Angel

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s finale launched a thousand Slayers; Angel’s finale launched a thousand...fanfics? After five years on his own show, and eight years on the small screen, Angel’s swan song left fans more than a little uncertain about his fate.

The WB’s Angel ended without finally telling viewers exactly why Powers That Be picked Angel to help the helpless, if he got the girl in the end, or even if he managed to slay that pesky fire-breathing dragon. (He’s a champion—of course, there’s a dragon, silly!)

So what do we know for sure? Well...

Angel (David Boreanaz) signed away his Shanshu prophecy, leading fanboys and girls everywhere to worry that this meant he’d lost his chance to become human and marry Bridezilla, er, Buffy. In response, other fanboys and girls pointed out that in the Angelverse it’s actually very hard avoid to your prophesized fate. Angel’s kid Connor came back, and Angel told him that so long as he survived, Angel would survive. (One way or another.) So, Connor scampered off to carry on the family name—what exactly that family name is, we may never know... Wesley died a good death. Lindsey died a bad death. Cordelia, Fred and Doyle stayed dead. Lorne retired from Angel’s army of darkness fighters. (He’s more of a lover, you see...) Buffy castmembers Buffy, Willow and Giles were nowhere to be seen. Spike went to a poetry slam. (No, seriously, he did.) Harmony betrayed them all, but got a smashing letter of recommendation anyway. (Apparently it’s all part of the evil benefits package.) In the midst of all these character developments, things blew up and demons threatened armadeddon-ish stuff, and in the end, Angel, Spike, Illyria (the artist formerly known as Fred) and a mortally wounded Gunn did some loin-girding for a big ol’ battle (complete with dragons). And then the credits rolled, and they probably all died heroic and violent deaths. (Or did they?) The uncertainty left behind by the finale drew mixed reaction from fans. One Web poster wrote, "Well, that was the best first half of a season finale ever...what happened to part two?" Another wrote, "Enough loose ends to keep the fic writers busy for, oh, the next 50 years, and that’s the important part." Others didn’t dwell on the details and just mourned the loss of their favorite Wednesday evening entertainment: "Damn it, damn it, damn it. No more show. Show gone."

Whatever the fates of his characters, Joss Whedon and his cast won’t be MIA for long.

In two weeks, Whedon begins shooting Serenity—his big-screen directorial debut and celluloid rendition of his short-lived space opera Firefly. And after that? As E! Online TV columnist Kristin Veitch reported, the WB might try to compensate fans for the sudden cancellation of their cult-favorite show with a TV movie or two.

It’s all still in the rumor stage, but after the finale’s broadcast Whedon wrote to fans, "I don’t know if the Buffyverse is going to return to TV, but I hope so, and I know we’ll be putting something out there. Maybe on HBO, ’cause I like me some cussin’."

As for the actor who played the lunky, lurky hero? When ask if he would be interested in an Angel TV movie, Boreanaz said in interview with DarkCommandos.com, "No. I’m interested in a feature film, and it would have to be done right, it would have to be done with a higher bar. I’ve always thought this could be done really well as a feature film with the characters."

Movies, TV or otherwise, aside, the Buffy-Angel franchise should continue for ages with videogames, comic books and the upcoming Buffy: The Animated Series. Meanwhile, you can catch Boreanaz later this year as a slightly different dark avenger in Wicked Prayer, the fourth installment of The Crow series. While Charisma Carpenter’s TV pilot Cats and Dogs didn’t get a nod for the fall season from UPN, you can still get a glimpse of her on the cover of this month’s Playboy. And Andy Hallett brings his green genes (and hearty pipes) to a computer-animated feature called Geppetto’s Secret—he’ll be voicing the Cricket.

As for immediate future, fans and fanfic writers of the world, there’s a cue for you in the final words of Angel’s final installment: "Let’s go to work."