Once Bitten: an Unofficial Guide to the World of Angel

466 Pages·2004·30.758 MB·English

by  Stafford, Nikki

IHiHtHWil
An Unofficial Guide
fo fixe UJorld op Angel
This page intentionally left blank
once bitten
AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
TO THE wORLD OF aNGEL
nikkii stafford
ECW PRESS
For Sydney
Copyright © Nikki Stafford, 2004
Published by ECW PRESS
2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 1E2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the
prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW PRESS.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Stafford, Nikki, 1973-
Once bitten : an unofficial guide to the world of Angel / Nikki Stafford.
ISBN 1-55022-654-1
i. Angel (Television program : 1999- ) I. Title.
PN1992.77.A53S82 2004 791-45 72 c2004-902553-8
Cover and Text Design: Tania Craan
Typesetting: Gail Nina
Cover photos: Challenge Roddie/Corbis Outline/Magma (David
Boreanaz); James Milchin/Corbis Outline/Magma (James Marsters);
Catherine Karnow/Corbis/Magma (L.A. skyline)
Color section, in order: Jill Greenberg/Corbis Outline/Magma; Mark
Robert Halper; Challenge Roddie/Corbis Outline/Magma; Christina
Radish; Christina Radish; Mark Robert Halper; Mark Robert Halper;
Albert L. Ortega; Albert L. Ortega; Christina Radish; Albert L.
Ortega; Christina Radish; Albert L. Ortega; Mark Robert Halper; Mark
Robert Halper; Mark Robert Halper
All book covers from pages 39 to 53 are used with permission of the publishers.
Printing: Tri-Graphic
The publication of Once Bitten: An Unofficial Guide to the World of Angel has been
generously supported by the Government of Canada through the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program. CanadS
DISTRIBUTION
CANADA: Jaguar Book Group, 100 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, ON, L7G 5S4
UNITED STATES: Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60610
PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA
ECW PRESS
ecwpress.com
Contents
A Note to Readers vii
Never Fading Away: The Story of Angel 1
Posting Board Party 2003: The Monster's Ball — Last Dance 27
Buffy Goes to College: The Whedonverse and Academia 39
Sidebar: BtVS Course Agenda 57
CityofAngel.com: The Ultimate Angel Site 65
Angel and Buffy on the Web 75
"Thanks WB — You Killed Me": An Interview with Alexis Denisof 81
Are You a Senior Partner or a Mailroom Assistant? (Trivia Quiz) 97
Angel Episode Guide 103
Season One 105
Season Two 151
Season Three 197
Season Four 245
Season Five 295
Buffy Season Seven Episode Guide 349
Appendices 417
Trivia Quiz Answers 417
Angel Episodes 421
Angel Writers 423
Buffyf yEpisodes 427
Buffy Writers 431
Sources 435
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to Jack David and ECW Press for continuing to believe in me and encourage me
as I write. A special thanks to Tracey Millen, for her proofreading skills and Michael Holmes,
for passing on his expertise on Mexican masked wrestling. And thank-you to Jodi Lewchuk for
her excellent editing of the manuscript.
Many people thought I was crazy for writing two books at once, but I managed to do it with
the encouragement of a lot of family and friends. Thanks to Suzanne Kingshott for cheering me
on as I wrote the book, for reading a version of the manuscript, and for spending a weekend
with me during an Angel viewing marathon. Thanks to Robyn Burnett, Fionna Boyle, Jonathan
Hale, and many other friends and family for encouraging me throughout the writing of this
book.
I had a lot of help from people to complete certain sections of the book. A huge thank-you
to the many people involved in Buffyf yand Angel who took the time out of their busy schedules
to talk to me about their experiences on the shows: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, David Denman,
Jane Espenson, David Fury, Christian Kane, Mark Lutz, J. August Richards, Stephanie Romanov,
and Keith Szarabajka. I owe a big thanks to Rana at Rising Stars for helping me contact the
people involved, and the agents, publicists, and managers who made the interviews happen.
For the posting board party chapter I'd like to thank Karri Phillips and Bryan Bonner for
giving me insight into how the parties are put together. I'd like to thank Kristy Bratton, Virginia
Obeius, and Lilian Holden for answering my many questions about their excellent Web site,
CityofAngel.com. Thanks to Rhonda Wilcox, David Lavery, Michael Adams, Jana Riess, Roz
Kaveney, James B. South, Glenn Yeffeth, Lisa LoCicero, Sue Turnbull, Angela Ndalianis, and
Sophie Levy for spending so much time answering questions for the chapter on the Bluffy and
Angel academic community.
Thank you to Leslie Remencus for being so generous with her time and helping me with
the music for a lot of the episode guide. Thanks also to James Reaney, who sends me wire sto-
ries on the latest Angel and Buffy happenings. And to Jennifer Kaplan, who provided me with
the shooting schedules from her many visits to the sets of both shows. Thanks to Sandy Conners
for offering a comment on Rising Stars, and to Lisa Rowe for helping me get the photo of the
SavingAngel truck.
I have to acknowledge the amazing people in OBAVA, not only for being entertaining online,
but for their companionship, support, and encouragement in person. They helped me out with
the Spuffies vs. Bangels sidebar and are just a great group of people. Thanks for everything guys,
you're the best.
Finally, a big thanks to Robert for putting up with me for many months as I worked on two
books at once. I commandeered the television and was holed up in my office every evening and
weekend for many months, and he never complained (for good reason — it allowed him to play
golf guilt-free). Thank you to Piquette and Sebastian, who kept me company and have always
been my muses. And, as always, my most heartfelt thanks go to Jennifer Hale. Over the years
we've become inseparable, and this book couldn't have been written without your thoughtful-
ness and perseverance.
vi
a note to readers
When my previous Whedonverse book, Bite Me! An Unofficial Guide to
the World o/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was published in 2002, Buffy fywas
finishing its sixth season, and Angel was finishing its third. In that book
I included long, detailed episode outlines for Buffyf yand capsule reviews
for Angel; the idea was to cover the latter but keep the focus on bBuffy.
The book also included bios of the cast of Buffy and Angel to give equal
weight to both shows, and it covered the posting-board parties from
1998 to 2002.
Since its release, several readers have asked if I was planning on
releasing an updated version of Bite Mel that would include season 7 of
Buffy and the last two seasons of Angel but I didn't think it would be
y
fair to make people buy the entire book again just to get those. So I
came up with the idea to do an Angel-focusedd book that would be not
only a companion to that show but a sequel to Bite Me!, tying up the
loose ends that were left open in that book.
I have tried my best not to repeat material that is in Bite Me! This
book does not contain actor bios, because those were in the other book.
The Angel episode summaries here are fleshed out and more complete,
like the Buffy fyepisode outlines were in Bite Me! I have also included
season 7 of Buffyf yto finish off that episode guide. The show history that
opens this book begins in 1999, when Angel began, so that I wouldn't
vii
just repeat what I'd written about Buffy in the other book. I have written
only on Angel until the section covering the 2002-3 season, where I have
included material about the end of Buffy (since it was not covered in
Bite Me!}. This book also contains a summary of the 2003 posting-
board party, which was the final party with fans and cast members.
You do not need to have a copy of Bite Me! to enjoy this book — I
believe Once Bitten stands alone for Angel fans. Here are a few things
about the book to note: the rundown of the 2003 PBP is centered on
Angel cast members, as there were more of them in attendance than
Buffy ones; I've included an extensively researched chapter on how the
academic world has embraced Buffy fyand Angel; there is a chapter on
how CityofAngel.com came to be; and the Angel episode guide features
tidbits from some of the cast members themselves talking about the
episodes.
I hope I have found just the right balance with Once Bitten, and that
readers who own Bite Me! will see it as complementary, without any
overlap, while readers who don't have that book will find it complete on
its own. One last note: People have already begun asking me why Spike
is on the cover given he's such a recent addition to the Angel cast. He's
there because he represents a constant between the two shows — he was
one of the focal points in season 7 of Buffy, and he has always been a
major part of Angel's life. He's there to show that this book will cover
both shows in those capacities. And besides, it's Spike — who wouldn't
want the guy on their book cover?
Nikki Stafford, August 2004
nikki_stafford@yahoo. com
viii