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TV fans are touched by an "˜Angel'
Good and evil in the Angelverse
by Lucinda Breeding
The television show Angel vends irony with a nudge, a wink and dialogue ripped directly out of a comic book.
The WB prime-time blockbuster is classic storytelling, with good guys and bad guys and life-or-death conflicts, and a look at the thing that never quite drops out of modern American debate: moral relativism.
Angel is a comedy about a brooding, powerful vampire named "” that's right "” Angel. A recap of several seasons of progress: Angel fell for Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, an ill-fated relationship. They had to part ways to save the world, and Angel opened a detective agency to cover for his newer, nobler pursuit "” scouring the earth of demons. He now has a conscience and a soul. The agency hooks him up with a rag-tag team of do-gooders, none of whom seemed predisposed to altruism. There's Charles Gunn, a streetwise vampire hunter who joins Angel in his quest to fight evil. Lorne is an empathic demon, complete with green skin, red eyes, horns and a leisure suit that seems somehow like his real crime. Then there is Buffy's other lover, vampire Spike, who joins Angel because he, too, retrieved his soul after his star-crossed romance with Buffy. A wee complication: Spike is a centuries-old rival of Angel's.
Then there are the not-so-bad guys with him: Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, a watcher (a guardian of vampire slayers) from England who lost his job when he went in the demon-hunting league with Angel. Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a scientist who was rescued from another dimension, and who wants to put her brainpower to work for Angel.
This season finds Angel and company in the City of Angels, where they are running a law firm. Their mission is to fight evil and save innocents.
The show is a hit with audiences because it's flashy, action-packed and populated with gorgeous actors. Even the cast members covered in green makeup are heady, sophisticated and charming.
But there's something else that works for fans of the show, too.
Good and evil aren't so easy to sort out in Angel. This cast of characters is made up of bad beings who do good things, and the law-abiding rule-breakers who love them. People root for Angel because he's not without spot or blemish. In fact, he's fairly pocked with sin and transgression. As the leading vampire in L.A., a blood-sucking town that revels in that very reputation, Angel isn't totally trusted. He's left a trail of innocent blood and suffering in his wake. Spike has the same past, but his bad-boy image and his fluid moral compass haven't made him any less popular with viewers. Lorne isn't a subtle symbol for the typical L.A. mover and shaker. He's always wheeling and dealing on his cellphone, making slick promises he could never keep but getting results. His mission? Head of the entertainment division at the law firm. His pre-reform demonic talent? Sensing the insecurities of human beings and exploiting them to the hilt.
When the good guys fight the bad guys, it turns out that the bad guy's crimes and misdemeanors are mere echoes of those of the crime-fighting, demon-decapitating squad. And as in life, some good people "” or at least innocent bystanders "” can't be saved.
Viewers like Angel because an awful lot of people believe it's excusable to do wrong in order to do the right thing in the end.
There's something else about this series that strikes a chord with viewers. The mission Angel and his cohorts take up is one of their own making. If there's a God, a celestial sort of boss or a vampiric CEO with an index card explaining the whole truth, we don't get to see it. Like the rest of us, Angel and his cohorts have to get by on partial information and the seat of their pants. Their best laid plans sometimes stink and their love lives are a complete mess.
In Angel evil is a dodgy subject and right and wrong don't seem to come with clear instructions. And gratification for doing the right thing, for continually subverting their lust for blood, mayhem and power? Well there isn't any. All their do-gooding gets them is a fresh, scary fight in the next episode.
The viewers might not have the awesome fighting skill or the extra-sensory abilities, but we have one major thing in common with Angel, Spike, Wesley, Fred and Gun. We have to face Mondays once a week.
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877.
Source
Good and evil in the Angelverse
by Lucinda Breeding
The television show Angel vends irony with a nudge, a wink and dialogue ripped directly out of a comic book.
The WB prime-time blockbuster is classic storytelling, with good guys and bad guys and life-or-death conflicts, and a look at the thing that never quite drops out of modern American debate: moral relativism.
Angel is a comedy about a brooding, powerful vampire named "” that's right "” Angel. A recap of several seasons of progress: Angel fell for Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, an ill-fated relationship. They had to part ways to save the world, and Angel opened a detective agency to cover for his newer, nobler pursuit "” scouring the earth of demons. He now has a conscience and a soul. The agency hooks him up with a rag-tag team of do-gooders, none of whom seemed predisposed to altruism. There's Charles Gunn, a streetwise vampire hunter who joins Angel in his quest to fight evil. Lorne is an empathic demon, complete with green skin, red eyes, horns and a leisure suit that seems somehow like his real crime. Then there is Buffy's other lover, vampire Spike, who joins Angel because he, too, retrieved his soul after his star-crossed romance with Buffy. A wee complication: Spike is a centuries-old rival of Angel's.
Then there are the not-so-bad guys with him: Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, a watcher (a guardian of vampire slayers) from England who lost his job when he went in the demon-hunting league with Angel. Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a scientist who was rescued from another dimension, and who wants to put her brainpower to work for Angel.
This season finds Angel and company in the City of Angels, where they are running a law firm. Their mission is to fight evil and save innocents.
The show is a hit with audiences because it's flashy, action-packed and populated with gorgeous actors. Even the cast members covered in green makeup are heady, sophisticated and charming.
But there's something else that works for fans of the show, too.
Good and evil aren't so easy to sort out in Angel. This cast of characters is made up of bad beings who do good things, and the law-abiding rule-breakers who love them. People root for Angel because he's not without spot or blemish. In fact, he's fairly pocked with sin and transgression. As the leading vampire in L.A., a blood-sucking town that revels in that very reputation, Angel isn't totally trusted. He's left a trail of innocent blood and suffering in his wake. Spike has the same past, but his bad-boy image and his fluid moral compass haven't made him any less popular with viewers. Lorne isn't a subtle symbol for the typical L.A. mover and shaker. He's always wheeling and dealing on his cellphone, making slick promises he could never keep but getting results. His mission? Head of the entertainment division at the law firm. His pre-reform demonic talent? Sensing the insecurities of human beings and exploiting them to the hilt.
When the good guys fight the bad guys, it turns out that the bad guy's crimes and misdemeanors are mere echoes of those of the crime-fighting, demon-decapitating squad. And as in life, some good people "” or at least innocent bystanders "” can't be saved.
Viewers like Angel because an awful lot of people believe it's excusable to do wrong in order to do the right thing in the end.
There's something else about this series that strikes a chord with viewers. The mission Angel and his cohorts take up is one of their own making. If there's a God, a celestial sort of boss or a vampiric CEO with an index card explaining the whole truth, we don't get to see it. Like the rest of us, Angel and his cohorts have to get by on partial information and the seat of their pants. Their best laid plans sometimes stink and their love lives are a complete mess.
In Angel evil is a dodgy subject and right and wrong don't seem to come with clear instructions. And gratification for doing the right thing, for continually subverting their lust for blood, mayhem and power? Well there isn't any. All their do-gooding gets them is a fresh, scary fight in the next episode.
The viewers might not have the awesome fighting skill or the extra-sensory abilities, but we have one major thing in common with Angel, Spike, Wesley, Fred and Gun. We have to face Mondays once a week.
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877.
Source