Jeff Bell, co-executive producer of the WB’s recently canceled vampire series Angel, told SCI FI Wire that upcoming episodes will focus on Lindsey (Christian Kane) and Connor (Vincent Kartheiser). The episodes, "Underneath" and "Origin," were already in production when the WB made its fateful announcement about Angel’s fate.

"Lindsey showed up and then disappeared quite quickly and we get to a place where we think, ’You know what? We need information,’" Bell said in an interview. "And so we bust Lindsey out of hell. It’s sort of The Great Escape, with our guys going in and trying to find Lindsey so we can find out what he knows about us being at Wolfram & Hart. So we’ve got Lindsey and Eve [Sarah Thompson] front and center in that, and we also bring in a new character. Adam Baldwin is going to do a few episodes for us as a representative of Wolfram & Hart. He’ll be a contrast to Eve. It’s male-female, big-small." general contractors

Bell then revealed that "Origin" will feature the return of Angel’s (David Boreanaz) son Connor. "Vincent has agreed to come in and do a new episode for us, and we’re going to see the result of the deal that Angel made at the end of last season," Bell said. "It’ll be fun to have Connor show up as a really happy, healthy and well-adjusted kid, the kid he could never be in season four. And for Angel there will be the pain of knowing this is his son, but that nobody else can know that."

WiWi says: This is my first time doing Angel spoilers...hold me.

Spoilers from the wonderful Ain't It Cool.com

* The major plotline for the episode, titled "Conviction," involves a very guilty criminal named Fries who threatens to unleash something capable of destroying every living soul in California -- if the new Angel-run Wolfram & Hart can't engineer a "not guilty" verdict for him.
* Cordy's old pal (and Spike's former rebound girlfriend) Harmony is working for Wolfram & Hart as a secretary (or something), fetching coffee for clients and the like.
* Lorne busies himself by making all of Wolfram's employees sing for him. Angel intends to sack the most evil.
* Handsome Wolfram science-guy Knox is back, still trying to do everything possible to make Fred happy in her new job.
* Following his meeting last episode with the White Room's "conduit" (the big cat, one assumes), Gunn elects to undergo a mystical medical procedure designed to enbiggen his brain. The bigger brain comes in handy almost immediately.
* There's no sign of Spike in the sides. One assumes if he turns up in the opener at all, it will be a brief appearance, and likely at episode's end. (Whedon has stated that Spike will be re-introduced in 5.1, but what he's doing there won't be explained until 5.2.)
* Willow's girlfriend, Kennedy the vampire slayer, will not visit Angel, according to writer-producer David Fury.
* No one ruled out the possibility of Lilah's return.
* There appear to be tentative plans to extract Cordy from her coma, but they're contingent on Charisma Carpenter's availability.
* 5.2 will mark the first writing collaboration of Fury and Ben Edlund.
* However Spike comes back (ghost, human, vampire or toaster), he'll still have his soul.
* Spike's return will be "long and complicated."
* The show will indeed deal with at least one of the many vampire slayers Willow created in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series finale.
* The fifth season will lean more toward "stand-alone" episodes.

Okay, kids, here's the big casting news. It was touch and go there for a while, but it looks like James Marsters really WILL be joining the cast of Angel. There were some questions as to whether or not they could afford him simply because they can only afford to have so many regulars in the cast.

Well, that's not a problem, either. In fact, they actually have an extra spot. Yes, we all know that Connor is gone, but he's not alone. According to Variety (via Herc), Charisma Carpenter is NOT expected to return as a series regular!!!

So, we have seen two of our regular seven from last season take a hike. Spike seems to be coming in to fill one spot -- will Gwen fill the other one? Personally, I think she could add more to the show than Spike will, but I have faith in the Angel writers -- particularly considering a certain Drew Goddard is rumored to be joining that illustrious staff!

*whew!* Even after the finale, this show STILL gets me excited.

Well, Joss told the New York Post that there are NO alternate endings to the finale. I find this kind of odd because why would you clarify such a thing? Obviously, it's something a rumor that was started on the internet, but why wouldn't he just let it float around? I would think it'd be doing more good for the finale than harm. But, again, the script that initially showed up doesn't seem to be the final shooting script, so I'm guessing there will be some changes from what we've read to what we'll see.

Regardless, I still know that I'm going to be bawling like a baby.

Hey, kids, lots of stuff to go over about BOTH shows although, again, any Angel info is more speculation than fact, since we still don't know if we're going to get a renewal for next season or not.

On the Buffy finale front, it seems like rumors are running rampant about the unscripted bits. Not only that, but word is out that the original script that made it's rounds was just that -- the original. Supposedly, the one that was actually used had a bunch of different scenes. Frank goes over a lot of this on his site.

Anyway, there's a script floating around that has Xander dying to save Dawn instead of Anya dying to save Andrew. There's also a rumor going around that the Anya/Andrew scene was filmed twice, once with Anya dying, once with Andrew dying. Although many people have discredited the Xander dying to save Dawn script, it was hinted at by one of Herc's sources way back when. I've no doubts that a Xander death scene was filmed, but I do wonder if the script that's making the rounds is real or not. It might just be someone taking what we've heard and putting it into the original script.

What does this all mean? Well, aside from a few scenes here and there, I'd take nothing to heart. As of right now I've heard that the following people, in various script forms and not all at once, die: Amanda, Xander, Andrew, Anya, and Spike. And I dont' think Joss would kill them all off just for the sake of closure.

Now on to Angel...

Remember when I said that the Angel appearance in the Buffy finale was weak and it could only be improved if something on Angel actually sent him to Sunnydale? Well, Spoiled Rotten confirms it and it's actually pretty nice.

Wolfram and Hart begin to pick up the pieces and they decide that they'd like Angel do join them. Basically, Angel has been defeating all these powerful evil beasties, beasties that Wolfram and Hart also wanted stopped. Whether he likes it or not, Angel and crew have been helping Wolfram and Hart out. Remember when Skip told them they were all chess pieces? Well, he wasn't just whistlin' Dixie. So Angel decides to accept fate and join Wolfram and Hart, with the intention of taking advantage of all the company has to offer. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it makes sense to me and should be pretty damn cool.

So what do the Fang Gang get? Well, Connor gets a normal family. I'm not sure if they're going to do one of those mind block jobs or what, but Connor will finally get a chance at a real childhood. Cordelia gets guards and 24 hour care for her coma-self. Wesley attempts to burn Lila's contract so she'll no longer, one has to assume, burn in the flames of hell. It doesn't work, but I would imagine any deal he makes with Wolfram and Hart would involve saving his dead girlfriend from eternal torment.

The real question now is who's going to be part of Angel, Inc, a subsidiary of Wolfram and Hart, next season. Because this is a pretty grey world they're walking into, and I don't know that all of them will be wiling to do this. So let's look at the list:

Angel -- duh.
Wesley -- Seems pretty for sure. He actually makes more sense than Angel.
Cordelia -- I'm guessing she'll be with coma for the first few weeks, but I'm also guessing she won't be too happy with the situation when she wakes up.
Connor -- Bye-bye mullethead. I'm sure we'll see him again eventually, but I don't think he'll be a regular. I'm thinking we'll end Season Four with Connor joining a nice family in the Valley.
Fred -- As much as I think Fred would be able to adjust, I have this overwhelming feeling of dread for her. I really think she's going bite it soon, but I'm not sure why.
Gunn -- They've done a great job with Gunn lately. He's become the chivalrous member of the gang as of late, which makes me think the move to W&H would be hard for him.
Lorne -- The fact that he's now in the credits makes me fear for him.

Now, let's look at potential future members:

Gwen -- I think this is pretty obvious. Again, a pretty grey character and one they've already set up.
Spike -- Supposedly, although I'm still wondering if this is a red herring from ME.

So are we going to lose everyone but the Season One cast? Wouldn't that be really weird? I find myself not really caring if Cordy comes back or not, probably because I've grown kind of bored with her. Maybe it's the haircut. With as much as they've been doing with Gunn lately, he's still my least favorite (next to Connor, of course). Based on who I like and who I think is expendible...

Kyle's Season Five Cast:

Angel
Wesley
Fred
Lorne
Gwen
Spike

Put Spike and Lorne in the same room and watch the hilarity.

If you haven't yet seen it, you can find the summary for the finale here.

Of course what you read is somewhat disconcerting.

On one hand, even Frank seems to be skeptical about the nature of this script. Bubonic has always been good at supplying scripts, but with the news that Joss is filming lots of extra footage that ISN'T in the script...well, it makes you wonder how much of the script will actually make it to the small screen.

At the same time, I think a lot of people have lowered their expectations of what the finale will be based upon the last few episodes we've gotten. It's understandable, of course, but there's one particular red flag that indicates this script is incomplete -- something that Frank noticed, too...

Joyce: "She won't choose you."

This is not addressed ANYWHERE in the script. It is possible that this was brought up and resolved when Buffy asks Xander to take Dawn away? Maybe. But a big deal was made out of this particularly cry from the Great Beyond. Yes, ME has been sloppy at times, but this is HUGE. They're not stupid.

That being said, I think there are some truly wonderful moments in the script as it is. The bit with the original four together as they head into battle was nice. I enjoyed the scope of the battle as it was set up. Hell, I even like the interaction between Faith and Wood -- I would have enjoyed a spin-off with the two of them in it. That dynamic would have been cool to see. Then again, I've always liked Wood.

I'm not so much bothered by Kennedy and Willow. Kennedy is called a Slayer because she IS -- as are all the other potentials at that point in the script. The Willow ascending type thing seems a bit much -- not only because it's obvious that she DOESN'T ascend, but also because it's so heavy handed. It's like an attempt to resolve a storyline that really hasn't been around this season.

Easly the three most upsetting points from the script are these (and none involve Spike, if you can believe that! I actually don't mind how he's portrayed):

1) Angel's appearance. Pointless. SO pointless. THIS is what they made such a big deal about? The only saving grace for this is that David B. has mentioned that the reason why Angel goes to Sunnydale can be found in recent episodes of Angel. I keep getting this image in my head of Angel holding an amulet -- this was after he'd been re-souled. I'm going to have to go back and watch my tapes, but if the amulet HAS been introduced by this point, it makes his appearance TANGIBLY better. But not much.

2) Anya's death -- I want grieving and I want it now. Do tears come out of an empty eye socket?

3) The ending -- Anya's death is made all the worse by the fact that they seem to be joking around at the end, or at least a little bit less than morose.

Again, all of this could be irrelevant. Herc's sources are always reliable and they've told him that Joss has already filmed two different endings (one in which both Xander AND Spike bite it) with the possibility of doing more. I'd be interested to see what the actual page count on the script is.

*whew* That was a lot from a man who said he wasn't going to post anything about the finale!

From Dark Horizons:

"Superman, Batman, Angel & Others: David Boreanaz gave a talk to college students in LA last week and he finally answered some big questions about what's been going on in regards to his film and TV career. Boreanaz said that he had read and done a screen test for "Superman", but there has been no word on that as yet. He did confirm he recently met with Christopher Nolan and the topic of Batman did come up, but there is nothing set in stone as he has yet to see a script. "Angel" is about finished shooting, and if the new season goes ahead there'll be some major changes including several character deaths and the introduction of new characters. Boreanaz will also appear in the last two episodes of 'Buffy'."

Several character deaths??? Hm. I suppose we can already see the new characters starting to emerge. Any guesses as to who's going to buy it and who's going to be part of Angel Investigations next season?

Also, in case anyone is curious, I'm going to refrain from posting any spoilers for the series finale of Buffy. Why? Am I going unspoilt? Nope. It's just that with the news that Joss is shooting a number of different endings and lots of extra footage, it's kind of pointless to throw info around, particularly if it will most likely be false.

This from Herc about the finale:

A proven insider tells us to take nothing for granted:
I could tell you what's in the script, but that's not the be all and end all. [“Buffy” creator and finale writer-director and all-around supergenius Joss Whedon] is filming a BUTTLOAD of unscripted stuff. There's the ending in the script where Xander dies and where Spike dies, but there's another ending where Spike vanishes ... and there's additional stuff that's been shot above and beyond THAT. Joss is determined that THIS unscripted stuff isn't going to get leaked. He wants to go out with a bang.

Yes, come May 20, we may all yet look very much like the gape-mouthed audience watching Max Bialystock’s “Springtime For Hitler.” Speaking of which, Herc is 97 percent certain he’ll be able to tell you this weekend how to sign aboard for our May 20 series finale Big Buh-Bye Buffy Bash. Space for the event is far from limitless! Keep eyes peeled!

Kyle Sez: And finally, in the end, Joss Whedon reminds us all just who is in charge.