Angel the Character: How do we love our Hollywood vamp?

[Joe Hellandback]

Of all the characters on Angel I think CC is probably the one who grew most from her Sunnydale days but Angel does transform beyond recognition, in Sunnydale he was the villain or the lead character's boyfriend. Here we see him  as a leader, a father, a lover, a champion. But at the same time he's also genuinely funny, he's a goof and is forced to embrace emotions and decisions he never had to worry about when his only real concern was keeping Buffy alive/happy. Of all the characters I think only he and Faith could ever have been successful in their own spinoff, even Willow, wonderful though she was could never have carried her own series. Of course it also helps that DB really grows as an actor during the course of the show, virtually unrecognisable from the tall, dark, brooding hunk who's role was only to deliver cryptic messages and fade into the shadows, contrast that to his later performances, especially as Angelus.    

[Joe Hellandback]

14 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

In terms of acting abilities, David Boreanaz is barely recognisable from his Buffy days by the end of season five.

 

Angel himself is also unrecognisable as he turns from mysterious loner hero to team player to dorky daddy to manipulated hero to petty CEO. What I find rather remarkable about season five is the lengths to which the writers go to actually make Angel unlikeable. Angel really comes off as a dick throughout a lot of season five and I wonder whether that's just a side effect of the writers loving James Marsters so much or of the corporate setting turning the family of Angel Investigations into  co-workers with a clear power structure as opposed to the tight knit family that we had before.

 

Honestly, I think both Faith and Willow could have carried a series on their own, but as with Angel it would have depended on whether the writers actually had an original premise for them and if they had been surrounded by an interesting cast of characters. I think in terms of popularity and character potential, Faith, Willow and Spike could have carried their own spin-offs - for sure. I was never quite sure about "Ripper", but that may also have worked. None of the other characters could have carried a show - not even Wesley.

I love Willow but hard to see her carrying her own series, would love to have seen Faith on a Motorcycle as was proposed. Ripper was supposed to have been a one off although I'd suppose it could have been a series of mini-drams?