DARK ANGEL (TV SERIES)

'''Dark Angel''' is an American cyberpunk science fiction television program, created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, which ran from 2000 to 2002 on the FOX network. The show starred Jessica Alba as Max, a genetically-enhanced supersoldier spliced with feline DNA who searches for others of her kind, while trying to lead some semblance of a normal life.
The program was set in Seattle, Washington, but actually filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Lions Gate Studios.

Contents

Setting

Episodes

Scheduling

Cancellation

Possible renewal

Plot synopsis

Season one

Season two

Cast and characters

DVD Releases

Region 1

Region 2

Trivia

Awards

Spinoffs

External links

Setting

In the year 2009, a genetically enhanced female child (whom creator James Cameron refers to as "transgenic") super-soldier who calls herself Max Guevara, (also known as X5-452, a truncation of her barcode tattoo on the back of her neck 332960073452), escapes along with eleven others like her from a secret government institution. At the institution, codenamed ''Manticore'', they were created and subsequently raised and trained to be soldiers and assassins. Months after Max's escape, terrorists detonate an electromagnetic pulse weapon in the atmosphere over the U.S., which destroys the vast majority of computer and communication systems, throwing the country into utter chaos.
The first season begins ten years later in 2019 as it follows the life of the now 19-year-old Max as she struggles to search for her ''Manticore'' brothers and sisters. In a United States which is now barely more than a Third World nation (a concept largely dropped from the show after 9/11), she tries to live her life, to evade capture, and to learn to trust and love. She is aided by Logan Cale, an underground cyber-journalist with the alias Eyes Only, Zach, a fellow X-5, and her friends Original Cindy and Sketchy at Jam Pony, a courier company where she works as a bicycle messenger. Other X-5s are periodically introduced as well.
In the second season of the show, the tone changes as Max brings down ''Manticore'' and frees the soldiers. She is helped in her escape by Alec, in an attempt to facilitate the assassination and capture of Eyes Only, and Joshua, a transgenic with canine DNA. She later learns that Joshua was the first transgenic created by Manticore's founder Sandeman. Max also finds out that Manticore produced soldiers for speciality environments such as desert and Arctic conditions and consequently look vastly different from normal humans. A major theme in the second season is the discovery of an even more deadly enemy in a millennia-old breeding cult similar in structure to the Illuminati. This has resulted in humans even more formidable than the Manticore-produced transgenics, and even some with strong telekinetic powers. Ames White, a Government agent introduced early in the second season trying to eliminate the loose transgenics, is revealed to be a member of the cult. When a strange message written in Max's genetic code makes an appearance on her skin, it is revealed that Sandeman was a renegade from the breeding cult. Ames White is Sandeman's son, which essentially makes him "related" to Max and her trangenic brethren. However, the series was cancelled before the producers could play with this dynamic.

Episodes

Main articles: List of Dark Angel episodes

Scheduling

The show in its first season aired on Tuesday nights after the sitcoms That '70s Show and Titus and was a hit with viewers. At the end of its first season, FOX transplanted the show to an hour earlier on Friday nights in hopes of breaking its infamous death slot and to give their new drama 24 a better time slot. Viewership dropped, and Dark Angel was eventually canceled because Joss Whedon's Firefly was ordered to series so FOX wouldn't have to pay for two big budget shows. Ironically, Firefly didn't last an entire season and Dark Angel's numbers, while low, were better than anything else that has aired Friday nights on FOX to date.

Cancellation

Despite a strong fan base (and a second season finale directed by James Cameron), ''Dark Angel'' was cancelled in 2002 after just two seasons due to budget costs and low second season ratings. Avid fans of the show attribute the loss of ratings to a misjudgement on the part of FOX Network for airing the second season on Friday evenings instead of Tuesday evenings. In addition, changes to the format and tone of the series in the second year are also cited as contributing factors to its demise. Many of these changes were unavoidable due to budgetary concerns, departing actors, and 9/11, which forced the show to downplay its post-apocalyptic setting. Initially, a third season appeared to be greenlit, but when Joss Whedon reworked his ''Firefly'' pilot, Fox chose ''Firefly'' for a Fall slot at the expense of ''Dark Angel''.
''Dark Angel'', though cancelled, has high availability with on-demand services, and as of July 10, 2006, Sci-Fi Channel has started airing repeats of the two seasons.

Possible renewal

During April of 2006, Fox held a poll on its broadcasting website, asking, "Now we've brought back ''Family Guy'' for another series, which of these would you like to see resurrected for another series?" Among the choices were ''Dark Angel'', ''Tru Calling'', ''Angel'', ''Futurama'', and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.
The poll started mid-April and ended during the beginning of May.
At the conclusion of Fox's poll, ''Dark Angel'' won with 34.5% votes, with ''Tru Calling'' at 28.1% behind it. Fox has not announced if it will renew the series or not.

Plot synopsis

Season one

In the first season, per James Cameron’s directing, the show revolves more around Max’s super-human abilities as a transgenic and genetically enhanced soldier. While Max is still portrayed as a “different” young woman trying to lead some semblance of a normal life, viewers get more of a sense of Max’s Manticore-endowed, superior abilities (i.e. the abilities to see objects and hear conversations from afar, leap very high, outrun enemies, overpower most other human beings, etc.) and to some extent, her transgenic burdens (the constant need for tryptophan pills and the uncontrollable feline behavior related to going into heat). Also, Max’s main priority is to find her other eleven siblings, with whom she escaped as a child in 2009, and evade capture by her Manticore enemies. Season one has more of a run-and-hide tone to it than season two. Season one focuses on all of Max’s unique abilities (and strongly emphasizes them) as a genetically engineered powerhouse because she is only one of twelve Manticore escapees and also because Dark Angel was trying to establish itself in the TV Sci-Fi world in its infancy and used Max’s abilities to reel in the attention. In addition to the aforementioned features, Dark Angel Season One concerns Manticore’s use of super soldiers that resembled normal human beings. There are some characters stronger than or as strong as Max, but these characters look and act (somewhat) just like normal human beings. Max only has to worry about one party that wants her ensnared for good – Lydecker, who represents the Manticore Corporation as a whole. However, Max did occasionally have to contend with a Manticore competitor, Red Series, that also sought to capture her. In regards to the setting, there is much more of a Third World Country feel to the show and it is easy to ascertain the daily struggles that most post-pulse Seattle-dwellers encounter, especially when Walter (the corrupt police officer and secret boyfriend of Kendra’s) puts a strain on Max and Kendra’s living situation in regards to the bribes he requires to not report their squatting.

Season two

With the destruction of the Manticore facility, escapees are resurfacing in large numbers. Going beyond the transgenic soldiers seen before (with enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes, and combat training), new soldiers are seen with other abilities, somewhat similar to those seen in superhero comics. This leads to a "freak of the week" premise, where soldiers bred for more specific purposes make appearances, which includes a character specializing in heuristics (although his abilities are more akin to precognition), characters bred for aquatic missions (they have gills and can breathe underwater). Max also meets Joshua, the first transgenic ever created, who has dog-like facial features, strength enormous even by transgenic standards, and is the only one who doesn't have a barcode. He also becomes a recurring character. This leads to much more comic situations and a much lighter hearted feel, coupled with the addition of Alec, the wisecracking supersoldier and comic foil to the level-headed Max. Other main characters undergo fairly drastic changes, such as Logan losing some of the angst related to his condition (he can now walk with mechanical assistance) and Max's no longer needing tryptophan, and Max can no longer touch Logan without killing him because when she was back at Manticore they injected her with a virus which was genetically engineered to his DNA. The show also adds elements of a mysterious cult and prophecies, which remain unresolved with the conclusion of the series.

Cast and characters

DVD Releases

Region 1

On May 20, 2003, 20th Century Fox released Season 1 of Dark Angel on DVD. Season 2 was released on October 21, 2003. Both seasons were re-released on June 5, 2007, with slim packaging. [1]

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Season 1	21	May 20 2003	★ Audio Commentary On Selected Episodes ★ 3 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes ★ Audition Tapes ★ Blooper Reel ★ James Cameron's Dark Angel Video Game Trailer
Season 2	21	October 21 2003	★ Audio Commentary on Selected episodes ★ ''Max Resurrected'' featurette ★ ''Making the Manticore Monsters'' featurette ★ ''Manticore on the Loose'' featurette ★ Deleted scenes ★ Gag reel & Bloopers

Region 2

Seasons 1 and 2 were released in the UK on February 24 2003 and June 2 2003 respectively. However, the majority of the extras included on the Region 1 releases were omitted.

Trivia

★ Jensen Ackles got the part of Alec, after playing Ben in Season 1, with no audition for the character of Alec. The producers had no idea at that point if he could play a comedic character when he was cast.

★ In the various ''Dark Angel'' novels, the three remaining '09 escapees (of which there were twelve), were named to be Vada, Kavi, and Seth. All three of them were killed off in the years before Max joined up with Logan Cale. Vada was hunted by Col. Donald Lydecker and shot down in the desert. Kavi blew his cover playing baseball and threw the ball far more accurately than a normal human would, right in front of a Manticore official. He was subsequently captured and/or killed by Manticore. Seth had been working as an Eyes Only operative and just days before the start of the series, he ran into Max on the Space Needle and fell to his death to give Max a chance to escape from Manticore officials who were after them. The three transgenics were never named in the series, nor are they considered canon as per the fact that while Lydecker was in his office he would always have twelve pictures of the escapees on the wall and only took pictures down after Brin and later Ben were captured/killed.

★ Logan's birthday is 11 November 1988.

★ "The Pulse" occurred at 12:05 June 1, 2009.

★ Normal's given name is Reagan Ronald. Original Cindy's given name is Cynthia McEachon. Sketchy's name, Calvin Simon Theodore, is a nod to the Chipmunks - Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

★ The character 'Max Guevara' was ranked #17 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).

★ At the end of the series finale, "Freak Nation", the shot of the transgenics raising their flag mimics the American flag being raised by US Marines on Iwo Jima.

★ Season 1 begins and ends the same: "Sometimes it seems like it happened to someone else, like maybe it was a story I heard. Even though I know it happened." Max says it atop the Space Needle in the Pilot and Logan says it atop the Space Needle in the season finale.

★ James Cameron's birthday can be found as the license plate number of Max's motorcycle.

★ The often-referenced S1W's are a likely reference to the S1W's of rap group Public Enemy. Public Enemy's front man Chuck D and Producer Gary G-Wiz composed the main theme music for the show.

★ The music which Alec plays in Episode 33, "The Berrisford Agenda", is Chopin's Étude in E major, Op. 10, No. 3.

★ During the Season Finale "Freak Nation", WWE Diva Amy Dumas (aka Lita) broke her neck during a stunt.

★ The series is very similar to the books series, ''Maximum Ride'', also about a girl named Max with bird DNA who escapes from a lab called 'The School'.

★ Perhaps by coincidence, the series shares some similarities with the television series ''The Secret World of Alex Mack''. (The name is similar to Max and Alec.) Alex Mack was a teenage girl hiding from a company that gave her powers, just as Max and Alec hide from Manticore and The Conclave. Jessica Alba also appeared in both television shows.

Awards

★ 2000: Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television — Jessica Alba in ''Dark Angel''

★ 2001: People's Choice Award for ''Favorite Television New Dramatic Series''

★ 2001: TV Guide Awards for ''Breakout Star of the Year'' — Jessica Alba in ''Dark Angel''

★ 2001: Teen Choice Awards for ''Choice Actress'' — Jessica Alba in ''Dark Angel''

★ 2001: Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards for ''Best Cinematography in a TV Series''

Spinoffs

Written by Max Allan Collins, a trilogy of novels expands upon the ''Dark Angel'' television series.

★ ''Dark Angel: Before the Dawn'' (2002) is a prequel to the television series, taking a detailed look at Max's past between 2009 and 2019. It introduced a 13th escapee, Seth. After Max and her siblings had escaped, Seth slipped out in the confusion and eventually ended up in Seattle, where he worked for Logan as a personal agent.

★ ''Dark Angel: Skin Game'' (2003) immediately follows the events of "Freak Nation," the final episode of Season 2, describing the days between March and May 2021. Skin Game focuses on a killer terrorising the streets of Seattle and the growing suspicion and evidence that the killer could possibly be a transgenic. As the killings escalate, the US Army and National Guard prepare themselves for an invasion of Terminal City.

★ ''Dark Angel: After the Dark'' (2003) follows ''Skin Game'', describing the days in December 2021. Relationships are torn apart after Logan reveals a shattering truth about his past to Max, but when Logan is kidnapped, questions are set aside as Max's investigation into the capture leads to an old enemy...The Breeding Cult members of the Conclave. With the aid of a team of Transgenics, Max vows to find those responsible for the kidnapping, unaware that the Conclave are not only anticipating her arrival, but the arrival of The Coming. ''After the Dark'' answers many questions raised in the second season; The curing of Max's virus, the Conclave's agenda, the return of Lydecker and C.J Sandeman, and Max and Logan finally getting together.

★ ''Dark Angel: The Eyes Only Dossier'' (2003) describes Logan's various adventures and happenings from the days of the EMP (Pulse) to the current days in 2021.

External links

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★ ''Dark Angel'' Articles

★ Boston.com's Top 50 Science Fiction Television Shows of All Time