Angel - Series 4 - Complete (DVD)

...Gunn are attempting to keep Angel Investigations afloat and searching for Angel and Cordelia with the "help" Connor. Lorne has gone to Las Vegas to further his singing career, meanwhile lone gun Wes carries out his own clandestine searches while still sleeping with the enemy.

But where are Angel and Cordelia? Well if you've watched season three (which I would strongly recommend before even attempting to view this) then you'll ...
...battles that go on between Angel and Angelus for control of their body. Really it was just the final five episodes that disappointed.

---About The Characters---

As always with Angel, Season 4 is a strongly character based, and in the main part the characters have been used well, unfortunately there are some weak links, but I think this is mainly down to the way in which they were used rather than the actors abilities. ... more

Just recently I've been working my way through the five seasons of Angel, the enormously successful spin-off of the even more successful series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After having watched season three I was beginning to think, wow this has the potential to be even better than Buffy, and so it was that I was really looking forward to watching this season. But the question is, was it worth the anticipation? Well read on and you'll find exactly what I think about this boxset….

---About The Season---

This the fourth season begins three months after the events of the season three finale.

Fred and Gunn are attempting to keep Angel Investigations afloat and searching for Angel and Cordelia with the "help" Connor. Lorne has gone to Las Vegas to further his singing career, meanwhile lone gun Wes carries out his own clandestine searches while still sleeping with the enemy.

But where are Angel and Cordelia? Well if you've watched season three (which I would strongly recommend before even attempting to view this) then you'll know that Angel is in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean, while Cordelia is looking down on our characters from the lofty position of higher being to which she was raised by the powers that be.

As the season progresses, not only do we watch the team re-form as the various members are rescued and come to terms with their previous actions, but we also learn exactly how Connor came into being, and that not everybody is exactly who they appear….

While I'm not going give anymore details of the actual story arc, I will say that I have mixed feelings about how it actually progressed. To begin with I was very impressed, and I loved the ideas that were appearing, but just over half-way the season seemed to become a little silly (hence the review title) and somehow it just didn't cut it. I'm sure there was supposed to be some suspense to the identity of "The Big Bad", but I'd actually worked out who it was way before the he/she was actually revealed.

That's not to say there weren't some highly amusing and entertaining episodes because there were. Humour-wise, Spin The Bottle, was wonderful and brought back feelings that I'd associated with Buffy classics such as Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered from season 2. While Orpheus gave a wonderful insight into the everyday battles that go on between Angel and Angelus for control of their body. Really it was just the final five episodes that disappointed.

---About The Characters---

As always with Angel, Season 4 is a strongly character based, and in the main part the characters have been used well, unfortunately there are some weak links, but I think this is mainly down to the way in which they were used rather than the actors abilities. Anyhow I'll give you a short run-down on the main characters, but I will try not to give any of their development in the season away….

--Angel/Angelus : Played by David Boreanaz--

When Liam was turned into a vampire by Darla he was the most vicious creature imaginable, and yet his angelic looks (in his human form) led to him being nicknamed Angelus. After decades of satisfying his penchant for torture and taking his fill of blood from the necks of his victims, Angelus picked the wrong girl to feed on. The girl's gypsy family came up the ultimate punishment and restored his soul. This soul means that he now feels pain and remorse for all of his previous deeds, is in a constant battle with his vampire desires (in the form Angelus) and is attempting to make up for his past in the hope of fulfilling a prophecy promising him humanity as a reward for his actions in the apocalypse.

--Connor : Played by Vincent Kartheiser--

Connor is an impossibility, the child of two vampires (Angel and Darla) who was stolen from Angel's care by a deadly enemy and raised in an alternative demon dimension. Connor is now an angry young man, whose mind has been filled with hatred for those that would have loved and protected him and he has a secret that he's hiding from those that are still able to watch out for him…

--Gunn : Played by J. August Richards--

Muscle man Gunn has been fighting the vampire menace for almost as long as he can remember. Before he met Angel, he led a group of street kids in a battle to keep themselves alive and human as they protected their territory against a vampire gang. Now as part of Angel Investigations, he's found himself a place in the world of good and evil, and although not too smart he's very loyal to those that have earned it.

--Fred : Played by Amy Acker--

When Angel rescued Winifred (Fred), from a Demon dimension her earned himself another loyal and extremely smart follower. Although she has no magic, or great physical strength, I think I can honestly say that Fred is the "brains" of Angel Investigations. Whenever there is a puzzle that needs solving, Fred is there, and yet she still retains a great sense of compassion, even with those that have crossed her.

--Wes : Played by Alexis Denisof--

After having been tricked into betraying Angel and all of his friends in the previous season, ex-watcher Wes has turned into a dark and broken character who is a shadow of his former self. Even though he is now cut of from the rest of the team, and appears to be allying himself with their enemies, is there still a spark of decency left inside him….

--Cordelia : Played by Charisma Carpenter--

Ex-prom queen Cordy, had become an important part of Angel's team, mainly due to the fact that she had been given the gift of visions of those in need by the powers that be. As a reward for her tireless to protect the helpless she was rewarded by being elevated to the status of a higher being and now she's missing and bored….

--Lorne : Played by Andy Hallet--

Green skinned, red horned demon Lorne, can see into a person's future simply by listening to them sing. In the previous season he became a regular if somewhat reluctant member of Angel's team for a short period before relocating to Las Vegas to fulfil his dream of fame and fortune.

--Crossovers--

As well as the main characters and others that play a major role in the season that I've left you to discover there are two cross-overs from Buffy (season 7), who are Faith and Willow. In fact by watching this in parallel with season 7 of Buffy, you will actually get some clues to how Faith becomes involved in that storyline.

---About The Atmosphere---

While the storyline gives this season a dark atmosphere in the opening episodes, and the actors all play there part in keeping this going, it is truly the special effects and scenery that help keep this atmosphere going. There are lots of dark sets, and the special effects throughout are just as good as any Buffy fan would have come to expect. There is just the right mix of make-up, stunts and computer generated effects, so that you aren't led to immediately say "hey that bit doesn't look real" and while not being so intrusive that it is immediately noticed, the score adds to this effect, so that the atmosphere is truly perfect.

---About The Presentation---

In keeping with both previous seasons of Angel and seasons 2-6 of Buffy, this season (along with a number of special features) is presented over six discs which are then stored in a hardback book. Within this book is a handy episode guide along with separate protective pages for each disc. I personally like this format, as it looks very smart, and although the discs may be difficult to remove if you're not actually used to this storage method, by the time you've got to this season it's almost like second nature.

Each of the discs is very neatly presented, printed with a picture of Angel over a background of Los Angeles and along with the book and a cardboard slipcase follows a brown theme. My own thoughts on the presentation is that it looks very professional, and is certainly far greater than the standard that could be achieved from recording off the television and creating my own discs.

---About The Extras---

For me any DVD, whether boxset or not, is far more than the film or programme that it contains. I was therefore expecting quite a large number of extras on these discs, and unfortunately I was quite disappointed by what I actually got. Basically the extras seem to consist of a large number of commentaries, a few featurettes and some useless trailers. There's not even a picture gallery, but I guess I can tell you about the few extras they deemed to include…

--Commentaries--

There are commentaries to a total of seven out of the twenty-two episodes, many of which feature not only the writers and producers but also the actors. While this added a little more interest to them overall, I still don't actually find this sort of thing that interesting and found myself just using them as background noise while I was doing other things.

--Featurettes---

I must admit there are a reasonable number of featurettes with there being six in total. The question is are the worth watching, well once more read on…

-Angel And The Apocalypse-

A short but sweet look at the episode "Apocalypse Nowish", and all the special effects that were needed to make it work. I quite enjoyed watching this, but felt it could actually have been much longer and more in depth.

-Prophecies : Season 4 Overview-

A rather long look at the season from the perspective of the creators, crew and actors. I must say that while Joss Whedon tells us that he feels this is the best season, I have to disagree, but as always it's nice to see if the ideas I've formed on the season match what was actually intended.

-Unplugged : season 4 Outtakes-

Ah, the best part of any set of special features and as always there are never enough of these gaffs, burps and general goofing off. One thing (apart from the laughs) that shines through here is how closely the actors work together, you can almost see the rapport between them.

-Last looks : the Hyperion Hotel-

A final quick tour of the Hotel that has been the home and base of Angel's Investigations for the last three seasons. I didn't actually find this that interesting, it was something that I'd seen before (and in far more detail), in the special features of Season 2.

-Fatal Beauty And The Beast-

Yet another short feature that looks at two of the dangers that Angel faces in this season, and how different they are. While not exactly fascinating, it was short enough not to get boring.

-Malice in Wonderland : Wolfram & Hart-

A fascinating look at that most evil of law firms, that has been behind most of the evil that Angel and co. has faced since the series started. Again this doesn't seem quite long enough, I'm sure there's much more that could have been said.

--Trailers--

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

The picture and sound quality, are once again wonderful, with not a trace of pixelation or ghosting visible. My only problems are the lack of 5.1 sound, and the fact that the picture is in anamorphic wide screen format and I actually watch this on a full screen television.

---About The Technical Bits---

Rating : 15
Feature Running Time : 922 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---

This season made an exceptional start, and I quickly found myself drawn into the storyline, but then all of a sudden it seemed to loose it's way and became far less compelling. It was still worth watching, but after having found myself loathed to wait for the next episode with the previous season, I did find this a little disappointing.

I also felt that the special features were perhaps not quite as special as they had been in the previous seasons and there were far to many commentaries. Value for money-wise this is still a reasonable price, and of course the fact that there are no commercials to spoil your viewing pleasure is enough reason for any fan to buy this. But I find myself sad to say that this is not the best season of Angel, and perhaps should only be purchased by those that are fans, already have the previous boxsets and need to complete their collections.

But be quick, this format will soon be discontinued and replaced by one that utilises standard DVD case and certainly would not look quite as good on your shelves.

* This season is best watched in tandem with Buffy Season 7 

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