Angel - Series 5 - Complete (DVD)

...fact that the spin-off show, Angel would not only continue to run, but would also feature my all-time favourite character (Spike). So I started watching Angel from season five (yes this season), in the hope of satisfying my Spike addiction, found myself hooked (if a little confused) and then sorely disappointed when it was announced mid-way through the season that this would be the last ever season of Angel as well. As, I'd already got interested ...
...The Programme---

Angel is the spin-off of the enormously successful American science fiction programme, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. While Buffy was aimed at (and depicted) teenagers growing up and going through the trials and tribulations of high school (and later college), Angel focussed on the adult world after leaving school.

Based on the premise that Angel is a vampire who has been cursed with a soul and is now trying ... more

When the last episode of Buffy aired I was disappointed, but I took some comfort from the fact that the spin-off show, Angel would not only continue to run, but would also feature my all-time favourite character (Spike). So I started watching Angel from season five (yes this season), in the hope of satisfying my Spike addiction, found myself hooked (if a little confused) and then sorely disappointed when it was announced mid-way through the season that this would be the last ever season of Angel as well. As, I'd already got interested in the show, (and being too impatient to wait for it to be shown on TV again) I decided to buy myself a complete collection of the five seasons on DVD. Season One, was pretty good and got me hooked, Two was better, Three was superb, then season four was slightly disappointing. But the question is, was season five any better and is it worth buying on DVD? Well read on, and I hope I will assist you in making up your mind….

---About The Programme---

Angel is the spin-off of the enormously successful American science fiction programme, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. While Buffy was aimed at (and depicted) teenagers growing up and going through the trials and tribulations of high school (and later college), Angel focussed on the adult world after leaving school.

Based on the premise that Angel is a vampire who has been cursed with a soul and is now trying to redeem himself by saving those in peril, the programme is a mix of science fiction, horror, action, drama and comedy, with the occasional love interest thrown in for good measure.

---About The Season---

As the fifth (and final) season of Angel begins, our heroes (minus two) find themselves in charge of the LA branch of Lawyers from Hell, Wolfram & Hart. As we watch the characters come to terms with their reversal in fortunes, we discover that having (seemingly) ultimate power and influence does not necessarily mean that the saving of innocents becomes any easier.

Angel is struggling to reconcile his saving of said innocents (and perhaps earning his final reward), with the inherent evil that lurks among his new staff, while Fred and Wes are each learning what it means to be heads of departments and suddenly have a wealth of experience and knowledge at their finger tips. Meanwhile, Gunn is offered the opportunity to make use of his "uninhabited" brain space and become as important a member of the team as the others (not that he wasn't already). The only member of Angel Investigations that seems to be enjoying himself is green-skinned, red-horned Lorne, who is in his element as the head of entertainment.

Of our two missing characters there is not much to say, Cordelia is still in a coma, and Conner is happily set up with his new family with no knowledge of who he or his father really are.

Meanwhile, in an envelope on Angel's desk, sits a talisman last worn by a bleach-haired vampire with a soul, who recently sacrificed himself to save the world…..

As the season progresses we watch our once stalwart heroes beset with such problems as losing the conviction that held them in such good stead in previous seasons, and in one case completely losing themselves. My personal take on the seasons "theme", was that ultimate power corrupts, and the season is really a battle for power over Angel's destiny. And to begin with this was a very well thought out storyline, with a lot of scope for both good standalone episodes and an even better story arc, and indeed the introduction of Spike as an antagonist was an exceptional idea. However after the program cancellation was announced, everything began to feel very rushed, and the finale was disappointing to say the least.

---About The Characters/Cast---

I am in no way blaming either the cast or the characters they played for the feeling of disappointment I felt when this season ended. Indeed they did as fantastic a job as I have grown to expect. David Boreanez was once more perfect in the title role, and if anything brought a great sense of world-weariness to the character that had not been evident in previous seasons. James Marsters' reprisal of the role of Spike, brought that sense of rivalry and back-biting that had also been missing up until now (it was Spike and Angel's hate/hate relationship in Buffy that gave it an added fun factor).

Although Charisma Chase (Cordelia), was sadly missing from the great majority of the season, she was ably replaced by Mercedes McNab, who returned as dipsy vampire Harmony in the role of Angel's PA and provided some entertaining comedy moments. Of the other characters there is not much to say, as although the actors played their parts admirably, this was really Angel and Spike's season and it was them and their rivalry that always appeared at the forefront.

I will add here, though, that as the season was being aired on the television we were promised a multitude of special appearances by members of the Buffy cast, including the number one lady herself (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy), but for reasons beyond Joss Whedon's control these never occurred. Instead we got ANDREW, what on earth were they thinking, he was the most wussy, pathetic character in Buffy, even Kennedy would have been better than him.

---About The Atmosphere---

Along with the storyline and cast, what really makes a program such as Angel is the various elements that go into creating the overall atmosphere. Score-wise, there is no break from that which has gone before, with that haunting theme music which is followed by an, in the large part unobtrusive musical background. Unfortunately, there is very little of the karaoke that has played an important part in previous seasons, but we do still get to listen to a few pieces of truly awful singing.

With the move to the offices of Wolfram & Hart, gone are the dark, gloomy sets with little sunlight, and instead we have bright spacious offices with the sun streaming in through the windows. This gives the season a far different feel, and it's almost as if the team have moved out of the shadows and into the real world.

Finally the special effects (from make-up to stunt work) are as professionally done as any avid viewer will have come to expect. There is a large array of new demons to feast the eyes on, and plenty of high action scenes with characters being thrown across the room, or even out of the window.

---About The Presentation---

For me a DVD box set is far more than just the season it contains. You see I own a DVD recorder, so I could easily wait for the program to appear on the television and create my own copy. What I want to know is, is it actually worth me forking out my hard-earned cash, just to have a professionally made copy? And I'm sure I'm not the only one, so I will now try to enlighten you on the actual DVD set as a whole..

As with previous seasons of Angel and 2-5 of Buffy, this season is presented over 6 DVDs which are then stored within protective sleeves in a hardback book. As well as the discs the book contains a handy episode guide, along with all the directorial information. The book and discs are very smartly printed in burnt orange hues and the complete product looks very nice when teamed up with the rest of my Buffy and Angel Box sets.

On putting the DVDs in your player, you will notice that the still copyright warnings have been replaced with a funky video which tells us how downloading files off the internet is stealing. Now while I found the still warnings annoying, this is even worse, and you might want to put the kettle on while you're waiting for this and the rather lengthy motion menu to finish playing.

---About The Extras---

As well as a large number (7) commentaries to various episodes (which I quite frankly found boring and gave up on after a couple of minutes), there is a vast number of featurettes, all of which are interesting and worth at least one watch (and some more). A quick point to make here, is please do NOT watch any of the special features before actually finishing the season.

The first featurette (Hey Kid's It's Smile Time) focuses on the what is probably the funniest episode of the season. And I must say it is almost as entertaining as the actual episode, as we see what ALL the performers thought of it, including those that came with strings attached.

The second featurette (Angel 100) focuses on the feelings of the cast and crew as they hit the achievement of producing the hundredth episode (You're Welcome) along with a little of the thoughts behind this episode and some footage from the party that was held. This isn't anywhere nearly as interesting or fun as the previous featurette, but is still worth a watch.

In the next slightly longer featurette (Angel : Choreography of a Stunt) we take a look at the virtual unknown, that plays the role of Angel in those scenes that would give David's insurers a heart attack. I am of course talking about the stuntman, and this featurette takes us through the two days that it took to perform one thirty second scene. Although, I only found it relatively interesting, I'm sure anyone who is interested in that side of film production would find this fascinating.

The now standard season overview (Angel : The Final Season) begins the plethora of featurettes on the final disc, and as always it's interesting to see how the cast and crew felt the season progressed. And as always their feelings differed considerably from my own, but you may find yourself agreeing with them, as the program churns up different feelings in different viewers.

In To Live And Die In LA, we look at Joss Whedon's favourite episodes throughout the first four seasons. This was a nice nostalgic trip down memory lane, and I really enjoyed this one and I've watched it a quite a few times.

After looking at the "best bits" in the next featurette (Halos and Horns) we take a look at some of the recurring demons and evil-doers that we met through the various seasons of Angel (and Buffy). While the "good" characters are interesting in their own way, it's the depth of the various nasties that make the show what it is. This featurette comes in a close second place as my favourite, as it just goes into so much detail into their character development.

The final featurette (Angel Unbound) provides us with the ever entertaining blooper reel, with the various mishaps, fumblings, bleeps, and general goofing off that are now standard fare in the extras of any Angel box set. Surprisingly, this was actually longer than normal, and included some footage from season four as well as this season.

---About The Picture/Sound Quality---

As I've come to expect, the picture and sound quality throughout the set are impeccable, but even so I do have gripes. Firstly the picture is in the anamorphic widescreen format, and there is no chance to buy it in full screen. This means that I'm stuck with black bars at the top and bottom of my standard TV, which is a little annoyingly. Secondly, once more the program makers haven't made full use of current technology, and while this is in surround sound, it's only of the 2.0 variety, 5.1 would have been much more atmospheric.

---About The Technical Bits---

Rating : 15
Feature Running Time : 911 minutes
Region : 2 (PAL)
Picture : 16:9 (anamorphic)
Sound : Dolby Digital 2.0 (stereo)
Languages : English/French
Subtitles : English for the hearing impaired/French/Dutch

Price : £34.99 from mvc.co.uk (+£1 delivery) or £37.99 from Play

---About My Final Opinion---

Make no mistakes this season started very well, and the first few episodes drew me into the web of the story. So much so, in fact, that I was too impatient to wait for the next episode when it was airing on television and resorted to other methods to find out what happened next. Sadly, however, I found shortly after it was announced to be the last season, the story fell apart, and it felt as though one and a half seasons had been squeezed into the final half season. Everything became so rushed and the storyline felt contrived, almost as if it wasn't allowed to develop properly (as I'm sure was the case). Even so I still held out hope for the final episode, but even that hope was quashed, with what I can only say is the worst season finale I have ever seen. Even my husband (who isn't really into this sort of programme) asked "Is that it?" as it finished. While I understand that the way had to be left open, just in case the programme is ever given a reprieve, I was left feeling that too many questions were left unanswered.

I would also say that this is not a particularly good season for stand-alone episodes, in fact there are only two that come to mind that I would recommend to the casual viewer. Those being "Smile Time" for it's comedy element and "You're Welcome" for the brief return of Cordelia. Otherwise, this as the story moves very quickly (especially in the second half of the season) it would be very easy to find yourself confused if you hadn't watched all the preceding episodes.

As far as whether I regret buying this on DVD, the answer is a resounding NO. After all, I already knew how it ended but this not only completed my collection, but also allowed me to watch it whenever I felt like it, and not when the broadcasters deemed fit. Add to this the fact that there are no annoying adverts, and that I enjoy watching the extras and this is still very good value for money.

I am therefore recommending this Box Set to the avid fan, who wishes to complete their collection, and would say to those, who are perhaps interested in watching this, to record it off the television for now, before deciding if this is really your thing. 

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