When talk started about spinning Eliza Dushku's Faith into her own series, I was skeptical. Season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the high point of the series in large part because of Faith, but it was the tension between her and Buffy that made it work. Faith and Buffy were yin and yang, the Luke and Vader of the Buffyverse. Put Faith on her own and the equation is out of balance.
I should have known better. The same could have been said of Angel, and the past season and a half of that spinoff has been stronger than the last couple of years of Buffy. Lilah's death disappointed me (take Fred-- please!), and I'm worried that it's jumped the shark with evil Cordelia (they've gone way too long without explaining that one already), not to mention Cordy sleeping with Connor, leading to pregnant Cordelia... but I'll wait until the storyline has played itself out before passing judgment.
Dushku's turn in the past few Angel episodes, however, has been dynamite. The sense of debt Faith feels toward Angel gives her much-needed humanity and depth. In facing Angel's inner darkness personified, Faith has been forced to face her own dark side and reaffirm who she is and will be. That inner turmoil makes Faith far more interesting than Buffy, who has had all the flair and personality of a corpse since reanimating from one at the start of last season. And the vibe between Faith and Wesley, her once-dorky, now-studly former Watcher, is electric. These two have one hell of a troubled history, and they acknowledge it. Their interactions are rich with subtext. Now the idea of a series crafted around Faith excites and intrigues me.
Not that it matters. Dushku turned down the concept to star instead as a morgue employee who talks to the dead, reliving the same day over and over again until she sets things right. Kind of a Quantum Groundhog's Day. In the meantime, Faith's about to wrap things up in L.A. and pop over to Sunnydale, where she'll hopefully give Buffy a much-needed jolt of something-interesting-to-watch.
The Buffy/Angel romance was inspired. She kills vampires, he is a vampire. They yearn to be together, but can't be without risk of setting Angelus free in a moment of true happiness. Classic tragedy. But the platonic relationship between Faith and Angel could be something even richer, bound with many layers of nuance and emotion. If Dushku's pilot fails, I hope she reconsiders picking up the stake again.
Posted by Peter at March 13, 2003 4:18 PM"The Buffy/Angel romance was inspired."
Was it inspired by Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake series, I wonder? I'm not sure about the timing - what year did Angel and Buffy fall for each other? I'm pretty sure Anita and Jean-Claude got started first.