Reading Angel The TV Spin-off With a Soul

by Abbott, Stacey

• ISBN13: 9781850438397
• ISBN10: 1850438390
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-14
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

In 1999, Joss Whedon spun-off the vampire with a soul from Buffy the Vampire Slayer into his own Angel . Recast in L.A., Angel developed its own preoccupations, exploring a darker vision of alienation, atonement and the fight for redemption. The series ended in 2004, but its legion of loyal fans continues to petition the WB network for a new spin-off or motion picture on the "Save Angel" website and other online fansites. This book covers all five seasons, discussing the cinematic aesthetics of Angel , its music, shifting portrayals of masculinity, the noir Los Angeles setting, the superhero, and horror. A complete episode guide is included.

Author Biography

Stacey Abbott is Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, Roehampton University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Contributors	xiii
Cast List	xvii
Kicking Ass and Singing `Mandy': A Vampire in LA	1	(16)
Stacey Abbott
Part One: `It Was a Seminal Show Cancelled by the Idiot Networks': Narrative and Style on Angel
Angel: Redefinition and Justification through Faith	17	(14)
Phil Colvin
Ubi Caritas?: Music as Narrative Agent in Angel	31	(13)
Matthew Mills
Transitions and Time: The Cinematic Language of Angel	44	(13)
Tammy A. Kinsey
A Sense of the Ending: Schrodinger's Angel	57	(18)
Roz Kaveney
Part Two: `The Big Wacky Variety Show We Call Los Angeles': The City of Angel
Los Angelus: The City of Angel	75	(13)
Benjamin Jacob
Outing Lorne: Performance for the Performers	88	(13)
Stan Beeler
`LA's got it all': Hybridity and Otherness in Angel's Postmodern City	101	(16)
Sara Upstone
Part Three: `Hell Incorporated': Wolfram & Hart's Big Bad
Gender Politics in Angel: Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Corporate Climates	117	(15)
Janine R. Harrison
The Rule of Prophecy: Source of Law in the City of Angel	132	(17)
Sharon Sutherland
Sarah Swan
Part Four: `Trapped in What I Can Only Describe as a Turgid Supernatural Soap Opera': Issues of Genre and Masculinity in Angel
The Dark Avenger: Angel and the Cinematic Superhero	149	(14)
Janet K. Halfyard
`And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine': Wesley/Lilah and the Complicated(?) Role of the Female Agent on Angel	163	(13)
Jennifer Stoy
From Rogue in the `Hood to Suave in a Suit: Black Masculinity and the Transformation of Charles Gunn	176	(13)
Michaela D. E. Meyer
`Nobody Scream... or Touch My Arms': The Comic Stylings of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce	189	(14)
Stacey Abbott
Angel's Monstrous Mothers and Vampires with Souls: Investigating the Abject in `Television Horror'	203	(18)
Matt Hills
Rebecca Williams
Part Five: `Let's Go to Work': The Afterlife of the Spin-off with a Soul
Afterword: The Depths of Angel and the Birth of Angel Studies	221	(9)
Rhonda V. Wilcox
David Lavery
`We'll Follow Angel to Hell ... or Another Network': The Fan Response to the End of Angel	230	(7)
Stacey Abbott
Appendices
Episode Guide	237	(12)
Further Reading	249	(6)
Index	255