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Part family saga, part crime drama, this is the story of the
making of a murderer, told in reverse, starting with the modern
day. Like an archaeological dig, each of the psychological
thrillers strips away the layers of a sociopath's history,
hurtling backwards to show us how and when the mind became
twisted, and the soul sick...
Fallen
Angel is based on the internationally acclaimed crime
saga Requiem for an Angel: The Roth Trilogy by Andrew
Taylor, and stars Charles Dance and Emilia Fox.
Rosemary,
better known as Angel is a twisted individual who manipulates
people around her to get what she wants. The first episode
follows a woman who is out for revenge. She kidnaps the daughter
of her victim to put them through hell. And, as the episode
progresses, we soon discover that quite a few of the main
players have had dealings with Angel in the past.
Mark
Benton stars in the first episode as the owner of the house
where Angel is lodging. Eddie is a little simple and, since
his mother died, looks to Angel as a mother figure. And it
is Eddie that Angel manipulates in order to abduct the child.
Benton can't be faulted here as he puts in a great subtle
performance and it's impressive the way that the writers play
with the viewers emotions over the course of this episode.
Each
episode takes a different time in Angel's life to further
explore how she became a cold, calculating, manipulative murderer.
The
second episode goes back to Angel's teenage years, when she
is awaiting her exam results to see if she has managed to
get into her university of choice, and the final episode travels
back to see her as a young girl so that the audience can witness
the event/s that started her on the road to ruin.
This
series is pretty unique as it works backwards, from a narrative
point of view, over the course of Angel's life. I suppose
the closest comparison I can think of is Memento.
Fallen Angel is not quite as well conceived as Memento,
but it does represent something new for television drama.
This
is a series that you'll probably need to view twice if you
are to get some of the more subtle references - although if
you do view this more than once you might notice some of the
flaws in the plot. The opening scene is a case in point. Here
an old lady walks into church and starts to vocally attack
the trainee clergywoman. Why she does this is never explained,
nor why Angel is there hiding in the church - it seemed a
very odd act to risk being seen when everyone assumes she
is already dead. If Angel was going to get her revenge, why
did she not stop the woman from going into the church? We
see them outside talking - wouldn't the best thing have been
for Angel to lead the woman away?
It's
not a good idea to pick away at too much of the plot because
if you do then the whole production falls apart. For example,
between the end of the third episode and the start of the
fourth, what is Angel supposed to have done? Was it the fact
that her father has remarried that sets her off (there would
be a very good reason for this when you consider what her
mother did for her). Would she have led a normal life if her
father had not remarried?
There
is also some very poor character creation here too. Who on
earth thought it would be clever to call a character Youlgreave
("you'll grieve" - geddit?)? While not a silly name
for a normal character, it is for this particular character
when you consider what he is accused of doing.
The
only extra included is a 48 mins Behind the Scenes
featurette which interviews cast and crew to offer a little
insight into the making of this series.
As
long as you don't sit and think about this series too hard
it represents pretty good entertainment.
Nick
Smithson
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