Monday, June 8, 2009

DVD Review: Angel the Series


Image from EW.com

I'm sure the creators of most TV series never envisioned the advent of DVD "complete series" compilations. And they are especially interesting if you never really watched the show in question until you bought the DVDs. TV series usually play out in real time, or in 5-days-a-week reruns. In those scenarios, you still have to wait to see how the plot lines play out.

But with DVDs--especially if you are into marathon viewing sessions--you can watch the creators' visions play out in a dramatically compressed time frame. Which can either expose the weaknesses or the strengths of the creative teams involved.

In the case of Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'd have to say the strengths outshine the weaknesses. I was a latecomer to BtVS in its original run. I caught a couple of stray episodes when there were newsworthy calls to watch. The Columbine tragedy brought attention to an Buffy episode that dealt with guns in schools. And there was some sort of controversy with the violence in season three's cliffhanger. Also, there was a lot of news around Buffy's death in season five. In each of those occasions, I caught an episode, and it was after that season five one that I started watching and became a fan.

But because of this, I only caught the earlier seasons in reruns, and I never developed a very strong attachment to the character of Angel, Buffy's "vampire with a soul" boyfriend. And when he was spun off into his own series, I wasn't there to find out what it was all about.

I eventually watched every episode of BtVS on television, and then again (and again) on DVD. Eventually, my curiosity was whetted enough to check out Angel on DVD too. And while I initially wasn't hooked, it wasn't long before I became (almost) as enamored with the spin off. Now that I've finished the last of my Angel DVDs, I feel it's time to weigh in on the series as a whole.

Season One

The first season was a fairly thin spin off at first. They took Angel--the good vampire--and transplanted him to Los Angeles. By (extraordinary) coincidence, he runs into Cordelia Chase, the vapid, stuck-up "popular girl" from BtVS. They are joined by Doyle, a half-demon who has visions that give Angel motivation to help the helpless. They all set up a private investigator business, and embark on a supernatural/procedural drama. Episodes are fairly self-contained, and while interesting and enjoyable, do not rise to the level of a great series.

One third of the way through the first season, the character of Doyle is killed off, and passes his gift of visions off to Cordelia, giving the character more of a purpose in the series. A female detective, Kate, is introduced, though her character never amounts to much. And the "evil" law firm of Wolfram & Hart is brought in as a force for Angel to fight. Lila and Lindsey are the two most prominent lawyers featured, and they will play much more significant roles in seasons to come. But it is safe to say that Angel was not a particularly engaging show just yet, and that if it had ended here, not many viewers would have missed it.

Season Two

This was the season when Angel started to gel as a series, and began to hook me at last. The central setting became the Hyperion Hotel, where Angel Investigations had set up shop. Wesley Windom-Price, Faith's watcher from BtVS, who'd joined the cast after Doyle was killed off, assumed a more substantial role. The story lines became a bit more serialized, and characters were introduced that would become series regulars (though we didn't know that at first).

The Host/Lorne was a green-skinned, horned "good" demon who ran a karaoke bar. Seemingly just comic relief at first, he became a main character shortly thereafter. Charles Gunn, a vampire hunter who'd been featured briefly in season one was back, and later, Fred, an odd and chatty girl who'd been trapped in an alternate dimension (Lorne's home world) joined the group. Darla, a vampire who'd appeared in the very first episode of BtVS returned as well, and her appearance would start a story-arc that swept through the next two seasons.

The stories in season two set into motion several plot lines that would play out over the next three years. I don't know if all (or even most) of them were considered at the outset. But either way, it is a testament to Joss Whedon--the writer and co-creator of the series--and the rest of the writing staff, that so many plot points played out so well in the coming years. The Angel group finally had a semblance of the Scooby Gang, as Buffy and her co-horts were called.

Only partway through season two, the DVD set came to be the "book you can't put down." One after another, I whiled away the hours. During the long Memorial Day weekend, I plowed through two seasons, which leads me to. . .

Season Three

Season three is to me, the "core" of Angel. It is when all the pieces were in place, and the show had become a show. All the main characters were known and loved, the plot moved at a brisk pace, and I really cared--craved--to know what would happen next. It was the year that the show was the most stable. There were changes, of course. Most notably the pregnancy of Darla by Angel, and the birth of his son. And of course what happened after that.

Season Four

Season four had its flaws. The character of Connor, and his relationship with Cordelia this season sort of squicked me out. And Cordelia's development as a character was troubling and disconcerting. We'd find out why eventually, of course, but the journey was an odd one. How this storyline plays out is both satisfying and then again not so much. I enjoyed it, but I truly missed "the real" Cordelia. Which is saying something, because her original character was so one-dimensional.

If season one was kind of thin, season two layered it on thicker, and season three solidified into drama/comedy/horror goodness, season four is where it all starts to crumble. I assume that Joss felt that this must happen. Too much status quo was just a little too predictable. Joss has gotta shake things up. So long-forgotten story threads are picked up, characters betray each other, and nothing is what it seems. Interestingly, while things are falling apart for each character, the show is still very compelling, and I still couldn't put it away.

Things finally got as "back to normal" as they could in the Angel universe. Then came the last episode of the season, which played like a "backdoor pilot" for another spin off. . .

Season Five

The final year of the series feels like a different show. To call it a "revamp" (excuse the pun) would be an understatement. Angel & Co. now run the evil Wolfram & Hart "law firm," which is much more than a law firm. The vagueness of "the powers that be" are matched by the vagueness of the "senior partners." The company that has been for four years Angel's arch nemesis is now being run by our heroes, with all the gray areas that implies.

There are still plot threads from previous seasons that are tied up, characters that return. As this was the year after BtVS ended its run, there were even a few hints as to what happened after that show's last season. And though this whole season feels like a different animal, they managed to keep it interesting, and also to have some incredible episodes. "Smile Time," a show dealing with evil Muppets was on par with Buffy's "Once More With Feeling." The addition of Spike, another vampire with a soul from the original series was inspired, and saves the entire season for me.

Unfortunately, the writers' continual need to "mix things up" could sometimes change things too much. The scuttling of Cordelia at the end of Season 4 was bad enough (and she returns all too briefly here). But what they did to Fred, and the character changes to Gunn (not to mention Connor) were a little hard to take. Still, Angel season 5 feels a lot like a new show, and as Joss Whedon keeps proving, his new shows get better as they go on. And Angel managed to finish with a bang, with all of the changes finally clicking into place right as the series finishes. The promise of a season six was appetizing, but never fulfilled.

I'm going to go through a little bit of withdrawal having finished the last multi-season Whedon show there is. To put a little salt in the wound, the original producers of the original Buffy movie are said to be prepping a remake that doesn't include any original cast members or Whedon. The success or failure of such an endeavor could sour the prospects of a continuation of either of the great shows in the Buffyverse. And that bums me out. At least I have the prospect of one more season of Dollhouse, Whedon's newest show, on FOX next year to look forward to.

Oddly, as long as this post is, it is woefully incomplete. If you're still reading this and wondering if the DVD set is worth adding to your collection, I most heartily recommend it. It's a great combination of comedy, horror, drama and storytelling. The actors are uniformly terrific, even the guest stars, many of whom you'll recognize from other genre and Whedon productions. If you haven't discovered Angel yet, go do it already!


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