My favorite thing about Angel is that at first based on the premise you may think this show should be all gloomy, serious and dark but then when you watch it, it's also full of goofy moments, dorky characters and fun dialogues.
Just fantastic as any JW project, but when i watched it when it first aired i did not like the final episode. Now i have just finished watching all 5 again and the last one was the best.
As stated with my comment of Dollhouse, I didn't choose the best time to binge Joss Whedon's work. The guy is a complete genius and it's sad to hear about what happened. I hope he apologizes and maybe get's a second chance. That being said, let's get to the show...
Angel is a solid spinoff, it takes a while for the series to lift off but by the conclusion of Season 2, the series finally discovered its identity. It by no means rivals Buffy in terms of ambition or what it did for TV (examples of spinoffs that rival their original works are Better Call Saul and Frasier) however the Whedon spirit is still there with whip smart dialogue and colorful characters fighting the good fight. Here's my personal ranking of the seasons.
Season 5- Pretty much the show's best season since there's so much going on and there aren't to many slow moments. It may be possible that the setting would define Angel's quality (cellar office is meh, hotel livens the place, but the Wolfram and Hart HQ is iconic). This also contains the best episode of the whole series, the finale "Not Fade Away." Every character gets an amazing final arc here, by the end no one's the same as they were when first appearing in the series. The 100th episode is a complete treat since the core 6 are back in action (Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and Fred). Also the inclusion of Spike and Harmony make up for the absence of Cordelia as the comic relief (Harmony's solo episode is a treat and Spike's inclusion isn't forced and works well with Angel's Avengers). And "Smile Time" has Muppet Angel.
Season 3- This was when the show finally turned great! This was also when the core six were together with an incredible dynamic (I'm surprised Andy Hallett never made it into the credits until Season 4 when he was clearly a regular by the S2 finale). This also contains some of the most shocking moments (two of those being Wesley's betrayal and Darla dying while giving birth to Connor). Holtz is probably the biggest threat the Angel Investigations team has faced. And the season finale is quite a shocker for both Angel and Cordelia leaving people begging for more. And this was also before Connor turned into too much of a nuisance.
Season 2- Everything up until the final three episodes is pretty much an extension of S1 being a series that has no idea what it is yet. This does establish Wolfram and Hart's two sort of big bads: Lindsey and Lilah. This also brings back Julie Benz as Darla, who has an amazing episode with Drusilla. Andy Hallett's Lorne is finally established as a character of the Buffy-verse and he basically steals the show in every moment he's in. Although it's flawed, S2 is a lot of fun.
Season 4- Technically the worst but where S1 takes a long time to establish what it is, this already has the core six in their roles. It's tragic to hear why Charisma Carpenter left the series and why we wounded up getting this messy storyline of Cordelia being possessed by some goddess, who's played wonderfully by Gina Torres. Anyways, no one wanted to see Cordy and Connor hook up and then find out Connor was not only annoying, but crazy enough to explode a Dick's Sporting Good with everyone inside. This does contain the fantastic episode arc of Angel losing his soul and turning into Angelus, David Boreanaz nails it as his evil self and this was probably the best display of his acting abilities.
Season 1- This is by no means bad but it's not entirely as satisfying as watching Seasons 2 and 3 when there's a least more than three people leading the show. I will say I was disappointed that Officer Lockley never turned into an employee of Angel Investigations or appeared after that she got the boot from the LAPD. There are some funny awkward moments here but Wesley was still the ego nerd from Buffy and Gunn only appeared in a couple of episodes midway through the season. The Sarah Michelle Gellar episode was solid!
Anyways, this was a fun binge. I personally do love this group of characters more so than the Scoobies, it mostly just a personal preference due to how everyone in here wouldn't be with one another in a normal case scenario. This ended prematurely, I'm sure there was at least two more seasons of life within this show. I think after S2 it was more than just a supplement to Buffy. Anyways, I'm gonna miss binging this though I'm sure I'll do a re-watch but one that coincides with a re-watch of Buffy. Lorne forever!
My current favorite for worst series ending. Ever! Even worse than Dexter and The Originals! But it wasn't Whedon's fault; the show got cancelled.
From best to worst:
1) Season 5
2) Season 3
3) Season 4 (The whole Connor and Cordelia thing really messed this up, nevertheless I like it more than season 1 or 2 because of the addition of Fred and more Lorne.)
4) Season 2
5) Season 1 - a common theme with Whedon's shows, is that I like things more the farther it goes on.
I like very much this serie! Better than Buffy the Vampire Slayer in most ways.
Angel is definitely a worthy companion series to Buffy the Vampire Slayer - in fact one of the best spin-offs I've ever seen. Cordelia and Wesley are two of the best characters in any show I've seen, and Angel, Fred, Gunn, and Lorne are all great characters as well. While it never quite reached the level of BtVS for me, there are some phenomenal episodes and arcs in every season (some more than others). Seasons 2 and 5 are fantastic and the two best imo. Season 1 is fairly episodic but still pretty great, season 3 is really good but had the potential to be better, and season 4 is honestly a mess but still had its share of brilliance.
Shout by DeletedBlockedParentSpoilers2013-10-25T07:20:32Z
This show really didn't hit its stride until midway through, and even then, it was fairly uneven. However, the characters were superb, and the interactions between them really carried the show. Wesley's character is probably one of the best I've ever seen in a TV show, and while not as good overall as Buffy, this is still definitely a great show.