Angel

An Interview with Jeff Bell (Containing spoilers for upcoming final episodes), from Sci-Fi June 2004.

TV IN FOCUS by Kathie Huddleston

A Season comes to a close, bringing with it May Sweeps, Cliffhangers, Big Finales and Goodbyes.

Angel (The WB) There’s sad, sad news for Angel fans. The WB announced that this would be Angel’s last season on the network. While there is still a possibility the series might continue on another network, or even as a movie on The WB, the cast and crew are looking at this year as Angel’s last, said executive producer Jeff Bell.

“Where we were going to end the season before we found out that we were cancelled isn’t dissimilar from where we were going after. We had the same end goal in mind and are still building towards that,” said Bell. “There’s some interesting stuff coming up. Having done Nazi subs and puppets, it ain’t like we’re not trying (laughs).” The fallout from Fred’s death will still be resonating as the end of the season approaches, as the gang must deal with the demon Illyria, who has taken over Fred’s body and soul.

“Episode 18 is called ‘Origin’. It is a Connor story. Last season Angel gave his son up so that he would live a happy, healthy life with a wonderful family. And that did work, but something is happening. Somebody seems to be messing with that. And so Angel must get to the bottom of that. Angel gets to spend an episode with the Connor he never knew, the happy, well-adjusted freshman at Stanford, who has just discovered that he has super powers. And what does that mean?”

Episode 19 is about Illyria. “She is in fact this sort of ancient demon warrior king who has taken over Fred’s body and who has no allegiance to humanity or to our people. It’s an episode that puts her front and center, and our question of “Are you with us or against us? And what the hell are you? And what are we doing to do with you.”

Episode 20 has our heroes looking around to see who is on their side. “Do we have any allies out there at all? Is anyone out there who believes that Angel and company are still the good guys? We saw earlier this season that Andrew and the Slayers said, ‘Buffy doesn’t trust you anymore.’ And we were broken into by these weird cyborg robots who it seems are actually good guys. So do we have any allies out there? And we don’t (laughs). We’re all alone.””

It all sets up the final two episodes, as Angel and the gang have to finally figure out what to do about Wolfram & Hart. “ We’ve asked ourselves the question, ‘Can a bunch of outsiders who are fighting evil go into the belly of the beast and change it from the inside without being changed ourselves?’ And that’s one of the things we’re trying to get to. Another issue we’ve got is this whole prophecy thing. Does it mean anything? What doe sit mean to Angel, to Spike? Will Spike and Angel ever kiss (laughs).” Asks Bell.

“I think the thing you get form our show is our guys getting beat up constantly. They never quit. They always continue to fight, and I think people like seeing that, knowing that there are people out there who don’t get enough sleep, who work too hard trying to save the world. And as much as they fail, they get up the next day and try it again. I think that really strikes a chord with a lot of people. The world’s as better place for them.” And television has been a better place for Angel.