Is Angel's season 5 as good as season 1?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Saturday, August 26, 2006 16:17
VIEWED: 13673
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CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 8:22 PM

Just a question.

Escape From Pylea Chrisisall

AMYEL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 8:59 PM

You're really obsessed with this season 5 thing, aren't you?

It's got a completely different vibe as season 1, so it's hard to compare. It's similar in structure though; it's a bit less serialized than seasons 2-4. But theme-wise it's more like season 2 (not the Pylea episodes, chill), since it deals a bit with Angel's wacky vamp family and it deals A LOT with Wolfram & Hart.

And chill about Pylea, seriously. Is there some kind of Alice in Wonderland childhood trauma that you've been suppressing that's manifesting into this Pylea fear? No one ever goes back to Pylea, so don't let that keep you away from the rest of the show.

AMYEL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:04 PM

And I thought you didn't like season 1, with the unreal "every demon knows karate"/no connection to the characters thing. When did you start liking it?

Or, if you never did like it, are you asking if it's better than something that annoyed you?

The actors in demon suits never go away. Angel is a demon, therefore he hangs out with a lot of them. That's just the way it is.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by amyel:
And I thought you didn't like season 1, with the unreal "every demon knows karate"/no connection to the characters thing. When did you start liking it?

Yeah, I started that thread. It took me a while to wrap my head fully around Buffy and Angel, they're just a little far out and funky next to the uber-serious straight arrow stuff I grew up with (Dracula Has Risen From The Grave).
Fact is, I did like season 1, a lot. I liked a lot of season 2 (W & H stuff, mostly).
I plead guilty to being hard won, but won I am (I own the Chosen Collection, do I not?).

For the record, if Buffy's a 10, I still only consider Angel an 8.5

Give an old man a break, an allow him to come around, eh?

Mal-adjusted Chrisisall

WEREALLJUSTFLOATING

Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:51 PM

Season 1 is my least favourite season of Angel , but that's not to say that it doesnt have some great episodes - the 2 Faith ones being my own favourites.

Season 5 is inevitably better, cos they'd had 4 years to perfect the show - the characters were so much more developed and the cinematography and effects don't even compare to season 1. The only thing 5 could have done better IMO was to bring Cordy back for a proper arc, one episode just wasn't enough.

We're still flying.

That's not much.

It's enough.

CHRISISALL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by amyel:

Is there some kind of Alice in Wonderland childhood trauma that you've been suppressing that's manifesting into this Pylea fear?

I went to grade through high school in Long Island, NY, it's a lot like Pylea there.
Well, where I lived, anyway...

Chrisisall down the rabbit hole

WEREALLJUSTFLOATING

Thursday, May 11, 2006 9:51 PM

Season 1 is my least favourite season of Angel , but that's not to say that it doesnt have some great episodes - the 2 Faith ones being my own favourites.

Season 5 is inevitably better, cos they'd had 4 years to perfect the show - the characters were so much more developed and the cinematography and effects don't even compare to season 1. The only thing 5 could have done better IMO was to bring Cordy back for a proper arc, one episode just wasn't enough time to say goodbye.

We're still flying.

That's not much.

It's enough.

AMYEL

Thursday, May 11, 2006 10:49 PM

The WB drastically cut the budget for AtS in the fifth season, so most of the episodes took place on the same set. The scenery isn't always that interesting, and some of the demon FX were funny (I think one demon actually had horns made out of duct tape). There was one stunt that made a cheaply-built wall actually wobble. But it did save money for when they wanted to go all out... and they went all out. Some of my most favorite scenes in all of the Jossverse (yes, including Firefly) took place in the 5th season. Some of it is goofy, especially in the first 6 episodes, so if you don't like the beginning, hold on, and it'll totally take off.

Spike and Angel have the oddest relationship; part brothers, part kindergarten-level bickering, part buddy-cops, part (im)mortal enemies, part soulmates. The scenes with the two of them alone together were my favorite aspect of the season. And Wesley... and a certain blue-haired creature that shows up later.

DROCCULARI

Friday, May 12, 2006 1:06 AM

Here's my two cents. Angel season 5 is so much better than the other seasons of the show, it's almost a different show. Look where it falls in Joss's career. Buffy was over. Firefly was over. Serenity was, at best, an impossible fever dream. The only real, in production project he had to focus his energy and talent on was Angel. And boy did he.
It has the best series final episode I have ever seen. I love it, probably for the same reasons some people hate it. But there you go. As a friend used to say, "There's no accounting for taste."
I'd love to see a Faith spinoff series, but if it was up to me, no question about it, I want a Number Brothers show.
J. August Richards and Amy Acker had the two most stereotyped roles on the show, so Joss expanded both their acting resumes in ways the you can see paying off this season in the parts they've landed in other series.
The new Angel set owes a lot to Firefly. They are both two stories with a large central area that goes all the way up and includes an open stairway connecting both levels. Corridors lead off on both levels and wrap around allowing for long tracking shots that give the illusion of a much bigger space.
And I realize this seriously falls in the category of, there's no accounting for taste; Angel season 5 brings back vampire Harmony! OK, Mercedes McNab had the most stereotyped roll on the show.

MER

Friday, May 12, 2006 1:27 AM

I love them both equally.
Granted Season 5 had the most jokes b/c of the Spike/Angel banter. Season 1 had its jokes, but was serious and trying to find its own stride of the show.
Season 5 would've been REALLY kick ass if WB didn't up and cancel them. Having Fred as Illyria is just plain GOLD. I still believe it would've played out for the rest of the season.
I still don't know Joss's original intention for the rest of that season and there after.

These seasons of Angel has to be the only DVDs I bought ON THE DAY.

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