And onto my second Angel review, for the second season in the series. Whereas season one of Angel (don't forget to check out my review!) harkened back to the early seasons of Buffy, with "monster of the week" as a prevalent theme, season two of Angel really gets into the swing of things with more complicated plot and character arcs.
--Previously, on Angel...--
We left season one with a whimper - the big finale consisted of little more than Angel cutting off Lindsey's hand. However, there was a pretty good cliffhanger - Wolfram & Hart raised Darla from the dead, and that arc becomes pretty important to a lot of season two.
The end of season one also saw the Angel Investigations headquarters blown up, so somewhere new for the fang gang to meet had to be introduced - in the form of the old Hyperion Hotel.
Finally, we saw Angel, Wesley and Cordelia becoming an even closer-knit group, and the introduction of Gunn.
--Characters--
Angel is back, still with his soul and still leading Angel Investigations with the aim to help the helpless. Angel undergoes some major character transformations in this season - not quite becoming the Angelus we know and hate from Buffy's season two - but getting pretty close with a surly attitude in several episodes that causes a rift in the group.
Cordelia retains her quirky personality into season two, but at the same time matures and grows as a character. By the end of the season she's virtually unrecognisable as the self-centered cheerleader who loved to torment Buffy and her friends.
Wesley continues as his slightly bumbling self, growing a little more rough around the edges, but not completely changing as a character - this doesn't happen until season three.
Finally, there's a new member on the team - Charles Gunn - you might remember him from the episode 'War Zone' in season one. Gunn is a streetwise fighter who's grown up dusting vampires, and he makes a welcome addition to the team.
As I mentioned earlier, Darla's back in this season and she's part of a major plot arc. Her story is quite complicated, but she goes from being human to being a vampire in the course of the season, helped along by her "grandchild" - Drusilla. Yes, Spike's crazy ex is back for a couple of episodes to tie up the Darla arc, and it's always great to see Dru on screen.
Lindsey, Lilah and Wolfram & Hart are pretty much consistently simmering in the background. Like in season one, they don't play too big a role - they're mainly involved in a lot of the Darla storyline.
Finally, some new characters who don't really get too much of a chance to shine in this season, but who will come back and be important later on. First there's the green demon, Lorne. He's the host of the local demon club, Caritas,
and has the ability to read a person's aura and future when they sing (this provides some very funny moments). Lorne plays a major part in the season finale.
Last but not least there's the introduction of Winifred Burkle - better known as Fred - the shy, sweet physics student who was transported and trapped in another dimension five years ago. Fred also plays a large role in the finale.
--Episodes--
Episode One: Judgement A rather weak season opener in my opinion, this episode sees Angel killing a pregnant woman's demon bodyguard - and as such leaves her without protection from a demon court. Angel must then act as her bodyguard and take part in a jousting tournament to save her unborn child. This episode has some good moments - it sees the introduction of Lorne and Caritas, and we get to see Angel's rather...odd...choice in music!
Episode Two: Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been Somehow the episodes that are actually written by series creator Joss Whedon are always of a much higher standard than a lot of the others - and this second episode is of no exception. Angel comes across an abandoned hotel - the Hyperion - and feels a strange sense of familiarity. Through flashbacks to the fifties we see that he actually lived there for a while, and that there was something supernatural going on... A very good episode that introduces what is almost the fifth member of the current fang gang - the new headquarters at the hotel.
Episode Three: First Impressions Angel is as of yet unaware that Darla's back in town, but she's invading his dreams - literally. Through Wolfram & Hart she's going into his dreams and driving him crazy. Meanwhile, Cordelia has a vision that Gunn is in danger, but Gunn is annoyed by her interference. Can they work successfully together? A so-so episode that is setting up the Darla plot arc.
Episode Four: Untouched One of the weaker episodes of the season, Angel comes into contact with a young girl who has telekenetic powers - that is, she can move stuff with her mind. However, her powers are out of control and it's up to Angel to help find the root of the problem. Meanwhile, you continue to see the Wolfram & Hart angle playing out, as Lilah tries to get Bethany onto their side.
Episode Five: Dear Boy Angel sees Darla walking around LA, and becomes obsessed with finding his sire. Wes, Cordy and Gunn think he's mad - they're convinced Darla is dead. Again, like many episodes that deal with the recurring plot arc, episodes like 'Dear Boy' get lost in the mix.
Episode Six: Guise Will Be Guise Quite a funny episode. Angel heads out of town to see a Swami, with the hopes that he can reach a decision about Darla. Meanwhile, a very influential man comes looking for Angel to do a job for him - and he only wants Angel. To stop him killing Cordelia, Wesley pretends to be Angel, cue some funny scenes.
Episode Seven: Darla One of the best episodes in the season, this is a tie-in with Buffy's season five episode "Fool For Love". We see a lot of flashbacks to Angel's life with Darla, including how he originally got his soul restored, how he sired Drusilla and how he dealt with the immediate effects of getting his soul. This sort of tells the flipside of the "Fool for Love" story and it's great to watch one immediately after the other.
Episode Eight: The Shroud of Rahmon A truly, truly terrible episode that sees Angel pretending to be a garish vampire to help Gunn out of a sticky situation. With some truly weird supporting demons and a really odd artefact, this is perhaps the worst episode in the season.
Episode Nine: The Trial Darla was brought back from the dead as a human, but in the body she had when she was first sired - and it turns out that body had syphillis. So, Darla in the present day is now dying of the disease, and Angel becomes obsessed with helping her out. To save her, he must undergo some difficult trials in an alternate dimension - but will it be enough to save her? A so-so episode that I didn't really like because by this point I was getting a little fed up with Angel's obsession with Darla.
Episode Ten: Reunion Drusilla is back in town and she's ready to turn Darla into a vampire again - will Angel be able to stop her before she does? This is a great episode and it's when we begin to see Angel's fall into darkness, even though he still has a soul. His actions at the end of the episode are pretty shocking when we consider how far Angel has come on his mission for redemption, but the shocking nature of it is what makes this a great episode.
Episode Eleven: Redefinition Truly on the path to darkness, Angel fires Cordy, Wes and Gunn, whilst he sets off to deal with Dru and Darla. Not a particularly memorable episode.
Episode Twelve: Blood Money I had been expecting a quick reconciliation between Angel and the others, but the rift continues into the next few episodes. In this episode, we see Angel helping Anne, a young woman who runs a homeless shelter (and though it's never mentioned, is the girl Buffy helped during her time in LA in the episode "Anne"). Wolfram & Hart are helping Anne raise money for her shelter, but are giving her a bad deal and Angel wants to see to it that W&H don't benefit at all.
Episode Thirteen: Happy Anniversary Continuing the break from the Darla arc, in this episode a young scientist is working on a time stasis machine when he finds out his girlfriend wants to break up with him. He decides to lock them in a time bubble so that they will always be together, but the machine he uses isn't stable and it's up to Angel and Lorne to shut him down before he destroys the world. Not a brilliant episode.
Episode Fourteen: The Thin Dead Line A weird episode, in which Anne - the head of the homeless shelter - asks Gunn, Cordy and Wesley for help after a series of incidents involving police officers harrassing innocent teens. The plot is quite convoluted and strange and involves dead policemen turned zombies - all in all, quite a bizarre episode.
Episode Fifteen: Reprise A Wolfram & Hart centered episode in which Angel sees an opportunity to bring them down a notch or two. Meanwhile, Kate hits rock bottom after being sacked from her job as a police officer - and it's down to Angel to save her. A rather mediocre episode that has a lot of talking and very little doing.
Episode Sixteen: Epiphany This episode brings the Darla storyline to a close - for the moment at least. Angel sleeps with Darla...and uh-oh, surely this means he'll lose his soul? Quite the opposite in fact - afterwards he has an epiphany as he realises how badly he's been acting towards his friends for the past few months. Meanwhile, Gunn, Cordy and Wes have to deal with a silly three-eyed monster. A good, solid episode.
Episode Seventeen: Disharmony After getting utterly rejected by Spike over in the Buffy episode "Crush", Harmony turns up in LA looking for her old friend Cordelia - who is unaware that she's a vampire now. This episode has a very funny scene when Cordy phones Willow to ask about Harmony - cue some classic Jossverse humour. Harmony's always funny to see on screen, but the plot of the episode leaves a lot to be desired - it involves a vampire cult and some such gumph.
Episode Eighteen: Dead End A little bit of an Idle Hands feel to this episode, Lindsey gets a donor hand attached by the surgeons at Wolfram & Hart - but it's not quite right, and he calls on Angel for help. Not a favourite episode of mine.
Episode Nineteen: Belonging The start of the three-part finale arc, this sees a demon from Lorne's home dimension arriving in LA, who immediately starts causing havoc. When another portal opens and emits one of Lorne's cousins, Angel and the others have to find a way of getting him back. But when they do, Cordelia is taken along for the ride...
Episode Twenty: Over the Rainbow Cordelia has been sucked into the portal and is now in Lorne's home dimension of Pylea, where the humans are called cows and treated as slaves to the demons. Cordelia is soon caught and sold as a slave, where she meets Fred for the first time - who had been sucked into a portal five years previously. Meanwhile, Wes, Gunn, Lorne and Angel are frantically trying to find a way into the portal so that they can rescue their friend. When Cordy has a vision in front of her new boss, things get even stranger...
Episode Twenty-One: Through the Looking Glass Wes, Gunn, Lorne and Angel head into Pylea to search for Cordelia, only to find her living the life of riley and being treated as a princess - because she receives visions from the Powers That Be. Lorne visits his family - and this provides some very funny moments that involve a very silly dance performed by a green, be-horned demon - classic! Wes and Gunn try to find a way to open a portal back home, whilst Angel rescues Fred and has trouble controlling his demon side... Cordelia meanwhile learns that she must "com-shuk" with the Groosalugg, who is not as she expected...
Episode Twenty-Two: There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb The finale of season two concludes the trip to Pylea - will Angel be able to save Cordelia from "com-shukking" with the Groosalugg? Does Cordelia even want to be saved? Lorne loses his head and Wes and Gunn find themselves leading a group of rebels into battle. I personally LOVED this three-part Pylea arc because it was so completely different from anything I'd seen before in the Buffyverse. When watching Buffy and Angel we're used to demons and vampires, but all in a totally modern, urban setting. Here, we're transported to an almost Lord of the Rings style world, complete with princesses and noble warriors, berobed priests and green demon women with beards.
--Special Features--
Audio commentary on 'Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been' from Tim Minear
Full script for epsiode 'Darla'
Featurette: 'Making Up The Monsters'
Featurette: 'Inside The Agency'
Stills gallery
Blue prints
Full script for episode 'Disharmony'
Audio commentary on 'Over The Rainbow' from Fred Keller
Featurette: 'Season 2 Overview'
Featurette: 'Stunts'
Season 1 DVD trailer
Cast biography pages
--Overall--Angel season two is bigger and better than before, with a better overall plot arc and a great season finale that puts season one's ending to shame.
Gunn's addition to the fang gang worked really well, as he provided a much needed contrast to the way Angel and Wesley worked. Amy Acker as Fred is fantastic - but we only get to see a little of her character here. Don't worry, she's back full-time from season three on.
Whilst there are a few bad episodes in the mix, there's enough here to keep you watching and wanting more.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1978 - Horror - Director: John Carpenter - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Donald Pleasence, P. J. Soles, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis
Production Year: 1980 - Horror - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Peter Cushing, Diana Dors, Denholm Elliott, Brian Cox, Sian Phillips
Great review and, as ever, I'm sorry for the H, but if this is to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in similar detail to the way you've reviewed the series, rather than just a list of them. Why not leave that bit out and mark the reviews as "Film Only"?
It is with this second series thatAngel, the darker Los Angeles mean-streets spin-off ... more
fromBuffy, comes entirely into its own. Angel, the vampire with a soul and rather too much hair gel, is driven partly by his need for atonement and partly by his ange...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
It is with this second series thatAngel, the darker Los Angeles mean-streets spin-off ... more
fromBuffy, comes entirely into its own. Angel, the vampire with a soul and rather too much hair gel, is driven partly by his need for atonement and partly by his ange...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Angel: Complete Season 2 [DVD] [2000]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78539878.jpg "Angel: Complete Season 2 [DVD] [2000]")
Jun 27th, 2008
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