Angel

[RPG Post]

Angel

I watched the first episode of Angel. We watched it not because of a great love for Buffy (I've only seen the movie, not the television show) but because David Boreanaz stars in Bones, which we have finished 4 seasons of. So I came to it with only the lightest of expectations, based purely on the charisma of the lead.

The first thing that happened: my wife asked if Angel came out before or after Blade. And we enter into the gray area of academic distinctions. Blade the movie came out in 1998 which is after Angel showed up in Buffy. But Blade the character has been around since 1973. Mostly she asked because Angel is a vampire with a soul who hunts vampires and it reminded her of the ½ human Blade, eliminating suckheads. Fortunately by this time I know not to answer with additional questions or a recitation of trivia, so I just said “Blade came first.”

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The show was enjoyable. There were some editing flubs and the breaks were amazingly long for a streaming show. But, as someone who likes Doctor Who, I really can't complain about the special effects or fight scenes, nor the acting. Boreanaz obviously looks younger than in Bones but the charisma is there. I liked the show enough to add Buffy to our streaming queue.

My liking it doesn't say much about it. I like things for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with the level of cinematic or televisionistic refinement. Angel is entertaining, but the acting is barely passable to good, the plot and story are fine for what the story is aiming to do: entertain. I would not recommend it to people who were not genre fans (my wife claims I turned her into a geek. Who knew nerdliness was like vampirism: if you survive the attack you are turned.) And I say that because it has a sort of cheesy nod-and-wink attitude which says “we are all family”rather than a grittier feel that might make it more appropriate.

My wife continually surprised me with the television shows she wants to watch, and then enjoys. Doctor Who is one I would never have pegged as a favorite. We came at it because of a man again: Captain Jack Harkness in this case. She really liked Torchwood and who doesn't like the omnisexual Captain Jack? So we tried Doctor Who and watched every season up to the current one. We can't wait for the current season to be streaming. Or for a new Torchwood for that matter. Torchwood I feel like I can recommend to people like my parents, who do not, as a habit, watch science fiction or fantasy television. I am not sure if anything to do with Doctor Who can be said to be less cheesy than Angel, at the same time Torchwood feels like a police show that happens to involve aliens, rather than an aliens show that involves police.