Buffy heads UC
Sunnydale while her
love interest Angel
swoops into Los
Angeles
Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz and Glenn Quinn give “Angel” its life.
Television
By Yael Menahem
Oregon Daily Emerald
Buffy Anne Summers, a.k.a. The
Vampire Slayer, is walking through
the University of California-Sunny
dale campus when she runs into a
group of vampires.
The head bloodsucker threatens
to kill Buffy to which she indiffer
ently replies, “You know that threat
gets more frightening every time I
hear it.”
Then a California surfer vampire
says, “Are we gonna fight, or is there
just going to be a monster sarcasm
rally?”
This smart, witty, and sometimes
downright ridiculous television
show began as a mid-season replace
ment based on the less-than-stellar
movie, also called “Buffy the Vam
pire Slayer.”
This fall season, Buffy creators ex
panded their wings and created a
spin-off show for Buffy’s love inter
est and ex-flame bad-vampire
turned-good, Angel.
“Angel” is living up to its hype
and the pair gives fans more vampire
slayings than they ever could’ve
imagined.
Critics and audiences alike were
skeptical of Buffy’s debut, but the se
ries is enjoying success as the show
heads into its third season, following
Buffy and the gang to college.
The concept of the show, where
Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Cel
lar, is the chosen slayer of her gener
ation who fights vampires in small
town Sunny dale, Calif., which sits
on top of the entrance and exit to
hell called a Hellmouth. Strange as
that may sound, this is an accepted
concept by all of its residents and
viewers.
The appeal of the show to many
audiences is in its fairly real repre
sentation of high school life, and
now college. Buffy is not an A-stu
dent — matter of fact, her GPA is 2.8,
and in the season premiere, she did
n’t seem too excited about being in
college.
When choosing classes with her
nerdy witch-practicing friend Wil
low (Alyson Hannigan) Buffy pon
ders taking a class called Introduc
tion to the Modern Novel. Realizing
that she’d have to read more than
one book for the class she says, “Do
they have an Introduction to the
Modem Blurb?”
The lead character in “Angel”
(David Boreanaz) left Buffy — the
show and the character — after the
two consummated their relationship
and he turned into a bad vampire,
killing Buffy. Even though the two
were revived, Angel left Sunnydale
knowing their relationship could
never continue in this universe.
“Angel” is appropriately set in the
city of angels where Angel (Glenn
Quinn) has taken it upon himself to
help women in distress in order to
atone for his days as a bad vampire.
The show is darker than “Buffy”
and it has more action than satire.
Doyle, equipped with an Irish-ac
cent and the power of visions, helps
steer Angel in the direction of those
who needs his help.
During the first episode, Angel
runs into Sunnydale High School
graduate, Cordelia Chase (Charisma
Carpenter) whose family fortune
was taken when the IRS seized her
parent’s property for never paying
taxes.
Cordelia is trying her luck as a not gs
yet successful actress in Los Ange
les, but realizes the business poten
tial through Angel’s I’ll-come-to
your-rescue missions.
The first three episodes have
found Angel helping blond women
in distress, which raises questions.
Can this be his way of making up for
leaving his blond ex-girlfriend
Buffy? Maybe, but could we please
see more than blond women in dis
tress? Or is that too much to ask?
The show doesn’t entirely sepa
rate ttself from the former residents
of Sunnydale. In a cross-over show,
Buffy’s friend Oz, who is also a were
wolf, makes a trip to Los Angeles
with his band. He meets Angel to
give him a sacred ring that Buffy
sent, one that would protect him
from death even in the light of day.
Even though Angel is touched by
the gesture, he declines wearing the
ring and opts to fight vampires as he
was always meant to, in die dark of '
night.
So far the show has offered us
new and old vampires and even a
parasite that tra vels from one person
to the next when they sleep togeth
er. The graphic depictions of the par
asite’s travels from one body to the
next is not for the weak-stomached.
“Angel” is a promising show,
keeping in Buffy’s tradition of fight
ing vampires while dealing with
true heartbreak between Angel and
Buffy. The burning question, howev
er, is will the two ever be able to cbn
summate their relationship again?
That’s a hopeful thought for fans
of both shows, so stay tuned to see
what this not-so-typical 200-year-old
vampire Angel does.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” airs
Tuesday on the WB network at 8
p.m., followed by “Angel” at 9.
u
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