Written by Ben Edlund and directed by Vern Gillum, it was originally broadcast on April 28, 2004 on the WB network.
In "Time Bomb", Illyria rescues Gunn from the hell dimension he entered in penance for his role in Fred's death.
This is a crucial episode in the Illyria arc, because Team Angel are able to diminish her powers until she can only help them and can no longer destroy the Earth.
A pregnant woman named Amanda has agreed to allow a demonic cult called "the Fell Brethren" to adopt her baby, and Angel and Gunn start to advise her until they learn, to their outrage, that their client is not the innocent woman, but rather the seemingly benevolent demons who are secretly taking advantage of her and planning to sacrifice the child on the eve of its 13th birthday.
Meanwhile, Illyria enjoys sparring with Spike in the training room, perhaps because he does not kowtow to her, and is even learning to adapt to her fighting techniques, but she begins to act oddly even by her standards, and Wesley theorizes that she is growing emotionally and molecularly unstable as a result of her interdimensional travels.
Angel returns his attention to the Fell Brethren case, and shocks Gunn by agreeing to represent the demons rather than the blithely naïve pregnant woman, having apparently taken Illyria's advice about power.
As her power swells and begins to crack the container that is Fred's body, Illyria keeps slipping back in time, reliving conversations and moments of action, and sometimes taking the people around her along for the ride.
This is also relevant to what's happening to our heroes, who have been weighing every option and considering the consequences, and to some extent over the past few episodes have been getting chances at a do-over.