Angel’s trying to change his past and Fred’s trying to secure their future. In the end, only one can have their way. The repercussions of their decisions are sure to carry forward through many issues to come!
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
We pick up where we left off, with Angel’s father berating him. Curiously, as we soon see by way of flashback, his relationship with his father wasn’t always so bad. In fact, when he was a young boy, Liam/Angel was happy and his father was nice towards him. I wonder what happened to make their relationship sour. But while the father-son bond is very strained, we soon see that Angel’s relationship with his sister, Kathy, is much more pleasant. She is the light of his life, and someone who he seems to have missed dearly as he has lived too many years without her. It’s a complicated family dynamic Liam/Angel had going on.
Before he can get too deep into that, Fred tries to pull him out of his memories, but Angel’s thoughts are still stuck on the need to save his family from slaughter. If he can just change the order of events, he can alter the course of history. But, as Fred points out, changing the past might mean he never meets Darla, never has Connor. Alas, that doesn’t have much power over him, as he wonders if Connor never being born would actually be a bad thing. His son has suffered through many painful issues, and by never existing in the first place Angel could save him from all that.
New plan. Fred turns to focus on how much Angel’s helped people, and how much the world would be changed if he wasn’t around. Even she would still be stuck in the Hell dimension — is that the kind of life he’d like to doom her to? No, Angel assures her, that wouldn’t happen. As smart as she is, Fred would have figured out a way to get out on her own, and Angel’s assistance wouldn’t be needed. It doesn’t look like Fred’s going to get through to him tonight.
Surprisingly, Angel doesn’t continue to argue his side of things. Instead, he offers for them to sleep in the barn and rest up. He says that by doing so it might help Illyria to come out and get them back home. Seems reasonable, but my suspicions were rising. Unfortunately, either Fred was too trusting or too tired to see through the charade. Soon she is asleep and Angel’s off to visit the house, knocking on his sister’s window. He and Kathy speak, as if Angel’s saying his last goodbye, and then she offers her ring to him to remember her by. Touching, but he’s hoping he can change the course of history and save her from her foretold death.
And then things get messy. Angel follows Liam and goes full vampire, getting ready to attack him, but Illyria attacks Angel first. They fight, and Illyria even manages to bring him through the portal for a small time jump. It’s all for his own good, but Angel doesn’t see it that way, especially when he discovers the time jump means he’s too late to save his family as they’re already dead. All his hopes are dashed, he cannot save himself from his painful past.
With his family lost, Angel seems to give up on trying to save himself as well. Illyria has to force him to hide when the townspeople come, even if Angel doesn’t care if they’re caught. And she has to attempt to soothe him through the pain, mirroring Fred’s words by pointing out the positive impact Angel’s had on those around him. Somehow anger and pain morph into being drawn to one another romantically because soon they’re kissing. That’s going to be an interesting coupling, if they seek to continue down this path. I wonder what is in store for them. Stay tuned for the next issue to find out!
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
