‘Dark Angel’

Everyone’s clamoring for the return of big hits. Iconic classics. Stories we love. But those have already been told, and in my opinion, they should be left alone.

I think it makes much more sense to have another go at good shows with solid concepts, whose small-screen executions didn’t gather as much traction as they should have. Dark Angel is a perfect example of one such show.

Running from 2000-2002, Dark Angel starred Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, and Jensen Ackles. It was created by James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) and Charles H. Eglee, and told the story of a genetically enhanced super-soldier named Max, who had escaped from the military when she was a child. As a young adult, Max was now living in a post-apocalyptic Seattle where resources were scarce, it was survival of the fittest, and the authorities absolutely could not discover who she really was.

She worked as a bike messenger, and had a cute group of strangely-clad, smack-talking friends. She slowly began to discover that not only was she far from the only member of her group who had escaped, but that there was a far bigger conspiracy going on, involving several clones of herself (both contemporary and younger), older generations of “failed” animal-human hybrids, and something about a prophecy (unfortunately the show was cancelled before they could explore that reveal).

Think Buffy meets Alias, with a hint of Orphan Black. Dark Angel was very flawed, but it was also a brilliant idea, and had it been made in a different time (perhaps with a few casting changes and a team who took themselves more seriously), I think it would have been a hit. In fact, it’d slot perfectly into The CW’s current schedule, which is all about superhuman, quirky, emotional dramas. So forget the big hits. Bring back the good ideas that failed, and have another go at making something amazing.

‘Brothers and Sisters’

Five days after Brothers and Sisters’ season 5 finale aired it was announced that the series would not return for a sixth. Without any word from the network all season, renewal was not looking bright for the series that just surpassed the 100th episode mile marker that year.

The cancellation hit fans of the Walker family hard. New babies were just introduced, Saul’s life was finally getting the jumpstart he wanted, Nora was back to her old interfering self, Sarah found out who her real father was and married Luc, and Kitty, bless her, was pregnant with her graduate student’s kid!

The season had a weak opening, picking up a year after the tragic car crash that ended season 4. It was a way to send off actors, including veterans of the show, Emily VanCamp and Rob Lowe. A lot needed to be done to get back into the swing of things and catch the audience up on a year’s worth of events. The family was estranged and broken. But Brothers and Sisters did the work and executed it well to get the family back to its twisted roots that are constantly fighting over who gets the most water. The show’s leaves were gaining color.

Brothers and Sisters was ready to close the chapter on Ojah foods and William Walker’s family secrets, but there was certainly more to be told for the five (well four and half) Walker siblings.