Why I sometimes just can't stand Fred

[ilovewesley]

Fred can't seem to decide what she wants in a man. She has a crush on Angel-who wouldn't? Strong, handsome, heroic-and can turn homicidal with the love of the right woman. She moves on to Gunn-excellent choice-witty, wise, sweet, strong,just a little bit street tough, and when he snaps Seidel's neck, basically commits murder for her, she rejects him! Then she develops a fascination with Wesley-seemingly because he shows the ruthlessness she just drop kicked Gunn for. Goes to Wolfram and Hart, God forbid she should take notice of a guy like Wesley who adores her and would lay his life down for her in a heartbeat, no she has got to dally with Knox, known to be evil, mostly because he seems to exist purely to kiss her butt. Then he murders her, plain and simple. By the time we got to Illyria, I couldn't care less if Fred ever came back! Yes she is sweet, smart, heroic etc. but she seemed to have more chemistry with Willow than anyone else!

[Nina]

I really liked Fred, but the whole maneater part was not my favourite side of her. I don't know why the writers went that route with Fred, because she doesn't look like a maneater or needed it to be interesting. It also cheapened her relation with Wesley because you really have the feeling that Wesley will do everything for her while she will be in love with somebody else next month.

[ilovewesley]

There were alot of character strengths with Fred. She would go out there and fight along side of the guys, even though Cordy was supposed to be some kind of warrior princess, the fight moves you see Fred using were much more believable. Also Fred, like Wesley, didn't have superstrength or vampire powers or visions, but managed through her own ingenuity and intelligence, to find solutions to problems. Sometimes I think the writers did contradictory things with her character. She was the one who understood some of the pressures that led to Wesley stealing Conner, and she was one of the first, after Lorne, to suggest that forgiveness was a better route to take, after all they were in the business of saving souls, yet the whole rant at the hospital, when she ripped Wesley a new one when he couldn't even speak to defend himself. It just didn't seem consistent with Fred's character. It is a credit to Amy Acker that she seemed to be able to incorporate some of the switches in the characterization of Fred from the writers but still keep the character likable. I really liked the Fred of Season Four, and the Wesley of Season Four, but then Season Five came along, and with the mind wipe they also seemed to get a prefrontal lobotomy as well. It would be interesting if Illyria and Fred began to meld together, that would take the concept of a demon with a human soul to a whole new level.