Angel Season Four= Best. Season. Ever.

POSTED BY: Lexan
UPDATED: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 05:48
VIEWED: 9686
PAGE 1 of 4

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE

LEXAN

Monday, January 15, 2007 10:58 AM

In my opinion, the best season of Angel was season four...by a very large margin. From what I've read about people's opinion of season four around here I'm rather alone in this viewpoint. Not only was Angel season four the best season of Buffy and Angel, it was the best season of any show Joss has ever created...

I think a lot of people get turned by the season because of Cordelia's changed personality and her relationship with both Angel and Connor. This, however, is not really a valid reason for disliking the season, as Cordelia was possessed by an evil, ill-intentioned being after she got her memory back until she went into the coma. This, to an extent, redeems the fact that Connor and 'Cordelia' slept together in Apocalypse Nowish. Though I must admit I did find that a little icky but hardly icky enough to take away any of the brilliance of the season. Cordelia and Angel 'falling in love' can't really be blamed on Cordelia being possessed and is the only element of the season (or the series) I would consider to be truly weak.

Then there's Connor...A lot of people didn't like Connor because he hated and rebelled against Angel. But really.. no wander. He was raised in 'the darkest of the dark worlds' by a man who hated Angel with every fibre of his being and wanted nothing but to make Angel suffer. Probably one of the reasons I liked the season so much was the fact that I love Connor. He's one of my favourite characters in both Buffy and Angel.

One of my favourite elements of the season was Wesley’s transformation from goofy book guy to hardcore bad-ass. Wesley was just awesome in this season (as he was in the later episodes of season three, the second best season after four) and Alexis Denisof played the character very well.

I thought the story-line, plot, character conceptualisation and pacing of this season was without a doubt exceptional. The beast was an effective, if not particularly profound, big bad. When it was revealed that Cordelia was the beast’s master I was completely blown away (and also quite glad that the personality-deficient person who had been claiming to be Cordelia in fact wasn’t her) and thought it was a brilliant twist in the story. In the last few episodes, Jasmine reveals herself to be the ‘actual’ villain of the season. A lot of people, even those who liked season four, thought the Jasmine episodes were weak and probably the worst of the season. I don’t agree with this and love the Jasmine episodes just as much as the other episodes. The episode in which Fred was the only person who wasn’t under Jasmine’s spell was my especial favourite. I thought it was extremely fitting that Connor still loved Jasmine when he saw her true face, seeing as he was raised in a place where he saw things as bad-looking as she daily and was known as ‘the destroyer’ to all of them.

I was surprised when I came on this site and found that no one seemed to acknowledge the brilliance of Angel season four and all it’s fascinating layers, dimensions and conceptualisations. I certainly found it to the most gripping season of any of Joss’ shows. Way better than Angel season five...

ECGORDON

Monday, January 15, 2007 12:55 PM

Before others show up to bash your opinion, let me be the first to agree with you, all except one point. I would argue that the half-season of Firefly beats not only anything else Joss has done, but also practically anything else anyone has ever done for tv.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

DEEPGIRL187

Monday, January 15, 2007 4:53 PM

Now don't get me wrong here, I agree with you on a lot of points. Particularly about Connor and Wesley. And season four had a lot of great episodes, like "The House Always Wins", "Spin The Bottle", "Orpheus", and "Players". But I just can't say that it's the best season. I felt that towards the end of the season, the writers were grasping at straws. It's like they weren't sure what to do, so they just threw a bunch of plotlines together and hoped it would work out.

But many kudos to you for being brave enough to post your opinion. It can be hard to stand up to the hordes of season four bashers.

P.S. - I don't know if you have access to TNT, but they're airing season four right now. They show two episodes back to back from 6:00am-8:00am. Tomorrow's episodes are "Orpheus" and "Players".

*************************************************

"I suppose if we couldn't laugh at things that don't make sense, we couldn't react to a lot of life."

PURPLEBELLY

Monday, January 15, 2007 4:58 PM

If only Charisma had brought the team in at the pregnancy planning stage - what a series we could have had... what a career Charisma could have had... Such is Life, I guess.

ZORPRIME01

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:55 PM

First of all, I think I fall somewhere in the middle with regard to the usual Angel season 4 argument. I think it is in many ways one of the best seasons and in other ways one of the worst. In that respect it reminds me a little of Buffy Season 6 - it does so many things right, but also does many things that take away from the good parts.

First of all, I love the epic-scale battles with the Beast, the blotting out of the sun, and the return of one of my all-time favorite characters, Faith. Wesley is also very interesting in this season, and I don't mind Conner all that much either.

I think it's the smaller, interpersonal things they don't quite work in some instances. There was a change in the production team with Angel S4, and I think maybe the tone of the show changed somewhat. As in Buffy S6 with Willow going evil, it can be painful to watch from an emotional standpoint (which I suppose you could say is a strength) - but it makes the viewer shy away from the show a little bit instead of drawing them further in, IMO. But I think the biggest problem with S4 is that there's never any resolution to what's happening. It just keeps on going.

Quality-wise, I'd put S2 & S3 a little ahead of S4. But in saying that, I'll reiterate I don't dislike 4, I just don't think it's the strongest season overall. In terms of epic battles and action scenes, I'd say it's possibly the strongest. In terms of character, I'd say it's one of the weakest.

Overall, I think S4 is underrated and S5 is overrated. Just my opinion...

"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak."

ZORPRIME01

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:56 PM

darn multiple posts

ZORPRIME01

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:57 PM

and error messages

WRATCHIT

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:59 PM

Season 4.....YUCKY!

I still like the first. It not only had Glenn Quinn but Charisma was still Smokin Hot. (Not that she isn't now, but DAYUM!)

That is all.

__________________________________________________
Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?
www.bikerplanet.net

GROOSALUGG

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 6:53 PM

I won't "bash your opinion", but I will correct you by saying that of the reasons you cited why "most" people dislike S4, none apply to me.

My biggest gripe is the way the entire previous plot was pretty much thrown out the window when Jasmine came along. The Beast, Angelus, blotting out the Sun... what did all these things have to do with Jasmine's utlimate plan? En-spelled-Wesley's explanation of "They were birth pains" just doesn't cut it.

And how about a little character-consistency--is that too much to ask? Jasmine, when she was controlling Cordelia, was about as arch-villain-y as one could possibly get, and then she's born, and suddenly she's the sweetest, most loving being ever to walk the earth? Did the writers just forget everything that had happened in earlier eps? (I wouldn't be surprised--in the episode where Angelus gets free, he throws an arrow at Cordy and hits her in the thigh; within a couple of episodes, everyone's saying Angelus shot her with a crossbow. Great memories there, writing staff! )

The way the entire Jasmine arc was handled makes it feel like a last-minute contrivance (which it was), that the writers mashed up against the previous 2/3 of the season, and then tried to tie everything together with a couple of limp pieces of string. Didn't work.

Also, Charisma was great as Cordelia; she was HORRIBLE as a Big Bad. Awful. Putrid. WAY too arch and over-the-top. But still, as bad as she was--and as annoying as Lap Dog Connor was, being led around all year by his you-know-what--those things wouldn't have bothered me too much if there'd been a satisfying end to the season, something that actually paid off on all the carnage and devastation from earlier. Sadly, it was not to be...

LEXAN

Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:50 AM

The Beast, Angelus and blotting out the sun actually were very relevant when it came to Jasmine's ultimate plan... everything was meant to make sure all occurences were 'nudged in the right direction'. The Beast was designed to be a distraction from Jasmine's ultimate plan (and he was a very good distraction too...). Angelus was also designed as a distraction... This was used in ensuring Lorne would not read Cordy and impairing his powers of reading minds. I can name numerous other reasons as to why these characters were brought into the mix but I thought they were pretty obvious...

About the 'character inconsistency'... Jasmine was still evil... just in a different way. When the evil being that had inhabited Cordy earlier changed demeanour, it was because it had been manifested in a form more true to itself...
I don't remember the arrow thing, so I can't elaborate on what you’re saying with that...but it seems way too negligible to be making a fuss about.

I thought the Jasmine arc was handled very well (especially if it was a last minute contrivance). The writers essentially tied everything up very successfully... I was very impressed with the manner in which they dealt with Connor (remember the prophecy 'the father will kill the son', that was actually true, because Angel did kill Connor).

I agree with you that Charisma Carpenter didn't play the big bad in a particularly credible fashion. This doesn't mean there weren't some great moments with her and the character. My favourite seen in the entire season is the one in which Darla comes back to try to convince Connor not to kill an innocent. The scene is incredibly powerful, Charisma's portrayal of an unspeakable evil aside... It depicts how torn Connor was between all the conflicting and contradictory messages which he had to distinguish as lies or truth… Distinguishing these concepts and where their identities lie can be unbelievably complicated and difficult, especially in Connor’s case.

I don't recognize why you don't consider the ending to be a satisfying one. The last episode, in which Angel accepts Wolfram and Hart's offer of the corporation to him, in exchange for Connor having a customary, comparably worriless life did efficiently tie most, if not all, of the seasonal plot lines and character arcs up.

If you think that Angel season four was inconsistent and lacked continuity, I think it would be beneficial for you to look a little harder and try to unfold the narrative more … I didn’t notice any discrepancies or contradictions while watching the season. In comparison to Buffy season seven, Angel season four is ten times better, predominantly in regard to continuity and canonicity.

1 2 3 4 NEXT PAGE