Angel (1999) - 32 questions

Question: I know Angel killed Darla in season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I could have sworn that she was brought back before Wolfram and Hart resurrected her in human form. Did they or am I just remembering flashbacks?

Answer: Though Darla frequently appeared in flashbacks after Angel killed her (around Angel's rebirth, his gang, etc.), she was never raised from the dead until the end of season one of Angel (To Shanshu in LA).

Question: As I didn't watch all the series of Angel this may have been explained in the show. I thought vampires couldn't have children he told Buffy in and episode that vampires couldn't have children? (it was the episode where angel lost his soul on Buffys birthday?).

Answer: It's precisely because vampires can't have children that everyone is so amazed at Angel's getting Darla pregnant. It's a Big Deal because Connor is so unique in the whole history of the world.

Question: In the UK at the moment (June 2004) Sky 1 are running a series of ads for their "Best of Angel" vote - does anyone know what that song playing in the background is?

Answer: "Vampire Love" by Ash from their new album "Meltdown".

Question: I've just got the soundtrack, and there's a great song by a band called Vast, called "Touched". I've definitely heard it in the series somewhere, but have no idea where/when it actually gets played - can anyone help?

Answer: This song features in the season one episode "Lonely Hearts", during the montage where Angel and Kate are both looking for the killer.

Question: In the opening credits, just before the shot of Phantom Dennis, is the shot of the girl crying Darla? What episode is that from?

Answer: Nope, it's not Darla - that's Rachel from the episode "In the Dark", the third episode of the show (the one with Spike's magnificent opening monologue).

Question: Is David Boreanaz's last name pronounced the way it's spelled?

Answer: Pretty much. It's pronounced Bo-ree-AH-nuz.

Question: I'm about halfway through season 2 on DVD. Without spoiling anything for me, do the gypsies who ensouled Angel ever appear in the flashbacks, or are they only mentioned in passing?

Answer: Pretty much in passing although you see descendants of the gypsy clan in season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you read the first Spike comics with Dracula there's mention of the gypsy clan.

Question: How is the vampire no-reflection effect achieved?

Answer: There are severals ways to go about this. They could film the scene without the vampire in place so there's no reflection of him/her in the mirror, then film the scene with the vampire, and finally digitally splice the two together. Or, for quick passes, they could just digitally remove the reflection and replace it with the background. Camera tricks can also be used by putting the camera at a certain angle in relation to the mirror so it only looks like the person's reflection would be visible if they weren't a vampire. Depends on how much time and money they've got available.

Question: Was Doyle written out of the show because of Glenn Quinn's death, or was that a decision made well before?

Answer: Quinn didn't die until three years after being written out of the show. According to Joss Whedon, the character, while popular, simply failed to mesh well with the pre-existing characters brought across from the Buffy series, and the reluctant decision was taken to write the character out of the series; it was also mentioned by producer David Fury that Whedon liked the idea of messing with the audience a bit by introducing a main cast member, then defying expectations by killing them off swiftly, although he also mentioned this was not the original intent with Doyle.

Question: From her incarceration in "Sanctuary" to her break out in "Salvage", how long was Faith in prison, in terms of days, weeks, etc.?

Answer: The exact length of time can't be determined with any precision, but, as each season in the Buffyverse is intended to represent about a year in real time, it seems likely that she was imprisoned for about two and a half years.

Question: In the scenes where Angel drinks blood out of a cup or glass, what were the props actually filled with?

Answer: I once used raspberry syrup as blood in a film shoot. I'm sure there are other, more "professional" liquids available as well.

Question: Faith uses the term Five by Five when someone asks her how things are. What does this mean?

Answer: "Five by five" is a term originally used in radio communication to indicate that the signal is good, and is now occasionally used to indicate that things in general are okay.