Angel - Series 1 - Complete (DVD)

...Angel. Whilst I don't think Angel holds a candle to Buffy, it's still a very good show and gives you the other side of the story to some of the Buffy plots.

--Investigating Angel--

A little bit about the show itself before I get into the review of the season one box set. Angel the series is a spin-off show from the very successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like the title suggests, the show revolves around Angel - the ...
...end of Buffy's season three, Angel left Sunnydale and headed to LA - which is where this series takes place. He's only been there a short while when he accrues a gang and opens a business - Angel Investigations - who aim to help the helpless.

That's the basic premise of the show, for the first season at least. As with all ongoing shows, the plots and characters become more and more complex as time progresses.

--Characters--
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Having reviewed Buffy seasons one to seven, I figure that I may as well move on to reviewing the spin-off show, Angel. Whilst I don't think Angel holds a candle to Buffy, it's still a very good show and gives you the other side of the story to some of the Buffy plots.

--Investigating Angel--

A little bit about the show itself before I get into the review of the season one box set. Angel the series is a spin-off show from the very successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like the title suggests, the show revolves around Angel - the vampire with a soul, who is on a mission of redemption.

At the end of Buffy's season three, Angel left Sunnydale and headed to LA - which is where this series takes place. He's only been there a short while when he accrues a gang and opens a business - Angel Investigations - who aim to help the helpless.

That's the basic premise of the show, for the first season at least. As with all ongoing shows, the plots and characters become more and more complex as time progresses.

--Characters--

The lead character is, obviously, Angel. He's a 250 year old vampire with a soul, who's just come out of a relationship with the Slayer, Buffy. To be honest - I didn't like the character of Angel very much whilst he was on Buffy, so I was a little wary of watching this show. However, he's a lot more engaging in his own show and sparks very well with the supporting cast.

Remember Cordelia Chase from Buffy? Well, after blowing up the school with her friends at the end of Buffy Season Three, she headed out to LA to pursue a career as an actress. But like most of the Buffyverse characters, she can't seem to escape the supernatural and soon meets up with Angel and becomes a member of his team. Again, I didn't like the character of Cordelia very much whilst she was on Buffy - she was a bitch with a capital B, but in Angel she matures and undergoes a serious character transformation.

Doyle is a quirky Irish character who turns up and tells Angel that he should be helping the helpless and not sitting around getting drunk. Doyle is part demon and has visions sent to him by the Powers That Be - visions of people being attacked or harmed by demons - and he wants Angel to help them. Doyle is a great character that I really liked, but he doesn't last the season.

The final Buffy character to join Angel's team is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce - remember him? - Buffy and Faith's weedy Watcher who wimped out of helping Angel in season three of Buffy. I feel like a broken record saying this, but I didn't like Wesley in Buffy either. Yet again I come to like him in Angel. Wesley perhaps undergoes the biggest character transformation across Angel's five seasons, and that begins here in the first season.

Finally, there are some minor supporting characters, such as Kate - the police officer who soon works out that all is not quite right with Angel; and Lindsey - a young lawyer who works for the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart.

And perhaps W&H should be included as a character as well, considering the huge role it plays throughout the series. W&H provides a lot of what the Hellmouth provided in Buffy - a reason for the supernatural and an adversary for Angel & co. to rally against.

--Episodes--

Episode One: City Of...
The opening episode of the series is really a scene-setter, with the audience being re-introduced to Angel's character, and to his new gang - Cordelia and Doyle. In the episode Angel meets up with Cordelia at a party, and soon she is needing his help with an unwanted suitor. Doyle, Cordy and Angel then join up to form Angel Investigations. The episode is a good one for getting us into this world - kind of familiar but worlds away from Sunnydale.

Episode Two: Lonely Hearts
A great second episode, this sees Angel and the others investigating a series of disappearances that are linked to a nightclub. It turns out to be a body-snatching demon with an interesting way of getting from one body to the next... We're also introduced to Kate, the police officer who is highly suspicious of the way Angel acts...

Episode Three: In The Dark
The first of several crossovers with Buffy, this episode goes along with Buffy's Season Four episode "In The Harsh Light of Day". Over in Sunnydale, Spike had found the Ring of Amara - that would give him near invincibility - but Buffy took it from him and gave it to Oz to bring to Angel. Of course, Spike now wants it back, so he arrives in LA, and he's not happy. I'm always a fan of an episode with Spike in, so I thought this one was great.

Episode Four: I Fall to Pieces
A strange episode that feels a lot like the very early seasons of Buffy. A creepy doctor is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, and they soon discover that he has a unique way of spying on her - his various body parts come off and move around on their own. A so-so episode that I didn't particularly like.

Episode Five: Room With A View
Fed up with her disgusting apartment, Cordelia starts the search for something more suited to her standards. Eventually settling on the dream apartment, she moves in - only to find she's not alone - the place is haunted. I enjoyed this episode despite its rather grizzly conclusion.

Episode Six: Sense and Sensitivity
In this episode we learn more about Kate and her relationship with Angel intensifies. Meanwhile, an evil mobster using Wolfram and Hart as his lawyers casts a spell on the police department, turning them into whimpering idiots. Not a particularly memorable episode, but it has some nice moments.

Episode Seven: The Bachelor Party
Doyle and Cordelia are getting closer, but then Doyle's ex-wife turns up - new fiancé in tow. It turns out that his ex's new hubby-to-be is also part demon, and part of the pre-wedding ritual involves eating the first husband. I enjoyed this episode apart from one thing - the actor that played the new fiancé!

Episode Eight: I Will Remember You
A great episode for those who loved the Buffy/Angel relationship. After Angel's visit to Sunnydale (Buffy, Season Four: Pangs), she comes to LA to see him. Shortly after she arrives, they're attacked by a demon, who infects Angel with its blood, and he becomes human. Buffy and Angel spend the day together as humans, but can their blissful happiness last? A very good episode that has some heartbreaking moments.

Episode Nine: Hero
A sad episode that sees the departure of Doyle. Angel and the others get involved in helping a group of part-demon refugees escape the city, but on their tails is a gang of demons named the Scourge who are determined to wipe out "impure" demons. An exciting episode with a tragic ending.

Episode Ten: Parting Gifts
With Doyle gone there's an opening on the team, and soon enough Wesley arrives in town, sporting the guise of "rogue demon hunter". Meanwhile, Cordelia has inherited the gift of the visions from Doyle - but there's a problem when a demon turns up wanting to auction her off. A so-so episode that is mainly dealing with Wesley's arrival.

Episode Eleven: Somnambulist
When corpses show up around the city that bear a striking resemblance to the way Angelus used to kill people, Wesley and Kate grow suspicious that Angelus is back and killing again. What's the truth behind the mystery? I really enjoyed this episode.

Episode Twelve: Expecting
This isn't a favourite episode of mine... Cordelia wakes up after a night out to find she is eight months pregnant - and it's not a human baby. A silly episode with a silly conclusion, but do I smell foreshadowing?

Episode Thirteen: She
Demon women are smuggling themselves to earth from another dimension, and it's up to Angel and co. to help them on their way without the men of the dimension finding out. Not a great episode with some truly AWFUL moments between Angel and the leader of the demon women.

Episode Fourteen: I've Got You Under My Skin
A family who's son is possessed by a demon come to Angel Investigations for help - but the exorcism goes horribly wrong. Again, this isn't a great episode and it has a weird conclusion that I didn't really like.

Episode Fifteen: The Prodigal
This is a good episode with some flashbacks to Angel's youth. Meanwhile, Kate's father gets embroiled in shady dealings and when he is hurt, Kate blames Angel for not helping out more. I like the character of Kate and her interactions with Angel - she doesn't immediately accept him, so I like this episode. The bad thing? David Boreanaz's 'oirish' accent!

Episode Sixteen: The Ring
Having watched Torchwood before Angel, the concept of this episode felt familiar - but if inspiration was taken it was the other way around! Angel is captured by a gang who pit demons against each other for bets and money in a sort of demon fight club. Can he convince the other demons that if they work together they can get out without being killed? An enjoyable episode.

Episode Seventeen: Eternity
A truly horrible episode in my opinion. Angel rescues a Hollywood actress from being hurt, and she soon finds herself drawn to him. She soon realises that vampires have eternal youth and wants Angel to turn her - and of course, there are disastrous consequences when she gives Angel a pill to enduce happiness... Not a good episode.

Episode Eighteen: Five by Five
Episode Nineteen: Sanctuary
A two-parter that sees rogue Slayer Faith coming to LA. She's left Sunnydale after her body-switching experience with Buffy, and heads to the city of angels. She's soon recruited by Wolfram and Hart to kill Angel, but ends up kidnapping and torturing Wesley. In the second episode, Angel finally begins to get through to Faith when Buffy turns up, looking for payback on Faith. Can it end well? Two really great episodes in my opinion, as I really like the character of Faith and this is a great end to her story - for now, anyway.

Episode Twenty: War Zone
This episode introduces a character who will become a regular from season two onwards - Charles Gunn. Here, he's part of a street gang who band together to fight vampires. Angel soon gets involved, and being a vampire, the gang are convinced that they should kill him. Another good episode that shows that "civilians" are aware of the supernatural goings on in town.

Episode Twenty-One: Blind Date
Lindsey and Wolfram & Hart are back - this time with a plot to kill three mystical children. Angel and Gunn have to break into W&H to steal some discs they'll need to save the children. Whilst there, Angel discovers a scroll that contains a prophecy about him... A so-so episode that's more setting up the finale than anything else.

Episode Twenty-Two: To Shanshu in LA
The finale of the season and it goes out with a whimper rather than the bang I'd been expecting after seven seasons of big Buffy finales. Wesley attempts to decipher the scroll that Angel found last episode, and discovers that Angel has Shanshu... This is a recurring theme throughout the series. The last few moments of the episode are pretty good, and there's a surprising cliffhanger right at the end...--Special Features--

1. Audio commentary 1: 'City Of' by creator Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt
2. Audio commentary 2: 'Room With A View' by Jane Espenson
3. Featurette: 'Season One'
4. Trailer: 'Angel Season One'
5. Cast biographies pages
6. Stills gallery
7. 'Five by Five' script
8. 'Sanctuary' script
9. Featurette: 'I'm Cordelia'
10. Featurette: 'Introducing Angel'
11. Featurette: 'The Demons'

--Overall--

On the whole, I think I was expecting more from Angel's first season than I got. I was expecting a slick, polished show that was every bit as good as Buffy. What I got was something that was reminiscent of Buffy's first season, where "monster of the week" was a prevalant theme.

The small character arcs - Kate, Wesley etc. work pretty well, but there's little resolution as both continue into season two.

The big arc of Wolfram & Hart and Lindsey is pretty much non-existent throughout much of the season, and so there's no real sense of fear as you get from the Big Bad's in Buffy.

Overall, I liked the first season and it certainly hooked me enough to want to continue watching into the second season and beyond.

Definitely worth a watch for fans of Buffy and Joss Whedon's works. 

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