by Sean Hall

Whatever shortcomings Joss Whedon may have as a man, in terms of television he has created some of the greatest works of art I have ever seen. A prime example of this is “Angel”, Whedon’s spin off show to his cult hit “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” So, what was the Los Angelas based “Angel” about and what’s so great about it?

Angel, formerly known as Angelus, is a centuries old vampire who for about one hundred and forty years was the most sadistic creature in the world. He was eventually given a soul as a curse, to make him suffer the guilt and remorse for all his crimes. The essential premise of the show is that this vampire with a soul is trying to atone for his past through numerous acts of compassion, by “helping the helpless.” In the process of doing this he becomes a serious enemy of many evil forces, most of all the corporation Wolfram and Hart.

That Angel is a vampire with a soul means there is a side to his nature that’s human and another side to it that’s totally inhuman. And he is doing his best to have the former win out. It was a show about developing your humanity, about changing yourself for the better. Anyone who watched the entire series of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” knows that the show ended very much on a note of hope. “Angel” painted a picture of life that was far more bleak but ultimately far more powerful. Angel is irredeemable, he cannot atone for the murder and torture he’s inflicted on countless people, and he cannot make any real difference in the world. However, even though he knows this, he keeps on fighting for justice. As he goes on to say about himself and his friends “It doesn’t matter even if we make a difference. We live as if the world was what it should be, to show it what it can be.”

A word that’s used regularly throughout the show is “champion.” In fighting the demonic (literally) corporation Wolfram and Hart, Angel makes himself the enemy of the rich and powerful and the champion of ordinary people. This was a morally profound show. It was not a corny show about the supernatural, but rather it used things that aren’t part of real life as a way of talking about things that are. The evil law firm Wolfram and Hart, responsible for a huge portion of the evil in the world, is run by demons who call themselves the senior partners. In one particular episode, Angel gets the opportunity to go to the hell the senior partners live in, in the hope he can destroy them and change the world. However, he is shown that the “hell” that they live in is really the human heart, that he cant change the human heart and so cant change the world. Therefore, the senior partners are really a metaphor for the evil inherent in human nature. And for all the supernatural goings on at wolfram and hart, there ideology is simply your standard fascism. As their Head Of Special Projects Holland Manners says “Its not about good or evil. Its about who wields the most power.”

Wolfram and Hart go to great lengths to try to get Angel to revert back to Angelus, the vampire he was before he got his soul. This is something that is very relevant to each of us. We are all part of a system that wants us to lose our souls, i.e. that you stop caring about other people and just be out for yourself.

As mentioned earlier, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” ended on a note of hope, but Angel finished its final season on a note of defiance. It ended with the idea that heroes don’t accept the way the world is, they fight it, even if that fight is leading them to their almost certain destruction. It ended with the idea that you may not be able to defeat the elite forces that control the world, but you can show them that they don’t own you.

To conclude, “Angel” told the classic story of the hero and told it exceptionally well. It influenced my value system and my conviction as to what drama should be like. To anyone who hasn’t seen it I can’t recommend it strongly enough.