Angel Season Five

Been a few days since last I updated. I guess that means I've been busy. I got Angel season five on DVD today. While it's a great season and I'm glad to own it, sadly, it also marks the end of an era, no more Buffyverse DVD sets will ever be released, barring potential films to come, but I don't want to get my hopes up for that.

Way back in December 2003 I bought Buffy season five, after having already watched Buffy seasons 1-4, and every three months since I've gotten a new season, a tradition that ends today. I'm really excited to watch the season again, since it's the only Buffy season I've never watched through in one go, I saw it in pieces as it aired, and I want to see how it stacks up as a whole.

Angel season five was one of the greatest seasons of any TV show, certainly the best of this show. It's got so many classic episodes, the Andrew episode, the Cordelia episode, the puppet episode, 'A Hole in the World,' 'Origin,' 'The Girl in Question,' and of course, the best episode the series ever did, the finale, 'Not Fade Away,' which succeeds in all the areas that Buffy's finale failed.

The season itself is a great meta-commentary on the events surrounding its production. After the fourth season, Joss and his team made a bunch of concessions to the WB in exchange for being picked up, a move reflected in Angel's move in to the law firm of Wolfram and Hart. Things go along pretty well until February when the show is cancelled. Coming on the hells of the hilarious 'Smile Time' and right before the show's best episode to date at that point 'A Hole in the World,' which saw Fred killed and taken over by a demon, Illyria. This is when the dark side of their deal with Wolfram and Hart emerges, and by the end of the season Angel has turned his back on them, and decided to go out fighting.

However, before that we have the excursion to Italy where Spike and Angel seek out Buffy, only to find Andrew, who tells them that it's time to move on, things change, and then he comes out in a suit. I see it as a meta-comment to the viewer, that it was great times, but they're coming to a close, don't just dwell in the past. It really struck me seeing Andrew in the suit that the world of Buffy was ending.

The last episode, in which the apocalypse basically just arrives is on some level, a metaphor for the end of the series, which was struck down in the prime of its life. Those last moments are haunting, it's the best series finale since Twin Peaks and one that leaves you simultaneously annoyed and thrilled that they pulled it off. Angel went out during its best season, it did not fade away.

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