Dark Angel (TV series)

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Dark Angel

(From left to right) Logan Cale, Max Guevara and Donald Lydecker.
Format Action/Science fiction
Created by James Cameron
Charles H. Eglee
Starring Jessica Alba
Michael Weatherly
John Savage
Valarie Rae Miller
Richard Gunn
J. C. MacKenzie
Geneva Locke
Jensen Ackles
William Gregory Lee
Ashley Scott
Country of origin United States, Canada
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 43 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 42 min.
83 min. ("Pilot")
62 min. ("Freak Nation")
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
Original run October 3, 2000 – May 3, 2002
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

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. Dark Angel chronicles the life of Max Guevara (X5-452), a genetically enhanced super-soldier, portrayed by Jessica Alba as an adult, and Geneva Locke as a child.

The program is set in Seattle, Washington, but was actually filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Lions Gate Studios.

Contents

[edit] Overview

In the year 2009, a genetically enhanced, 9-year-old female (to whom creator James Cameron refers 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. On June 1, 2009, 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, evade capture, and learn to trust and love. She is aided by Logan Cale, an underground cyber-journalist with the alias Eyes Only; Zack, 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 is a renegade from the breeding cult. Ames White is Sandeman's son, which essentially makes him "related" to Max and her transgenic brethren. However, the series was cancelled before the producers could play with this dynamic.

[edit] Synopsis

Max was bio-engineered in a government lab, at a facility called Manticore, sometime around the turn of the 21st century located in Gillette, Wyoming. As with all of their creations (exception of Joshua), Max has a barcode on the back of her neck, with her identifying number sequence (332960013452). This number is as stated on the official website, but is stated in the show as (332960073452). The latter is accurate. She is an X-5 model and is thus referred to as X5-452. Max and her unit, her "brothers and sisters," named themselves back at Manticore, and sometime after she escapes, she assumes the surname Guevara.

Max and her unit were trained to be soldiers using harsh and brutal techniques, supervised by Colonel Lydecker (John Savage) designed for their special abilities. The genetically engineered supersoldiers had a design flaw though. They were missing an essential chemical in the brain resulting in seizures. This led to the removal and death of some of their unit. When they learned this, and Max began to get the shakes, their protective unit leader, Zack (X5-599) (William Gregory Lee) decided they should escape, and led them through a snow-filled forest as they were being chased by Lydecker's men. Max got separated from her unit when she fell into a frozen pond (having been trained to hold her breath underwater for long periods of time) allowing her to avoid the search party.

Several months after her escape, terrorists detonated an electromagnetic pulse in the atmosphere over the U.S., on June 1, 2009. This destroyed the vast majority of electrical systems, throwing the United States into chaos, and making it a third world country over night, which let corruption and crime flourish and eventually leading to a stricter martial control of the population.

By the year 2019, Max is living in Seattle, Washington, illegally squatting in an abandoned building, first with Kendra (Jennifer Blanc) and later with Original Cindy (Valarie Rae Miller) her best friend that she works with at Jam Pony (a bicycle messenger service). Other friends from there include Herbal Thought (Alimi Ballard) and Sketchy (a.k.a. Calvin Theodore) (Richard Gunn). She works at Jam Pony in order to be allowed to move around the city, so she can scout locations to steal from. She lives her secret life as a cat burglar, in order to fund the expensive search for her 11 escaped "brothers and sisters."

It is during one of these burglaries that she meets Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), and realizes that he's the cyber-journalist "Eyes Only." Interested in finding more about his highly skilled mystery visitor, he discovers who she is using security footage, and invites Max back to his apartment. Once there, and being well versed on his government conspiracies, he confirms his suspicions (sees her barcode) that she is one of the escaped X-5s from Manticore. Max and Logan make a pact: he will help her find her missing siblings, if she will help him take down bad guys. Logan also helps to protect Max from Lydecker, who's been looking for the escapees since their breakout.

Soon into the series (10 years after the escape), Max meets up with Zack. More siblings are found, and often with tragic consequences. By the end of the first season, a plan is developed to take down Manticore, one with Lydecker who defects from Manticore after an attempt to assassinate him, and the death of Tinga, one of "his kids." The plan is to destroy the genetics lab, crippling Manticore's ability to produce more soldiers. During their raid, Max gets critically injured, and is assumed dead. But she is actually recaptured.

The plan while successfully executed, fails to destroy Manticore. Instead, a new, larger Manticore facility gets set up an hour outside of Seattle, Washington. Eventually, Max escapes, but not before destroying Manticore, allowing numerous transgenics to escape, creating the eventual public knowledge of their existence. Max reunites with Logan, only to discover that she's become a carrier to a deadly virus which was genetically targeted for Eyes Only.

Max's problems are further compounded when the government starts hunting down and destroying the escaped Manticore soldiers, led by Ames White. White is both a government agent, and a member of a secret ancient breeding cult similar in structure to the Illuminati which spans millennia. He's particularly focused on Max, who is revealed to have been created without junk DNA and for a special purpose.

Max befriends one of the new escapees, the first Manticore creation, Joshua (Kevin Durand) who seeks his "father" Sandeman, their mysterious creator, and a renegade member of the breeding cult. Max also teams up with Alec (Jensen Ackles), an X-5 who's genetically identical to her dead unit-mate Ben, and a magnet for trouble. They spend a lot of time covering up, taking out, or protecting the more odd of the Manticore Alumni. Eventually, they join the other transgenics in the toxic section of Seattle, called Terminal City, and make a stand for their rights against the hostile humans.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Dark Angel episodes

[edit] Cast and characters

Main article: List of Dark Angel characters

Main Characters -

The following characters were featured in the opening credits of the program.

  • (John Savage) Donald Lydecker (Season 1, recurring Episodes 2.1-2.3)

The 12 Original Escapees -

The following characters escaped in the original 2009 Escape from Manticore. They were only featured throughout season 1. *Note Ben (from 1x18) and Alec (from season 2) were twins. Max also has a twin Sam (who appeared in 2x19).

  • Max (X5-452) (Jessica Alba) (Every Episode)
  • Zack (X5-599) (William Gregory Lee) (1x6, 1x8, 1x9, 1x14, 1x20, 1x21, 1x22, 2x1, & 2x7)
  • Ben (X5-493) (Jensen Ackles) (Episode 1x18) (deceased)
  • Brin (X5-734) (Nicole Bilderback) (Episodes 1x8, 1x20, 1x21, & 1x22)
  • Tinga (X5-656) (Lisa Ann Cabasa) (Episodes 1x14, 1x20, 1x21, & 1x22) (deceased)
  • Zane (Unnamed Actor) (Episode 1x14)
  • Syl (Nicki Aycox) (Episode 1x22)
  • Krit (Joshua Alba) (Episode 1x22)
  • Jondy (Never shown as an adult)
  • Seth (From the book)
  • Unnamed
  • Unnamed
  • Three other characters were mentioned as being in Max's group but didn't participate in the escape for various reasons, These include Jack who died after suffering from seizures, Eva who got shot, and Jace (Shireen Crutchfield in Episode 15) who turned back at the last minute and watched from the window as the rest of them ran off but then escaped as an adult after she found out she was pregnant.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background to series

Director James Cameron had planned to make a film of the comic book character Spider-Man. Unable to do so, Cameron moved to television and created the story of Max, a new superheroine. Dark Angel, was influenced by cyberpunk, current superhero genres, and third-wave feminism:

After the Sarah Connors and Ellen Ripleys of the eighties, the nineties weren't so kind to the superwoman format --Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer excepted. But it's a new millennium now, and while Charlie's Angels and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are kicking up a storm on movie screens, it's been down to James Cameron to bring empowered female warriors back to television screens. And tellingly, Cameron has done it by mixing the sober feminism of his The Terminator and Aliens characters with the sexed-up Girl Power of a Britney Spears concert. The result is Dark Angel, a weekly action series that's burning up the ratings on America's Fox Network and has recently premiered in the UK.[1]

[edit] Program scheduling

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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.

[edit] Cancellation

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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 ratings. Avid fans of the show attribute the loss of ratings to a misjudgment by 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 cited as contributing factors to its demise. Many of these changes were due to budgetary concerns and departing actors. 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.

[edit] DVD releases

[edit] 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 title 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Spinoffs

See also: Dark Angel (video game)

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 another '09 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.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ E y e s <-> <-> O n l y

[edit] External links

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Misc.

v • d • e
Films and television series by James Cameron
1970s-1980s
Xenogenesis (1978) • Piranha II: The Spawning (1981) • The Terminator (1984) • Aliens (1986) • The Abyss (1989)
1990s
2000s
Dark Angel (2000-2002) • Expedition: Bismarck (2002) • Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) • Aliens of the Deep (2005) • Avatar (2009) • Battle Angel (TBA) • The Dive (TBA)