Дорогие гости, перенос форума Marstersvers завершен. Мы рады приветствовать вас на новом ресурсе!)))). Вся первичная информация об этом форуме находится здесь
1. Почему хронология пятого сезона сдвинута ровно на четыре месяца назад?
а) сценаристам необходимо, чтобы события финала происходили в январе 2004 (то есть через 8 месяцев после Chosen) и) это просто оплошность вроде "потерянного месяца" в середине 7 сезона "Баффи"
2. Почему к матери Лайлы вернулась память сразу же после того как Уэс убил отца?
а) их души встретились на высшем уровне бытия, и теперь мама Лайлы вернулась с посланием от Роджера Уиндэма-Прайса к Уэсли или ко всей Банде Клыка б) просто совпадение
3. Почему амулет и материализующее волшебство были посланы по почте?
а) бюджетные ограничения б) Сценаристы не нашли другого способа подсунуть Хармони Спайку в момент его материализации
4. Зачем сценаристы спаривают Спайка и Хармони?
а) они намерены радикально переписать обоих персонажей и сделать их них "комическую разрядку" шоу б) они готовы принести Хармони в жертву гнева фанатов для того, чтобы другие кандидатуры в "девушки Спайка" (Фред, Ева) казались бы фанам более приемлемым
5. Почему в чаше страданий оказалась Mountain Dew?
а) Если это идея Джосса Ведона - чаша страданий окажется настоящей, что бы в ней ни находилось. Ведон не раз говорил, что в его понимании "цель путешествия - в самом путешествии". В соответствии с этим кредо единственное, что имеет значение - то, что Спайк все-таки выпил эту чашу. Можно начинать готовиться к тому, что Спайка снова будут мучить... б) Если это идея Дэвида Фьюри - значит, чаша страданий - всего лишь "оживляж", дешевый предлог для демонстрации драки двух крутых мачо
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon decided to hook up the show's heroine with a 245-year-old vampire with a soul, he didn't have high expectations. "I thought people would be like, 'That's so cheesy,'" he says. Instead, the chemistry between Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz turned the 1997 pairing into one of TV's great star-crossed romances and transformed the unknown Boreanaz into a heartthrob and, in 1999, the star of his own WB spin-off, Angel.
This week, the drama celebrates a milestone — its 100th episode — with an epic installment that marks the return of original cast member Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) in all her wisecracking glory. "She really is the person to say [to Angel], 'I was here when you started and look where you are now,'" Whedon says. Recently, Boreanaz and the man he affectionately calls "Boss" met up on Angel's Los Angeles set to talk about branching out from Buffy. TVG: David, what was your reaction to the idea of having your own show? Boreanaz: I'm very fortunate. I mean, to give me my own series — a character like this [who] is so diverse, so old. There's so much to him. When I read the breakdown for the character, it was something like, "245-year-old vampire with a conscience. If you knock him down, he'll get back up like Joe Louis." The Joe Louis line stuck with me.
TVG: Joss, you've said if you had to compare Angel to a superhero, it would be Batman. Is that how you always envisioned him? Whedon: He does have the Batman thing of "I am all alone... with my 12 sidekicks." There are, like, 48 guys with keys to the Batcave. But, and I think this is a human truth, you are still alone. You can be alone in a crowd of people who love you. That is our curse. And that's why I think vampires as a concept register.
TVG: In 2001, Buffy moved to UPN but Angel stayed on the WB. Did you worry that splitting the shows up would hurt Angel? Whedon: In terms of Angel I was pleased, just because it was time for people to realize that it stood on its own.
TVG: It must've been hard, though, to continue to deal with the WB after such nasty negotiations over Buffy. Whedon: Yeah. This was a negotiation where both [then-20th Century Fox chairman] Sandy Grushow and [WB chairman] Jamie Kellner went at each other. And when elephants fight, mice get trampled. It was really just about money.
TVG: David, what did you think the first time you heard about the story line in which Angel's infant son, Connor, would age into a teenager within a few episodes? Boreanaz: It's nuts, man. But when Vincent [Kartheiser, who played Connor] came on, I really enjoyed working with him. But now nobody remembers Connor [on the show] except me. Whedon: It's gonna come into play again. Assuming Vincent's available.
TVG: Were you shocked at how resistant fans were when you put Angel and Cordelia together? Whedon: "Resistant" isn't the word. They were chasing us through the streets with torches. They hated the idea. The Buffy-Angel [romance] has lingered. Boreanaz: The Buffy-Angel connection has got to win out [in the end]. They're perfect together. — Shawna Malcom
Посмотрите - не пожалеете. Там сделана выборка лучших, по мнению TV Guide, эпизодов с иллюстрациями и аннотациями - этого в онлайновой версии нет. И обложка! ДБ, правда, там совершенно на себя не похож, и кажется нарисованным героем компьютерной игры...
Почитала я сканы в TV Guide (там более подробное интервью, чем в онлайновой версии. Да, они явно чувствуют, что романтики (то бишь любовных отношений) в шоу не хватает. Похоже, падение рейтингов нынуждает их идти на быстрые и решительные меры. Слоган "Ангел - самый романтический герой на ТВ" - явно заказной. (тем более что The WB и TV Guide - подразделения одной и той же корпорации).
С 14 серии начинается сплошная любовь: в шоу возвращают вервольфшу Нину в качестве пассии для Ангела, Уэс и Фред получают от сценаристов второй шанс... Неясно, купятся ли на это зрители, но видно, что Ведон меняет стратегию сезона буквально на ходу. Интересно в этом отношении последнее интервью с Кристианом Кейном: "хочешь сниматься?" - "Да." -"Приезжай, будем снимать". И разговор этот имел место уже после написания сценария эпизода. Они лихорадочно ищут новый формат, ищут баланс между производственным и любовным романом.
Мне был любопытен выбор слова, которым ДБ вначале описал нынешнее состояние романа Баффи\Ангел - linger. Что-то вроде "задержаться, засидеться". Но под конец - they're perfect together. Чтобы оставить лазейку для возвращения СМГ?
Я не очень верю Ведону, когда он говорит, что Корди с самого начала была запланирована на Биг-Бэда. С начала 4 сезона - может быть. Но с начала 3 вряд ли. Мне интересно, какие впечатления у других. Мне при просмотре показалось, что Ведон на совещании сценаристов сказал: "Так, ребята, Баффи теперь на другом канале с новым любовником, и у них, похоже, серьезно. Давайте искать дэвушку для Ангела. А собственно говоря, чего ее искать? Вот она, у нас под носом!" И все начали быстренько сватать Ангела и Корди. А когда Утки начали кампанию травли, все решили, что пара Ангел-Корди совершенно не популярна, и было велено эту линию свернуть, решив заодно проблему с бэдом 4 сезона
Из новостей: undeadenglispatient со Стейкхауса продолжает свои изыскания на тему "пятый сезон является плодом воображения Ангела" и проводит интересные параллели с "Матрицей". Поскольку он перепечатал свои идеи на открытом форуме ASSB, думаю, их можно переносить сюда Date Posted: 00:16:30 01/27/04 Tue Author: undeadenglispatient Author Host/IP: 106.chicago-16rh16rt.il.dial-access.att.net / 12.73.243.106 Subject: ATS and The Matrix (spoiler spec)
Similarities between ATS and the Matrix
This is a continuation of the post I made earlier about ATS and a possible Matrix involved in the show this year. This year’s ATS has quite a few Matrix references weaved into the plot. Here are the most significant:
Angel as Neo
1. "Did you know that the First Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world, where none suffered, where everyone would be happy? It was a disaster." Quote: Agent Smith – The Matrix - Last year on ATS, Jasmine tried to make the world a perfect world, Angel and the Fang Gang stopped that plan.
2. Neo gets a package in the mail while at work – inside the package is a phone (a phone call from Morpheus), Angel gets the amulet which contains a noncorporal Spike.
3. Morpheus and others have the ability to enter the Matrix by hooking themselves into the Matrix computer system. – While Spike is partially visible in Angel’s world, he requires something else to fully make him corporeal. How he is made corporeal is still uncertain, however, Lindsey has taken credit for it. When Spike became corporal, all the phones started ringing. Note: The Matrix uses the phones to enter and exit the Matrix. Note: While Spike was being threatened by Pavayne he learns that “desire bends reality”. Desire bending reality is what Morpheus teaches Neo to do while in the Matrix.
4. At work Neo gets captured by Mr. Smith and interrogated because he makes a choice not to listen to Morpheus and go out on the ledge to the building scaffolding. – Angel chooses to work at W&H even though Spike tells him that working at a place like that will eventually consume him, getting eating in the belly of the beast. Angel tells Spike there are reasons he is there, reasons that Spike does not know about. Spike is willing to help Angel, but only if he asks for it.
5. Agent Smith plants a bug on Neo during their meeting – someone at W&H as well as Eve plants 2 parasites on Angel in order to keep him out of the picture. During Angel’s dream he cannot speak (when trying to sing to Lorne) – similar to Neo loosing his mouth.
6. Trinity removes Neo’s bug – Spike removes one of the two parasites from Angel, the other parasite is MIA. Is Angel still ‘bugged’?
7. Morpheus tells Neo he thinks Neo is the “One” – Angel is wondering whether or not the prophesy is really about him, whether or not he is the “One”. In order to be the “One” Angel needs to believe he is the “One”. Neo went to the Oracles to discover whether or not he was the one, regardless of what the Oracle said to him, he was the “One”. Angel has been to the Powers that Be, and right now, he is very distrustful of anything they have said in the past. Spike, however, is not interested in being the “One”, however Lindsey seems to want Spike to think he is the “One”.
8. After the bug is removed, Morpheus offers Neo the red and blue pills. The blue pill is the choice to continue living in the world Neo is familiar and continuing to live the lie – the red pill is the truth, a choice that will remove him from the Matrix – in which he will die in the Matrix and be reborn into the real world. This hasn’t been played out yet. I have this theory, which I posted a while back called “Wouldn’t it be Cool if ME did”, and the premises is on the Matrix. Like, wouldn’t it be cool if Angel had entered a Matrix. If he did, I believe he entered a Matrix back in “Peace Out” – here’s the spec., I have added a bit more to it.
Peace Out:
After the Fang Gang get out of the cage at the hotel, they go upstairs and talk. They then decide, after finding the head of the 'keeper of the word' that they need to go out and find Angel and Cordelia before Jasmine does. The scene ends with the entire gang at the door, opening it up, and in 'shock' face, just standing there looking at something we don't see.
The next scene is Connor killing Jasmine and then running off.
The next scene is back at the hotel, with Angel coming in and seeing the Fang Gang. However, in this scene, every single one of The Fang Gang has changed their clothes and is cleaned up - different, every one of them, except Angel. This is also the scene were we see Lilah, back from the dead.
With Lilah in the hotel, and only a short time from when Angel returns(unless Time is an issue here), why would they all change clothes and clean up so close to the end of the episode? This part of the episode was in the middle of the season finale big bad fight. Also, they were on their way out to find Angel and Cordelia, and didn't go because Lilah showed up. I'm really not sure why Lilah's presence would have stopped them from going to find Angel or Cordelia, especially because they thought both were in danger, as shocking as seeing a dead person walking may be.......they've seen stranger things before.
What if, and yes, this is far out speculation, in the first scene, it wasn't just Lilah at the door. Maybe it was Lilah and a swat team? I was thinking - Wouldn't it be cool if ME.........replaced them all. What if, like the Matrix, each of the Fang Gang got wired into Angel's reality and their real bodies are somewhere else – removed from the reality that we see. The Fang Gang that we see now are basically replicas of them, with all their memories (or lack there off from the mindwipe) and history, but ultimately controlled by someone else.......puppets. The only difference between this and the Matrix is that when the Fang Gang have entered the Matrix, they did so unwillingly and the mainframe computer is able to effect their minds, they do not have the same ‘free will’ Angel has. Note: They are not robots or cyborgs. They are complete manifestations of themselves, like the movie: The Matrix.
My next question was 'why' would Lilah do this and how many other players are involved to pull it off. I think the senior partners and Lilah have always wanted a 'dark' souled Angel for their coming apocalypse. Maybe, and I'm guessing here, this scenario is a way for Angel to loose all his friends (support and connection to the world), but to also insure that they are holding all the cards. Whether or not Angel is in a real Matrix will effect him the same way emotionally– he will either give up completely and stay in the Matrix unaware of it’s existence or become the “One” and choose the red pill – the awakening to the truth. The whole 'working at W&H' is just a way to further Angel's demise quicker, and Angel thinking he has his friends (support) with him, would be just an illusion. Maybe, part of the deal Angel took – to create a mindwipe and to change Connor’s path required him to enter the Matrix existence. While I’m not sure how this happened or if Angel is aware of it (most likely not, like Neo), it is possible that W&H’s only way to create a mindwipe and the resulting benefits is to alter reality in some way, shape or form. Does W&H have the magic capabilities to create this type of world for Angel to enter or is their solution more technological? ME’s solution in the past has been a doppagangland type of world thru magic, however could W&H have other ways of creating the same thing thru technology? Is the world Angel in currently real or not?
I was thinking, and definitely many 'what ifs' here, but like Season 4 of BTVS, this scenario would be a great way to separate Angel from the friends that have held him together all these years and make it easier for them to turn him dark. Also, if these replacement Fang Gang members are not really 'real', then Lilah could have them easily corrupted completely, just to heap loads of guilt on Angel and make him more miserable. Also, the show could have a free for all with what they do to any of them this season. Lots of fun to be had. VampFred, Dark Wes, Evil Gunn, hooked on fame Lorne. The only exception of course would be death, in the Matrix, if one dies within the Matrix, they die outside of it. The only way out is to be awakened.
If Angel can ‘wake up’ from this world, with Spike’s help, maybe he can un-hook the Fang Gang before they die…….or if he can convince them to also ‘wake up’ with him, they can all go together into a rebirthing – back to reality, however, this last scenario seems the most unlikely. Most likely, Angel is going to have to get out first and then re-enter, like Spike to free the others.
There are a couple straggling problems with the Matrix parallel and ATS. It’s like the show wants their cake and eat it to. Most significantly with Spike – while Spike appears to be playing the Morpheus role, he is also, on the other hand, being lead by Lindsey for some other purpose. Morpheus in the Matrix did not have a Lindsey, per se. Both Lindsey and Eve are also straggling problems, are they Agent Smith types or is one an Agent and the other a good guy? How did Lindsey enter the Matrix and in Ep. 12, does he get sucked out of it thru that portal? That is also unclear at this time. Some other problems are: the cyborgs that entered in Lineage (who do they work for), they tried to remove Angel’s free will, that would have kept in the Matrix without choice. Then we have Cordy, also awakening within the Matrix, but I’m not sure what her point of waking up is for. She convinces Angel to stay at W&H, she doesn’t convince him to leave – so that cannot be a good thing. Then Cordy leaves – where does she go? Does Cordy wake up in the real world or within the Matrix? Is Cordy alive in the real world or does she continue on in the Matrix? Lots of questions there.
Anywho, that’s my theory. For some closing fun, I have included some more quotes from the movie, The Matrix, that are interesting:
Morpheus: The pill you took is part of a trace program. It's designed to disrupt your input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location. Neo: What does that mean? Cypher: It means, buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye.
"You cannot bend the spoon - that is impossible. Instead try to understand the truth." ["What truth?" (Neo)] "There is no spoon." [Rowan Witt as Spoon Boy]
Agent Smith: We're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice. Neo: Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger... and you give me my phone call.
"Some believe that we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world, but I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from." Agent Smith
"What is the Matrix? Control." "The Matrix is a computer-generated dreamworld built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this. (holds up a coppertop battery) - Morpheus
"Have you ever had a dream Neo, that you were so sure was real?" "What if you were unable to wake from that dream Neo? How would you know the difference between the dreamworld and the real world? Morpheus
"What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." Morpheus, The Matrix
Neo: That was you on my computer. How did you do that? Trinity: Right now, all I can tell you is that you're in danger. I brought you here to warn you. Neo: About what? Trinity: They're watching you, Neo. Neo: Who is? Trinity: Please just listen. I know why you're here, Neo. I know what you've been doing... why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You're looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn't really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It's the question that drives us. It's the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did. Neo: What is the Matrix? Trinity: The answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.
Мне лично кажется, что все совпадения - исключительно из-за того, что у ME закончились оригинальные идеи. Моню, читала где-то фэнвонк, что, мол амулет со Спайком прислали по почте, потому что хотели намекнуть фанам, что их письма в поддержку Спайка сыграли решающую роль том, что его его ввели в "Ангела". Но все равно забавно.
Что касается "Матрицы", то судя по последним спойлерам, которые я только что отловила (на ветке 15-й серии), то все очень даже может быть, хотя.. Все равно слишком закручено )
А вот Ангел/Корди, думаю, планировались изначально, вернее, с середины 1-го сезона - после того, как ушел Гленн (хлюп!), появился Уэс, с которым у Корди романтическая линия уже исчерпала себя, соответственно переориентировка на нашего великого героя, даже элементы Корди/Ганн в начале второго сезона скорее были пылью в глаза. Впрочем, кто знает?
At 100 (episodes), Angel bites into a new future while remembering the past By Patrick Lee
Тhe WB's vampire series Angel will celebrate its 100th episode, "You're Welcome," on Feb. 4, marking the return of onetime series regular Charisma Carpenter, and affording cast and crew a chance to reflect on the show's five-year journey through the underbelly of supernatural Los Angeles.
Here's how the network describes the milestone episode: "Cordelia (Carpenter) mysteriously awakens from her coma and is shocked to discover that instead of fighting against the evil law firm, Wolfram & Hart, Angel (David Boreanaz) and the group are now running it. Realizing that Angel has lost his conviction to be a hero, Cordelia gives him the information and support he needs to get back on track. Meanwhile, while Angel has security keeping an eye on Eve (Sarah Thompson), her partner Lindsay (returning guest star Christian Kane) prepares to bring about Angel's demise."
On Dec. 4 last year, the cast and crew gathered on Stage 5 at Paramount Pictures, home of the massive Wolfram & Hart set, to blow out the candles on a white-and-blood-red cake with the inscription "Angel 100." Guests included Joss Whedon, who co-created the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff with David Greenwalt, and stars Boreanaz, James Marsters, Alexis Denisof, J. August Richards, Amy Acker, Andy Hallett, Mercedes McNab, Sarah Thompson and Kane, who returns after a lengthy hiatus to reprise the character of ousted evil Wolfram & Hart lawyer Lindsay McDonald.
The season has also seen a dramatic shift in tone, to more humorous and stand-alone episodes after last year's epic apocalypse story arc. And, of course, the introduction of Marster's Spike from the now-ended Buffy has stirred things up for Team Angel.
The cast and crew took a moment to speak with Science Fiction Weekly about Angel's long journey and its future. The following comments have been compiled from interviews on the day of the 100th-episode party and The WB's subsequent winter press tour in Hollywood.
David Boreanaz, you just directed your first episode [Jan. 21's "Soul Purpose"]. Can you talk about the experience? Boreanaz: I came in with a really strong game plan as far as what I wanted to do, looking at the script and some ideas. I came in with some really strong ideas and some strong visuals that I wanted to do, and I had a big ... meeting with [executive producer] Jeff Bell, and a lot of the ideas I wanted to do kind of got, not squashed, but just toned down a bit, because I had to remind myself that I am shooting an Angel show and not this crazy, cinematic, swooping thing.
As a director, you have a formula that you're shooting, and that formula has to stay true to the storyline and to the Angel kind of motif. So that was challenging to kind of keep that. So my shots were really determined upon the scenes. I had a lot of ... interior flashbacks of my mind, and was it a dream? Was it not a dream? And I had a great time doing it. Once I got rolling with it, though, I found that my best opportunities came after I rehearsed, and they were messing around with the camera. I'd see the monitor, I'd come up with a different shot. And that's how it kind of came to be for me, and I kind of shot off the cuff a lot towards the end as I got more comfortable with it, and that was great.
How did you keep the acting part separate from the directing part?
Boreanaz: It's pretty crazy, yeah. You do your work, and there were moments when I was acting in it, and I had the [assistant director] call action or I would look at a little television monitor while I was setting the shot and rehearsing. So you're mind's really all over the place. But I enjoy working like that. The more that's going on, the better for me creatively.
Boreanaz: I don't know. Yeah, I think so. Again, you're directing your prescription. You're directing a prescription that is for an already prescribed show. You have your limitations. You can put your mark on it, and I feel like I did that with this show that I directed. But then again, I'm not the show runner. I don't get the final cut. I will have a director's cut, and if anybody would like to see, it will be much longer. So that's the way it is. That's just what happens.
This season, things seem to have gotten a lot lighter. Is that true, and how long will that last?
Boreanaz: I don't know. I think that we take each episode as they come, and I know the next four or five episodes coming out are really interesting and unique to a series that's taken a big turn and is only going upwards. So I'm very confident that the storylines will remain intact as far as the small plot lines are concerned, with Spike and myself and what's going to happen with Fred [Acker] and what's going to happen to J [who plays Gunn]. And I think that all kind of unfolds. So we're just letting it ride out. It'll be light, but it'll get dark, too. I think right now we're at a good place.
There's been no word yet on whether the network will pick up Angel for season six. What's your sense of whether the show will be picked up for another year?
Boreanaz: I don't know. I prescribe myself season to season, like I've always done. And once I hear word of that, that's great, and we'll see what happens this year.
You're not tired of the character? You've been doing this for a long time [eight years, counting his appearances in Buffy].
Boreanaz: For the show it's been a great five seasons and now ending a fifth season of the show. And I've loved it. I've loved everything about the character, and if the show were to go away, I would be very happy and pleased with where the character is right now. He's very challenging. He still always makes it interesting. The writers always make it interesting for me to play him, and, God, he's 250-something years old, so I don't have to worry about backstory with him.
Can you talk about Joss' being more heavily involved in the show this year? [In previous years, Whedon has found himself working on as many as three series at once, including Buffy, Angel and Firefly, as well as developing other projects.]
Boreanaz: Joss has been involved in the show since the inception of it, and people always ask me that question, and I feel as though his involvement has always been 120 percent every year. I don't think it's been either-or. I think that because he had a lot going on last year with Firefly and Buffy and this show, people are like, "Well, he's now going to have much more attention." But to me that's just bulls--t. I think that the type of artist that he is, and he comes up with an idea, he wants to see that come to fruition. That's ... the type of artist that he is, and I respect him highly for that, and that's what's been so great working with Joss. That he doesn't just say, "Well, I'm doing this, so forget about your show." I feel like he's always been there, so I don't see any difference.
Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) won't be making an appearance this season on Angel, even if it is the last year?
Whedon: Sarah last year said that she would be interested in coming on the show. And then this year, she ... said that it felt too soon. And that's something that I actually understand. It's very difficult when you throw something off that's sort of taken over your life and your public persona for years and years and years, and you go off, it's very difficult to just sort of say, "OK, I'm going to throw that back on on somebody else's show and dive in again." And I think that's probably what happened.
I don't know that it's a never. ... It was more just like, "Now's not the time." And as writers, we have to go to our own characters and care more about that. And so it isn't ... bad, I don't think. You know, I mean, obviously I would love to see her on the show, and she's welcome anytime she decides she is ready. But I don't know if that will happen, and with a cast like that, it's not my first priority.
Whedon: It's been 100 episodes. She was there at the beginning. [It's a chance to ask] where are we now? Have we gotten better? Have we gotten worse? To take stock, that's really what a 100th episode is for. To go back and say, here was the mission statement. If we made a hundred of these, there's a reason we were talking about this. So let's talk about it some more.
You have mentioned if the show doesn't get picked up, this season will wrap up the series as well as the season.
Whedon: Yeah, that's what I usually do, and I didn't do it last year, because I didn't know we were in danger of getting canceled. And I didn't do it the year before, because I knew we weren't going to be. But usually, my philosophy has always been, do an episode that ties up everything, but opens up some other things. And this season is no different. It's very much a good way to go out, and a good way to start a completely new season.
At one point, you had a bunch of Buffy stuff cooking. There was a BBC show based on Giles' character and an animated show. Are any of those going to happen now?
Whedon: Every now and then we get a nibble on the animated show. I'm very leery of it, because I would want it to be wonderful. I don't have the talent pool that I had back then, or the time. And it's hard to get the kind of money it takes to make really good animation. So I'm not sure how that'll work out. The Giles thing I would love to do; again, that's just a question of time.
James Marsters, the presence of Spike seems to have invigorated the show. Did you have any idea of the phenomenon your character would become?
Marsters: I still am resistant to think about that, because I think that in general, celebrity will destroy your soul. And if you concentrate too much on how popular you are or what the effect is out there, it just trips with your head. And I contemplated it a little too deeply one season, and it really was too trippy. And ... I'm so appreciative of it. It's just wonderful. But what's important is really what I do today. And if I suck or if I don't suck. Because sometimes you suck. Like today, I had a fight scene that sucked. Seriously, it sucked.
What's going to happen to Spike in this season of the show?
Marsters: Oh, man, I gave up trying to second-guess these writers so long ago. They go exactly the opposite direction. We just did a big fight between Angel and Spike, right? I would have bet ... my guitar on the fact that Angel was going to win that fight. I was like, "There's no other way you can do it." Of course. Why would you do it the other way? And what they've done is open up Angel for a whole new arc of self-doubt and a whole new reason to try to redeem yourself beyond the reward. Genius. So I have no idea.
What I do know is that there seems to be a lot more dramatic potential between Angel and Spike than I once realized. When Joss wanted to bring me over to the show, I thought, "Well, it will be cool. I'll make Angel's life hard like I made Buffy's life hard. That would be fun." But what I'm discovering, this is also interesting, things like Spike never bought that Angel was reformed. When he first, he was like, "Bulls--t. You're still going to go kill people. I don't buy that for a second." And ... it doesn't register with Angel now that Spike has gotten his soul and is reformed. He does not see himself in Spike at all. And I think that's because Angel has seen Spike do such horrendous evil that he just cannot believe that you can come back from that, and Spike doesn't believe that Angel could come back from what he did. Even though they're hoping to come back from doing what they've done. It's a really wonderful doppelganger for [everything].
There's a perception that you're taking over the show from David. And it seems like the writers have picked up on the perception of tension between you two to create this tension between the characters.
Marsters: Well, yeah, but that was in there from the very first, from [the Buffy episode] "School Hard" [in which Spike first appeared]. ... And the whole Drusilla thing, of [Angel's] glomming onto Drusilla, that was already stuff that we'd done before. ... I think because there's tension between the characters is why this character and not another one from Buffy came over to the show. But yeah, between David and me functionally, there are no sparks at all. I am in awe of this guy. I'm serious. He's the same guy that I met a long time ago filming Buffy, this guy that broke a f--king two-by-four with his head. Right? ... He was doing a gag where they had a wire in his back, and it went a little wrong, these things happen. It's long hours. He went through with his head and broke it, and he's bleeding. And he's like, "[It's] nothing, nothing." He's hiding the blood, and he said, "Let's just go." He just wanted to get the next take. He's the same guy.
He directed a show this year, and he's so good, I mean, he doesn't know this really, but he's so good that we forgot that he's a first-time director, and we all got lazy with him, and we kind of left him in the ditch a little bit, and we had to remind ourselves, "S--t, David. We should be here for David, because he's really a first-time director." But he had the quality of such confidence in knowing what he wanted to do one step at a time. ... And I asked him at the end of filming, I was like, "So, dude, you've read a lot of books, right? Directing and all that?" And he's like, "No." And I said, "So, what, are you just acting like you know what you're doing?" He's like, "Yeah." But I'm like, "It's so working." At the end of the day, maybe that's what you need. He doesn't really realize it, but he actually has [it], to the point where the crew is coming up to me, right? And they're pressuring me to suggest that David gets another episode or two this year and [that] he be put into the time when we're really tired so that we can have a strong director and we don't have to stress out more than we need to.
Marsters: I'm more interested in producing, frankly. As I see how things work in television specifically, I think the things that interest me as far as larger arcs of characters, as far as finding larger components to put to each other, as far as deciding what the story is that we're going to tell and how we tell it, I'm kind of leaning towards wanting to do that and hire a director.
Marsters: She's wonderful, man. She's wonderful. I was supposed to be the new Cordelia on Buffy, and it didn't really work out that well, because I was a vampire, and I kept lighting on fire when I tried to get into the house. So, yeah, watching Cordy, watching Charisma at work, is like, "Oh, that's what they wanted. The master's at work. I see." She's fabulous. She looks great. ... She kicks butt with a sword, too. That was this morning.
Alexis Denisof, your character, Wesley, joined the show in the middle of season one. Did you know you'd be here for the 100th episode?
Denisof: I never knew if he was going to stick around. So the job for me was to just try and make it as interesting and irritating as possible a character and hope that they'd find something for him to do the following week. And fortunately they are still doing that as we stand here. I don't know how many episodes that character's been around.
Do you like the direction they've taken him so far?
Denisof: I really do. It's a pleasure for an actor to have the chance to spend this amount of time with a character and be given the opportunity to evolve the character like we have over the years. So I'm definitely fortunate to have had that chance. Joss and the writers have always been coming up with great ideas and new directions for the character every season. And my job is just to take that as far as I can and make it as believable as I can and see where that leads us. We didn't really know where we were going when Wesley joined the show, but we knew that he needed to change a lot and was going to change a lot. But could I have told you then that he'd have his throat slit and kidnap a child and have an affair with the enemy and ... shoot his father, so many amazing things? I definitely wouldn't have been able to tell you that. It's been an awful lot of fun. In a way, each time we reach a plateau, a new level of the character, I feel like this is the starting point. Now we've got where I can start with this guy. So that's a good sign to me. That means we've got a lot of stories to tell and a lot of places we could take him.
Kane: Well, I don't even know that. I'm not even sure that Joss knows. And also I really can't say where things are going. But, A, because I don't know, and B, it wouldn't be right, because Joss would probably kill me. But just, it was really nice to come back. ... The way we did it was we kept it really secretive and stuff. And I think some stuff leaked out that I was coming back in episode 10, or something like that, but no one had any idea that I going to be in episode eight.
That was the great thing about the very last scene in that episode. And Joss had the idea of not putting my name on it, no credit, no nothing, and just like just bringing it in. It was really fun. It was really fun. I just went to London and talked to some of the great, great fans that we've got out there and supposedly I hear like, I guess five minutes after the show aired, like six message boards crashed or something. Anytime I can do that and cause havoc, that's just my style.
Kane: I'm always the Big Bad. Well, Spike and Angel are good now. They gotta have somebody come in and be evil. So that, you know, I have no problem doing it.
Kane: You know, it was little weird. I felt really comfortable in this character's ... skin, because it's me. Joss wrote the character, but I brought a lot to it. But it was very weird, because the first day back, David Boreanaz is directing me. So that was kind of cool, and it was just, it was a little awkward, because he's a little bit different. There's a lot of the same qualities, but he's a little bit different. He's a little bit more on another level now. So it was fun, I'll tell you that.
О рейтингах. Soul Purpose получил даже не 2, 4, а 2, 3, что печально, учитывая уровень эпизода. Вот что пишут на ASSB
Barb The 2.3 is the final national Nielsen household rating. It's pretty low and probably will stay that way as long as Fox keeps running the American Idol Audition show on Wednesdays. It's on again tonight from 8 to 9 and many viewers seem to just stay tuned to Fox afterwards, and next week it's even worse as it runs from 8:30 to 9:30 so it really takes over two time periods. After that there's only the 8:30 results show for American Idol on Wed. That was also on at that time last year and didn't seem to affect AtS or Dawson's Creek (on at 8:00 last year) all that much. So probably two more weeks of these lower ratings coming up. Hopefully things will pick up for AtS once the extremely popular "audition" show is over.
И где-то прочитала, что Fox переносит на среду "Энтерпрайз", который теоретически может оттянуть на себя определенный процент зрителей. Причем тех зрителей, которые смотрят не из-за любовных перипетий (эти зрители начали отсеиваться в районе Destiny), а из-за оригинальных идей (хотя, конечно, в Star Trek осталось очень мало оригинального).
Интересно, какой рейтинг будет у сегодняшнего эпизода?
One of the strengths of Joss WhedonЎЇs series (whether youЎЇre talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel or the short-lived Firefly) is the continual evolution of their core group of characters. What he and his writing staffs set up is a fluidity of central characters that works to a showЎЇs benefit, allowing a characterЎЇs departure to not distract from the show itself. At the same time, it allows guest stars to suddenly find themselves in a co-starring position on the show.
When the late Glenn Quinn departed Angel (for whatever sordid or non-sordid reasons you choose to accept), Alexis Denisof was seamlessly integrated, followed in turn by J. August Richards as Charles Gunn. Not satisfied with the core group as it was, the showЎЇs creators decided to add Winifred Ў°FredЎ± Burkle to the mix, having introduced her from a demon dimension in the three episode arc that concluded year two. Beginning with season three, actress Amy AckerЎЇs name was in the opening credits and Fred had become a central character. The question on more than a few minds, though, was how the impish, oddball, little girl lost played primarily for humor in her introductory episodes was going to fit in with Angel Investigations.
Ў°I kind of wondered about that too,Ў± admits Acker. Ў°I was kind of worried about Fred becoming a regular. My old roomie was a big Buffy fan and she said Ў®I was on the website and people are not excited about a new character joining the show.ЎЇ It was before IЎЇd even started, so I was like, Ў®Oh, no!ЎЇ But it seems that everyone responded well to it.Ў±
A Texas native, Acker was born in Dallas and initially found herself drawn to the idea of being a ballet dancer rather than an actress. Ў°But then I had knee surgery,Ў± she explains, Ў°and realized that ballet wasnЎЇt going to happen. I decided to take an acting class and was kind of glad that I did, because I liked acting a lot better.Ў±
She enrolled at the Southern Methodist University to study Fine Arts and her career trajectory has, you suspect, been something of a breeze. Acker has no tales of hardship to relate, no diatribes about the difficulty of breaking into show business while living in roach or rat-infested New York lofts. Ў°IЎЇve been pretty lucky,Ў± she laughs. Ў°I was lucky because I went to SMU, which has a great theatre department. They have this thing called Ў®January AuditionЎЇ, and lots of people come and watch you ЁC people from grad schools and theatre companies. So in my senior year this theatre company asked me to come do Shakespeare for eight months, before I even graduated. I kind of got an early start and have been pretty lucky. I went to Wisconsin and worked with the American Players where I did maybe five plays and then we went on tour. I moved to New York for a little while, but then ended up doing a pilot and a couple of independent movies.Ў±
Those films were The Accident, The Energy Specialist, and Groom Lake, the latter of which is a black comedy directed by Star TrekЎЇs William Shatner (and ManЎЇs Man FF 12.6/13.1). She decided that since she was making films anyway, she Ў°might as well head out to Los Angeles where itЎЇs nice and warm and sunny.Ў±
Her role as Fred followed shortly after her relocation to LA, though, again, there is no incredible anecdote about how she nabbed the part. Ў°I just went in for an audition,Ў± she giggles, sounding very much like Fred. Ў°I guess they had been looking for someone to fill this part since November (of 2000) and I had an audition in February, so it had been a while. Whether or not I was going to be a regular was unclear in the beginning. They knew that they wanted to add another girl character to the show, but I didnЎЇt have very much film stuff to show them. They werenЎЇt even sure what I would look like on film or anything. The first day I was on the job, Joss wrote a scene for me, J. and Alexis. Something that we might use later on. So we did the scene, the WB saw the audition and I got a phone call asking if IЎЇd like to become a regular. It was pretty quick once I started, but at first I didnЎЇt know.
Ў°I had been somewhat familiar with the show,Ў± she adds. Ў°In college there were people who would have Buffy/Angel nights and they would have a party and everyone would watch the shows. I went to a couple of those. I didnЎЇt know all the backstories, but everyone else seems to, so IЎЇve gotten caught up. Actually, not knowing that much about it kind of helped with the character, since Fred had spent so much time trapped in that other dimension. On the set IЎЇd say, Ў®Oh, we canЎЇt go there?ЎЇ and they said, Ў®Well, in episode six we went into this other place.ЎЇ In the beginning it was kind of like I was learning just like Fred was. I think as weЎЇve gone on, there have been more similarities between us. I donЎЇt think I talk nearly as much as Fred does in real life, but I do think IЎЇve started to say random things and people are kind of like, Ў®What are you talking about?ЎЇ IЎЇm quirky in the sense that IЎЇm kind of klutzy, so IЎЇm always doing silly things. Hopefully IЎЇm smart like her.
Ў°I actually came up with some background for Fred, but during the first meeting I had with Joss and David [Greenwalt], they sat down and told me a lot of what they thought the back history was. We worked together on it. I added my own things to it, but then theyЎЇd call me up and say, Ў®Oh yeah, when Fred was in high school, she graduated three years early.ЎЇ Those are the kind of things they added.Ў±
One of the things thatЎЇs most intriguing about Angel for Acker is that sheЎЇll often find Shakespearian connections with the material. She smiled, Ў°When I got the job, my mom called and I said, Ў®ItЎЇs not Shakespeare, but there are some demons.ЎЇ The thing is, Joss has us over to his house once a month where we sit in his backyard or his living room and just read Shakespeare plays, eat food, drink beer and stuff like that. HeЎЇs so smart and knows so much about everything, I think he brings that into the shows. At some point you stop and say, Ў®Oh, I see, weЎЇre doing the Midsummer NightЎЇs Dream episode!ЎЇ That connection is definitely there.Ў±
To this day, there are two fairly significant Fred episodes that stick in AckerЎЇs mind: Ў°FredlessЎ± and Ў°BillyЎ±. In the former, FredЎЇs parents come to town, the reunion giving the audience a glimpse of Fred as she was before she was taken away. In the latter episode, the touch of a killer manifests resentment and hatred in men towards women, and in a sequence as frightening as anything in The Shining, Fred is literally running through the hotel to avoid a psychotic Wesley and, then, Gunn.
Ў°They wanted to use Ў®FredlessЎЇ as a turning point for my character,Ў± she says. Ў°They wanted to keep her quirky, but get her a little more to where she can fit in with the group and help out. She had been trying to figure out her role on the team since her parents left. In that episode, she says, Ў®GunnЎЇs the muscle, CordyЎЇs the heart, WesleyЎЇs the brains, AngelЎЇs the hero,ЎЇ and she realizes maybe itЎЇs okay that she doesnЎЇt fit into one certain role.
Ў°Ў®BillyЎЇ is one of my favorite episodes,Ў± Acker elaborates. Ў°Alexis is so much fun to work with and I was really scared most of the time we were shooting that. There wasnЎЇt a lot of acting going on there. Both Alexis and J. were pretty scary. Add to that the fact that the hotel where we filmed those scenes was in downtown LA in the middle of the night, and there was nobody else around. It was just a scary place to begin with; scary because youЎЇre in a deserted hotel at 5 oЎЇclock in the morning, being chased by someone with an axe.Ў±
Although she has certain directions she would like to see Fred go in the future, Acker admits that she, like just about everyone involved with Angel, is pretty much clueless about where the storylines are heading. But, also like everyone else, you can sense that sheЎЇs excited about the possibilities. Ў°Like the fans, we often hear rumors about our characters,Ў± says Acker, Ў°but we never know until we get the script if itЎЇs actually true. I would just like to see her have more of a role in solving things. I like the episodes where she builds something or helps figure something out. At first people donЎЇt get what sheЎЇs saying, but then theyЎЇre like, Ў®Oh, she was right.ЎЇ I would love it if he had some sort of special power, but I donЎЇt think thatЎЇs going to happen. A lot of people have asked me whether or not it was hard to go on a show that was already kind of set, but not at all. Everyone was so helpful and welcoming and theyЎЇre just a great group of people. I really like all of them so much. Everyone has different qualities and brings different things to the scene. When I started, I had all of those scenes with David (Boreanaz) and I thought, Ў®Wow, heЎЇs so wonderful to work withЎЇ, but every time I did a lot of scenes with anyone I realized theyЎЇre the ones I enjoyed working with.Ў±
Angel and its characters are in a constant state of evolution, and that includes this current season where the show has moved away from more serialized storytelling and gone into standalone mode. Additionally, James Marsters as the vampire Spike has shifted over from Buffy and the showЎЇs locale has moved from the abandoned hotel to the law offices of Wolfram & Hart. Ў°In some ways, it feels like weЎЇre doing a whole new show,Ў± Acker muses. Ў°WeЎЇve got James Marsters as Spike, all the Buffy people came over, thereЎЇs a new set and thereЎЇs a different approach to stories.
Ў°One of the strengths of the continuing stories, especially for the characters that arenЎЇt Angel, is that we got more of a chance to have developed storylines,Ў± Acker points out, Ў°like the relationship between me and Gunn or me and Wesley. You might only deal with those things a little bit each week, but it led to sort of a much bigger storyline. Now you donЎЇt really have those little moments as much, so that sort of stinks for us. Of course now it feels like theyЎЇre starting to bring a little bit more of that back in.Ў±
An additional change seems to be a conscious attempt to make Fred a sexier character, which may or may not have something to do with the departure of Charisma Carpenter at the end of year four. Ў°We also got a new costume designer, plus since Cordelia wasnЎЇt around and we were in the office setting, I think all of those elements changed,Ў± she says. Ў°Personally, I like the jeans and T-shirts better, but they felt that wasnЎЇt good for the audience. They had said that to me at the end of last season that they wanted to make me a little sexier. I guess that meant wearing mini-skirts. As far as IЎЇm concerned, the way my character acts is the same, I just dress differently.
Ў°For me,Ў± she closes, Ў°this is something so different from anything IЎЇve ever gotten to do. Usually in everything IЎЇve done, IЎЇve played an ingЁ¦nue victim role. In this, I get to be funny and nerdy and itЎЇs really exciting to play something completely different than youЎЇre usually cast as. I feel as though IЎЇve gotten to play so many different characters on the show. In the beginning, I was in a potato sack in an alternate dimension and now IЎЇm the head of the science department at Wolfram & Hart. There have been so many transitions in between. But any time I predict a way that I want them to go, it never seems to go that way. I feel somethingЎЇs going to come to a head with the Wolfram & Hart situation; thereЎЇs got to be some negative ramifications of all of that. I think thatЎЇs going to be an interesting thing to play out, to see whoЎЇs affected in a bad way and what happens with it all.Ў±
And you can count on the fact that weЎЇll keep watching Amy Acker.
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