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"Supersymmetry" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Angel and the seventy-first episode in the series. Written by Elizabeth Craft with Sarah Fain and directed by Bill L. Norton, it was originally broadcast on November 3, 2002, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

After Fred's physics article is published; she's invited to speak at a symposium where a portal opens, bringing her face to face with a demon and a dark secret about her old professor. Meanwhile, Angel tries to solve the mystery of the portal and why someone would want Fred out of the way.[1]

Summary[]

Fred screams in delight to Gunn when she learns that her paper "Supersymmetry and P-dimensional Subspace" has been published in the journal Modern Physics Review. She also has an invitation to speak at the 31st Annual California Physics Institute Symposium by her old college Professor Seidel. The couple begin celebrating by making love.

Meanwhile, Angel gets nowhere trying to convince Lorne to tell him what his visions about Cordelia were about. He finds Connor has sneaked into the hotel and is getting Cordelia's personal items. She decorates Connor's loft with pictures of herself with other people, trying to remember what is missing in her life.

Lilah pays a wary Wesley a surprise visit at his apartment. She gives him an antique knight's helmet as a gift and tells him that she has taken the afternoon off, but Wesley tells her that he has to leave. She sees that Wesley has been reading Fred's published article.

Fred's talk about her paper at the seminar, which is attended by Angel and Gunn as well as Wesley and Lilah, takes a sudden turn when a dimensional portal opens above her. Snake-like creatures emerge to kill her just as Lilah leaves the conference room. Angel and Gunn run to the stage and save her. Angel confronts Lilah in the garage, but she denies having anything to do with the attack. Angel realizes Lilah was only there because Wesley was, but he warns her that he intends to have a conversation about the firm's recent attack on Lorne.

Angel reconstructs the events in the lobby of the hotel and remembers a man sitting behind them in the auditorium who took pictures during the attack on Fred. Angel and Gunn confront the man, Jared, in a comic book shop, and he recognizes Angel as the talk of dedicated chat rooms and wants to be their intern. Jared tells them that at least three other physics students have disappeared prior to Fred's disappearance six years earlier.

While paying Professor Seidel a visit in his laboratory, Fred discovers that he is the one responsible for the attack on her, in addition to the one that transported her into Pylea, which also happened with other classmates of hers whom Seidel feared may outshine him someday. Against Angel and Gunn's advice, Fred goes to Wesley's apartment and asks for his help in a revenge against her former mentor. While searching his books for an appropriate punishment, a portal opens in Wesley's living room that almost sucks Fred in. Meanwhile, Connor teaches Cordelia how to slay vampires and demons.

Wesley drops off Fred at Professor Seidel's laboratory. Angel, who has arrived there first, confronts Seidel but is attacked by a Voynok demon that Seidel conjures up. Seidel attempts to escape but is intercepted by Fred brandishing a crossbow. She opens a portal to another dimension, and Seidel desperately holds onto a laboratory counter to avoid being sucked in. Gunn bursts into the room asking Fred not to do it and that there will be another way. He goes to Seidel and breaks his neck before tossing his body into the portal.

When they arrive back at the hotel, Angel notes that both Gunn and Fred are quiet about what happened to Seidel, although he has apparently been told that Siedel simply fell into his own portal rather than knowing the full details about the confrontation. After Gunn and Fred go back to their room, Cordelia arrives to talk to Angel and asks if they were in love.

Continuity[]

  • The pictures Cordelia sees of herself in the Sunnydale High Yearbook are from the episode "Earshot."
  • Angel will demonstrates his photographic memory again in "Habeas Corpses."
  • In "Calvary," it will be revealed that Angel is aware that Seidel was killed by his friends, although he went along with their story nevertheless.
  • The murder of Seidel is the beginning of the deterioration of Gunn and Fred's relationship, as they will argue in "Sacrifice." They will end the relationship in "Calvary."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • One vampire, staked by Cordelia.
  • Voynok demon, killed by Angel (only mentioned).
  • Oliver Seidel, neck snapped by Gunn.

Behind the scenes[]

Broadcast[]

  • "Supersymmetry" had an audience of 2.2 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Pop culture references[]

  • Jared says: "We're kinda crushing the Dark Horses," referring to the Dark Horse Comics publishing house, which held the licensing for Buffyverse comics at the time.
  • The comic shop includes volumes of the titles Usagi Yojimbo and Ghost.
  • Fred compares the speakers with the baseball stars Sammy Sosa and Nomar Garciaparra.
  • Lilah calls Lorne "the jolly green demon," a reference to Green Giant's mascot the Jolly Green Giant.
  • When Angel threatens Lilah, she responds with: "Yeah, yeah. Hulk smash," referring to the character Hulk.
  • The film Gidget is mentioned.

Goofs[]

  • Seidel and his students study Theoretical Physics, yet the lab attached to his office is clearly for experimental work.

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Czech: "Dokonalá souměrnost" (Perfect Symmetry)
  • Finnish: "Supersymmetriaa" (Supersymmetry)
  • French: "L'ombre des génies" (The Geniuses' Shadow)
  • German: "Vertrauter Feind" (Familiar Enemy)
  • Hungarian: "Szuper szimmetria" (Supersymmetry)
  • Italian: "Supersimmetria" (Supersymmetry)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "Supersimetria" (Supersymmetry)
  • Russian: "Суперсимметрия" (Supersymmetry)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Supersimetría" (Supersymmetry)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Supersimetría" (Supersymmetry)
  • Turkish: "Süpersimetri" (Supersymmetry)

Adaptations[]

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

References[]

  1. "angel: Supersymmetry." TheWB.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023.
  2. "Nielsen Ratings for Angel's Fourth Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008.
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