Angel 1999

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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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!