(ignoring the fact that would be impossible, continuity-wise).

Given what we saw in "Time Bomb," it actually might not be, though of course Glenn Quinn's real-life absence would have been insurmountable.

I really liked Illyria as a character, though I don't think they came up with an actual good reason for it to hang around after the end of "Shells." Acker was just great in the part.

edited because I don't think Illyria was a "her" despite appearances.

P.S. Jackal, you might want to white font your comments about the Buffy comic. In the comic thread, they white font comments about the current issue until a week after the release of the subsequent issue. There has been a lot of talk about it in our Comics thread. The discussion starts here: sumi "Other Media 2: It's Astounishing!" Mar 14, 2007 11:47:48 am PDT. I also have a big post about it, in my LJ, where you don't have to use white font. [link] (complete spoilers for issue one of BtVS Season 8 at that last link).

Characters hanging around for no reason has happened before -- Spike being a good example in season 4 of Buffy (and season 7) (and season 5 in Angel).

See, the thing I found with Fred was -- Amy Acker is So Very Cute. And Fred was So Very Dull most of the time (exception: 'Billy'). But I didn't mind so much, because of the pretty. I thought Illyria worked great, because it gave Amy a character to actually play, and personally I thought the interactions between Wes and Illyria worked great as it taught me a bit about Wes I didn't realise. I thought the delivery of Illyria by Joss was done... emotionally. But at the same time, kinda eye rollingly in some ways (who'd of thunk that Wes and Fred finally get together and then one of them dies).

I think the Illyria thing ultimately needed time to pay back, as we never got to see where they were going with the character.

And please lord. Angel, the champion, Cordy, vomit.

In the comic thread, they white font comments about the current issue until a week after the release of the subsequent issue.

Not so. From the Other Media thread description:

Please use spoiler font for new releases until after the weekend following release.

So Jackal's post is OK.

t on edit Oh wait... after the weekend. That means it's not OK until tomorrow. I'll fix it.

I thought that you whitefonted in the thread until the weekend after release but that you had to whitefont everywhere else like you do for tv shows. Not so?

That's my understanding also, as otherwise people who haven't yet got the comics will be spoiled.

Also, a month until Drive!

Sorry about the lack of white-font. Didn't know about comic spoiler rules.

I still think that Illyria happened because 1) Fred was never a clearly drawn character; 2) but they liked Acker, understandably; 3) plus she was the only woman in the cast; so 4) they needed to turn her into a different character.

Unfortunately, they turned her into a character who was more clearly defined, but had no motivating purpose. Sorta like Lorne.

You could argue that all the characters in Angel -- bar Angel himself -- had no motivating purpose.

I loved Amy Acker as both Fred and Illyria, but the characters never really stood out as main characters to drive an episode. Both of them were there to provide contrast for the main characters and show us Wes/Gunn/Angel's reponse to her to explicate their motivations, not hers. I would have liked to see her more in a role like Kate's in season 1 and 2, a character whose life intersects theirs at times, but not every episode. Once they rescued her from Pylea they should have sent her back to university and had the AI crew consulting with her on demon dimensions and the occult occasionally, but not every episode. There still could have been romance with Gunn/Wes, there could have been more rescuing of the damsel in distress, etc. It would have given her more agency to be independent of the crew, rather than someone who become subsumed by the larger group and ended up being rather forgettable.