grinner
02-06-2004, 02:16 PM
‘Angel' gets its Charisma back for series' 100th episode
By WARD TRIPLETT The Kansas City Star
JUSTIN LUBIN/The WB
Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), James Marsters (Spike), Amy Acker (Fred), Alexis Denisof (Wesley), Joss Whedon (creator and executive producer), David Boreanaz (Angel), Andy Hallett (Lorne) and J. August Richards (Gunn) at the taping of the 100th “Angel.” It airs tonight on the WB.
Is that Cordelia, all bright and shiny and cynical again? And is that Angel back to full-time brooding?
“Angel” turns 100 tonight, which is no small achievement for a drama based on a vampire with a soul who started out as a minor player in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” It's a good time to look back on where the show has been and possibly where it's going, and that's what you get in tonight's episode, called “You're Welcome.”
If you need some kind of primer on “Angel,” well, I'm surprised you've read this far. You just don't jump into a drama about a vampire at mid-bloodstream, do you?
To sum up, though, Angel (David Boreanaz) was once the most vicious vampire in the world, until he was cursed with a soul by Gypsies. He was forced to confront the memories of the many lives he destroyed and set out to try to save any he could from that point on.
This season, Angel has taken over the underworld law firm of Wolfram & Hart, which had bedeviled him for the first 90 or so episodes. He knows he wants to use it to track down and eliminate some of its dangerous clients and then do some good in the world. But last week he learned that even some of his old allies no longer trust him for it.
So here we are, seconds into “You're Welcome,” and Angel is ready to quit everything. He speaks of leaving Wolfram & Hart, but he's also debating his whole role as a savior of the people and as a leader of his small band of good guys. And right about then, Cordelia Chase wakes up.
Charisma Carpenter's Cordelia followed Angel from “Buffy,” but last year the writers simply ran out of things to do with her after trying, and failing, to have the two of them become romantically involved. Eventually, the character did an unconvincing turn to evil and was put in a coma. She returns tonight with her sassy comments, business smarts, unbuttoned blouses and demon hunting senses fully intact as though nothing happened. Except something did, and she wants to know why her friends are working for the enemy and why she should help.
“You're Welcome” has a secondary but important story line set around recurring villain Lindsey (Christian Kane) and what all his new tattoos mean. Lindsey is at his trash-talking, sneering best here, and Kane excels in a fight scene that would have had a lot more impact if it didn't look like it was shot inside a video game (too trendy).
But the Cordelia story is the one I think fans will run with, and the way it's resolved is oddly satisfying. It's fun to see Carpenter play a happy Cordelia again, but it's also evidence that a mature, intelligent Cordelia is really out of place in the way the show has evolved. Having her around would force the writers to explain every week why someone this bright and aware hasn't figured out a way to solve every problem Angel has that afternoon…and if every problem Angel has gets solved, well, we have no more show.
What Cordelia used to provide in terms of wide-eyed wonder and energy is now being farmed out to the vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab), who has never grown up at all. It's somewhat telling that even in this reunion show, it's Harmony who gets the best comic lines.
By WARD TRIPLETT The Kansas City Star
JUSTIN LUBIN/The WB
Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), James Marsters (Spike), Amy Acker (Fred), Alexis Denisof (Wesley), Joss Whedon (creator and executive producer), David Boreanaz (Angel), Andy Hallett (Lorne) and J. August Richards (Gunn) at the taping of the 100th “Angel.” It airs tonight on the WB.
Is that Cordelia, all bright and shiny and cynical again? And is that Angel back to full-time brooding?
“Angel” turns 100 tonight, which is no small achievement for a drama based on a vampire with a soul who started out as a minor player in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” It's a good time to look back on where the show has been and possibly where it's going, and that's what you get in tonight's episode, called “You're Welcome.”
If you need some kind of primer on “Angel,” well, I'm surprised you've read this far. You just don't jump into a drama about a vampire at mid-bloodstream, do you?
To sum up, though, Angel (David Boreanaz) was once the most vicious vampire in the world, until he was cursed with a soul by Gypsies. He was forced to confront the memories of the many lives he destroyed and set out to try to save any he could from that point on.
This season, Angel has taken over the underworld law firm of Wolfram & Hart, which had bedeviled him for the first 90 or so episodes. He knows he wants to use it to track down and eliminate some of its dangerous clients and then do some good in the world. But last week he learned that even some of his old allies no longer trust him for it.
So here we are, seconds into “You're Welcome,” and Angel is ready to quit everything. He speaks of leaving Wolfram & Hart, but he's also debating his whole role as a savior of the people and as a leader of his small band of good guys. And right about then, Cordelia Chase wakes up.
Charisma Carpenter's Cordelia followed Angel from “Buffy,” but last year the writers simply ran out of things to do with her after trying, and failing, to have the two of them become romantically involved. Eventually, the character did an unconvincing turn to evil and was put in a coma. She returns tonight with her sassy comments, business smarts, unbuttoned blouses and demon hunting senses fully intact as though nothing happened. Except something did, and she wants to know why her friends are working for the enemy and why she should help.
“You're Welcome” has a secondary but important story line set around recurring villain Lindsey (Christian Kane) and what all his new tattoos mean. Lindsey is at his trash-talking, sneering best here, and Kane excels in a fight scene that would have had a lot more impact if it didn't look like it was shot inside a video game (too trendy).
But the Cordelia story is the one I think fans will run with, and the way it's resolved is oddly satisfying. It's fun to see Carpenter play a happy Cordelia again, but it's also evidence that a mature, intelligent Cordelia is really out of place in the way the show has evolved. Having her around would force the writers to explain every week why someone this bright and aware hasn't figured out a way to solve every problem Angel has that afternoon…and if every problem Angel has gets solved, well, we have no more show.
What Cordelia used to provide in terms of wide-eyed wonder and energy is now being farmed out to the vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab), who has never grown up at all. It's somewhat telling that even in this reunion show, it's Harmony who gets the best comic lines.