Before she was a mogul, or a comics-inspired chingona in Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City, Jessica Alba starred in Dark Angel, a short-lived TV series that proved that breaking up with bad fashion is hard to do. This weekend, Rodriguez’s own El Rey Network will run a marathon of the complete series, so get ready to watch Jessica kick, flip, and pout her way through government conspiracies while sporting more vinyl than a record store.
It was the year 2000: Y2K had let us down with its yawn-mageddon, and Dark Angel premiered on Fox with a post-apocalyptic setting and a late ‘90s fashion hangover. Jessica played Max Guevara, a genetically-enhanced superhuman who was a Seattle bike messenger with a freedom-fighter alter ego. She worked with underground cyber-journalist Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly, to whom Jessica was briefly engaged) to battle corruption and locate other “transgenics” like herself. By day, Max rocked Contempo Casuals-style flare-leg jeans and layered tanks; by night, she poured herself into pleather jackets and pants. She often managed to look like all five Spice Girls in the “Spice Up Your Life” video.
Dark Angel could be a little dour at times, and it was hard to ignore the Buffy similarities, but it was mostly a fun bit of pseudo sci-fi entertainment. So if you’re feeling nostalgic, or just need a little Delia’s in your life, check out the marathon, which is running from 8pm on Friday, January 9 through 3pm EST on Sunday, January 11.
The Dark Angel marathon plays this weekend on El Rey.