Buffy The Vampire Slayer

There is a great white hope, a flash in the darkness that gives me an extreme sense of happiness when I begin to think about what is about to come in the latter seventy-five percent of Angel’s fifth season. His name is Drew Goddard.

My boy Drew (or as his wonderfully, and hopefully ironically, self-centered website drewgoddard.com calls him "Ultimate Drew") was hired to write for Buffy in between seasons six and seven based on a treatment he wrote for Six Feet Under. His first episode was called "Selfless", a mythology-based story surrounding Anya. It was Anya’s first real star vehicle and while Emma Caulfield’s performance was excellent, it was the writing that seemed somehow different. It seemed new. Energized. Ultimate.

He spent the rest of the season penning some other really good episodes including "Never Leave Me", "Dirty Girls", "Lies My Parents Told Me", and a segment of "Conversations With Dead People". After the season was up, Joss shifted him over to Angel as the only new staff writer for season five. I was definitely excited when I heard this.

I had no intention of writing about Drew Goddard this week. I had a list planned out (which I’m delaying to next week). However, this all changed when I watched "Lineage" last Wednesday, Goddard’s Angel debut.

A lot of you know how disenchanted I’ve felt with Angel this year. I was less than happy with Spike becoming the focus. I didn’t think they were using the headquarters and resources of Wolfram & Hart exactly right. Some characters were getting left in the dust. It didn’t feel like Angel. Who knew that the only writer on the staff this season never to write an episode of Angel would be the one to return it to its past glories? And this trend looks to continue with the fantastic-looking episode to air this week that features the glorious return of let’s just say an important character.

For the first time since last season’s Tim Minear-penned finale "Home", I’m breathlessly looking forward to more Angel. Of course, things could happen. Wesley could once again disappear from the limelight. Spike could slip right back in. But, maybe not. Maybe this was a turnaround.

Angel lost three tremendous assets this year. Two of the show’s best writers, Mere Smith, and the insanely good Tim Minear, left to pursue bigger things. And the show lost a strong central female cast. Currently the only female character in an ever-growing opening credit listing is Amy Acker’s Fred. And this is out of, what, six characters? Cordelia Chase and Lilah Morgan are gone and this dealt the show a massive blow. While I love Fred and Amy Acker (and would prefer to marry her at some point before my inevitable death), she can’t make up a show’s entire female component. An effort has been made at replacing Stephanie Romanov’s Lilah by adding the new character Eve to the recurring cast but let’s just say (and I think we can all agree) that Eve is no Lilah. Harmony has also been added to the recurring cast but hasn’t done much yet. Actually, where has she been? We haven’t seen her for a few episodes. Surely she would have been around during the chaos at W&H this week.

Can Drew Goddard fix all the faults with season five? Hell no! But I trust the show’s writing staff. Even without Tim Minear, Mere Smith, and the departed co-creator David Greenwalt, we still have some excellence: there’s Stephen S. DeKnight who really blossomed last season, there’s David Fury and Jeffrey Bell, and Craft and Fain, and Joss Whedon for God’s sake. The possibilities are limitless.

All we have is to look forward to the future. How soon can we see what will happen? How soon is now? It’s getting good. "Lineage" is episode seven of season five. Well, take a good look at season four and you’ll see that while the first six were better than season five’s, the season didn’t really take off until the seventh episode: "Apocalypse, Nowish". Same goes for Buffy’s seventh season: episode seven was "Conversations With Dead People".

I think you can see where I’m going with this. However, the great thing is that I can’t see where THEY are going with this. Angel I mean. (Was that clear?) It’s exciting to think. The Buffyverse is back on track, ladies and gentlemen. Grab your remotes and watch "Destiny" this Wednesday. I promise a lack of disappointment.

I guess you can say I dug "Lineage". Now, if the rest of the year doesn’t play off of this episode, that’s when disappointment is going to hit. But I like to pretend the glass is half full.

Angel is back.