Conversations with Dead People
TV & Film
The sun has set on Sunnydale, and so now we leave behind the hell of the small town and head into the Big Bad City. Stacey Abbott, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at Roehampton University, editor of Reading Angel: The TV Spin-Off With a Soul, and author of Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death In The Modern World and Near Dark (BFI Film Classics) joins me to usher in the era of Angel, the/a vampire with a soul. We talk for a bit about how she was, for years, a shining beacon of Angel Studies at many, many of the Slayage Conferences, being the only person willing and eager to present on the spinoff series, before FINALLY diving into our discussion of the first two episodes.
“City Of” introduces the new paradigm of the film noir Los Angeles setting, with it’s dark alleys, buzzing neon, and rapid-edit transitions. We’re also introduced to a new player in half-demon “sidekick” Doyle, sent by the Powers That Be (“Powers that be what?”) to be Angel’s sponsor on his quest for redemption. And we get the very welcome return of Cordelia Chase, although she’s slightly different in this new setting than when we last saw her. And lastly, the notion of a Big Bad seems like it might not mean quite the same thing in this series as it did in the last one.
After the first episode sets the cast and stage, “Lonely Hearts” (or is it “Heart” singular?!?) begins to show us how this show will explore themes of heroism, good vs. evil, savior complexes, and helping the helpless. And one more damaged character joins the dramatis personae as Kate Lockley, the “cop contact sympathetic to the private eye” noir trope, enters the picture.
NEXT: Stephanie Graves follows us from the graveyard to the morgue as we discuss episodes 103, “In the Dark,” 104, “I Fall to Pieces,” and 105, “Rm w/a Vu.”
BREAKDOWN
00:00:55 - Intro / Guest
00:18:08 - Main Topic
01:27:06 - Outro / Next
LIBRARY
Reading Angel: The TV Spin-off With a Soul, edited by Stacey Abbott
Angel (TV Milestones Series) by Stacey Abbott
Celluloid Vampires: Life After Death in the Modern World, by Stacey Abbott
Near Dark (BFI Film Classics), by Stacey Abbott
LINKS
Monstrum: A Peer-Reviewed Journal of Studies in Horror
MUSIC
“Conversations (feat. Wesley Mead)” by Azura (2017)
“Touched” by VAST, Visual Audio Sensory Theater (1998)
Episode 22 - Choices / The Prom (feat. Melanie Scala)
Episode 21 - Doppelgangland / Enemies / Earshot (feat. Matthieu Cravatte)
Episode 20 - Bad Girls / Consequences (feat. James Rocha)
Episode 19 - Helpless / The Zeppo (feat. Jennifer Walsh)
Episode 18 - The Wish / Amends / Gingerbread (feat. Mary Ellen Iatropoulos)
Episode 17 - Revelations / Lovers Walk (feat. Michael Holland)
Episode 16 - Beauty and the Beasts / Homecoming / Band Candy (feat. Nikki Stafford)
Episode 15 - Anne / Dead Man’s Party / Faith, Hope & Trick (feat. Nikki Stafford)
Episode 14 - Becoming (Part 1) / Becoming (Part 2) (feat. Alexander Lester)
Episode 13 - Killed by Death / I Only Have Eyes For You / Go Fish (feat. Karen Viars)
Episode 12 - Phases / Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered / Passion (feat. Johny Ho)
Episode 11 - Surprise / Innocence (feat. James Rocha)
Episode 10 - Ted / Bad Eggs (feat. Kenn Edwards)
Episode 9 - What’s My Line? (Part 1) / What’s My Line? (Part 2) (feat. Melanie Scala)
Episode 8 - Halloween / Lie to Me / The Dark Age (feat. David Bushman & Arthur Smith)
Episode 7 - School Hard / Inca Mummy Girl / Reptile Boy (feat. Theresa Fortier)
Episode 6 - When She Was Bad / Some Assembly Required (feat. Michael Adams)
Episode 5 - Out of Mind, Out of Sight / Prophecy Girl (feat. James South)
Episode 4 - The Puppet Show / Nightmares (feat. Alexander Lester)
Episode 3 - The Pack / Angel / I Robot, You Jane (feat. Elizabeth Rambo)
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