Angel

Part One: A Wolf Gets the Disco Ball Spinning

In 2006, we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; this year, we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its spin-off, Angel: The Series, which was about Buffy’s boyfriend Angel (the first vampire-with-a-soul in that universe) becoming a defender of the night in LA.

This column is dedicated to the memory of Andy Hallett (the actor behind the demon Lorne), who passed away earlier this year (and was only two weeks older than me — scary!). As column editor, I’ll start off our discussion ....

But where do the hell do I start? There’s so many things that made this series one of the best to ever grace the small screen: a highly imaginative concept; intricately-woven stories with twists upon twists; deeply complicated characters; snappy and insightful dialogue; sets with character all their own (the hotel; demon karaoke club Caritas; the offices of Wolfram and Hart); well-crafted make-up and props; stunning special effects; brilliant acting ... and to think I almost missed it all!

I admit, the series held no interest for me in the beginning; I didn’t care much for Angel in Buffy, save for as a villain. And, well, I had fallen out of the loop with Buffy, having missed the third season — I worked nights, and I had no TV or VCR of my own at the time. After the fourth season of Buffy started airing, though, I started watching it, thanks to a manager I had who was watching it — I didn’t know until then that the TV in the office was usable for anything more than work-related videos! That manager scheduled my dinners so that I could watch Buffy with her. And then they had an episode of Angel which Buffy was on, "I will Remember You", so she scheduled us so that we could watch both shows that night ... and I was hooked. After that, she scheduled me so that my lunch was two hours (I came in an hour early to make up for it). And as the show progressed, with each new character that was added to the roster, it seems to me that it got better and better! I came to love it so much, I started writing a monthly column for Tart about it, along with Buffy (see the link at the bottom of the page). I also have a rather Pavlovian reaction to the lovely theme music.

Angel himself (David Boreanaz) became about a hundred percent more interesting here — as a good guy. I mean, he was already more interesting when he was Angelus, but does that really count? Even so, while I appreciated Angel getting a personality outside of his alter-ego, I’m glad that we got to see Angelus now and then on this show too. And that’s kind of avant-garde for fiction, isn’t it? Having the lead good guy, The Hero, become the big evil — several episodes in a row, even? Between the two personas (and adding a pre-vampire Liam in, as well as a dirty old man who took over Angel’s body), David Boreanaz proved that not did he actually have acting skill, but that he’s actually a phenomenal actor! All the cast are, really.

I can’t say much about Doyle (the late Glenn Quinn, of Roseanne fame) — I don’t think I even saw all of his episodes. He seemed sweet and amusing, the Humour of the band — or rather, the Trickster.

While Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) was good comic relief in Buffy, I didn’t like her in that, and couldn’t see her as a lead. Carpenter certainly proved me wrong on Angel! Cordy could be called the Heart or the Strength or the Wisdom of Angel Inc., yet she wasn’t quite any of these either. Well, maybe we can call her The Snark? Or The Guide. Or The Voice of Reason.

I cheered when Charles Gunn (J August Richards) was added as a regular. The writers have said that the character was hard to write for, as they didn’t quite know where to put him; though Gunn even calls himself "the muscle", that makes him too two-dimensional. Well, I think the answer is simple: he’s "The Strength", like in the tarot, which is far more complicated. His struggle between doing things as he felt they should be done and his need to be a part of the group, the leader having to bow to other leaders, was compelling.

I loved the addition of (Wini)Fred Burkle (Amy Acker), whom I consider to be the Heart of the group, and I enjoyed watching her find a backbone without losing that heart. I was devastated at her loss, but watching Illyria struggle with her emotions and to understand humanity, things which were so natural to Fred, was fascinating, and I came to love the demigoddess just as much.

I was thrilled when Lorne was made a series regular, as I generally enjoyed all of his appearances before then. When he was funny, he was a riot, and when he was playing den mother, his scenes were often deeply touching. Maybe Fred was the Heart of the team, but Lorne was the Conscience. (I guess it suits that he was musical and green — Jiminy Cricket, anyone?)

I love Connor (Vincent Kartheiser) in general. I loved how he turned Angel’s world upside down, and I loved watching him struggle against his programming, as it were. He’s the Instinct of the group. But while the "Cordy is preggers with Connor’s baby" arc was well-written, I didn’t much like it. Connor spent much of the time both a bit nuts and separated from his family, which was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to see, and Connor/Cordy was icky. It was a relief when the deliciously evil Jasmine was born, and Cordy went onto the backburner, although it was still frustrating to see Connor continue to be on the wrong side. (And truth be told, I always wished he’d get paired up with Buffy’s sister, Dawn.) Anyway, I was glad that he got to spend a few episodes working happily alongside Angel at the end of the series.

Harmony was an inspired addition to the cast; I mean, if you need to have employees, why not add one that the audience is already familiar with? And she also contributed to the story by giving Spike a connection other than Angel and, to a small degree, Wes. And the episode that focused on her, "Harm’s Way", was a hoot!

I enjoyed Skip the demon, and was a bit disappointed that he turned out to be evil after all (a twist on a twist!). I loved Gwen, the thief with the electrical powers, and really wish they’d used her more (she’s apparently in the comic, but I don’t think, from what I’ve read, that I would like where they took her story.) The struggles of the Wolfram and Hart demonic law firm employees Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov), Lindsey MacDonald (Christian Kane), Gavin (Daniel Dae Kim), and Eve (Sarah Thompson) were quite compelling, especially Lindsey and Lilah. I adore "grey" villains with a possibility for redemption.

Which of course is why I always loved Spike (James Marsters), the penultimate in redeemed characters, as he’s a vampire who chose to regain his soul out of love. I was over the moon when they brought him on to the show, thankful that I could at least continue to see him, if not the rest of the Buffy cast, for another season. In a way, he took Doyle’s place as the Rogue, the Chaotic element, the Trickster — and The Snark, replacing Cordelia. He was also the biggest Rival for Angel — a role he carried over from his old series. It was great fun to watch his love/hate relationship with Angel; I love that he could still be something of a bad guy to Angel while still staying a "good" guy, and yet I also I appreciated the more friendly moments between them. And his blossoming friendship with first Fred (which in turn reminded me of his friendship with Dawn), then Illyria, was beautiful to behold. And I love that we got canonical evidence that Spike and Angel have slept together — once — in "Power Play".

Click on the link for mroe :

http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1525