Which Joss Whedon TV series was better: Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel?

Angel

7 of 18

by Allan M. Heller

• 

Write now Print Invite a writer™ Add to Favorites RSS Feed Contact this writer

The basic premise of Angel, a spin-off of the popular Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, is the struggle for redemption by an anomalous undead, a vampire (David Boreanaz) with a soul. Cursed with said soul by a 19th century gypsy whose entire family he slaughtered, Angel must atone for decades of murder and mayhem. Aiding him in his quest are a half-demon psychic named Doyle (Glenn Quinn), a former member of the Watchers' Council appointed to oversee vampire slayers (Alexis Denisoff), an ex-cheerleader and aspiring actress (Charisma Carpenter), a friendly green demon (Andy Hallet) with a penchant for music, and various other characters who come and go.

The strongest feature of Angel is that this series thrusts the hero and his comrades into a convoluted, conflicted world, where shades of gray rule the day, and where the end often justifies the means. Not that the show has a dearth of totally despicable villains, but there are just as many antagonists who make the viewer think "But for the grace of God, there go I." The concept of an overlapping threshold between good and evil is not a new one, but is exploited quite effectively in Angel. As the series progresses, the good guys are forced to make some difficult compromises and occasionally choose between bad and worse.

Angel is a mixture of horror, humor, pathos and camp, with an emphasis on the latter. Even given the fact that the audience is not expected to take certain concepts too literally, there are parts that are just too much to accept. The Los Angeles where Angel first sets up shop as a private investigator is a metropolis teeming with vampires, ghouls and satanic minions, most of whom still manage to remain incognito. In Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, the town of Sunnydale, California was located on a hellmouth, a portal to the underworld. But no such explanation is ever given as to why Los Angeles is rife with inhuman monsters. In addition, Angel spends much of his spare time brooding over all of the innocent victims he killed when he was a soulless creature of the night. But in one of the episodes, he describes vampirism to a misguided lady who views becoming undead as a way to thwart the aging process: "It looks like you, it sounds like you, but it isn't you," he warns her. So why should he personally feel guilty about the crimes committed by Angelus (which is the name he used when he was a soulless fiend)?

While this hit show was on the air, fans learned to expect anything. Destruction and possible resurrection of main characters, unflinching irony, protagonists becoming antagonists and vice-versa, Armageddon served with coffee and doughnuts. As the series progressed, Angel and company became more focused, from helping people in dire straits to indirectly, then directly, combating Wolfram and Hart, a multi-billion dollar law firm supposedly responsible for nearly all of the evil in the world. The heroes sometimes lose direction, all the while believing that they are doing the right thing. The show takes a serious hit in credibility when Angel and his team of do-gooders actually start running the wicked law firm in season four, but the show even recovers from this because the heroes are supposedly using the company's vast resources to do good. But there is foreshadowing that this final compromise will come back to bite them in a big way.

James Marsters as Spike makes a late appearance near the end of season four, and plays off of David Boreanaz's Angel perfectly. Fans of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer will remember Spike as Buffy's nemesis turned lover. Former bloodsuckers Angel and Spike, both imbued with souls, have known each other since the bad old days, and despite the fact that they are both basically working for the same side now, still dislike each other. Their dry banter and caustic repartee are often hilarious. Although officially good, Spike nevertheless retains his vampire personality -sarcastic, selfish, narcissistic and witty. Both Angel and Spike are reserved when it comes to showing emotion, Angel more so than Spike.

Armageddon is an over-riding them of Angel, and is an event that both heroes and villains expect, and perhaps even embrace. Preparing for this inevitable occurrence consumes a fair amount of everyone's time. Interestingly, the lawyers and staff of Wolfram and Hart do not seek Angel's destruction per se, but believe that he has an integral part in the final battle, and want to sway him to fight on the dark side. For Angel, and even Spike, saving the world is relegated to the mundane. When Spike mentions to Angel that Spike saved the world by sealing the hellmouth in Sunnydale, Angel is unimpressed. "You saved the world once," he tells Spike. "Talk to me when you've done it a couple of times."

Naturally, some episodes are particularly outstanding, while others just seem pointless. Probably the worst episode involves a motivational speaker who has become a vampire, and is running a pyramid scheme whereby fellow vampires turn as many humans into vampires as possible, and are rewarded for such. Why would vampires want more competition for a limited supply of fresh blood? One of the best episodes is the one in which a police chief employs black magic to reanimate slain officers and put them back on the beat. As the series winds down, it gradually becomes darker and darker, setting viewers up for a spectacular finale. What that finale is, and whether or not it is actually spectacular or anti-climatic, is beyond the scope of this review.

Learn more about this author, Allan M. Heller.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.