Though I’ve seen it several times, I think it may be time to watch it again when I have a few moments. Season one of Angel was not nearly as dark as it got in later seasons. It was a great balance of humor and seriousness, fantasy and grittiness. And the internal and external conflicts also balanced really well. The story arc definitely takes a back seat to episodes (except to the extent that they want the characters to develop and grow on you). It is classic superhero stuff. Tim Powers for television (there is an episode involving Las Vegas in Season Four that is so much like Last Call).
And there is just something about the eternal champion and the eternal battle that can encourage a man.
(By the way, I’m not endorsing the episodes where Buffy appears. Those so overdose on melodrama no diabetic is safe from insulin-shock when viewing them. Except for the one where Faith is there to compensate, those should be locked in a casket and sunk into the sea too far away for Wesley to rescue them–and he would know better than to try.)
Would that I could carry it on my bookstore. The world is not ready!
I was a pretty consistent viewer, but Angel never quite got there for me. (Although it had it moments — I loved Skip.)
I like action shows in which the protagonists interact with outward events or other people. When these shows start to get introspective and just focus on the “relationships” among the characters, well, blah. (The critical phrase in that sentence is “focus on.”)
Plus, what they did with Cordelia was a crime. She was a great character in Buffy and at the start of Angel. (In some senses, she embodied the spirit of the original Buffy — shallow Valley girl meets the forces of evil. That’s a really funny pairing.) She got steadily less interesting throughout the series.
I refrain from going on. The show frustrated me because it had all the elements to be a really good show, but the stories and charaterizations never quite lived up to the full potential of the show’s premise.
I haven’t actually finished the series, but I completely agree that Cordelia’s “growth” began to be less than interesting.
I plan to watch them all and have been deliberately slow since won’t have anything left of the Buffyverse once I get to the end of season five. But I think season one as a standalone is always going to appeal to me no matter what I think of the later stuff. (I’ve seen from all seasons and have systematically made it to season 3 on dvd. I saw most of season 4 when it was on TV–which was my introduction to the show and was more confusing than anything else. I’m not sure what I’m going to think of season 5 but am afraid…)
I stopped watching Angel in the second season, but I picked up for the last season and it was amazing!
First, Buffy was done and Joss Whedon was able to focus his peculiar brand of pop-culture genius on the show. There were some moments, wow!
Second, the ending was pretty much perfect. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I didn’t see it coming and now I can’t imagine anything else.