In some ways Angel feels like four or five different shows because so much changes so drastically as the show progresses. It is definitely at it's best at the beginning. By late season 3 things have started feeling shark jumpy, and the show had already gone through at least 2 or 3 incarnations by that point. So here's my ratings for all the different Angels (descriptions contain broad story arcs which might count as spoilers but I tried not to give anything too secret away):
{SPOILER START):
Angel #1- Angel, Doyle & Cordie in small PI firm, lots of cop/Angel interactions & helpless-helping
Angel #2 -Angel, Cordie, Wesley still small PI firm, still some cop or walk-in PI cases
Angel #3 -Angle, Cordie, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Lorne. Few PI cases. Hotel instead of PI firm. Ongoing devolving battle with Wolfram & Heart, with Darla & Holt as additional long-story bad guys. No police investigations anymore. More demons as good and bad guys, and as PI clients. Less about vampires or the streets of LA. More supernatural. Angel & Cordie get close, it seems like they are about to get together.
Angel #4 -Things change again. Conor comes back grown. Wesley's status changes. Cordie & Angel ...well things aren't as expected. Both Cordie & Angel stop being themselves for awhile this season. Then Jasmine's arc, which feels like it's a season long but is really only 5 episodes.
Angel #5 -Most Drastic changes. Angel & team take over Wolfram & Heart. No more PI firm at all now. Angel is now head of an evil empire trying to stop evil. Everyone else changes too. Gunn magically becomes a lawyer, bye-bye tough street kid. Fred become Illyria, bye-bye sweet bookish Fred. Cordie is gone. Conor gone too. Spike joins them, but he doesn't seem entirely like himself either (he just came from making a huge sacrifice for love of Buffy but he won't even pick up the phone to let her know he's alive?). Lorne leaves at one point, but he had already changed before that too (he used to run a night club remember). Lindsay, Wesley & Harmony return and become different versions of themselves too. The whole feel of the show changes. Then it ends.
(SPOILERS END)
So, things change a lot. Which means it doesn't go stale, but it also means it is hard to get comfortable with it. You end up missing characters when they are still there on the screen but everything has changed so much that you don't recognize them anymore. That said, like all Joss Whedon, there are still moments of brilliance even in the parts I find the most difficult to connect to. Humour too (like the puppet episode in the last season). Also, one of my very favourite Buffy episodes is actually an episode in Angel's first season when she comes to visit her dad in LA. It is brilliant and beautiful and touching. All Buffy fans should at least see that episode (S01e08 'I Will Remember You'). Here's how my ratings would break down: Beginning = 10 Middle = 8 End = 6 So I averaged out to an 8.
{SPOILER START):
Angel #1- Angel, Doyle & Cordie in small PI firm, lots of cop/Angel interactions & helpless-helping
Angel #2 -Angel, Cordie, Wesley still small PI firm, still some cop or walk-in PI cases
Angel #3 -Angle, Cordie, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Lorne. Few PI cases. Hotel instead of PI firm. Ongoing devolving battle with Wolfram & Heart, with Darla & Holt as additional long-story bad guys. No police investigations anymore. More demons as good and bad guys, and as PI clients. Less about vampires or the streets of LA. More supernatural. Angel & Cordie get close, it seems like they are about to get together.
Angel #4 -Things change again. Conor comes back grown. Wesley's status changes. Cordie & Angel ...well things aren't as expected. Both Cordie & Angel stop being themselves for awhile this season. Then Jasmine's arc, which feels like it's a season long but is really only 5 episodes.
Angel #5 -Most Drastic changes. Angel & team take over Wolfram & Heart. No more PI firm at all now. Angel is now head of an evil empire trying to stop evil. Everyone else changes too. Gunn magically becomes a lawyer, bye-bye tough street kid. Fred become Illyria, bye-bye sweet bookish Fred. Cordie is gone. Conor gone too. Spike joins them, but he doesn't seem entirely like himself either (he just came from making a huge sacrifice for love of Buffy but he won't even pick up the phone to let her know he's alive?). Lorne leaves at one point, but he had already changed before that too (he used to run a night club remember). Lindsay, Wesley & Harmony return and become different versions of themselves too. The whole feel of the show changes. Then it ends.
(SPOILERS END)
So, things change a lot. Which means it doesn't go stale, but it also means it is hard to get comfortable with it. You end up missing characters when they are still there on the screen but everything has changed so much that you don't recognize them anymore. That said, like all Joss Whedon, there are still moments of brilliance even in the parts I find the most difficult to connect to. Humour too (like the puppet episode in the last season). Also, one of my very favourite Buffy episodes is actually an episode in Angel's first season when she comes to visit her dad in LA. It is brilliant and beautiful and touching. All Buffy fans should at least see that episode (S01e08 'I Will Remember You'). Here's how my ratings would break down: Beginning = 10 Middle = 8 End = 6 So I averaged out to an 8.
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