In Short:	The world is full of fallen angels… and one prophesied Nephilim who can redeem them, if he can avoid the powers that want him dead.
Recommended:	Yes.

ZEKE:

They think they’re The Creator’s Storm Troopers and their whole goal is to get rid of Nephilim… and they absolutely hate the Fallen…

Before Paul Wesley was Stefan Salvatore: teenage vampire, he was Aaron Corbett: teenage half-angel. But not just any half-angel! A shaved-headed black man with no sense of humor and a long black trench coat tells Aaron, with sombre seriousness, that Aaron is the one he has been searching for. I pause a moment to check I’ve inserted the right DVD into the player… no, good readers, we have not journeyed into the Matrix: This is the three-part ABC Family mini-series, Fallen.

From here on out, spoilers may roam freely, so do yourself a favor and rent/buy this little gem on DVD before continuing.

The short version of the plot outline is this: On the day of his 18th birthday, foster-system adoptee Aaron Corbett develops unusual powers: he can understand any language, from Portuguese in the school hallways to the innermost thoughts of his trusty Labrador, Gabe. Strength, speed (which manifests as everything else slowing down, a-la the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie), a little bit of rage… turns out he’s Nephilim, the spawn of an angel mating with a human woman. And he’s a particular prophesied Nephilim known as Redeemer. He-who-can-send-Fallen-Angels-back-to-Heaven. That Redeemer. After he eventually accepts and embraces his powers, he leaves his life behind and hits the road on a never-ending mission of finding those angels who fell (back in the day) and forgiving them, which grants them immediate passage back up to Heaven. There are bad guys known as The Powers who want him to stop -- it’s their mission to destroy all Fallen angels as punishment for falling in the first place.

Aaron’s guide and protector is the Morpheus-like character mentioned above, and as he has a tricky and unusual angel name, Camael (Rick Worthy), it’s easier to call him Morpheus. Actually, all the angels have tricky names -- Vechiel and Samchiel, etc, and I had to collect those from the IMDb listing -- I couldn’t get the hang of them at all throughout the series.

Other important characters are Vilma (Fernanda Andrade), the gal Aaron has a crush on at school (who turns up a year later, no surprises, another Nephilim); the fallen angel Azazel (easily the best and funniest character of the series); and the mysterious prophet Light Bringer (Bryan Cranston).

This made-for-TV series is based on the books by Thomas E Sniegoski, which I’ll confess I haven’t read, so I can’t vouch for whether some of the more predictable moments of plot are products of the source material or not. Let’s get to it!

Firstly, the good stuff: I like the camera work -- whooshing vertically up the sides of tall buildings, people blinking in and out of existence, a scene shot in Hell that ripples like water (beautifully disorienting) and some combined slow-mo-while-others-in-shot-are-normal-speed trickery to emphasise Aaron losing his equilibrium when his powers first manifest. I like some of the special effects -- the flaming swords are well done (as is Aaron’s amusing first time creating a holy weapon -- a flaming baseball bat). There’s an eerie moment when leading lady Vilma falls into her own private hell, and it’s the house that M.C Escher built, with the endless square staircases, which she stomps around in grim determination for who knows how long.

The not-so-good special effects… these would be the flying angel scenes. The actors bob up and down on wires that leave their collars rumpled awkwardly, and the swooping and landing follow such perfect wire arcs that I’m taken somewhat out of the moment. Sure, it’s a low budget basic cable series, but technology can’t be all to blame -- Christopher Reeve looked more like he was actually flying in the early 80’s than half these angel stunts.

The absolute best element of the three episode series is Azazel (Hal Ozsan) -- the bad-ass, Lestat-esque fallen angel of uncertain loyalties, who has spent 5000 years imprisoned in a cave and gets to deliver all sorts of time-traveller-fish-out-of-water jokes. Upon being freed, he seeks out an old girlfriend for a long overdue conjugal visit -- in fact he tracks down a sex partner before finding suitable clothing or a decent meal - and in the process starts a bar fight with a cockney biker from whom he adopts the accent (attitude, slang and all). He eats French fries and has a foodgasm. He shuts down the whining of little lady Vilma (who was held captive for six months in a luxury suite by a crazed angel enthusiast) by rightly pointing out his own captivity was 5000 years chained to a stone slab. I totally heart Azazel. He needs his own series.

So, the predictable moments -- firstly, the girl Aaron has a crush on turning out to be Nephilim just like him! What are the odds?! Apparently better than the two of them attending the same school, both clearly the hottest two students in it, and never speaking to each other until the day the action kicks off. I’d call a bullshit there if it wasn’t for their adorable first kiss in episode three: Aaron’s angel wings pop out subconsciously, making me snicker and giggle like a child. Although I can’t tell if it’s meant to be a boner joke, or more like a Buffy-kissing-Angel-in-vamp-face “I accept you for who you are and you’re beautiful” moment. I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy, so I’m going with boner.

The worst of the predictable bits – Light Bringer, the mysterious angel who first spoke the Redeemer prophecy, has a total Star Wars moment. Not even Bryan Cranston, awesome TV dad, can pull off the cheese on a line like “Yes, Aaron… I’m your father…”. Gag. Now, I never studied Latin, or the Bible (in fact everything I know about angels comes from Season 4 onwards of Supernatural), but even I can translate Light Bringer and see half an hour ahead of time where this big reveal is destined… perhaps the made-for-TV audiences of 2006 were a little less evolved than we are here in the final days of 2010, and were actually caught by surprise?

To sum, up it’s an enjoyable show. Three episodes was probably perfect, for if ABC Family had attempted a full show run on the premise of tracking down fallen angels, listening to their sob stories, then redeeming them off to heaven (whilst dodging hit men from an old regime) it would’ve gotten old (and cancelled) in a heartbeat. For a mini-series never intended for anything but a small screen, it totally works, and Paul Wesley had the strength of presence even back in his early twenties to carry off the lead with depth, beauty, and obvious evolution from the youthful Aaron of the first 30 minutes, to the hardened Aaron of the final confrontation in Hell.

Totally worth seeing if you’re a fan of supernatural adventure, so track it down!