Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great bargain set of an absolutely brilliant series, September 2, 2004
Warning! Spoilers ahoy!
I have been amazed at how many fans of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER that I have talked to who have not gone on to watch ANGEL or give it a try. This is truly unfortunate, because by so doing they are depriving themselves of a unique viewing experience. As great as BUFFY is, there are those who actually prefer ANGEL to the show that spun it off (though I confess I remain more of a fan of the Ms. Summers). Which show one prefers will turn on taste, not quality, whether one prefers the struggle against fate and the multiple interpersonal dramas of BUFFY or the struggles of the characters in ANGEL to achieve something like grace while at the same time striving to help those who are oppressed. Also, though ANGEL possesses much of the humor that drives BUFFY, it is overall a much darker, more adult show. If BUFFY was originally aimed at teens (though that quickly changed once they realized that adults were their core audience), ANGEL was always aimed almost exclusively at adults.
For those who have not yet experienced ANGEL, this set is a magnificently affordable way to do so. In sales parlance, it is priced to sell. But even at full price, the set would be a bargain. As much as I love a quality show like ALIAS, it is not a show I find myself going back to rewatch. ANGEL, like BUFFY, almost demands rewatching. There is a richness in Joss Whedon's shows that invites reviewing to a degree that is unprecedented. With most shows, once you have seen an episode, you are done with it. Watching ANGEL, seeing an episode for the first time is merely the beginning. You don't merely watch these shows; you spend some time living with them, getting to know every nuance. Why is this? I think it is because Whedon, by his own admission, primarily focuses on how a show is going to make someone feel, rather than on where the plot is going to go (though that is not ignored). The result is a more complex, deeper experience than is usual in watching a television series.
There is widespread opinion about which seasons of ANGEL are the best, though I think there may be a mild consensus that the best seasons are the Second, Third, and Fifth. The First season was solid, but was more in the way of a Monster of the Week format, rather than a long story arc, while Season Four, despite some marvelous moments, was marred by some astonishingly awful writing decisions (Evil Cordy, Connor, and Jasmine are the greatest offenses). The first season does see the show searching for its identity, trying to get villains and friends established, and assembling a team. The first episode of Season One brings together Angel, Doyle (not one of my favorite characters, but hugely popular among the larger ANGEL fan base), and Cordelia, who crossed over with Angel from BUFFY. Later in the season Doyle leaves the show, to be replaced by the nebbish, effeminate Wesley Wyndam-Price, who unexpectedly manages to become for many fans the most interesting character on the series. Over the next several seasons, Wesley transforms from what the current governor of California would call a "girlie-man" to a tough-as-nails character capable of making and then executing the hardest of decisions. He becomes the one who can make choices no one else is capable of, and goes from being a bit prissy to someone one character calls "the Marlboro Man" (Willow from BUFFY, after seeing him for the first time in years in Season Four). Except for Cordelia and Spike, no one on either ANGEL or BUFFY comes as far on the series as Wesley. Also by the end of the season we are introduced to Gunn, who will become in Season Two a full time member of Angel Investigations.
ANGEL really takes off in Season Two. They find new digs at the marvelous Hyperion Hotel; solidify as a four person team of Angel, Cordy, Wesley, and Gunn, to be expanded by the end of the season through the addition of The Host aka Lorne and Fred; and continue their struggles with the law firm of demonic evil, Wolfram and Hart.. But the big change from Season One was the shift from the Monster of the Week format (though this did not entirely disappear) to longer, more complex story arcs. Season Two is dominated by the dual arc of the reincarnation of Angel's sire Darla (whom he had killed in Episode Seven of the first season of BUFFY) and Angel's alienation from his colleagues. The season ends with the crew going to Palea, a world in another dimension, where they rescue a fellow denizen of Los Angeles, Fred, a brilliant physics doctoral student. Season Three picks up from there, focusing on its own season long story arc: the discovery of Darla's pregnancy, the birth of Connor, the appearance of Angel's old nemesis Holtz (the best villain in the entire run of ANGEL), Holtz's kidnapping of Conner and escape to a hell dimension, and Connor's return as a teenager who has been indoctrinated to hate Angel and who is determined to kill Angel. For the most part, Season Three is breathtaking in its intensity and brilliance, marred only by the teenaged Connor. Although there are a small but dedicated group of fans who love Connor, at conventions and in online polls, Connor often ranks as one of the least popular characters in the Slayerverse.
Most fans of ANGEL have already been buying the DVDs as they have come out. I believe that these discs are great for those who either have only recently discovered the brilliance of BUFFY and ANGEL or want to own their own copies, or for those fans of BUFFY that have not yet made the transition to ANGEL. For those lucky souls wanting to explore Angel's world for the first time, this set is a must have.
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24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never earned the respect it deserved!, September 6, 2004
It's a shame that so many people never got into this show when it was on TV. Conservatives of a TV nation who never believed that a show about vampires could reach such levels of moral complexity and show character layers rarely seen in television (I say rarely but I mean never, I've never seen it, and I watch way to much TV). In fact, to my recollection, I can't think of one TV show that stayed so true to the characters it created. This show is worth everyone's time, and I find it funny that even people who claim to be fans of story telling ignore it. So called film lovers who try to use every lame argument as to why it sucks without watching it properly yet would argue with you for hours on the merits of an Oliver Stone flick or which `Evil Dead' is the best. I love all these movies, but I'm not the hypocrite who defends independent movies till they're blue in the face, but are to good to watch a Joss Whedon show.
I notice a lot of reviews on this site are people pleading with others to watch this show. "It's great so watch it" and so on. Sadly most people don't care. I'm not going to plead with people to watch it because the fact is, if you don't, piff, your loss dude. I find it funny that people who hate `Buffy' and `Angel' love `Alias'. A show that wouldn't exist without 'Buffy' and basically steals plot lines out of `Buffy' and `angel'. The funniest being the `Rambaldi' prophesy in Alias and the `Shanshu' prophesy in Angel. Both go something like this. A prophecy is discovered, and when it is deciphered it says that Angel/Sydney will be a key player in the end of the world. I'm paraphrasing and I can't remember if in alias it's specifically the end of the world or just a major catastrophe that will greatly affect the world but you get the gist. There's a whole lot more, but to put it bluntly, Angel does it better. And hey, I'm not biased. I purchase alias with the best of intentions on DVD and still enjoyed watching it. But people would obviously rather give Alias or 24 a watch more than Buffy and Angel because they like to feel like intellectuals. They hear characters using complex terminology in Alias and 24 and feel they're watching something smart. When in fact '24' is a highly enjoyable soap opera with guns and `Alias' is the TV equivalent of 'Armageddon'. Pretty visuals and false emotions (such as Sydney crying every friggin episode. how the hell did she ever pass the psychological examine because the chicks clearly unstable). Not surprising seeing as the creator of Alias wrote 'Armageddon' before hand, whilst Joss Whedon won an Oscar for writing a little movie called 'Toy Story' before he made Buffy.
Still, I gotta try not to go into a rant (to late). To be honest I really enjoy both Armageddon and Alias on a superficial level. I just don't pretend to think it's something more than it is, and that's the point. So many people talk about the Metaphorical and symbolic meanings in `Buffy' and `Angel' and come off as fanboy lunatics. But as someone who always tries to watch something objectively I can safely say that the show may have a lot of flaws, but being as thought provoking as a David Lynch movie, as well as being entertaining is defiantly not one of them.
Joss Whedon may not have invented the TV 'arc'. But he mastered it and made it what it is and in just 22 episodes a year, he created poetry. A strong word but as an English Lit graduate I can honestly say that Whedon has created tragic Shakespearian tales and Greek poetry with a postmodern twist. None of this soap opera crap that people seem to eat up like ice cream. Still, I don't suppose this has convinced anyone. Most of the Angel haters probably tuned out long ago to watch Van Helsing. If that last statement made you angry because I assumed that anyone who doesn't watch this show is a fan of crap films, and you would much rather watch 'City of God', then `Angel' is for you (okay so that was a lame attempt to convince you to watch, but hey, I had to try)
Angel doesn't question your intelligence or try to sugar coat itself with thesaurus dialogue. Instead it allows the comedy to shine through, it doesn't dub down the slapstick, because it's confident that it can tell a great story and still keep a sense of humour. A lot of people forget that Shakespeare's writing often had a lot of humour and surrealism, but that doesn't mean you can't tell a great story. Pretentious rant over. I'll just finish by saying that the critics love it, and not just in a `gotta love it coz it's a HBO program' kind of way. But in 'essay writing, double page spread in a number of newspapers but not for publicity' kind of way. So there you have it. Critics love it, loyal fans cum all over it like cheap porn, and university professors write published essays about it. But it has vampires and cheap effects so why bother watching when you can watch Keither Sutherland have another bad day.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Numfar, do the dance of Joy!", June 24, 2004
(...)To be honest, Season One is fuzzy in my mind so I can't legitimately review it - heck, I'm buying so I'll remember it all - but Two and Three alone have me sold.(Also, from this point forth, there be spoilers; I try to avoid revealing major plot points though.)Season Two ushers in one of, in my opinion, the greatest exposition-conventions employed in Angel, by way of none other than the dreaded Karaoke Bar. Watching Angel sing "Mandy" is like watching a trainwreck: it's the most painful thing in the world yet you cannot tear your eyes away while rolling on the ground laughing. Ahhh, beautiful. Also great (but this time, really) are the unexpected and wonderful vocals of both Lindsay and Darla, which among other things convinces me that everyone actor involved in the Buffyverse is multi-talented, and we're lucky to have had 'em for as long as we did. But I digress. One of my personal favorites of the season is episode 2, which sees Angel in the 50s. I've always loved the various scenes of Angel's past, and this particular one is delivered wonderfully by Boreanaz. Interesting themes of the time are raised, and there are moments both chilling and heartbreaking, particularly toward the end of the flashback. This season also sees the return of Angel's vampire kin, which is at first intriging, then at time poignant yet hopeful, and then again tragic as we see Angel reveal a side that had until now been left untapped. Yet the darkness does not swallow the season whole, as the later episodes reinject priceless comedic moments, including Lindsay's "evil hand issues" (heh) and Joss Whedon's lovely little dance. Yes, he dances. Season Three arguably is just as dark - and honestly I can't think of how to review without completely revealing plot points, so I won't. >P Suffice to say the writers of Angel are sadistic - the one thing that I've come to expect from this show is that everytime things start going well you know something terrible is about to happen. And so it does. In any case, if you're a fan and you haven't purchased the first 3 seasons yet, this is a great bundle at a great price. If you snag this, as they say in Pylea, it is time for Numfar to "do the dance of Joy!"
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