The One and Only Angel Season 5 Thread

[Anakin Flair 0]

just finished season three. It feels great to finally be caught up with the show (and hopefully tonight I get season 1 to complete my collection). What was your thougths on Season 3 folks?

 

Oh, and that pci ROCKS. Episode will still bite, though.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

I thought Season 3 was great the first time around (watching it on TNT). The Darla arc was great, a nice farewell to her character (well, until her S4 cameo), and the Connor arc finished the season well. I still would've liked seeing Wes and Fred get together (Waiting in the Wings and Billy just made me feel so BAD for him), but I guess S5 is going to take care of that. "Tomorrow" was an awesome (but typically Joss) way to end the season.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

Angel has been cancelled. (there are some light spoilers for this upcoming week's episode, but if you saw the preview its no surprise)

 

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/...6346|1|,00.html

 

It's Over in Five for 'Angel'

(Friday, February 13 04:53 PM)

By Kate O'Hare

 

 

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Earlier today, an announcement was made to the cast and crew at The WB's "Angel" that this season, the show's fifth, would be its last.

"It's official enough to know it's real," David Greenwalt, who co-created the series with Joss Whedon, tells Zap2it. "but I haven't talked to anybody at the network or the studio. I can tell you that it's real, that it makes Mr. Whedon and myself very sad, that we wish it had kept going and we thought it was only getting better.

 

"Joss and [executive producer] Jeff Bell told the cast and crew today. We have no understanding of the inner workings of the corporate world, but we've had a long and fruitful relationship with [producing studio] 20th Century Fox and The WB, for which we grateful. We just wish it could have gone on forever. Apparently, it's not going to.

 

 

"Joss literally called me this morning, so it's very new."

This news comes on the heels of airing the 100th episode of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off, the taping of which was marked by a party on the show's sets last November.

 

At that time, the WB's entertainment chief, Jordan Levin, said, "The work that you all do, I cannot thank you enough. This is something that will last. You can see it in the DVD sales. You see it in the fans. They give an incredible amount of attention to almost everything.

 

"You've created a cult here, and it's pretty wonderful to be a part of it. So thank you and congratulations."

 

Next week, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, "Angel" airs one of its most innovative episodes, called "Smile Time." Written and directed by Ben Edlund ("The Tick"), and based on an idea by Whedon, it sees the show's title character, a crusading vampire with a soul, forced to fight evil after being transformed into a walking puppet (with voice by series star David Boreanaz).

 

"It's so brilliant," Greenwalt says. "I just love it. It's one of the finest pieces of filmmaking I've ever seen. It just cracked me up. It's so ridiculous and silly, and yet there's all this heartfelt stuff in it. It's just quintessential Whedon.

 

"But wait until you see the episode that follows it in terms of abject heartbreak. It's just searing."

 

Greenwalt stepped away from "Angel" a few years ago but has remained a consulting producer. Since then, he's worked on two short-lived but critically acclaimed series, ABC's "Miracles" and UPN's "Jake 2.0." But he's contemplating a possible return to his old stomping ground.

 

"I might just go direct episode 20 [of 'Angel']," he says, "so I can say my farewell to everybody. That's something that might happen."

 

As of press time, The WB had made no official announcement.

 

Also, Herc at AICN has two sources saying this is true.

 

[Golgo 13 0]

I was just about to post this...

 

I'm sad. Angel is literally one of the last shows I watch on tv.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Season 3 fucking ruled. Holtz was such a cool villain, LILAH~! got a lot of play, Badass Wes was created, the Connor storyline was cool, Fred was fun for the earlier part of the season... there was a lot of good shit going down.... and not to spoil it, but, (mild spoilers, nothing specific)you will see some things from Season 3 turn up in Season 5. I won't say what (as there was a lot of stuff), but it will have you marking out. . Just some excellent stuff.

 

"Just watched "Why We Fight." It was awful

 

I totally disagree. Why I did not "dig" or like the episode, it was not "awful". The parallelism with Angel and Lawson was revealing. Angel has lost his purpose since working for WR&H. It's a very significant revelation. "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do", Angel has since lost this philosophy. It was best shown in the season premiere where he tried to "do his thing" and couldn't. It's shown with Spike as he now is the hero and "beat" Angel for the cup. "Following Orders" is another biggie, as is being controlled by a greater force, as is keeping control. These are the themes for this season, and this "throw-away" episode reflects -and enhances- it. Again, it didn't really do anything for me, but I can recognize it's value.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BlackFlagg 0]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!

[BlackFlagg 0]

WB has something up on it now http://thewb.com/PressRelease/Index/0,8341,156980,00.html

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

What fucking insincere, patronizing cocksuckers. FUCK WB! FUCK FOX!

 

Television without Joss Whedon is like a Car without Wheels. It just ain't going anywhere.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

...

 

 

 

I can't believe this.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

There has to be some way it can continue...can't it go to another station? Hell, I don't care if UPN picks it up, they can't end Angel!

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Oh well. Angel has never been that interesting to me. I watch it because Buffy is gone and Firefly is gone...but IMHO Angel was a distant third in the Whedonverse. It lacks that special thing that the other two had. Now Joss can spend all of his time trying to get the Firefly movie made. I'll trade one Firefly movie for another year of Angel in a heartbeat.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Hey...that means we're down to single digit episodes!

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Your apathy, while well directed at Firefly, saddens me BPS. Angel has been awesome over-the-years, and though it never had Season 5-level peaks, or Fireflyian consistency, I wouldn't exactly call it "distant" third. I'd put some of it's arcs and some of its singular episodes up against Buffy's any day.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I was being generous with distant third.

 

Firefly and Buffy are my two favorite shows of all time (in that order). While Angel often feels like a chore to watch. It lacks the kind of interesting characters that I need. Only Wesley is all that interesting...and that's too few and far between.

[Guest TonyJaymzV1]

Is it just me or does this mean that they will have to rewrite the last eps so that Angel can finally get his redemption? I will be pissed if I don't see hapy Angel with redemption! REDEMPTION!

 

Oh, and you know people are gonna die soon.

 

 

They should start a Wes show, like a show about the watchers or soemthing. A spin off of a spin off.

 

Wow, im rambling

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

That could happen.

 

There's an interesting story of rebuilding the watcher's council with all the slayers out there...

 

WB could even air the show. As I said over 4 months ago in this thread:

 

 

 

"I wouldn't bet on WB picking it up again.

 

After five years they have to increase the budget...something that they wouldn't do for Buffy, which along with 7th heaven, was their FLAGSHIP show.

 

Angel isn't. "

 

 

So they can run a new Whedon show for 5 years and then get all cheap for the third time in a row!

 

Anyway...this won't be the last Buffyverse TV show.

[dubq 0]

What.. the.. fuck?!

 

What are they thinking?

 

At this point, I don't even want another "Buffyverse" show.. I want Angel! I actually started out VERY skeptical about it, but grew to like it even more than BTVS.. man, this really really sucks! I hope that another network picks it up or something..

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

"Just watched "Why We Fight." It was awful

 

I totally disagree.  Why I did not "dig" or like the episode, it was not "awful".  The parallelism with Angel and Lawson was revealing.  Angel has lost his purpose since working for WR&H.  It's a very significant revelation. "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do", Angel has since lost this philosophy.  It was best shown in the season premiere where he tried to "do his thing" and couldn't.  It's shown with Spike as he now is the hero and "beat" Angel for the cup.  "Following Orders" is another biggie, as is being controlled by a greater force, as is keeping control.  These are the themes for this season, and this "throw-away" episode reflects -and enhances- it.  Again, it didn't really do anything for me, but I can recognize it's value.

But they've doing that all season. It's the basic premise for nearly every episode, and the teaser or the first few minutes after the credits each week is spent establishing this fact - that the team has lost some of their original flair and purpose, Angel especially, and that maybe they're not doing the right thing. The Lawson/Angel parallels were obvious, dull, and stuff we've already seen with Spike in the Evil role a million times before. Fortunately, nearly all of those episodes went interesting, important places - I think this was pretty much an unnecessary episode that didn't accomplish anything new.

 

On cancellation....well, sucks. Hard. I disagree with BPS, though - I think that, unless Angel gets renewed at the last minute or picked up by a different network (Sci-Fi and FX being the only viable ones I can think of, both of which would probably require massive budget cuts), the Buffyverse is done. With Buffy over and Angel cancelled, the franchise has no momentum and no core players. "Wes and the Watcher's Council" or "Xander and Andrew In The City" would have zero appeal to anyone outside of the Whedon-obsessed (I'd class us that way) and would be lucky to last half a season. Everyone knows Joss and co. can write, but for the past two years they haven't been winning over new viewers. The only way I see the Buffyverse coming back to television is if SMG's career bombs horrifically and she flees in 5 years, or Tru Calling gets cancelled and Eliza decides to backtrack. Neither of which I expect to happen. I don't think anyone else could carry a show.

Edited February 14, 2004 by Edwin MacPhisto

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

I know everyone is upset...so I'll post something that will either make you smile or weep depending on how you take it:

 

 

 

 

 

Angel only has 9 episodes left EVER to wrap up what they want to and conclude what they want to....

 

...and in the next episode Angel turns into a puppet.

[Guest JMA]

Eh, that makes sense.

 

However, since he was in Hell, he is really dead. Thus, he wouldn't be any older.

It was never made clear if the "Hell" Angel went to was the same one Spike was referring to when he was non-corporeal. We know demons were there (and demons are living creatures).

 

I don't think Angel really died, though. It takes more than a sword through the chest to kill a vampire, obviously. And if demons (living beings) could survive there, so could he. Though I sometimes wonder what exactly he fed on to survive...

[Guest JMA]

if the hell dimension Angel was in was anything like the one Holtz took Connor too than he would have aged just like Connor did...though obviously it wouldn't show on Angel, heh

Bingo. That was exactly what I was trying to say.

[Guest JMA]

I'm in shock. And very pissed off.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

This freakin sucks. I'm sure whatever they replace Angel with will get killer ratings.

[Guest Brian]

They could build around Spike, right?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

"Xander and Andrew In The City"

 

Ahem, the title was "Reconstructing Xander" TYVM.

 

And episodes like this are best seen after it all comes to pass. Season 5 in Buffy is the perfect example where a seemingly independant episode from the main arc contributed something great to the overall story/theme. When it is all said and done, Why We Fight will become an integral piece to the puzzle.

 

The Lawson comparison was never done before. Spike, as a vampire, didn't wander aimlessly, he didn't despise his existence or contemplate his fate or his role - he was a killer. They brought this up in the psychoslayer episode. Lawson was self-aware, he didn't know what to do, and he basically lived his life to get revenge on Angel. He represented a very specific part of Angels life that hasn't been brought up too much. Lawson also represented Connor, in a way, where Angel had to give up free-will to save the whole.

[Guest Vitamin EC]

I hate the fact the show is ending on such a transitional season, I really don't know how they're going to tie things up to a standard the show deserves. In a perfect world, the last scene of this season will have Angel as a human but that seems out of the question.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Annoying how the show will end without an appearance by SMG. Very unfortunate...would be nice to have some kind of blowoff with Buffy and Angel.

[Cavi 0]

I don't want the Buffyverse to continue after this. I don't want a spinoff, a TV movie, or a film. Buffy and Angel are my favorite shows of all time. They go far beyond simply being television shows for me. That will always be the case, and I'm sure it is the same with some others. I feel that since this is the end for Angel, though, then it should be the end of it all. I just really, really hope that they have a great resolution to the whole story. Buffy needs to be in the finale.

[spiny norman 0]

What happened to Giles's show? I was assuming it would be starting next year or something, but I'd be pretty surprised if it would still go on if Angel is over.

 

This is news that I simultaneously terrible and good. While this whole little world created by Whedon is (so it seems) over, at least it never went downhill dramatically. And while it's a shame we won't see certain things which happen to all the characters and some future tremendous episodes, perhaps it will be good to have them all liberated and able to start on new endeavours which may (or may not) be as good or better.