Angel

Fans are already mourning the loss of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, which is heading for greener pastures at the end of this current season, but all you slayers and slayerettes out there can take comfort in the fact that BUFFY’s spin-off series ANGEL is still going strong. Now in its fourth year, ANGEL continues to build on and expand the vast mythology of Joss Whedon’s universe in ever-interesting and exciting ways.

David Boreanaz, who Sarah Michelle Gellar as BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. © 2000 Warner Brothers Television stars as the vampire with a soul title character, sat down with CINESCAPE this week to discuss the show and what to expect from the remaining episodes this year. Perhaps one of the more interesting tidbits the actor offered was confirmation that Angel would indeed return to BUFFY for that show’s series finale this spring.

"To [put it] lightly, [the] reasons he would go back and see Buffy… there’s a reason," hints Boreanaz. "I’m going to be going back to BUFFY for the season finale."

The actor adds that perhaps more such intermingling of shows would have happened had BUFFY not moved to the UPN network last year, while ANGEL remained on The WB. Still, for an event as big as the BUFFY finale, bringing Angel over was all but a given-studio politics notwithstanding.

"I guess there was just an understanding between creator and studio," says Boreanaz. "If there would be a last Buffy, [then] Angel would be able to come back and see her. I think that was worked out ahead of time, but I’m not privy to how that stuff works. If we had gone over to the UPN, the crossovers would have been more prevalent, I think. And the fact that we have Alyson [Hannigan] coming over to our show is fascinating."

Yes, everyone’s Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the "Orpheus" episode of ANGEL. © 2003 The WB favorite little redheaded witch Willow will be stopping by ANGEL for the episode "Orpheus" in a couple of weeks. Boreanaz says he enjoys crossovers like this, but in this case it was particularly fun since Hannigan is engaged to actor Alexis Denisof, who plays Angel’s sidekick Wesley. And no, Willow’s appearance is not just a cameo (as it was last time she showed up on the show).

"No, it’s a full episode," offers Boreanaz. "It’s maybe not next week, but the week after… she’s coming in soon. She’s going to lend her hand with some witchcraft and it’ll be cool to see her and Alexis together, since they just got engaged. It’ll be fun to watch them work. I was doing some looping and saw them on screen and it was kind of funny. It’s always good to see that kind of stuff."

Willow isn’t the only BUFFY vet making waves on ANGEL however. That other slayer, Faith (Eliza Dushku), showed up last week for a several-episode stint in what has already proven to be a season highlight.

"It’s a David Boreanaz as Angel, Eliza Dushku as Faith in the "Salvage" episode of ANGEL. © 2003 The WB big arc for us," says Boreanaz. "It’s been great. The two characters really get along well together. They owe each other a lot. Because of that there’s a lot of understanding. That’s why, when she hears Angelus is out, she automatically breaks out of prison. She doesn’t even think it, she’s out. Because of what he’s done for her. And they share that common bond. So it’s going to be interesting to see how Angelus relates to Faith, because he’s never met her before and this is going to be fun for him. So we’re in the Faith arc right now, which is going to lead us to another arc with Gina Torres [formerly of Whedon’s FIREFLY] coming in. So that’s going to be even bigger."

Ultimately, Boreanaz’s main hope for the show is for the characters to continue to grow and change.

"That’s the area we want to focus on," he says. "We got so thick into so much exposition, and such heavy angles for each character that when you look at what works for our show it’s that you see that each character has so many dimensions. And that’s what really makes Angel work."

David Boreanaz has lost his soul again in the episode "Soulless" of ANGEL.