A Hole in the World (25 Feb. 2004)

When an ancient sarcophagus arrives in the laboratory at Wolfram & Hart, Fred opens a small compartment and is infected by an ancient disease that slowly begins to kill her. As Angel and ... See full summary »

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), David Greenwalt (creator),

Stars:

David Boreanaz, James Marsters, J. August Richards

Cast

Episode cast overview:
David Boreanaz	...	Angel
James Marsters	...	Spike
J. August Richards	...	Charles Gunn
Amy Acker	...	Winifred 'Fred' Burkle / Illyria
Andy Hallett	...	Lorne
Alexis Denisof	...	Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Sarah Thompson	...	Eve
Jonathan M. Woodward	...	Knox
Jennifer Griffin	...	Trish Burkle
Gary Grubbs	...	Roger Burkle
Alec Newman	...	Drogyn
John Duff	...	Delivery Man
Jeremy Glazer	...	Lawyer

Storyline

When an ancient sarcophagus arrives in the laboratory at Wolfram & Hart, Fred opens a small compartment and is infected by an ancient disease that slowly begins to kill her. As Angel and Spike travel across the world in order to help her, Wesley slowly begins to realize that there may be no stopping this disease.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-creator Joss Whedon was set to write and direct the previous episode, "Smile Time" (5.14), but he came up with this one and entrusted the other to Ben Edlund. According to Whedon, he was reading Shakespeare with actors Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker and suddenly decided to kill Fred and allow Acker to play an entire different character.

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Goofs

Spike is looking down at the "hole in the World" that's the cemetery of demons. He imagines that at the antipodes a New Zealander could have the same view but reversed. But he's in England, and the antipodes of England are in open Pacific Ocean. The antipodes of New Zealand is actually southern Spain.

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Quotes

Charles Gunn: I gotta be straight with you, 'cause this is kinda blowin' my mind.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: Tell me.
Charles Gunn: Fred and I are getting' back together! 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.

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Connections

References The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

User Reviews

The tragedy of AI

The Good; Some very worthy stuff here, lovely Spike/Angel and Fred/Wes stuff. Gunn starts to realise the price he's paid for his mind upgrade. Especially love the moment when Fred sings and Lorne reacts, reading her future.

The Bad; The White Room scene seems very unnecessary

Best line; has to be; Fred; "Wesley, why can't I stay?"

Jeez, how did they get away with that? Considering what happened to Glenn Quinn the Burkles remarks about 'Junkie movie stars' are a little tasteless. Also Wes kneecapping the guy who just wanted his fax. Needless to say, hard to watch Fred suffer.

Apocalypses: 5

Angel Clichés Subverting the Hollywood cliché; Fred isn't concerned by the sword sticking through Angel but wants the specimen on it

In disguise; 8

DB/JM get's his shirt off; 18,

Cheap Angel; 8

Fang Gang in bondage: Cordy: 5 Angel: 15 Wes: 8 Gunn; 8 Lorne; 6 Fred; 5 Spike; 6

Fang gang knocked out: Fred passes out Cordy: 15 Angel: 20 Wes: 9 Doyle; 1 Gunn; 4 Lorne; 8 Groo; 1 Connor; 1 Faith; 1 Fred; 7 Spike; 5

Kills; going to let Fred go out with a bang and give her a dozen demon babies from the nest. Also one for Wes and one for Spike. 4 of Drogyn's demon guards each for Spike and Angel. Cordy: 5 vamps, 3 demons Angel; 48 vamps, 67 and 1/2 demons, 5 zombies, 12 humans, one werewolf and one cyborg Doyle; 1 vamp Wes; 16 demons+5 vamps, 5 zombies, 3 humans, 2 cyborgs Kate; 3 vamps Faith; 18 vamps, 6 demons, 3 humans. Gunn; 11 vamps+ 15 demons, 5 zombies, 1 human. Groo; 1 demon Fred; 3 vamps+ 14 demons, 5 zombies Connor; 16 vamps, 5 zombies, 2 demons, Jasmine Spike; 21 vamps, 12 demons+1 human+one parasite

Fang Gang go evil: Cordy: 3 Angel: 3 Gunn; 1 Wes; 1

Alternate Fang Gang; Fred to Illyria Cordy: 4 Angel: 12 Fred; 3 Wes; 1 Gunn; 1 Connor; 1 Lorne; 1

Characters killed: 2265

Recurring characters killed; goodbye Fred, liked you but never loved you as I did say Willow. Still, sad to see you go. 12

Total number of Angel Investigations; 5, Angel, Gunn, Lorne, Wes, Spike

Angel Investigations shot: Angel: 14 Wes; 2

Packing heat; literally as here we have Fred as Ripley (before Alien3 ruined the series) packing a flamethrower whilst Wes has his shotgun and a 45 later Wes; 12 Doyle; 1 Angel; 4 Gunn; 3 Fred; 5

Notches on Fang Gang bedpost: Do Wes and Fred have sex? She implies he's never been there before, do they have sex? Maybe Cordy: 5 ?+Wilson/Hacksaw Beast+Phantom Dennis+Groo+Connor plus possibly the Beast Angel: 6; Buffy, Darla, The Transcending Furies, Eve Wes; 3 definite; Virginia, the bleached blonde and Lilah, 2 possible, Justine, Fred Gunn; 2 Fred and Gwen. Fred; 1 Gunn, 1 possible Wes Groo; 1Cordy Spike; 3-Buffy, Anya, Harmony

Kinky dinky: Fred hints she's had group sex with the varsity lacrosse team. She says she's joking but you know she was doing a lot of weed back then. Fred is in effect orally raped by the essence of Illyria which then gestates inside her, taking over her body (again, very like Aliens)

Captain Subtext; Spike; "You think we should annoy other people?" Couple or what? Spike thinks James Bond's tux is poncey. Say that to his face? Angel doesn't know about Wes/Fred just as he didn't know about Fred/Gunn. Spike and Angel hold hands, hmmmm? They refer to St Petersberg where Anyanka and Halfyrek also hung out, wonder if it was at the same time?

Know the face, different character; 7

Parking garages; 9,

Guantanamo Bay; Lorne hits Eve. Didn't see that coming just as Lindsey won't in NFA

Buffy characters on Angel; 17 Wetherby, Collins and Smith. Angel, Cordy, Oz, Spike, Buffy, Wes, Faith, Darla, Dru, The Master, Anne, Willow and Harmony. POSSIBLY The First Evil, Andrew.

Missing scenes; According to the commentary this show was very long so plenty of scenes to be restored on a DVD extra

Questions and observations; For my money the astronauts win, they've everything the cavemen have plus science and technology. Lots of Aliens imagery, Fred with a flamethrower, the critters at the beginning, even the 'cow-pat' emblem on the sarcophagus looks a bit like a facehugger curled up. Lovely Wes and Gunn moment over Fred, Gunn almost has you going for a bit. Knox is also very believable. Is Fred mesmerised by the sarcophagus crystal as Buffy was in Helpless? Spike and Angel have never flown in a plane before and seem nervous about it. Their bonding on the plane is lovely. They speak of returning to the UK as the mother country, obviously a long time since they've been home. Spike didn't like Les Mis, neither did I, rather see Wicked again. Like Dianne Warren though and I think secretly Gunn does too.

Marks out of 10; 8/10 good ep but hard to watch