By way of brief explanation…
Just after Christmas this year, Shannon and I finally got around to watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time. Being huge fans of Firefly and great admirers of Joss Whedon’s writing, it was kind of surprising that we hadn’t already been baptized into the ranks of Buffy-verse residents, but there’s one of the great ironies of my life. I missed Buffy when it was on television the first time, behaving like the ignorant classicist I was and turning my nose up at anything manufactured for that deadly combination of America and TV. Needless to say that, six weeks later, when we finally pulled our heads out of over a month of watching literally nothing but Buffy (we marathoned all seven seasons… it was an amazing way to experience the series for the first time), we were confirmed Whedon disciples, and completely immersed in the show’s characters and mythology.
I think it was Salon’s Laura Miller who called Angel “Buffy methadone”. That almost sums it up, and it’s certainly an accurate description of our experience with the spinoff series. Right after finishing Buffy, we dove head first into Angel, plowing through its five seasons with relentless fanboy obsessiveness. When it finally came to a close, the snow was melting, but our love affair with the “Buffy verse” was far from over. After all, there was the fan fiction, the novels and particularly the comic book series to grapple with. (I’ll be the first to vouch for the quality of the Buffy comic (called simply “Buffy Season Eight”), drawing as it does from many of the show’s writers, including Joss Whedon, to create a plausible, consistent and enjoyable extension of the series.)
There was one thing we had not yet done, and that’s watch both Buffy and Angel, together as they were first broadcast. Recall that we never watched either show when it was actually on TV, so this was actually our first time viewing the series’ side by side. We had presumed, since the shows came out of the same creative family and were set in the same mythic universe, that they would enhance each other, and this was true… at first.
A Bit of Review For Those Non-Geeks…
Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted on the WB in March of 1997. Its first season was a short one (just like Firefly’s), intended as a summer replacement series. Season 2 started that September, and brought the mythic themes of the show into focus for the first time, including centralizing Buffy’s relationship with Angel and her place in the pantheon of demons, monsters and heroes in the Whedon-verse. It’s really season 2, as most viewers of the show know, that first brought us the Buffy we know and love. Season 3 played damage control to season 2, bringing Angel back from the dead and getting the “Scooby Gang” out of high school. At the end of the season, Angel and Buffy finally go their separate ways, with Angel heading to LA from Sunnydale to make his own way in the world. Cut to….
Buffy 4/ Angel 1
Debuting in the fall of 1999, the first season of Angel is as frustrating, inconsistent, tantalizing and beguiling as the first season of Buffy. The show clearly had to find its feet (the addition of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was a big help), but when watched side by side with Buffy season 4, we found that it was a great way to continue the Buffy experience. One reason for this is simply that season 4 of Buffy isn’t exactly the highlight of the series. Frankenstein monsters, evil government agencies, beered-up frat boys… the villains for the season had a decidedly low-rent, pedestrian flavour, especially in comparison to the resonant Buffy/Angel love story of season 2, or the off-kilter demonic glory of season 3’s Mayor Wilkins. But put the season next to Angel and the shows’ flaws and strengths seem to complement each other, making the whole experience into something of a 44-episode “mega season”, with all the classic Buffy characters.
For example, the story arc involving Faith’s sin and redemption, which stretches over both series, is greatly helped by watching them side by side. It’s always a treat when one character straddles both series, and when it comes to straddling, we know we can always count on Faith.
Buffy 5/ Angel 2
Everything takes a jump up for this season. Angel finally finds its centre (or at least its centre for a few years), introducing the unforgettable Lorne, featuring the return of Darla and a three-episode visit to a demon dimension. Great stuff. Buffy, on the other hand, was having its greatest season in season 5. Watching it again only convinced me further that this was the natural ending of the series, with all the poetry and wonderful melancholy at which the series excelled. All the characters participate in bringing the main story arc featuring 14-year-old Dawn, a mystical key, and Buffy's most powerful enemy yet, a God no less, to its tragic, heroic climax. Both seasons are also helped greatly by the presence of Spike, and it’s through Spike that we get the best crossover experience of the series, Buffy Episode 7 (“Fool for Love”, in which Spike recounts to Buffy the other slayers he’s killed) and Angel Episode 7 (“Darla”, in which Angel recalls the years immediately following when his soul was returned). Watched side by side, the two episodes are as enjoyable and expansive as any Buffy movie would be.
Buffy 6/Angel 3
Here’s where the problems began….
The problem with the match up of Buffy season 6 and Angel season 3 isn’t that either is particularly bad, but that by this point the two shows had taken their preferences in vastly different directions. Buffy’s story was, in retrospect, as powerful as anything that had gone before, including the rising of Evil Willow, the adult, intelligent way the writers dealt with Buffy’s resurrection, and the challenges of life after College. Meanwhile, over at Angel, things had taken a serious turn to the dark side of things, with Hotlz the vampire hunter (or “Alan Parsons Project” as I always called him), Darla’s pregnancy and finally Angel’s son adding to the mix. By about 10 episodes into both series, the gloomy story arc and grim urban surroundings of Angel had become simply too much of a jolt, coming as they did after some wonderfully bizarre episode of Buffy, like “Doublemeat Palace”, not to mention the masterpiece of the series, “Once More, With Feeling”.
I’m ashamed to say, knowing where both series would go from here, we gave up on Angel at this point and decided to continue with Buffy alone.
Buffy 7/Angel 4
I have no first person report on this, since we’ve given up on Angel, but with the urgent militaristic intensity of Buffy this season (its last), as well as the powerful, scene-stealing performance by James Marsters as Spike in almost every episode, it’s difficult to imagine cutting the tension by switching over to Angel. This is the season of Angel that was, if it’s possible, darker and more brooding than those that preceded it. Some crossover opportunities do exist (thanks to Faith), but it strikes me that this would be a less than satisfactory matchup under any circumstances.
Angel 5
… makes up for Angel’s gloomy third and fourth seasons. Freed from commitments on Buffy and Firefly, the creative team brought all their weapons to bear on Angel in its fifth season, and the shows are every bit as good as anything the Whedon-verse ever produced. Once again, James Marsters almost steals the show, but all the characters get their chance to shine, and you get innovative episodes like “Why We Fight” and the unforgettable “Smile Time”. Don’t miss it.
DIY
Here’s a good website to get you started on your own marathon:
http://www.simonhampel.com/buffy.html
See you next time you come over all Slay-y.
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