Why BTVS and Angel?

Firstly, with BTVS it is the characters. For me Buffy and Spike were always my favourites, and then in the later seasons, their relationship with each other was completely fascinating. I remember enjoying the Buffy and Angel romance but, being an older viewer of what was generally perceived as a ‘teen’ drama, I never was quite captivated by the ‘forbidden passion’ element. I liked Angel much better when he moved to LA and into his own world.

Secondly the writing and stories are excellent. Monsters, demons and magic might sound completely crazy but they work incredibly well in the context of story and metaphor. Monsters and events are usually symptomatic of what the characters are experiencing in each episode so they are way more than just cheap (or corny) thrills. Episodes are for the most part arc driven – there is a big story that crosses an entire season as well as sub-stories of shorter duration. Occasionally there are stand-alone episodes but even these usually contribute to character development. BTVS and Angel also uses self-reference very effectively. Things that happen from one season to the next are remembered, an occurrence or event can have lasting relevance or huge significance later in the series; they constantly refer to the events of earlier episodes and the characters become a product of these experiences, not just cardboard cut-outs in a new and exciting adventure each week, instead they become real, they grow, they change and you love them.

Thirdly, this is not a television show that you just watch and forget. Its intelligent. It’s clever. As I said earlier, the more you watch it the better it gets and the more you appreciate the meaning. There is text to absorb, sub-text to decipher, episodes echo and mirror each other across the entire series heightening significance and the making of meaning. A particularly impressive aspect of BTVS and Angel that highlights the series commitment to detail is the back stories created for Angel and Spike, the centuries old vampire characters. From small snippets of information that feature in some episodes we catch a glimpse of a world cleverly created to explain why the characters behave the way they do, how their histories have made them what they are today. You actually find yourself wanting to know more about the bloodthirsty adventures of two vampires and their female sires that rampaged across Europe together for twenty years before Angel broke up the party by getting himself cursed with a soul. I like how the shows challenge the viewer out of passive viewing. The provide thoughtful commentary on the world and people, delve into philosophy and psychology, present moral dilemmas and challenge pre-conceived ideas. They are intellectually engaging and there are a multitude of academic texts and resources that have been inspired by them (eg: Slayage online journal of Buffy studies, see links).

Oh, and a comic book called Season 8 – The long way home (issues one and two) have just been released (#3 is due on the 3rd May). Written by Joss Whedon himself (and published by Dark Horse – see links), the comic continues the story where BTVS left off. There will be between 30 and 50 issues. Rumours persist that a Season 6 Angel comic series is in development.