| Dark Angel | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction Action Drama |
| Created by | James Cameron Charles H. Eglee |
| Starring | Jessica Alba Michael Weatherly Alimi Ballard Jennifer Blanc Richard Gunn J. C. MacKenzie Valarie Rae Miller Jensen Ackles Martin Cummins Kevin Durand Ashley Scott John Savage |
| Theme music composer | Chuck D Gary G-Wiz |
| Composer(s) | Joel McNeely Amani K. Smith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 43 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | James Cameron Charles H. Eglee René Echevarria |
| Running time | 43 minutes 86 minutes ("Pilot") 60 minutes ("Freak Nation") |
| Production company(s) | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Original run | October 3, 2000 – May 3, 2002 |
Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The show premiered in the United States on the Fox network on October 3, 2000, and was canceled after two seasons. Set in a post-apocalyptic Seattle, the show 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, who, after escaping from a covert government biotech/military facility as a child, tries to lead some semblance of a normal life and constantly try to elude capture by government agents, while searching for her genetically-enhanced brothers and sisters scattered in the aftermath of their escape.
The program is set in Seattle, Washington, and was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, at Lions Gate Studios.
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In 2009, a genetically enhanced, 9-year-old female super-soldier who calls herself Max Guevara (Jessica Alba), escapes along with eleven others like herself from a secret government institution, codenamed Manticore, where they were born, 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, she tries to live her life, evade capture, and learn to trust and love. She becomes involved with Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), an underground cyber-journalist with the alias Eyes Only, who recruits her to help fight corruption in the post-Pulse world, while at the same time she makes a living as a bicycle messenger at a courier company named Jam Pony along with her friends Original Cindy (Valarie Rae Miller), Herbal Thought (Alimi Ballard), and Sketchy (Richard Gunn). Other X-5s are periodically introduced, most significantly Zack (William Gregory Lee), the unit leader and eldest brother. The Manticore hunt for the escaped X-5s is led by Colonel Donald Lydecker (John Savage), who is ousted at the end of the season by the even more ruthless Elizabeth Renfro (Nana Visitor).
In the second season of the show, the tone changes as Max and Logan bring down Manticore and free all the transgenics within. Two others become main characters: Alec (Jensen Ackles), a fellow X-5 who joins Jam Pony, and Joshua (Kevin Durand), a transgenic with canine DNA. Max later learns that Joshua was the first transgenic created by Manticore's founder Sandeman. It becomes apparent that Manticore produced many different human/animal mixes as well as other experiments with unique abilities. A major theme in the second season is the discovery of an even more deadly enemy than Lydecker or Renfro, namely 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 (Martin Cummins), 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 and Ames White is his son, who is still loyal to the cult and hates his father's transgenic creations with a passion. The second season ends before Sandeman's plan for Max can be revealed.
In the DVD commentary for the series finale episode "Freak Nation", executive producer and co-creator Charles H. Eglee detailed what was planned for season 3. It was to bring together the storylines of season 1 (Manticore) and season 2 (ancient blood cult) and reveal the mythology of Dark Angel. As detailed by Charles H. Eglee:
Many thousands of years ago, a comet came through the atmosphere of the earth, and it deposited viral material that killed 97% of the human race. Some people survived that had a genetic predisposition, some kind of antibody or immunity. The great pyramids in Egypt were actually repositories of DNA, preserving the DNA of the survivors. This cult was an ancient blood cult that passed on this genetic immunity to selective members to keep this antibody against the coming of the comet again which was going to happen in season 3. So that they'd survive because they're genetically select. Everybody else on the planet would perish and the members of the cult would be there to rebuild civilization. They would inherit the earth.
Sandeman, Max's creator, out of the Manticore X-5 mythology was a man that jumped from this cult to implement this immunity genetic technology into the rest of human society to save all of humanity. He believed that the rest of humanity deserved the cure. The other cult members deemed Sandeman a heretic and a threat to undermining their goals of rebuilding humanity in their own image.
Max was going to be the savior of the human race. Sandeman finally found out how to give this genetic immunity to everyone through Max. There were multiple ideas of how to spread Max's immunity to humanity, including: an air burst that would spread the antibody and dispersed through the human race and save everyone from the comet or, the immunity would be attached to the viruses associated with the common cold and thus spread through the common cold (he detailed how a scene would show original Cindy sneezing as part of the beginning of the immunity spread).
Series writer Moira Dekker also spoke on the DVD commentary that Logan's transfusion that allowed him to use his legs once again at the end of season 2 would begin to fail during season 3.
The following characters were featured in the opening credits of the program.
| Character | Starring | Recurring | Actor/Actress | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Guevara (X5-452) | Season 1–2 | Jessica Alba | Genetically enhanced transgenic super-soldier, Jam Pony courier | |
| Logan Cale ("Eyes Only") | Season 1–2 | Michael Weatherly | Cyber-journalist | |
| Cynthia "Original Cindy" McEachin | Season 1–2 | Valarie Rae Miller | Jam Pony courier, best friend (and later roommate) to Max | |
| Calvin "Sketchy" Theodore | Season 1–2 | Richard Gunn | Jam Pony courier | |
| Reagan "Normal" Ronald | Season 1–2 | J. C. MacKenzie | Head of Jam Pony | |
| Herbal Thought | Season 1 | Alimi Ballard | Jam Pony courier, Rastafarian | |
| Kendra Maibaum | Season 1, Episodes 1–13 | Jennifer Blanc | Max's first roommate | |
| Col. Donald Lydecker | Season 1 | Season 2, Episodes 1–3 | John Savage | Head of Manticore |
| Alec McDowell (X5-494) | Season 2 | Jensen Ackles | Genetically enhanced transgenic super-soldier, Jam Pony courier | |
| Ames White | Season 2 | Martin Cummins | Government agent, conclave member | |
| Joshua | Season 2 | Kevin Durand | Human-canine experimental creature | |
| Asha Barlow | Season 2, Episodes 5–22 | Season 2, Episodes 1–4 | Ashley Scott | Member of the S.1.W. resistance movement, friend to Logan |
The following characters escaped in the original 2009 Escape from Manticore. They were only featured throughout season 1. Ben (from episode 1x18) and Alec (from season 2) were twins. Max also has a clone Sam who appeared in episode 2x19.
Three other characters were mentioned as being in Max's group but didn't participate in the escape for various reasons. These included:
Included as part of the original publicity press kit was the score for the pilot episode, titled Dark Angel: Complete Score from the Dark Angel Pilot. This 37-track CD was for promotional use only and not for resale. This promo CD is the only known publication of the Dark Angel pilot score in its entirety and is extremely rare.
The score for the series was composed and conducted by Joel McNeely. The score for the pilot episode was available in part on the original official website darkangeltheseries.com. A few tracks were later released by Joel McNeely on his blog. The track "Bicycle Ride" was used as the end credits for the duration of the 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.
The first season of the show premiered on Fox on Tuesday, October 3, 2000. The show aired on Tuesday nights after That '70s Show and Titus during the 2000 - 2001 television season and did well with both critics and audiences, averaging 10.1 million viewers during its first season on the air.
The following season, however, Fox made the bold decision to move Dark Angel to Friday nights preceding the network's new series Pasadena in order to try to reverse their string of bad luck with the Friday night death slot curse and to give the network's new series 24 a better time period during the week. Their efforts to improve Friday nights were unsuccessful though as Pasadena failed to find an audience and was canceled before the end of its first season on the night, while Dark Angel saw its second season audience drop by nearly 4 million viewers between the first and second seasons, resulting in its inevitable cancellation as well, despite a strong and vocal fan base and a finale directed by series creator James Cameron.
Though fans of the show attribute Dark Angel's decline in ratings to Fox's decision to move the series to a lower-rated night of the week, many also cite changes in the show's format and tone during its second season as reasons for the large decrease in viewership. These changes were said to be a result of budgetary concerns—any high-concept television series that heavily utilizes special effects is expensive to produce—and the departure of several actors, as John Savage, Alimi Ballard and Jennifer Blanc had all left the series as regulars and popular recurring actors William Gregory Lee and Nana Visitor had been written out of the show prior to its cancellation. The final episode of the series aired on May 3, 2002.
After the end of the show's second season, a third season appeared to be close to getting the green light, but Fox instead canceled the show at the last minute in order to make room for Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon's new science fiction series Firefly on the network's schedule. Incidentally, Firefly suffered the same fate as Dark Angel and was subsequently canceled the following season as well.
Though canceled due to sagging ratings in its second season, Dark Angel has high availability with most on-demand services as the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States and E4 in the United Kingdom regularly air reruns of both seasons. As of 2003, both seasons of the show are also available on DVD.
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Premiere | Finale | U.S. ratings | Network | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000–2001 | Tuesday 9:00 pm | October 3, 2000 | May 22, 2001 | 10.1 million[1] | Fox | #70 |
| 2 | 2001–2002 | Friday 8:00 pm (2001) Friday 9:00 pm (2002) Friday 8:30 pm (Series finale) |
September 28, 2001 | May 3, 2002 | 6.00 million[2] | #114 | |
20th Century Fox released Seasons 1 and 2 of Dark Angel on DVD in Region 1 & Region 2 in 2003. Both seasons were re-released in Region 1 on June 5, 2007, with slim packaging.[3] The Region 1 releases contain several special features, including commentaries, bloopers, deleted scenes and featurettes. However, Region 2 releases are in 16:9 widescreen, while Region 1 releases are 4:3 fullscreen.
| Season | Episodes | Region 1 | Region 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | May 20, 2003 | February 24, 2003 |
| Season 2 | 21 | October 21, 2003 | June 2, 2003 |
Written by Max Allan Collins, a trilogy of novels expands upon the Dark Angel television series.
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