From what I've heard, they had originally planned to go deeper into the whole Fred/Illyria thing but that was one of the things that had to be brushed aside when the series was cancelled (they received word on this while filming "Underneath", I think). *insert obligatory curse on FOX here*
(Of course, they could have spared us the wannabe Lemmon/Matthau of "The Girl In Question" and used that time on more interesting stuff...)
But yeah, I agree that it was too easily done. The real pity is that it would have given the show an opportunity to get REALLY metaphysical and try to get to the bottom of this thing that's been sort of a black box ever since BtVS 1.07: Just exactly what the hell IS a soul (in the Buffyverse) anyway? What is it made of? Who makes it? What does it actually DO to a person? (Angel can commit murder with a soul or without; Warren has a soul, Clem (presumably) doesn't; etc.) Where does it go when it's removed - where was Angel's soul between 1753 and 1898, where is the soul of every non-souled vampire, is Richard Wilkins' soul sitting in a jar somewhere?
Illyria would have been the perfect instrument for this; from what I recall of interviews with Whedon and Minear, there WERE indeed plans to bring Fred back in some form or other, but at the same time - by NFA, it does seem that Illyria is developing some sort of soul of her own...
I guess we'll never know. Which is ironically fitting in questions regarding the afterlife... ;-) Will check out your ficlets too!
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Date: 2007-01-05 09:17 am (UTC)(Of course, they could have spared us the wannabe Lemmon/Matthau of "The Girl In Question" and used that time on more interesting stuff...)
But yeah, I agree that it was too easily done. The real pity is that it would have given the show an opportunity to get REALLY metaphysical and try to get to the bottom of this thing that's been sort of a black box ever since BtVS 1.07: Just exactly what the hell IS a soul (in the Buffyverse) anyway? What is it made of? Who makes it? What does it actually DO to a person? (Angel can commit murder with a soul or without; Warren has a soul, Clem (presumably) doesn't; etc.) Where does it go when it's removed - where was Angel's soul between 1753 and 1898, where is the soul of every non-souled vampire, is Richard Wilkins' soul sitting in a jar somewhere?
Illyria would have been the perfect instrument for this; from what I recall of interviews with Whedon and Minear, there WERE indeed plans to bring Fred back in some form or other, but at the same time - by NFA, it does seem that Illyria is developing some sort of soul of her own...
I guess we'll never know. Which is ironically fitting in questions regarding the afterlife... ;-) Will check out your ficlets too!