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TV Guide - September 2003

THE BIG FANG THEORY –
Angel nearly dies, but Spike’s here to give the vamp show lots more bite

By Shawna Malcom

ON THE HOLLYWOOD set of WB's Angel, the brooding, do gooder title character,
played by David Boreanaz, is sitting in his office, lost in thought. He glances
up at Wesley, one of his crime busting partners, and asks, "You don't think he's
really gone, do you?"

Within moments, his question is answered: Spike, the trash talking, platinum
blond vampire, comes striding in, clad in his trademark leather trench coat.

For a guy who was last seen going up in flames on the series finale of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, he looks remarkably unsinged. The actor behind Spike, James
Marsters, is obviously thrilled by his resurrection. "With the writers we had on
Buffy, I felt like we could have gone at least two more years;"he says during a
break. Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon first approached the 41 year old
actor last winter about transplanting his 123 year old character to Angel.
Marsters jumped at the chance. "I have never felt bored doing this character. I
don't know when I will be able to do something this delightful again, so why bid
it goodbye before you have to?"

Spike's encore will be tied to the amulet that played a key role in Buffy's
finale. "He's not just going to walk in and go, 'You wouldn't believe what just
happened to me. I dreamt that I was burnt to a crisp,'" Whedon says. "We're
going to bring him back in the most painful and confusing way for him possible."

Spike isn't the only one getting a second chance. For four seasons, Angel
performed consistently, if not spectacularly, for WB, yet it hovered near
cancellation last spring. The problem, according to WB president Jordan Levin,
was partly financial (in order to stay on the air, Angel ultimately had to cut
its budget) and partly the series' creative direction. "We wanted to brighten
the show," Levin says.

So the vampires got a revamp. "Last year's plotlines were a little darker;"
Boreanaz says, relaxing on a leather couch on the show's set. "This year, it's a
whole different spin. There's more humor."

Levin admits that incorporating alums from Buffy, the cult hit that WB lost to
rival UPN after five seasons, played a pivotal part in Angel's renewal. "We
wanted to be able to fuse the two shows' worlds," he says. "We wanted to know
there was an openness to doing that."

Marsters isn't the only one who quickly signed on. Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle
Gellar, is in serious talks to make a two-episode appearance, likely during
either February or May sweeps. And another Buffy character Spike's former flame
Harmony, played by Mercedes McNab will appear throughout the season as Angel's
new assistant at the sinister law firm he and the gang took over in last
season's finale

Other developments to sink your teeth into: Former gang member Gunn undergoes a
mysterious procedure that transforms him into a top attorney; science whiz Fred
gets recruited by Spike, who's desperate to feel like his old self again; and an
enigmatic new character named Eve offers up her services as a liaison between
Angel and the law firm's senior partners.

Two major players have vanished, however: Angel's tortured son, Connor, and
comatose Cordelia, who had been with the show since Day 1. According to Whedon,
both exits were dictated by the story lines. "It was time for Cordelia to go;"
seconds Charisma Carpenter, who will guest star on NBC's new fall comedy Miss
Match. "I really don't know what was left to do with her."

Whedon has a few thoughts, though he's reluctant to go into much detail. "We'd
like to do arcs with both Cordelia and Connor," he says cryptically. But let's
not be coy here: It's Cellar the fans really want. Whedon won't divulge details,
but he will allow that Buffy's presence will create more tension between the two
vamps who've loved her Angel, her first boyfriend, and Spike, her most recent.
"In order for all of them to get along," Whedon says, "one of them would have to
die. Again. And I don't want that."

Neither does Marsters, who came to play, albeit by his own rules. "I'm starting
to do what I did at Buffy, which is go off in a corner by myself;" he says.
"Some of that's probably the character. But I suck at team sports. I always
have. It's more like, 'Throw me the ball. It's my ball.'"

The show's original star doesn't seem particularly comfortable with that idea.
"Remember, it's called Angel;" Boreanaz says. "Spike is one of my henchmen. He
is underneath me."

Sounds like Angel's already baring his fangs.