:: EXCLUSIVE: Jack Malone Speaks Out about Angel Continuity + Faith! ::

VPtoday: So, I guess I'll start with the question everyone wants to know. Angel is finishing with its sixth season on the Virtual-Productions Network, concluding the entire saga, am I right?

Malone: Yep.

VPtoday: And what the fans are dying to know is, pretty much, what happens to the characters? What happens to Team Angel? Any news you can give us about that?

Malone: From the get-go I knew that this season [season six] would have a lot of blowouts. A lot of dramatic episodes, and a lot of goodbyes from longtime members, and well, not so-longtime members of the Team. Which meant, there were going to be a lot of deaths; which is what I'm trying to say. Now when I started, I was uncertain this would be the final season - but it was up until I realized I'm doing a season where Wolfram & Hart is finally taking some action and doing what we've been waiting for, for a long time -- which is to take on Angel and co. Which meant, it had to be it. For five seasons Angel was fighting them, or at least a part of them, they're lackeys, etc, and now with them actually being embodied into three separate parts to take on Angel, it only felt necessary to make this the final year.

VPtoday: Anything on the characters, though? Anything we can see happening with Angel and your other continuation on Buffy, or your spin off with Faith?

Malone: Well, nothing will be happening with Angel and the continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I can say, that even with Faith only just entering its second season, the third year is already going under some production, and the producers and I are planning out a third season. What we've got planned, is for the character of Wesley (Alexis Denisof) [from Angel] and Kate (Elisabeth Rohm) [from Angel] to come onto year three. That said, things change, but we've got great things planned for these characters, and whether or not Faith will be here for a third year, which fingers cross it is, that's what you can see.

VPtoday: On the topic of Faith, what can we expect with the upcoming episodes?

Malone: This Saturday, Faith returns. We've had a two week break so I can get back on the Angel show for a while; I feel it is absoluteley necessary to stop everything sometimes and go over the Angel episodes to make sure everything is the way it should be. It is the final season so it has to be perfect for the fans. Anyways, this Saturday, it looks as though Faith will be getting her own little fan. Someone who looks up to her, so to speak. But she's only interested in the evil side of her, and soon, wants to live Faith's life better, in a much more evil sense. So, a lot of stuff happens in that episode. I tried to re-put the "seeking redemption" storyline back in there, just as a "This is where I was at the start of my life, well look at me now!" kind of deal. And then we've got some interesting lineup of episodes. We have a huge episodes based around Anthony, Faith's watcher. A lot of secrets are revealed about him and his plans. Umm ... and pretty much a suspenseful lead up to the mid-finale from there, on this whole "you're baby will bring about the end of the world" stuff.

VPtoday: Sounds like its going to be a hell of a season this year. God knows the ratings prove it.

Malone: [laughs] Yeah. Can't believe the good reception its been getting. Hopefully the ratings stick.

VPtoday: I'm sure they will. Anything new with the schedule? Any changes?

Malone: Well, there's no Angel for another two weeks. It will be returning on the 28th of October, following the events of "Bloodlust" which was episode seven of the season. It ended pretty cliffhanger-y. And when it returns, it will be airing its last 4-5 episodes to end its mid-season run. As for Faith, it will be returning this week, with episode 5 "Just like Me". I don't think there'll be any more delays. Angel is going great now. And so I hope everything goes well.

VPtoday: Now, before you go, any spicy spoilers on the upcoming continuation of Buffy?

Malone: I'm all ears for any questions...

VPtoday: Okay, we have a few. For starters, how many seasons have you got planned? Will it be similar to Angel, with just a wrap up season, or are you going for something a little longer?

Malone: Well, Buffy has always been the greater story, to me, at least. There's a lot more you can do with her. Now that she's in her old town, Hemery, and discovered her duty as a slayer has only just begun, I can see the series pushing through to its twelfth year; although I don't know how long the higher powers over at the network see it lasting. But, at the moment, no season is being proceeded as thought it were its last.

VPtoday: Twelve seasons? Wow. That'd be great! What about any episode news? Spoilers? Titles? Anything?

Malone: [laughs] Yes. I can share some things on the subject of the episodes. Anyanka will be returning this season, to wreak all hell on the gang. Whether or not its just a one-episode thing, I can't reveal as of now. There will be a somewhat, Alice in Wonderland, styled episode. No its not called Buffy in Wonderland, I'm not that cheesy. But it will have the same sort of plot to [Alice in Wonderland], though with its own Buffy the Vampire Slayer twist. The characters of the gang will be iconic members of the novel. I have Ripper finally showing up. A great story on Dawn, this year. She's not just the complain-y teenage sister of Buffy's, she really steps into her own shoes. Andrew will be returning. And we'll have new characters, such as Rachel, and James Erickson; the slayer's new love puppet [not literally].

VPtoday: Well its been a great chat. I hope these spoilers have gotten more people drawn into the shows. I see you're starting you're own shows lately, in saying, you're original creations, and was wondering if it has been difficult to keep them all going?

Malone: It has been quite hard, actually. A part of me wants to drop the jossverse shows, but a part of me doesn't; I think I have a wide range of different stories to do with the characters of the buffy universe, and think it would be quite foolish not to tell them. As for my original shows, I've been working on them as equally hard as I have been with Buffy, Angel and Faith. So I hope I can get a few fans for them too. [laughs].

VPtoday: Thanks for coming. I'm glad we could chat for as long as we have.

Malone: Its been my pleasure!

Wow. It'd be cool if you did have 12 seasons for Buffy. That's what I had planned. 12 seasons.

Excellent ideas. Keep up the good work.