Great Second Season

Before anything else, let me warn you, if you haven’t seen season one, don’t read this! I’m going to refer to major plot points from season one, including the finale. Okay, now that I’ve warned you, on with the show...

James Cameron’s “Dark Angel” ended its first season on a major cliffhanger. Escaped transgenic Max Guevera (Jessica Alba) sets out with fellow escapees Zack (William Gregory Lee), Syl (Nicki Aycox) and Krit (Joshua Alba – yes, Jessica’s brother) to destroy the government facility that made them. Also helping to take down Manticore is Max’s kinda-sorta boyfriend Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly) and former bad guy Donald Lydecker (John Savage). Things go well at first and Max succeeds in destroying Manticore’s DNA lab. However, as she is trying to escape, Max encounters a younger version of herself – who then shoots Max. Logan holds Max as she dies, only leaving her after Lydecker knocks him out and carries him away. Zack is in the room as Max is brought in. He tries to force the doctors to give Max a heart transplant, threatening Renfro (Nana Visitor). His plans are thwarted when Renfro informs him that only an X-5 heart will work. In one of the most heartbreaking scenes from Season One, Zack tells Max to fight them and then says: “X5-599, I've got a heart for you.” He shoots himself in the head. The season ends with Max waking after her heart transplant and Logan doing a voiceover about how he knows Max is dead.

Season Two picks up a few months later. Logan is still mourning Max’s death but has continued to fight the good fight as Eyes Only, a cyber journalist determined to expose corruption and protect the innocent. One of those he’s helping is an activist group lead by a pretty blond named Asha (Ashley Scott). The main focus of Logan’s anger is Manticore, for obvious reasons.

Max, however, is alive and doing well back at Manticore. She pretends to follow their rules but is still the rebel just waiting for a chance to escape. While at Manticore, she is assigned a breeding partner, a fellow X-5 with a familiar face. Alec (Jensen Ackles - “Supernatural) is the twin of Max’s now deceased friend Ben. However, this smart-alec – hence the name – is nothing like Ben. Max also meets Joshua (Kevin Durand) who has as much canine in his DNA as Max does feline. Joshua was the first transgenic created by a man named Sandamin, the founder of Manticore. He cares for the creatures in the basement, the nomilies. With Alec and Joshua’s help, Max escapes from Manticore and heads straight for Logan. Their reunion, while intense, is short-lived. Because Logan has attacked Manticore, they’ve sent an assassin – in Max. Skin-to-skin contact brings Logan to his knees as a specially engineered virus kicks in. Max has had enough and goes after Manticore. Through a series of events, Max ends up releasing all of the transgenics so they will not be killed as Renfro tries to destroy the facility. This sets in motion part of the main storyline for season two – Max and Logan’s struggle to have a relationship even though one touch would kill him; Max’s responsibility for all of the mutants she released. Another part of this season’s plot is set in motion when Renfro reveals to Max that “you are the one we've been looking for.” This leads to the introduction of the new bad guy, Ames White (Martin Cummins) who at first appears to be another government agent trying to contain the Manticore threat. As the season progresses, we see that there is more to White than we think. And more to Max than just a really cool, butt-kicking, transgenic chick with cat in her cocktail.

Besides the introduction of a new villain, new romantic rival Asha, new annoyance Alec and new friend Joshua, most of Max’s old friends return. Original Cindy (Valerie Rae Miller) is back, as is Sketchy (Richard Gunn). Also returning is Max’s boss Normal (J.C. MacKenzie) who reluctantly hires Max back when she proves to him that she really did have a heart transplant.

The season ends in such a way that as a series finale it’s mildly satisfying but it also could have just been a season finale with much more to add. The commentary mentions that this was intentional because the show hadn’t been renewed by the time the episode was written. Unfortunately, it was canceled and several big ‘why’ questions were never answered. Probably the best thing about this dvd set is that in the commentary for the finale episode, writers Charles H. Eglee and Jose Malina reveal what would have happened had there been a season three and give some seriously desired answers.

These dvds also offer some behind-the-scenes features, including a particularly interesting one on the make-up of “Dark Angel.” While the special effects are still not as good as I thought they could have been, the make-up more than compensates. In addition to these features, several episodes include commentary, including the one mentioned above.

While some plot points from the previous season somehow disappear, the overall writing is very good. The chemistry between the actors goes up a notch from last year, especially with the inclusion of Alec. The acting is excellent and the stunts fantastic. The worst part about this season is that it was the last one.