Living on the Banks of the River Denial

Joss Whedon, creator of the WB television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its new spinoff "Angel," is no stranger to controversy. In fact, he seems to thrive on it. Recent episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" have shown Whedon's willingness to push the envelope and break all the conventional rules of television. Does it work? Sometimes it works brilliantly. And at other times...

Case in point of a resounding success: In the BtVS episode "Hush," aired in December 1999, approximately 29 minutes of the show involved no dialogue whatsoever. Daring? Yes. Creative? Extremely. Effective? Absolutely. Thanks to the brilliant work of cast and crew, who made silence golden, "Hush" was totally riveting television.

Case in point of something less: In the ninth episode of "Angel," one of the three core characters of the new series -the only totally new character, and the most universally beloved introduction to the Buffy/Angel universe since "BtVS" began - was killed off. The character of Doyle, played with irresistible charm by Glenn Quinn, met a grisly but heroic end. Quinn's performance was superb to the very last moment. Adding insult to injury, the next episode introduced one of the least popular characters from "BtVS," the failed watcher Wesley (played by Alexis Denisof), as Doyle's apparent replacement.

Did the fans go wild? Yes. Was it in the way Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt intended? Quite possibly, but then again, maybe not.

Whedon has publicly announced that the death of Doyle, two months after the series premiere, was "planned from the beginning." Fans aren't buying it, especially since interviews with Quinn through mid-October 1999 would indicate that the actor himself was unaware of the plan.

Whedon himself described the storm of indignation this way: "A lot of people want to kill me (a little disturbing), one person wants to eat me with a spoon (less hostile, still a little distturbing) and one wants to lick me to death (very disturbing, but oddly compelling...). Yes Doyle is dead. We killed him. Sorry about that. .... We've got even more plans to shake the show up, just wait."

Fans were shaken, stirred, and ready to explode. Six weeks after the heroic death of Allan Francis Doyle, a character seen for the first time in October 1999, tributes and memorials have flowered across the World Wide Web, and with them, a vociferous fan movement to bring back Doyle. Doyle denial sites and mailing lists abound, with names like "the Department of Denial." Graphics emblazoned with slogans less than friendly to Whedon promise that Doyle will return.

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