Angel Chronicles Volume Three

ANGEL CHRONICLES VOL. 3

By Nancy Holder (1999) based on teleplays “Surprise” by Marti Noxon, “Innocence” by Joss Whedon, and “Passion” by Ty King

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Two

CAST APPEARANCES: Angel, Angelus, Buffy, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Xander, Giles, Jenny Calendar, Dalton, Spike, Drusilla, Joyce, Enyos, The Judge

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “For Buffy the Vampire Slayer, birthdays aren’t all parties and cake--hers tend to involve a life-or-death battle with a big evil. Her seventeenth celebration isn’t an exception. While Buffy’s friends organize a festive gathering in honor of the special day, Spike and Drusilla are planning their own surprise party for the Slayer--with a devastating demon as the grand finale. But a passionate night with Angel changes everything. Suddenly, Buffy must deal with two forms of ultimate evil: the almost-indestructible Judge--and the legendary vampire Angelus, who is determined to exact his special brand of revenge on the young woman who showed him true love.”

REVIEW

Of the books in the Angel Chronicles series, Volume Three is by far the strongest. The episodes collected--“Surprise”, “Innocence”, and “Passion”--are each among the finest stories ever written for the show, and each is almost required viewing to understand Angel, Buffy, and their tumultuous relationship. Like Joss Whedon, Season Two is my favorite season of the show, and this novelization helps to show why.

In “Surprise”, the Scoobies prepare a surprise party for Buffy’s seventeen birthday--coincidentally, however, Drusilla is having a birthday party of her own, and the gift Spike gives her (The Judge) has the ability to literally burn the humanity out of people. This episode has all the good stuff: Spike & Dru at their finest, Angel & Buffy having sex for the first time, Willow and Oz going on their first date, and the dramatic truth about Jenny Calendar revealed. The adaptation by Holder of the episode is mediocre, with a rather slight framing sequence and occasional spelling mistakes, but the story itself is definitely strong enough to overcome these minor problems.

The sequel, “Innocence”, centers around Buffy’s emotional turmoil over Angel going bad. We feel for her in a way few shows would be able to achieve; and just as heartbreaking is Willow’s discovery that Xander and Cordelia are dating. When Willow tells Xander, tears in her eyes, that “It just means you’d rather be with someone you hate, than be with me,” we see these characters and this fictional world as more real than we ever realized before. Other moments that make the episode great include Oz turning down a kiss (in the sweetest way imaginable) from Willow and Giles demonstrating just how much he respects Buffy. For more action-oriented fans, the famous rocket launcher scene takes place in this episode, as does the first Buffy-Angelus battle. The adaptation is marred only by Drusilla’s interior voice coming off as far too pedestrian.

“Passion” shows us Angelus at his worst (or best, depending on your point of view), as he stalks Buffy and her friends. After Angelus murders an important character and plants the body in another character’s bed, Angelus watches through the window of Buffy’s house just to see her reaction when she gets the call. It’s clear--he doesn’t want to just kill Buffy, he wants to destroy her. With this episode, the series gets darker than it ever had before, and it works beautifully. Another highlight is Angelus’ needling of Spike over Drusilla--it is so damned funny but you can’t help but feel sorry for the poor wheelchair-bound bastard. In the episode, excellent voiceovers by Angelus frame the story, but the effect is unfortunately lost in the adaptation.

All in all, this is definitely the best of the Angel Chronicles and probably the best of the Buffy television novelizations as a whole. I give this 4 out of 5 Stakes only because the actual adaptation leaves something to be desired, but the stories themselves would get a 5. I’d write more, but I think I have to go pop these episodes into the DVD player . . .