Angel

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Angel The Casefiles Volume 2

Author: Paul Ruditis and Diana G. Gallagher

Publisher: Pocket Books, 295 pages

ALAS, Angel is no more. The television series was cancelled after its fifth season and fans longing for more of Buffy’s beau, the vampire with a soul, can have this book to remember the show by. (And, of course, the pricey Angel DVD box sets as well.)

Angel is the spin-off of popular cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Considered a “darker” version of Buffy, Angel revolves around Angel, the Slayer’s vampire ex who fights evil in Los Angeles with his companions via a supernaturally inclined detective agency called Angel Investigations.

Ever since he left Sunnydale for LA, Angel has faced the perils of pre-marital sex, demons galore, an evil goddess, a rebellious son and a scheming law firm. The other characters - Wesley Wyndam-Pryce the ex-Watcher, Winifred Burkle a.k.a. Fred the science geek, Cordelia Chase the Sunnydale refugee and Charles Gunn the street fighter - fared no better: they were tortured, haunted, maimed and possessed.

Angel - The Casefiles Volume 2 covers the third and fourth seasons of Angel, considered its “darkest” seasons, with the characters facing massive changes and great pain.

To aid our exploration, the book is divided by episode with each having the requisite episode synopsis and a lot more. For one, fans are treated to trivia bits such as “Expenses” (what was spent in each mission), behind-the-scenes goodies, crew and cast interviews, music tracks used, and even a brief discussion of the romantic entanglements of our heroes.

To ensure that you thoroughly understand what Angel was up against week after week on TV, there is “Demons, etc” which describes the demons that appear in each episode. There are descriptions of the weapons used to vanquish them too.

The razor-sharp dialogue, often peppered with loads of pop-culture references (there is a guide for that too) is one of the pleasures of watching Angel. This is where “Quote of the Week” comes in handy - the best lines for the episode are excerpted here.

My favourite bit has to be “Final Cut” where we are given a peek at what has been left on the cutting-room floor. Many of these “lost” scenes and dialogues deserved to be cut because they didn’t add much to the story. Sometimes, however, there are startling bits. For example, I found out that Lilah, Angel Investigations’ archenemy, had a baby! Unfortunately, this child did not get any nurturing from Mummy. (Its fate is too tragic to reveal here - which is perhaps why the lines were cut, thank goodness.)

Characters, good and evil, are also given a very thorough analysis. Angel’s characters truly develop, but the downside is that it could be difficult for non-regulars to catch up on their history. Hence, this is a handy section for Angel newbies to read first before tackling the episodes. They could also look up “Continuity”, which explains some history so that one could comprehend the complex web of plots.

Wait, there’s more! For those who have not seen Season Five, there is a 10-page “sneak peek” into the last (and best) season of Angel. But if you are afraid of having your viewing pleasure spoiled for you, avoid these pages as if they were made out of needles.

Did I mention there are pictures as well? Many black and white photographs and about 32 pages of colour photo spreads to peruse; some are candid photos of the cast and crew.

To make the collection even more complete, the biographies of the actors are included. Did you know that Alexis Denisof (who plays Wesley) and Alyson Hannigan (who plays Willow in Buffy) met on the set of Buffy, dated, fell in love and eventually got married?

To say that this official companion to Angel is a very comprehensive work of show worship is an understatement. It goes above and beyond, and would leave no fan unsatisfied.