Angel season 5 review (I'm gonna spoil all over, and maybe piss some fans off)

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Monday, June 12, 2006 02:53
VIEWED: 5304
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CHRISISALL

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 2:33 PM

First:
Grounded was correct; Angel's first season was better.
Season five was powerfull, don't get me wrong, but it was all over the place. There wasn't much that didn't work well, but it had 'Let's Play' written all over it.
And killing Fred was for effect. Angel talked about finding Fred's soul and just bringing it back.
And herein lies the only real flaw in the Buffy/Angelverse: dead ain't always final.
They had to come up with a 'Fred's soul was destroyed' ploy to make it stick. How do you destroy a soul? That's a first, as far as I know...

I must say, though, that Angel and Spike were, for me, the delight of the season. They were both at their absolute best here.
On the latex front- wow, we are just getting over-run with demons, aren't we? One's even a senator that reminds me of Hillery. Ever see 'Alien Nation'....? I felt the demons should have been a little more in the shadows, you know, not as 'out'. (Yeah, maybe I'm just a Demophobe...)

Now, many here say that Angel's finale was just fine.
Meh.
I treasure Buffy because they had a mission statement, and saw it through. Sometimes self-indulgent and/or imperfect, they came to a logical (imho) conclusion.
Angel seemed to be making it up as it went.
There were some great and effective moments in the final two eps, but I still feel cheated. I wanted to see it (evil) all grind to a halt for just that one moment like Angel talked about. I blame the WB.

On a superficial note, David got a haircut near the end of the season that just accentuated his, er...added dimensions...I know he hurt his knee, but it was VERY distracting to have his heavy-ness pushed in my face like that. The person(s) that okayed that do should be whipped.

Last:
I come away feeling that Angel satisfied the adolesent male in me, where Buffy satisfied the adult person in me, if that makes any sense.

My five star series rating:

Firefly/Serenity *****
Buffy **** 1/2
Angel ***

Dark Angel **** 1/2 (HA! Worked it in AGAIN!!!)

Go ahead, flame my day Chrisisall

GROUNDED

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 2:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
First:
Grounded was correct; Angel's first season was better.

*smug*

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:

I come away feeling that Angel satisfied the adolesent male in me, where Buffy satisfied the adult person in me, if that makes any sense.

Really? Personally I'd say it's the other way round.

For me, Not Fade Away is far and away the best TV show finale I've ever seen. It just felt so much more complete than Chosen that even the 'open-ended' conclusion made perfect dramatic, and thematic, sense.

Edit: Oh and perhaps your 'making it up as they went' feeling might stem from, I dunno, say skipping two seasons in the middle! ;)

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 3:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:

Edit: Oh and perhaps your 'making it up as they went' feeling might stem from, I dunno, say skipping two seasons in the middle! ;)

They caught me up in the flashbacks!
heh heh

What we all take from a story depends in large part on what we ourselves bring to it. I can totally see why you feel about it the way you do. In the end, I guess I can just empathize with Buffy more than Angel.
For instance: you hated when Buffy bopped Spike, but having been in similar positions (Hey- no jokes, okay) myself, I could really relate to the pain she was in, and the lengths she'd go to suppress it.

So there we are, mate.

Your takes on both Buffy and Angel have been among the most informative and interesting, thanks.

Chrisisall

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Grounded:

For me, Not Fade Away is far and away the best TV show finale I've ever seen.

I really did like the way Joss injected his political philosophy in there, though, like that bit about when you get high enough, the ones below seeming like ants...

Would Angel season 6 have made comments about the presidents of countries having to make demonic deals to keep wars going for Senior Partner purposes, do you think?

RWED infected Chrisisall

THESOMNAMBULIST

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 7:02 PM

Hey Big 'C'

Interesting to read your thoughts on Season 5.

For me personally season five is the more disappointing of all the Angel seasons. For various reasons, I wont go into too much detail because I'll end up writing a thesis, but key sore points are:

Too many past guest stars making a farewell appearance.

The gang working out of Wolfram and Hart was inneffective. They really didn't 'use' the space and concept well enough. So many personel milling around doing what?!

Fred dies - tagged on pathos. Awful conclusion for her character - and the blue thing, as sexy as it was, I felt was too trying. Bugged me all to hell and Wesley's loss/sadness was a missed opportunity.

Spike - what can I say. Shoe-horned in and although used brilliantly for comic effect between he and Angel, I'm still not sure how and why he came back!

Finalé - as suspected throughout the season, this time they really hadn't an idea of where they were going, and as a consequence renders the season flawed.

That said there were some great individual episodes that rival the best of them.

I'd rate them as you did Chrisisall.

Well done btw, you've come a long way if you think about it, from those day's when you innocently typed in the title to your thread : Should I buy Buffy season 1 ?

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 8:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
you've come a long way if you think about it, from those day's when you innocently typed in the title to your thread : Should I buy Buffy season 1 ?

A lifetime ago, my friend.

Chrisisall, a road, not a destination

EMBERS

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 8:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
First:
Grounded was correct; Angel's first season was better.

well we will never agree on that one!
I really didn't love even one of the episodes in S1 while I found most of the S5 to be endlessly wonderful!

Quote:

And killing Fred was for effect. Angel talked about finding Fred's soul and just bringing it back.

well I think I'm the only one who didn't cry over Fred's death... I never really liked Fred,
but I LOVED Illyria and I was hoping we would end up with some kind of Illyria/Fred hybred.
I did cry over Wesley's death...
BUT I was hoping that someday Joss would have Wesley's Father raise him from the dead as an evil zombie to do his bidding (the ultimate dutiful son that Wesley had failed to be in life)
but you see? I love that the dead can return in Joss' Buffy/Angelverse

Quote:
Now, many here say that Angel's finale was just fine.
Meh.

Angel seemed to be making it up as it went.
There were some great and effective moments in the final two eps, but I still feel cheated. I wanted to see it (evil) all grind to a halt for just that one moment like Angel talked about. I blame the WB.

personally I thought that the Ats series finale was perfect;
because to me the whole point is that there is no rest for the wicked.
Angel is going to have to keep fighting.
even if he occassionally wins one, he knows that the next fight is just around the corner (Buffy knows the same thing...but she is going to get to go to Heaven and enjoy the benefits of a hero's journey, but Angel knows no such thing).
I think Joss did the perfect thing: contrasting the two series/the two heros with the two completely different, polar opposite, endings.

I get that it didn't work for you, or for a lot of people, but it was perfect to me.

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 8:51 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by embers:

I get that it didn't work for you, or for a lot of people, but it was perfect to me.

Keep in mind that I literally finished the season last night, and my view of it is fresh and un-soaked in, I may change my mind and embrace it as perfect without notice.
As it was, it worked for me, just not nearly a well as Buffy's. But there's a lot to your noting the contrast between B and A, Angel really would be hard pressed to have an actual happy end, I guess.

And season one is better (I feel) because it's consistant. There are only a few eps that are season 5 quality, but as a whole, it tells the tale better (again IMHO). Season 5 has some AMAZING eps, but it's all over the place as a whole.

Now I'm tired...
How about: I just like Buffy more, but Angel is excellent, too?

No Jaws 3D tonite Chrisisall

EMBERS

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 9:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
How about: I just like Buffy more, but Angel is excellent, too?

well I cannot argue with THAT!
or with loving Firefly the bestest of all three...

GROUNDED

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 9:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
Too many past guest stars making a farewell appearance.

It's the final season - everyone is making a farewell appearance!

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

The gang working out of Wolfram and Hart was inneffective. They really didn't 'use' the space and concept well enough. So many personel milling around doing what?!

I can agree with that.

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
Fred dies - tagged on pathos. Awful conclusion for her character - and the blue thing, as sexy as it was, I felt was too trying. Bugged me all to hell and Wesley's loss/sadness was a missed opportunity.

I dunno on this one. I wasn't the Illyria fan that everyone else was, but I think it was an interesting move to make. Not every character death can be heroic and meaningful - the final scene of Shells really gets me every time *sniff*

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

Spike - what can I say. Shoe-horned in and although used brilliantly for comic effect between he and Angel, I'm still not sure how and why he came back!

Um possibly to address the Shanshu prophecy issues his soul brings up? I think Spike should have crossed over to Angel way earlier.

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

Finalé - as suspected throughout the season, this time they really hadn't an idea of where they were going, and as a consequence renders the season flawed.

Actually, they did know where they were going. (I forget where I saw it mentioned, but there are Circle of the Black Thorn logos visible even in the earliest eps.) And apparently, nothing was changed for the finale post cancellation.

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:

I'd rate them as you did Chrisisall.

Speaking of which...top 5 for the season?

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