The One and Only Angel Season 5 Thread

[Guest JMA]

BTW, I love the "Dazed and Confused" DVD cover, Mole. I just recently saw the movie (albeit on TV).

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

Good ep, I enjoyed it. Loved the interaction between Illyria and Wes...it wasn't central, but it still said a lot about what both characters are going through. And the smurf line was great.

 

Had to love the new opening credits. Illyria is all kinds of awesome, as is Harmony. I was afraid Harm was going to get dusted due to her actually showing up in the credits, but hopefully she's ok.

 

The thing about Angel etc not bothering to stop the apocalypse: aren't there other people who can deal with it? I mean, Buffy seems to stop an apocalypse every year. More slayers = more apocalypse stopping. I suppose they could be dealing with a Eurapocalypse, but there should be a one or two slayers around to deal with the LA one.

Maybe everyone has been fooled or distracted. Everyone that could stop it that is.

[Guest stardust]

Does anyone know where I can download the episode from? I can't use Kazaa because the campus internet has a firewall up preventing anyone from connecting to it, but I had to work and wasn't able to set the VCR to record, dammit (and even if I had set it my bitch ass roommate probably would have unprogrammed it anyway).

[Guest Brian]

Or maybe it's been too late for them, because they've been too busy staying away from Angel given his work with Wolfram and Hart?

 

I sorta assumed that would be a fitting ending for Gunn given that he sacrificed himself to help try and correct where he screwed up.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Does anyone know where I can download the episode from? I can't use Kazaa because the campus internet has a firewall up preventing anyone from connecting to it, but I had to work and wasn't able to set the VCR to record, dammit (and even if I had set it my bitch ass roommate probably would have unprogrammed it anyway).

www.buffy.nu.

hope you got a fast connection, because it will be several LARGE files.

[dubq 0]

Great episode! Hamilton was awesome! And Harmony finally makes it into the opening credits!

 

BTW - I'm not sure how many of you visit the Comics forum, but I've posted a topic about Joss Whedon's FRAY - check it out:

 

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=53502

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Though it is fitting for Gunn to take Lindsays punishment, Angel won't have him do that forever. I like Angels "consoling" of Gunn, cause he didn't say "It's alright", but he kinda did.

 

Ok, SHIT, I was watching the episode where Freds parents come to LA to find her and that is a *must see* episode for anyone watching Season 5 right now. It puts so much stuff in perspective.

 

And Harmony saying "Yeah but, you know how that never works" (mentioned below) was a *big pop* moment. This episode had so much stuff in it that I have to see it at least 3 times to grasp how good it was.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Angel 5.17 FAQ

What’s it called?

“Underneath.”

 

Who’s responsible?

Teleplay is credited to Sarah Fain and Liz Craft (“Harm’s Way”).

 

When was the last time we saw a new “Angel”?

March 3. Knox died, and there was a flashback to Winifred leaving for California. The first episode of “Wonderfalls” was still nine days in the future!

 

What did Coax say about this one way back on Feb. 10?

“Those thinking that Lindsey was out of the running as ‘Angel’s’ fifth-season big bad were almost certainly right. After Fred is killed, Team Angel decides it needs to recruit someone who might know more than they do about the senior partners. So guess whom they rescue from a Wolfram-engineered purgatory?”

 

What does TV Guide say?

“While protecting Eve from a bounty hunter (Adam Baldwin), Angel grills her for info on the Senior Partners' plans and learns that an exiled Lindsey may have all the answers. But first the gang must save him from the torture dimension he currently occupies. Meanwhile, Wes gets to know Illyria better. Lindsey: Christian Kane. Eve: Sarah Thompson.”

 

Adam Baldwin (of “Firefly” fame) plays a bounty hunter? Wasn’t he supposed to be Team Angel’s new liaison to the senior partners?

He’s the new liason! I’ve little idea where TV Guide gets this "bounty hunter" business.

 

The big news?

This is easily the best thing Fain & Craft have cobbled together. It may be the best thing they ever do in their lives. Prepare to worship at their dainty TV-scribe toes.

 

What else is TV Guide not telling us?

You need to tape or TiVo or transcribe this episode. The DVD will never arrive soon enough.

 

How goes Wes’ bonding with Illyria? Does she make him reach for his hanky?

Not literally.

 

What’s doing with Spike?

James Marsters confirms his god-like status. I’m not certain he’s had more to work with since bolting the Buffster.

 

Did we ever find out why TV Guide called Lindsey “Sean” a few weeks ago?

No. This will forever remain a mystery, much like the reason TV Guide described “Buffy’s” evil god Glory as a time-traveler.

 

What’s doing with Krevlornswath? Did his badass self carry a sell-by date?

Lorne is all kinds of badass this week, in an entirely different way that you’d expect.

 

Does Amy Acker still look like Fred in the title credits?

Like Fred. But also like Illyria. And after seven years of hard work, the increasingly fabulous Mercedes McNab finally achieves regular staus in the Buffiverse. Is all this new? Because I was in the bathroom during the title sequence in 5.16.

 

What’s great?

Spike. Krev. Gunn. Wes. Fred. Harmony. Eve. Hamilton. Lindsey. Angel. The Baldwin’s arrival. The ice-cream vendor with the semiautomatic. "Angel's Avengers? That's..." "Beady little rat-snake?" "What I know is I started drinking the moment I found out that a girl I loved was going to die." "Okay, but you know how that never works?" “One world with nothing but shrimp.” “He is well-dressed.” “Didn’t see that coming.” “He’s not so bad!” “I was God to a god.” “Don’t flatter yourself.” “You still happy to see me?” So so so much more.

 

What’s not so great?

There ain’t nothing not great in this honey. It’s “Kill Bill Vol. 2” great. It’s “Buffy” great. I say, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” great. All of which is saying something! I may have lied about “Gilmore Girls” being the best show in production!

 

How does it end, spoiler-boy?

“I kinda need it now.”

 

Herc’s rating for “Angel” 5.17?

*****

The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:

***** better than we deserve

[Cavi 0]

I thought Hamilton was cool. Angel's first reaction to him was pure Buffyverse.

[Vyce 0]

Hercules from AICN is the best example of why Whedon fanboys are beginning to really make me nauseous.

 

It was a pretty decent episode.

 

But that's it. Don't act as if it's the best thing ever aired on TV.

[Mole 0]

Dammmn, *****?

[Ripper 0]

The man they call Jayne put his fist through a mans chest.

 

I don't car if they all stopped and acted out a episode of melrose place while standing on their heads. I was happy with the show with the fisting of a mans chest.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

Can whoever posted the spoilers for the rest of the season please point me to where they are, repost them, PM them to me, etc. etc. purty pleeze? I can't seem to find them, and my Angelphile of a sister wants to read them.

[Anakin Flair 0]

Buffy.nu. Spoilerslayer.com. Mythical-boards.com. All have spoilers.

[Anakin Flair 0]

WB Renews Every Drama But "Angel"

From Moviepoopshoot.com - By Stipton99x - 2004-04-15th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The WB has given early 2004-05 greenlights to its critically hailed dramas "Everwood" and "Smallville."

 

Frog has ordered full seasons of each skein, both of which are produced by Warner Bros. TV. Net had already cancelled "Angel" and locked in deals to bring back Aaron Spelling’s "7th Heaven" and "Charmed" next fall, along with "Gilmore Girls," leaving "One Tree Hill" as the only question mark on the net’s sked -- though the latter skein is likely to return, as well.

 

WB co-chairman Jordan Levin called the five dramas ordered for next season "the cornerstones of our schedule."

 

Exec made a point of noting that "Smallville" has followed in the footsteps of some previous Frog hours by "returning significant value to our studio partners. Its recent robust off-net sale to ABC Family and HD-Net of over three-quarters of a million dollars (per episode) came in a marketplace that has not been kind to many new entrants."

 

Levin said "Everwood" has had "an astonishing creative year" and was "a star player for our stations this past November and February sweeps."

 

Like much of the WB’s primetime lineup, "Smallville" and "Everwood" have suffered Nielsen declines this season.

 

Still, "Everwood" remains one of TV’s top-rated dramas among female teens, with a 3.6/11 in that demo season-to-date. And for the third season in a row, "Smallville" is the WB’s top-rated show in the net’s target demo of persons 12-34, along with the adults 18-34 and 18-49 demos.

 

"Everwood," from exec producers Greg Berlanti and Mickey Liddell, will return for a third season. Skein stars Treat Williams and Gregory Smith as a father and son living in a small mountain town.

 

As for "Smallville," the retelling of the Superman saga will enter its fourth season in the fall. Skein is produced by Tollin/Robbins Prods. in association with WBTV, with Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Greg Beeman, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins, Joe Davola and Ken Horton serving as exec producers. (As reported by VARIETY)

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I told ya! Treat Williams would have made a PERFECT Angel! But nooooooobody listens.

[Jingus 0]

So Charmed gets renewed, while Angel gets the ax? Sigh. Fuck the frog.

 

I wrote a long-ass post about the latest episode, before the stupid board erased it for me. The important parts:

 

-Spike rules. Harmony rules. Gunn (finally) rules.

 

-Hamilton, on the other hand, didn't impress me. Yet another slow-walking badass with super strength? Yawn. Haven't we already seen this before? (The Master, Adam, Glory, Caleb, the Beast, etc etc etc.) And why was everyone so shocked by his chest-punch? Lorne's survived his own decapitation, Harmony is a (former) sociopathic murderer, and Eve has seen and done god only knows what kinds of evil acts, but they're terrified by... a really strong dude in a suit? Whatever. (On the other hand, kudos to Adam Baldwin, he's lost a SHITLOAD of weight since his days on Homicide.)

 

-I loved that they're doing something different with Ilyria and not just making her another Evil Anya/Glory/Evil Willow/Jasmine/whoever. But I hope they actually find an important part for her to play before the series ends; it'd be a shame for Fred's death to have meant nothing.

 

-And finally, how the hell are Joss & co. going to answer all the questions and mysteries the season has brought up over the years in the last five episodes? Will Angel fulfill the Sanshu prophecies? Why was Angel given that amulet, and was Spike really meant to end up with it? How the hell did Lindsey get the amulet from the ruins of the hellmouth? Why was Spike brought back as a ghost, and then later rematerialized? (For that matter, did or will we ever get a firm answer on who/how/why Angel was brought back from hell in Buffy Season 3, anyway?) What was the "final failsafe" that Lindsey was trying to activate? What the hell is this new apocalypse that they just sprung on us out of nowhere? Why is it worse than the 1473 other apocalypsi that Buffy and Angel have previously stopped? Why would the Senior Partners come up with this elaborate scheme to distract and corrupt Angel & co, instead of just killing them? Just who the hell are the Senior Partners, anyway? And finally, will either ensouled vampire ever end up with Buffy?

 

Don't get me wrong; I liked the episode, and love the show, but I don't have a lot of confidence that much (if any) of this will get ironed out, especially after reading all the spoilers; let's just say that most of the questions above remain unanswered.

[Guest stardust]

Does anyone know where I can download the episode from? I can't use Kazaa because the campus internet has a firewall up preventing anyone from connecting to it, but I had to work and wasn't able to set the VCR to record, dammit (and even if I had set it my bitch ass roommate probably would have unprogrammed it anyway).

www.buffy.nu.

hope you got a fast connection, because it will be several LARGE files.

Thanks, although I believe the campus internet is foiling me again since it's been sitting on "connecting to peers" for like ten minutes now.

[Ravenbomb 0]

how long until the last episode?

[Hank Kingsley 0]

I'm pretty sure the last episode is May 19th.

[Mole 0]

Angel got a 2.2 with a 3 share. OUCH.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Did they even advertise it?

[Mole 0]

Well, I only watch WB on Wednesdays. They did for two weeks when Smallville is on, that is all I saw.

[Golgo 13 0]

I like to think that rating was because of Angel viewers not fully knowing it was back. The best of Smallville stretch really killed any momentum Angel was building.

[Vyce 0]

I wish I could live on Planet Optimism like you do.

 

There's a reason that the show is being cancelled - it's been consistently pulling in bad numbers for a while now.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

There's a really good (and disappointing) article on Eonline:

 

I used to consider myself the most die-hard TV fan on the planet. It was a badge I wore with pride, sorta like my "I heart Bo & Luke Duke" T-shirt back in the good ol’ days of the good ol’ boys. (Sigh.)

 

But you "Save Angel" folks put me to shame.

 

This week, even though we asked readers to send in questions for the huuugest show on television right now, The Apprentice (those answers are coming Tuesday), you Angel fans still managed to send in more queries than people asking what the bejesus is up with the Donald’s hair. And that’s saying

 

You’ve written letters. You’ve sent flowers. You’ve organized blood drives and food drives and candy-bar drives and truck drive-by drives. You’ve raised thousands for ads in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety and given the show more publicity in a month than it received in five years at the WB.

 

Your fervor amazes me...and it breaks my heart.

 

For weeks now, I’ve been trying to break it to you gently that, sadly, there is no promising news about the fate of Angel. And still, you keep asking. And asking. And asking. To the point where I want to cry because I so badly wish I had something good say.

 

Instead, I think I’ll just tell you the truth on where Angel stands.

 

I’ve spent considerable time over the past few weeks talking to network, studio and production insiders, as well as a few of the actors (we’ll get to them below), and I can tell you this with a fair amount of certainty:

 

Angel is not coming back. At least not as the weekly TV series we now know and love. It sucks, and it’s wretched and wrong. But the sooner we all accept that, the sooner we can move on.

 

Now, I know from my dear friend Mary that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, so here are two of the sweetest people I know (no dookie) to give it to you straight.

 

"It’s over," James Marsters (Spike) told me Wednesday. "And we’ve known for a while. It was a shock. I’ve never in my wildest dreams thought they would do that. But it’s their game, their football, and it seems they want to pass it to someone else."

 

An emotional Amy Acker (Fred) also weighed in Thursday before going to set for her final day of shooting. "I guess they had just sort of decided the cancellation was for good, at a point. So, it seems so sad all these people were working so hard and nothing happened. The whole thing has been so sweet, and we all have been like, ’Oh maybe it will work!’ But it seems like they’re pretty set in their way."

 

That’s the consensus I’ve gotten from various sources -- the WB suits aren’t changing their minds on Angel. Though the cancellation seemed like a whack-job, crack-induced whim to us fans, Frog net insiders tell me the higher-ups feel strongly that Angel had "limited moneymaking potential," due to limited advertising revenue and what they consider to be a substantial budget. The fan base is clearly devoted, but these bigwigs see little hope of that audience expanding.

 

The final stake through Angel’s heart? Dark Shadows, that remade vampire series the bigwigs believe to have "vast potential." Presumably, the man behind it is John Wells (ER, West Wing). If J.W. created a series about three young witches or, say, a reverend’s family, things may have been different.

 

Meanwhile, UPN and Fox have both passed on Angel. UPN has a strict new edict not to pick up "other networks’ scraps" (the same message given to the producers of Wonderfalls, though when you read on you’ll find some promising news on that). And even if they did want these "scraps," quite frankly they can’t afford ’em. As for Fox, well, one look at its midseason lineup and you know they’re going for a slightly different angle than quality scripted television. Littlest Groom, anyone?

 

I’m told the feeling on set is not morose these days--but rather like graduation. Though it’s been rip-out-your-heart difficult, the actors are learning to accept the show’s fate and move on.

 

"I’m used to things being over," James said. "Coming from theater, I’m used to plays being wonderful or less than wonderful, and even if they’re fabulous, they do have to come to an end. And you kind of come to a point where you’re at peace with that."

 

And I can’t help but mention that David Boreanaz seemed ready to move on before the show was even canceled: "I’m really itching to explore other characters and do other projects," he told me in January. "I think I’ve been stuck in this medical school for a while, and I need to open up and get out."

 

Not so much the case for Amy. She admits she’s the weepy one. "I just keep crying, and everyone is like, ’Stop it! Or I’ll cry, too.’ It’s hard because last Friday was Alexis’ last night, and yesterday was Andy’s last day. And today will be everyone’s. It’s hard to imagine you won’t be spending 12 hours a day with them anymore."

 

All that said, you Save Angel folks, please, for the love of TiVo, do not despair. Though the campaign might not have accomplished exactly what we’d hoped, James points out that it managed to do something else truly magnificent.

 

"It may not have saved the show," he explained, "but what it does for the entire cast and crew is give us a little pop as we go out. Everyone takes notice that we connected well enough with the audience to give them that passion...And I have to tell you, it feels so good. After all these years of, frankly, battling time and money and always having to give up what you were planning to do and getting frustrated, at the end of it, to see everyone really going out of their way to try and save it, it just feels really, really good. So, big warm vampire fuzzies over here. It really took the sting out of getting canceled."

 

And really, after five years of stellar television, it seems the least we could do, no?

 

"I just want to say to the fans, thank you," Amy says. "I think that [save Angel] has been so awesome and it has made us feel better when we’ve all been so sad. For people to come up and say, ’Did you hear there’s a rally today?’ or ’I saw the big poster today.’ That has been as comforting as it could ever be."

 

Still, the best news is this: According to sources, the finale is supremely open-ended (Amy says it "opens new doors" and "doesn’t tie up any strings" , and I hear the Powers That Be at the WB have approached Joss Whedon about doing at least a movie-of-the-week or two (possibly as many as six) next season--thanks in large part to the folks at Save Angel. "I think a Buffy movie is more likely to happen now," James said, "and they may be given better budgets, seeing this kind of interest, because there’s a feeling that there’s a guaranteed audience. So, the effort that I’ve seen, it is not in vain."

 

Rumor Patrol: While we’re in the mood for telling it like it is when it comes to Angel, we should address a few more burning Q’s for any and all conspiracy theorists.

 

1. Sarah Michelle Gellar isn’t evil, just busy. She truly wanted to guest but couldn’t make it back in time for episode 21, because she was shooting a movie in Japan and had commitments to Scooby-Doo. Sarah said she was available to do episode 22, but Joss already knew exactly what he wanted to do for the finale (and it sounds genius). They then tried to reverse the shooting of the two episodes, but it was logistically impossible to get everything together in time. (Joss hadn’t even written the script.) So, put simply, it didn’t work out.

 

2. Alyson Hannigan, Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar really are not coming back. Unless this is the mother of all foilers, and/or all my sources are bold-faced liars, these three lovelies all had to decline because of other commitments. Alyson was doing a play and a new pilot, Michelle a Disney movie, and S.M.G. had the aforementioned non-evil conflicts.

 

3. The finale won’t suck. Despite the surprise cancellation and guest-star disappointments, from everything I’ve heard, Joss really pulled through on the series ender. "The characters are in self-doubt and self-conflict and at each other’s throats," James said of the finale. "I really didn’t think there was any way for these characters to overcome what they were facing, frankly. And it’s really suspenseful as to whether they can or can’t. It’s gonna be bloody, and people are going to get hurt. It’s a Joss Whedon finale, man--blood and tears and death."

 

Gulp.

[Mole 0]

I wish I could live on Planet Optimism like you do.

 

There's a reason that the show is being cancelled - it's been consistently pulling in bad numbers for a while now.

Oh I left that planet a long time ago.

 

I have been following ratings for the past 4 years, and this is what they were pulling last year, if I am not mistaken. This is a bad rating due to no one watching the show.

 

EDIT: Since I can't sleep, I started watching "Underneath" again. This is one of those episodes where you need to see it more than once to get everything. The teaser alone had two things I forgot about.

 

"What I am listening, with beer."

 

"Handsome man saved me from the monsters. The first thing Fred ever said to me."

 

If the teaser has two great things in it, then I defiently need to watch it all again. That will happen after work today.

[Guest JMA]

At least we can count on Joss to do a kick-ass series finale. Of that I have no doubt.

 

Rather than feeling sad, I'm going to enjoy the last five episodes.

[dubq 0]

There's a really good (and disappointing) article on Eonline:

 

Not so much the case for Amy. She admits she’s the weepy one. "I just keep crying, and everyone is like, ’Stop it! Or I’ll cry, too.’ It’s hard because last Friday was Alexis’ last night, and yesterday was Andy’s last day. And today will be everyone’s. It’s hard to imagine you won’t be spending 12 hours a day with them anymore."

Am I to take this as people getting killed off? Or just them finishing their scenes before everyone else?

[Guest JMA]

One good thing to come out of this is Mercedes McNab FINALLY becoming a cast member. Her character has been around since the BtVS pilot (which is now split into two episodes).