kiss, but after discovering that Wesley had been in a relationship – albeit a rather complex one – with Lilah Morgan, her feelings for Wesley cool considerably.
Eventually, Fred discovers that it was actually her former professor's fault that she had been trapped in Pylea, and indeed, Professor Seidel had attempted to trap her in another world yet again. Furious, she plots to kill him with Wesley's help. Gunn, however, feels that such a brutal act, even against Seidel, will ultimately destroy her. As a result, in a battle where she is trying to trap him in a hell dimension, Gunn snaps Seidel's neck himself and drops the body into the portal. Unfortunately, this causes a rift between Fred and Gunn, and ultimately ends their relationship.
Wolfram & Hart
However, everything changes for Fred when she and the rest of Angel's crew join Wolfram & Hart. Her memory is altered by a spell and it is unclear how much of the events of Seasons Three and Four she remembers differently or at all (everything specific to Angel's son Connor is definitely lost). Fred receives her own laboratory and becomes the head of Wolfram & Hart's Science Division. She is a major asset to the team; Angel consistently relies on her department to quickly and efficiently solve problems. After going on a few dates with co-worker Knox, Fred begins to have feelings for Wesley again. The pair are together for about a week, but the couple's happiness is not to last.
A mysterious sarcophagus, allowed through customs by a signature from Gunn, appears in the lab. As Fred examines it, a hole opens in the cover and a breath of wind blows into her face. It turns out that the sarcophagus is a holding cell for one of the original, pure-breed demons known as the Old Ones, which is predestined to rise again. The air Fred inhales is actually Illyria's essence, which immediately begins a parasitic existence in her body, eating away at it and making her a shell. Worse still, Knox had worshipped Illyria for years and worked at Wolfram & Hart for the sole purpose of bringing the demon back. Because of his affections for Fred, he chose her as the only one "worthy" to house his god.
As Angel and Spike travel to England to find a cure, Wesley remains in Fred's bedroom with her, comforting her as she fights bravely, but slowly begins to die. Angel learns that the only way to save Fred would be to draw Illyria back to the Deeper Well in England by using her sarcophagus as a beacon. However, thousands of others would die as Illyria's essence cut across the world back to the Well. Thus, Angel and Spike are forced to do nothing, deciding that Fred would not want this.
As she lies dying, Fred's mind begins to give way. Nearing the end, she panics, stating that Feigenbaum, a stuffed rabbit named for mathematical physicist Mitchell Feigenbaum who studied chaos theory, should be there. When Wesley asks her who Feigenbaum is, Fred replies that she doesn't know. Cradling her in his arms, Wesley stays with Fred until the moment she dies, after which her body is taken over by Illyria. "Wesley, why can't I stay?" are Fred's last words.
According to Dr. Sparrow, Fred's soul is consumed by the fires of resurrection, which Wesley interprets upon overhearing as soul destruction, seemingly making it impossible for her to return from the dead or enjoy an afterlife, although the specifics of this process are not elaborated. Later, though, Illyria states that there are remnants of Fred in the form of her memories, which are a source of confusion for Illyria. On occasion, Illyria takes on the appearance of Fred in order to go about unnoticed and to deal with Fred's parents. When Wesley dies, Illyria takes on Fred's form to comfort him and because she has Fred's form, the evil warlock Cyvus Vail underestimates her and she easily kills him.
Joss Whedon originally intended for Fred and Illyria to either be split in two had Angel gotten a sixth season, as revealed by Amy Acker in an interview: "As I'm playing this new character now, it was just some stuff that he was going to do with her and bringing Fred back and getting to work with both characters",[1] or for Illyria to take on more and more of Fred's memories.
After the Fall
Fred seemingly reappears in the fifth, sixth and ninth issues of Angel: After The Fall, manifesting as a transformation of Illyria into not just the physical appearance of Fred, but also her personality. This happens a first time upon the initial fusion of Hell and L.A. and then a second time upon a reunion of Illyria and Wesley. Issue #9 reveals that the Illyria and Fred essences have been struggling for dominance over their shared body, and that Spike has been trying to suppress Fred's manifestations (even going so far as to ask Angel for help), and admits that he would have kept Illyria away from the battle had he known Wesley was going to be present. It is later revealed in Spike: After the Fall that seeing someone Fred cared for triggers the change, while dangerous situations transform her back into Illyria. However, issue #14 explains that the Fred manifestations were just Illyria's interpretation of Fred; with these remnants lost, Illyria reverts to her true form. Later the telepath Betta George puts Wesley and Spike's memories (of Fred) into Illyria's brain to make her question her own actions. Illyria later tries to behave in such a way as Fred would have wanted, and has taken on more of her characteristics (for example, in the After the Fall Epilogue she has scrawled on the walls of her rooms as Fred did, albeit listing methods of killing).
After the Senior Partners rewind time after Angel is killed by Gunn, Angel renames a wing of the L.A. public library the "Burkle Wyndam-Pryce Wing" in honor of Fred and Wesley.
Powers and abilities
Fred is a normal human woman with no supernatural abilities; however, her brilliant mathematical mind, immense knowledge of quantum physics and science, and a natural ability in designing inventions make her an important asset of Angel's team; Wesley once says, while addressing most of Angel's crew, "She's smarter than all of us put together". Due to spending so many years in Pylea she also has a limited knowledge on the Pylean language and culture.
During this time, Fred also acquires some reasonably good fighting skills, mainly with weapons such as stakes, guns, swords, knives, etc. Later, when Jasmine takes over Los Angeles, she's forced to face down all of Los Angeles on her own, and it is shown that she is also able to hold her own unarmed, effortlessly taking out a few armed Jasminites, including one armed SWAT member. It's seen in Season Three that she likes plants, actually talking to them during her period of mild insanity. In the episode "Spin the Bottle," while she's under the effect of a magical spell, Fred is briefly fascinated with a fern. After undergoing the transformation to Illyria, she can talk to plants while at full power.
Fred is also portrayed as an innocent, unassuming young woman which often leads people to underestimate her. On many occasions, she has used this to her advantage, such as shocking Connor with a stun gun and knocking out a suspicious lab assistant at Wolfram & Hart or in the third season in "That Old Gang of Mine" when she tricks Gunn's old gang into thinking she was going to kill Angel. Also, she shows signs of great inner strength and an innate ability to survive on her own despite overwhelming circumstances. This is shown in Season Four as she attempts to flee from Jasmine's followers, and earlier with her experiences in Pylea.
Appearances
Fred has 64 canonical Angel appearances overall:
The character of Fred appeared in the final four Season Two episodes of Angel ("Belonging", "Over the Rainbow", "Through the Looking Glass", "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb") before becoming a regular in Season Three, until her death in "A Hole in the World" (episode 5x15), although her body continued to appear as the 'host' of Illyria. She appears in a total of 63 episodes (2001–2004).
In the final page of Angel: After the Fall #5, it appears that Illyria turns into Fred after noticing Wesley and issue 9 shows her transforming back and forth between Fred and Illyria. However, this is later noted in issue #15 as a misguide. Illyria had been in control of the body the entire time, as well as Fred being dead the entire time.
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From fangedfour.com:
Let us consider Fred, aka Winifred Burkle: part-time librarian, physics doctoral candidate, survivor of five years in the hellish Pylea dimension and eventually an indispensable part of Angel Investigations. Smarter, braver and sweeter than Willow Rosenberg, her counterpart on the mother show, Fred is by turns endearing in her naked adoration of the "handsome man" who rescues her, astounding in her lack of fear of his alternate monster visage and brilliant enough to figure out how to open the portal back to Earth dimension.
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From televisionwithoutpity.com:
"Angel" (Belonging) Season 2 | Episode 19 | Aired on 2001.04.31
As they stroll into a library, Cary asks Angel, "How come every time you and me [sic] hit the big city, we end up in a library? Snoresville." He suggests that Angel join him at Elton John's next concert for a change of pace. Cary mentions "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," and again, off in the distance, I hear something heavy approaching at high velocity. Maybe it'll burn up in the atmosphere. A librarian suddenly bumps right into Cary and is understandably startled by his appearance. A ruffly pink shirt and a red silk cravat -- I'd be scared, too. After a moment, the librarian divines that Cary must be part of the children's reading program. She tells him that it's tomorrow morning, and Cary explains that he likes to get a feel for the room before a performance. She goes on to compliment him on his costume, "except for the horns...but those are probably hard to fake." Cary says, "If you only knew." She points them to the reading room, and Cary claims he'll see her "and the munchkins" tomorrow. Damn, I think I hear another anvil plummeting. I'm glad I've got a week to shore up some beams under the roof. Cary wanders off, and Cordy tells the librarian (named Claire of all things) that they're looking for someone. She describes the girl from her vision, and when she mentions a locket the girl was wearing, the librarian identifies the girl as Fred. Short for Winifred. Girls with boys' names. This just gets better and better. The librarian hands over a "Have you seen me?" flyer with a photo of Fred as she explains that Fred disappeared five years ago. Fred worked in the library, and was studying to be a physicist. But then one day, while cataloguing the foreign-language books, she vanished. How many people out there felt a thrill of horror when the librarian said "physicist"? It's not just me, right? Sometimes there's a reason to keep genres segregated. Like, when physicists turn up on shows with a fantasy premise. Trust me, please. This way technobabble lies.
The modified MoG enter a room marked "Foreign Language Books." As Wesley directs the team to fan out, he stops to wonder what they're actually looking for. Cordelia doesn't know either, but insists that this is the place she saw in her vision. Cary enters, enthuses about the reading room, and says, "I'm tempted to just show up tomorrow morning with Harry Potter." He also wonders whether they might like to go back to searching for the demon. They wouldn't. Cordy checks out the stacks and immediately finds the book she saw in her vision. The title page reads, "Scrsqwrn." Damn it, I hate cryptograms. Wesley doesn't recognize the language. They determine that the book was last returned on the day of Fred's disappearance. Cordy flips a few pages in and starts reading gibberish aloud. Props to the closed captioning people who attempted to spell this stuff. I'm not gonna bother. Just slap the keyboard at random you'll get the idea. She finishes reading, and then the earth shakes, wind blows, lightning crashes, Live drones, Cary screams, and a portal opens.
A green gladiator with long hair and a sword tumbles out of the portal, and he and Angel immediately start fighting. The gladiator is shoved up against a bookcase and turns his head, causing Cary to interject, "Landok? Is that you?" Angel stops and asks if Cary knows the gladiator. Cary says, "Yeah, but just because I know his name doesn't mean you can't knock him unconscious. Please, continue." And then, the moment we've all been waiting for: Landok asks Cary, "Can it really be you? Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan?" Cary says, "My name is not important," and takes Arthur to see Trillian's white mice. Wait, wrong anticlimax. Wow, we waited nineteen episodes for "Krevlornswath"? Cary says, "I prefer Lorne." He goes on to say, "I don't generally go by that because...green." Angel gets it, and is once again alienated because Wesley and Cordy claim never to have heard of Lorne Greene. It might have helped if he'd referenced Battlestar: Gallactica instead of Bonanza. But when we're talking about Cordy and Wesley, it probably wouldn't have helped much.
I'm too busy trying to understand why Cary (I'm sticking with that name) claims that he prefers to be called "Lorne," when in the next sentence he insist that he doesn't use that much, either. Why not call himself "Krev"? It was all for the Bonanza punchline, I know. That's really not a sufficient excuse. I'm overanalyzing again. I should think about something else for a minute. Hey, last week I dreamed that Colby and I went shopping for comic books. Seriously. I did. Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard? In so many ways?
So, back on the show, Landok tries to sort things out. He starts to attack Angel again, thinking that Angel is holding Cary prisoner. Cary assures Landok that he's fine, and then introduces Landok to Angel and company as his cousin. Landok tells Cary, "It was hoped that you had sought atonement by forfeiting your life in the Sacrificial Canyons of Trelinsk." Cary laughs and tries to cut off that line of conversation, but finally admits that he did come to L.A. through a portal. Landok insists that they will return home together, but Cary isn't interested in a family reunion. Landok mentions Cary's mom, and Cary asks if she misses her "little green boo." Landok answers, "She rips your images into tiny pieces, feeds them to the swine, butchers the pigs and has their remains scattered for the dogs." This lady sounds like my kind of grudge-bearer. Cary insists that his pals aren't interested in his black-sheep status (although they are, naturally), and besides, they've got a Drokken to catch. Landok immediately signs himself up for the hunting party. Wesley is glad to have help, and asks how they can kill the Drokken. Landox explains that a weapon "dipped in Thromite" will dispatch the vicious beast.
Oh, duh. Thromite. I knew that. Cary says they don't have Thromite handy in this dimension, and Landok worries that the Drokken will be hard to kill. But he can help track it, because "it leaves behind waves of hostility." Angel and the gang prepare to escort Landok to Caritas, so that he can pick up the Drokken's trail. Cary blusters a bit and trails behind them. I try to decide whether this is more boring than the parts with no plot at all. I'm not sure. I'd also like to mention what a pain it is to spellcheck something that has words like "Landok," "Drokken," and "Thromite" in it.
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