Angel: The Complete Fifth Season

Review by Tom Johnson

TomJohnson@TheCinemaSource.com

Angel: The Complete Fifth Season, in short, is the finest season of television ever produced. It stands as Joss Whedon and crew's crowning achievement, a climax to eight years and twelve collective seasons of storytelling between both Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and delivers everything missing from Buffy's own entertaining yet flawed finale. It's bleak, violent, funny, scary, and absolutely heartbreaking. Sometimes it's many of these all at once. And while it was seen by only the most faithful Whedon cultists at the time of airing, it now seems destined to be discovered by a larger fan-base, and given the recognition it deserves. If you're reading this, chances are you've never seen it. Read on to discover why it's not only worth your time and money, but worth buying four other seasons for as well.

It's hard to believe that a cheaply shot B-movie spin-off led to this: Season Five, despite WB-enforced pay cuts, features film-worthy production values and brilliantly twisted story-telling. If you've never seen the show, I'd suggest you stop reading, since my opinion of the show seems fairly evident. Spoilers to the other seasons begin here. In the fifth season, the show turns its "small band of crime-fighters against the world" premise on its ear, by putting Angel Investigations in charge of Wolfram and Hart, the evil law firm/multi-dimensional evil they've been fighting since Season One. While the first few episodes of the show play out like a live-action X-men show, each featuring standalone plot arcs, Angel's trademark through-lines and serialized structure eventually appear and begin to dominate.

The main theme this season explores is the corruption threatening Angel Investigations at every step, having been placed into a position of power for unknown reasons. The first episode of the show hints at what's lurking under the surface of Wolfram and Hart before a new element is brought into play: Spike(James Marsters). Fresh from having been killed in the Buffy finale, Spike promptly returns to life(in typical Whedonverse fashion). After taking several knocks to his character in the final two seasons of Buffy, he returns here in top form, and works better as a hero than he ever did on the sister show, thanks mainly to the antagonistic chemistry he shares with Angel(David Boreanaz). Marsters and Boreanaz work incredibly well off each other, and provide humor in unexpected places when they're together. As the show continues and Spike's presence begins to develop, he becomes a central figure in the cast.

This said, the most-valued talents in the cast prove, yet again, to be Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker, who portray, respectively, Wesley and Fred(until a late season plot twist allows one of them to show range, so to speak). In the

season's second half, the two get ample opportunities to showcase their craft, and they perform brilliantly. Above all else, the ensemble has come together so well this season that, despite the theme of each character's growing isolation from the group, it still feels like one united cast. Half of the reason that, despite an array of ridiculous situations and over-the-top plot twists, the show succeeds is because of the writing. The other half is the acting. Both in front of and behind the camera, Angel was always the most underrated show on television. Hopefully on DVD, all talents will get more of the respect they deserve.

What viewers get at the end of Angel is not the climactic, cinematic bang of Buffy's last hoorah, but a darker, noir-ish slow burn that builds toward the greatest episode of either show, the series finale. The show's closing note obviously won't be spoiled here, but let it be said that, despite the polarizing controversy its original airing caused in the fan-base, it gets everything right, all the way down to the final shot. It's a moving, innovative, and absolutely brilliant way to close the book on the greatest fantasy world ever made for television. Whether it was done out of anger towards the WB for canceling it, frustration at the American viewer in general for ignoring it, or love for the most devoted fans, so that they can always remember their favorite characters doing what they do best, the ending to this series strikes with both fury and respect, and leaves one yearning for just one more peek that will never come. Capped by such a great pay-off, Angel: Season Five is an absolute triumph of storytelling that originally aired far before its time. And to think it all started with a campy Kristy Swanson movie.

Show Grade: A+

The DVD is predictably packaged like the other seasons, albeit with Spike in place of a comatose Cordelia on the front, and with the niftiest character shots yet on the inside cover. The commentaries are the best the series has had, and the features showcase a bittersweet end for the series, with the actors giving their comments on the show. The picture and sound quality is great as always, and the menus are the best-designed of either show. Not a mind-blowing package, but one that's certainly worthy of containing such a remarkable 22 episodes.

DVD Grade: font color=blue>A

"We are weak. The powerful control everything, except our will to choose"¦Heroes don’t accept the way the world is. The Senior Partners may be eternal, but we can make their existence painful."

Kind of makes one wonder who the writers are really talking to, doesn't it? Killed before its time, one can at least be thankful that the show was given the opportunity

to tie up all its loose ends in the season's second half. While the first half is still wildly entertaining, it's obviously custom-designed to bring in new fans at the sacrifice of advancing its core's favorite plots. Luckily, this is quickly remedied, and by the final episode, nearly every loose thread the show has spun from Season One on is tied up neatly, though never predictably. Even the Shanshu prophecy(the revelation that Angel will, through sacrifice, eventually win his humanity back), revealed at the end of the first season and used as the through-line for the entire show, is finally answered in the most unexpected, yet grimly satisfying way, both literally and philosophically. Though the show's characters may at times appear to be different shades of grey, a strong, clearly defined morality, molded strictly from eudaimonism, has always dominated the stories told. Without ever becoming preachy, or even obvious, the show has always posed the toughest philosophical questions to its audience. In its final season, it has the courage and intelligence to answer them in revelatory ways. One could look back to the beginning of film or television and be hard-pressed to find a more challenging, or rewarding, work of fantasy. The show is one of a kind, as deep as a great novel, and as entertaining as a great film. With its death, television became a lot less interesting, but its loss is DVD's gain. If you've never watched the show, you can't conceive of the roller-coaster ride you missed. And if you never take the chance on it, now that it's readily available as a complete work, you never will. You can accept what passes for entertainment on network tv these days, or you can take a chance on this undiscovered masterpiece. To paraphrase the show's hero, you have to make the choice.

Final Grade:A+

*A must-buy*