"Dark Angel" (2000)TV series 2000-2002

Creators:

James Cameron
Charles H. Eglee

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

3 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Engineered To Raise Hell.

Plot:

A group of genetically-enhanced children escape from a lab project. Years later we meet Max, one of the escapees who now works for a messenger service in the post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest.

Plot Keywords:

Cloning | Action Heroine | Paranoid | Apocalypse | Experiment Gone Wrong

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 18 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 30	8:00 AM	SCIFI	Designate This	#2.1
Wed. July 30	9:00 AM	SCIFI	Bag 'Em	#2.2

Cast

Jessica Alba	...	Max Guevera / ... (42 episodes, 2000-2002)
Michael Weatherly	...	Logan Cale / ... (42 episodes, 2000-2002)
Valarie Rae Miller	...	Cynthia 'Original Cindy' McEachin (39 episodes, 2000-2002)
Richard Gunn	...	Calvin 'Sketchy' Theodore (37 episodes, 2000-2002)
J.C. MacKenzie	...	Reagan 'Normal' Ronald (36 episodes, 2000-2002)
Jensen Ackles	...	Alec / ... (19 episodes, 2001-2002)
John Savage	...	Donald Lydecker (18 episodes, 2000-2001)

Also Known As:

James Cameron's Dark Angel (USA)

Runtime:

60 min | USA:60 min (42 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:12 (Episodes 1-8) | South Korea:15 (Episodes 9-20) | Ireland:15 (Season 1) | Ireland:18 (Season 2) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (some episodes) | Australia:M (some episodes) | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-14

Filming Locations:

Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Normal's given name is Reagan Ronald. Original Cindy's given name is Cynthia McEachon.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: You can often see the wires when Max or Zack are running up the walls or flying around the room.

Quotes:

Max Guevara: Girls kick ass; says so on a t-shirt.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in May All Your Christmases Be Black (2007) (V)

One of the worst TV series I have ever seen

(I'm french, so forgive my English)

I love most of James Cameron's movies, so I was elated when I heard he was working on a TV series. Then, I watched the pilot ... and I couldn't believe how bad it was.

1°) EVERY idea had already been used elsewhere and in a better way:

- An artificial being with a number tattooed on her body, who is often seen sitting on top of a roof? Cybersix!

- A cynical, half human, half animal, woman who ride a motorbike and need a medicine to stay alive? Chameleon!

- A calm, crippled hacker who send his impulsive teammate on the field? Birds Of Prey! (I'm talking about the comics, not the pitiful TV series)

- The electromagnetic pulse? Goldeneye! (in which there's a boat named ... Manticore!)

- The heroine fighting the monster of the week? Buffy!

- The hated and feared transgenics? X-Men!

- The girl who can't touch her love interest? X-Men!

And so on ...

2°) The main actress. The producer only choose Jessica Alba because she was cute. But she only have two facial expression and are we supposed to believe this small, skinny girl is an overtrained fighting machine? She's not even able to do ONE action scene correctly, so we have to deal with obvious stunt doubles and badly edited action scenes. At least, "Mutant X" or the "Chameleon" trilogy both had a convincing, athletic actress as the lead woman (respectively, Victoria Pratt as Shalimar Fox, or Bobbie Phillips as Kam).

3°) No coherent storyline. It started as "The Pretender", then it became "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", then "X-Men" and the last episode looked like a "Night Breed" remake. Even the characters weren't coherent. Max was supposed to die if she doesn't take tryptophane on a regular basis, then ... No more. It was like Superman being no longer vulnerable to krytonite. She was supposed to get horny every month because she had cat DNA (stupidest idea ever!) then no more. In some episode, Lydecker was the ultimate bastard, without the slightest sense of honor, and in others, he was a good guy manipulated by his superiors.

4°) This series was supposed to be "dark", but it wasn't, since it was overloaded with comedy reliefs and political correctness. Even "Mutant X" was darker than that!

I could have dealed with one or two of this problems, but not the FOUR of them. Oh, I tried to give this show a chance. I watched some episodes from time to time, but each one was worst than the one I saw before.