Dark Angel; A Fox Series Overview

Before you knew her as Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four films, you may have recognized Jessica Alba as Max Guevara, from the much too short Fox television sci-fi series called Dark Angel, which was created by the man responsible for giving us the movie Avatar, James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The series is set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Seattle, Washington. The series aired for just two short seasons beginning in 2000 and was gone forever in 2002.

Other cast members you may recognize include alumnus Michael Weatherly, who plays Anthony DiNozzo on the hugely popular CBS series NCIS, Jensen Ackles who plays demon hunter Dean Winchester on the WB hit show Supernatural, Alimi Ballard, who played FBI agent David Sinclair, and actor John Savage.

Dark Angel begins in the year 2009, when a young genetically heightened girl, who we later find out is a super soldier in some government experiment, escapes from a top-secret government institution, which has been code named Manticore. She takes along with her eleven other young kids who are also like she is. Apparently these children were born and raised in this institution, born into captivity to be raised and trained as government spies and secret weapons.

Shortly after the children escape their captivity, a terrorist organization detonates an electromagnetic pulse device over the United States. The weapon does its damage, as most of America's communication and computer systems are shut down and the country goes into complete and utter disorder.

It's been ten years since the devastation brought about by that terrorist organization, as the series begins its first season. And we find that in the year 2019, Max (played by Alba) is now 19 years old, and she is a young woman on a mission to try to stay one step ahead of the forces of Manticore, while looking for her lost "brothers and sisters "who escaped with her all those years ago. We get to see a very stark picture of the US in this time, as it is nothing more now than a mere shadow of its former self.

Max becomes entwined with an underground cyber journalist named "Eyes Only", who we find out later on is actually Logan Cale (Weatherly) and Max's life revolves around evading capture and learning to trust again. Max has taken on a double life, a bicycle messenger during the day, working for a delivery company called Jam Pony, and as a fighter against the corruption of an America that has seen better days. All the while, the operatives of the organization known as Manticore search for Max Led by Colonel Donald Lydecker (John Savage).

By the end of the first season, Lydecker is actually ousted from the helm of Manticore by Dr. Elizabeth Renfro, an even more vile character than Lydecker, played very convincingly by Nana Visitor of Star Trek Deep Space Nine series fame.

In season two, the series focuses more on the efforts of Max and Logan's eventual take down of Manticore, and the subsequent release of all of the transgenics that were being held captive within the facility. This season is where Ackles joins the cast along with another new cast member named Kevin Durand. Durand plays a genetically altered human named Joshua, who we discover has "canine" blood coursing through out his body, thanks to the efforts of Manticore.

A major theme of the second season, Is the fact that there is a mysterious type of illuminati group, who were conducting genetic breeding experiments, and were even more evil than both Renfro and Lydecker put together. These altered humans are even more deadly than those which were breed by Manticore. Some even displayed very strong mental powers such as telekinesis.

It's too bad that Dark Angel was never given the green light for a third season, as the show left the air with more questions that needed answers and a decided ending that tied up loose ends that were left behind. Maybe Cameron could direct a Dark Angel movie that would not tie up loose ends and answer questions, but could lead to another movie or two.