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161 of 180 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than a sequel to Buffy, July 31, 2007
Angel ran an all too short five seasons from 1999-2004, and the now defunct WB network may be defunct in part because of its decision to cancel the show. The story starts out where Buffy The Vampire Slayer season 3 left off, with Angel leaving Sunnydale and his beloved Buffy so that she can have a semblance of a normal life, or at least a normal relationship, which the two of them could never have. The entire series can be divided into three parts, all of which take place in L.A., Angel's new home. I'll warn you right now, there are SPOILERS AHEAD.
The first part consists of season one, and is in monster-of-the-week format rather than the season-long story arcs that Joss Whedon was famous for in Buffy. In season one, Angel starts a supernatural detective agency, "Angel Investigations", with the help of Cordelia Chase, who has moved to L.A. after her family lost all of their money the previous year, and half human-half demon Doyle. Doyle dies a courageous death half-way through the season, and Wesley Windham-Pryce joins the cast as a "rogue demon hunter" who has been fired from the watcher's council for the Faith debacle in Sunnydale the previous year. In this first season he is the same awkward Wesley we saw in season three of BTVS, but that eventually changes. At the end of the season we are introduced to Charles Gunn, a streetwise kid who has been fighting demons his whole life and ekeing out a meager existence on the street. Slowly, he comes to trust Angel and eventually joins the group.
The second part of the series consists of seasons two through four, and is literally one long story arc. Season two deals with the resurrection of Angel's vampire lover Darla, the one who turned him into a vampire in 1753, and whom he killed in season one of BTVS. The ordeal of getting Darla back as a human, and then losing her again when she becomes a vampire once more, drives Angel to the dark side of his soul. He turns against his friends for a brief time as he goes on a crusade of punishing the guilty - Wolfram & Hart - rather than helping the helpless. Eventually he has an epiphany, and returns to his friends and his senses - but not before he and Darla have a night of passion that results in season three's story arc - Darla's pregnancy and the "birth" of Angel's son Conner. Also, at the end of season two the Fang Gang rescues a girl ("Fred") from an alternate dimension - Pylea - which also happens to be the home dimension of Lorne, an empath demon that has been helping Angel and his friends.
In season 3, Angel is adjusting to fatherhood when an old enemy from his vampire past is mystically conjured up - Holtz, a man whose entire family was killed by Angel and Darla when they were both vampires. Holtz uses Wesley's fear of a prophecy that "The father shall kill the son" to get him to steal Angel's son, whom Holtz in turn steals from Wesley. Holtz is cornered by multiple parties who also want Conner, and Holtz takes the infant and jumps into a portal to a hell dimension rather than give up the child. Later in season three, Conner and Holtz both return from the hell dimension. With time running differently in the two dimensions, Conner is now 18 years old, and none too fond of Angel, since Holtz' tales of Angel's cruelty as a vampire have doubtless been Conner's bedtime stories for his entire life. Holtz conjures up a plan to commit assisted suicide and make it look like he has been murdered by Angel so that Conner will take revenge on him. The plan works, and Conner sinks Angel to the bottom of the Pacific in a box, to suffer an everlasting torment of slow starvation.
Season four is the most misunderstood and the wildest ride of any of the seasons. In the first episode, Wesley tries to redeem himself by retrieving Angel from the bottom of the ocean after capturing Conner's accomplice in Angel's imprisonment. Cordelia was made a "higher power" at the end of season three, and she suddenly turns up at Angel's doorstep several episodes into season four, unable to remember anything. The rest of the season is a dizzying blur that involves a mysterious Beast that blots out the sun, the temporary unsouling of Angel so that the gang can question Angelus about his memories of the Beast, another mystical pregnancy that culminates in an evil higher power - Jasmine - coming into the world, and that evil power bringing "world peace" in return for the world's unquestioning worship - until Angel allows people to see Jasmine's true appearance and they run from her in horror. The season concludes with Angel and his crew being given control of the L.A. branch of evil mystical law firm Wolfram & Hart supposedly as a reward for "destroying world peace". Angel agrees to the deal, if in return all memories of Conner's existence are erased from everyone who knew him and if Conner is placed in a "normal" family with new planted memories that involve only his new family, and not his actual past. This acts as a reset for all of the emotional pain of the past three years for everyone except Angel, who retains his memories of what actually happened.
Season five basically stands alone and is the third and final part of the series. This final season returns more to the monster-of-the-week format that was present in season one, largely as a condition of WB renewing the show since the confusing labrynth that was season four had not had stellar ratings. Spike, from the now defunct BTVS, is thrown into the mix, at first as a ghost that is unable to leave the premises of Wolfram & Hart. Later in the season Spike reclaims his corporeal presence, though. The first part of the season is on the light side, as each member of the Fang Gang receives their dream job on a platter at Wolfram & Hart, with all of the resources they could ever ask, and the hope of doing good deeds in a place once renowned for evil. Later though, they slowly discover that is they that are being changed and compromised, not the law firm. This culminates in one great tragedy two-thirds into the season, resulting in the death of one the members of the Fang Gang. In the end, Angel and his crew decide to turn the tables and strike at the heart of the players in the Apocalypse by killing all of the members of an evil secret society. They are successful, but there are casualties among their ranks. The last scene shows the survivors cornered in an alley about to be attacked by Wolfram & Hart's minions. When asked what they should do, the last line of the show is Angel telling the others "Well, Personally? I Kinda Wanna Slay the Dragon." as he swings a sword and we fade to black. The Fang Gang goes out fighting and we never really know what happened to them, and because the actors have long since gone on to other projects, we never will.
"Angel" is adult fare from start to finish, not the teen fare of at least the early years of Buffy. However, Joss Whedon's epic tale of a vampire with a soul and his search for redemption is great television. Angel is not the only character on a journey in this series. Throughout the tenure of the show we watch the shallow and selfish Cordelia Chase change into a brave soul who is willing to become part demon in order to continue on in her mission. We also watch as Wesley changes from buffoonish comic relief into a true rogue demon hunter who has a penchant for darkness that rivals Angel. Charles Gunn changes from the street-wise kid who is proud of being the muscle into someone who is willing to sell his soul to not to return to that role. Even Lorne is not spared, as he changes from the consummate entertainer with an ever-sunny personality into someone who can only find solace at the bottom of a glass of alcohol and loses his heart for the good fight "the moment I found out a girl I loved was going to die".
As far as the specific contents of this package go, you'll be getting all of the 110 original episodes with all of the extra features included in the original DVD sets. In addition, there is supposed to be a companion booklet and a special letter to fans from Joss Whedon.
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57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of boxset - not show, December 13, 2007
To begin I must confess, the only time I have watched Angel..was after it arrived at my door this week in a cute little package. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge "Buffy" fan and own the Chosen Collection (Seasons 1-7). But because I have only recently started watching Angel, this review is for the boxset itself.
Since, I have the Chosen collection, I cannot help but compare the two. Angel the series comes in a (obviously) box, with 5 separate DVD holders that layer to make the face of our lovely brooding Vamp-hero-person guy. The sturdiness of the DVD holders caught my eye right off, they are much better than those in the Chosen collection (which were basically bonded with a weak adhesive) The box kinda folds apart, when you lift the lid, a panel falls down so you can see all the DVD season holders, the panel that falls down has a color pic of the Angel Cast. (this is similar to the Chosen collection)
The set includes a color-print booklet that outlines each episode with a short description. Each page highlights 3-4 episodes (the same number of eps. on the corresponding disc) and on the opposite page is a breakdown of the chapters in each show.
The most exciting feature (for me) is the letter from Joss Whedon to the "Angel Fan". A full letter comes folded in a blue envelope in which Joss Whedon discusses Angel, they whys and hows, and highlights some of his favorite moments. In comparison to the letter in the Chosen collection, Angel takes the cake.
The set is a bit pricey, but if you don't already have the individual seasons and like me, have been thinking and thinking that you MUST watch Angel in order to feel like a true Buffy-verse fan, then go ahead, indulge yourself! ;)
Though I am technically a new fan (not even through the 1st season yet!), for this past show, it has already made me laugh and cry. Some old and new faces to fall in love with.
So sit back, and let the dark mysterious stranger that is our beloved Angel entertain you, I don't think he will disappoint, he hasn't me yet!
<3
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199 of 243 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great show about one person's search for the possibility of redemption, August 5, 2007
Warning! Contains major spoilers!
I recently watched a great documentary about the women stunt double's Jeannie Epper and Zoë Bell. The latter was Lucy Lawless's stunt double on XENA, though she is now perhaps best known for her work as Uma Thurman's double in KILL BILL and her amazing work playing herself in DEATH PROOF (she was the New Zealand chick on the hood of the Dodge Challenger). The extras included an interview with Quentin Tarantino and one of the things they asked him was his thoughts on XENA, the show on which Bell first performed (as Lucy Lawless points out, two women portrayed Xena, but only one really got credit). His analysis of XENA was, I think, really profound. The central idea was that Xena was someone who had committed crimes so extensive and so extreme that even though she had turned to the path of doing good, she was never going to be able to balance things. No matter how many good things she did, the bad would still overshadow them. As he puts it, not matter what she does "she'll only be paying ten cents on the dollar." The second I heard this from Tarantino, I realized that he was describing not only Xena but also Angel. If anything, Angel's crimes were worse than Xena's because he not only killed his victims, but also robbed them of their souls. Rarely has television seen such an extended examination of the possibilities of personal salvation.
XENA and ANGEL had one other thing in common. Both were among the most successful spin offs in TV history. Though XENA never garnered the critical acclaim that either BUFFY or ANGEL achieved, it far surpassed HERCULES in both popularity and critical acclaim. ANGEL never eclipsed BUFFY as XENA did HERCULES, but it nonetheless became one of the most critically acclaimed shows on TV. Its cancellation following its fifth season, when it was one of the highest rated shows on the WB, remains one of the most mystifying of the past decade. The fan campaign to save the show far surpassed the successful campaign to save JERICHO this year. And although Joss Whedon has recently announced that he intends to produce ANGEL Season 6 in comic form, just as he is currently undertaking BUFFY Season 8 on Darkhorse Comics, ANGEL continues to be missed by its fans.
One of the many things that made ANGEL so great was that the show not only focused on the central arc concerning Angel, but also featured fully developed arcs for all the major characters. The show was not simply about Angel, but almost equally about the other characters as well. Although Angel was clearly the central character, the show was very much about the chosen family that was created around him. Cordelia, Doyle, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Lorne, and finally Spike and Illyria managed to form a caring if frequently dysfunctional family. Ironically, the one person who was not able to become a part of that family was Angel's own son, who never really meshed either with the overall narrative or with the other characters.
But at the center of the show from beginning to end was Angel's quest to try and be a force for good despite all the evil he afflicted. He wasn't in the least convinced that he could make amends ("Amends" was, in fact, the title of possibly the greatest of the Angel episodes on BUFFY) and he was pretty much convinced that in the end good might not win out over evil, but something he tells Detective Kate Lockley in the Season Two episode "Epiphany" gets to the heart of the show. Although she never invites him into his house, he nevertheless is able to enter her apartment when he realizes that she has attempted suicide. He helps save her life and afterwards they are talking. He explains that he has to strive to do what is right not knowing if he will be successful, knowing that "there are no big wins." This is similar to the idea expressed in the very last line in the series, when Angel tells his friends, faced with fighting an overwhelming army of evil creatures, "Let's get to work." The whole idea is to not worry about results, but only worry about intent, to make sure you are striving to do good, to not give up or into despair.
It was not a perfect show. It was, in fact, a fairly unlucky show. There were also a couple of ill-advised story arcs. In Season Three there was the absolutely bizarre idea of Angel's son Connor, easily the most unpopular character in the Slayerverse, rivaled distantly by Dawn on BUFFY. Even worse was the decision to make Cordy evil in Season Four. And even worse was the abuse of the magnificent Gina Torres as Jasmine in Season Four. The result was that the last quarter of Season Three (in what was otherwise a magnificent season) and most of Season Four were possibly the worst thing that ever happened on a Joss Whedon show. Even worse than all of this was the brief sexual pairing of Connor and Evil Cordy in Season Four, a sequence that registered as high on the Ick-o-meter as anything ever seen on prime time television. Things were also hurt by Charisma Carpenter's unanticipated leave of absence towards the end of Season Three (which caused some rapid rewriting of several episodes) and her delay in informing Whedon and Co. that she was pregnant in Season Four. This resulted in her being written out of the show, though she did make a wonderful farewell appearance in a single Season Five episode.
But despite the problems with the end of Season Three and the myriad of problems in Season Four, the show never ceased to be less than fascinating. Even Season Four had some marvelous episodes, including the haunting season premiere, the marvelous comic episode "Spin the Bottle," and the three-part Faith sequence in the middle of the season. There were also some amazing special effects in Season Four as well as the Beast, an absolutely haunting Big Bad. The show did manage to rally for a wonderful Season Five, complete with the addition of Spike from BUFFY. By the end of the season Spike and Angel had come to form a great team and had the show returned for another year the show would have become something of a buddy show centered on them.
Speaking of Season Six, we know something of what would have happened thanks to producer Jeffrey Bell, who shared some of the ideas they were developing. There was, for instance, talk of an episode in which Angel and Spike would have undertaken a case that would have required them to go in drag. But the most fascinating arc definitely centered on Illyria. Although the goddess Illyria had taken over Fred's body, supposedly destroying her soul, in Season Six we would have found that this was wrong. Allyson Hanigan would have guest starred as Willow and would have performed a spell that would have allowed Fred to come back. Illyria, however, would not have disappeared. Instead, Amy Acker would have played both characters. When Bell in interviews shared all this my anger at the WB (good riddance to a bad network) reflamed. Wesley would not, of course, have died had there been a Season Six, and I can just imagine the dynamics between Wesley and Fred on the one hand, and an intensely powerful Illyria who had something resembling a crush on Wesley.
Still, the good on the show dramatically outweighed the bad and even at its worst it remained one of the best shows on television. And although one can be angry at it being cancelled when there were still some wonderful story arcs to be told, one can also be grateful that we got five full seasons. It definitely goes on the list of the best shows on television of the past twenty years.
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