Angel

In order to keep ‘Angel’ on the air for a fifth season, Joss Whedon and the gang at Mutant Enemy had to make a few changes. So, they totally revamped the series - transplanting the Angel Investigations team to the unhallowed halls of Wolfram & Hart. Combining this ‘minor’ change with the network’s request for more standalone episodes resulted in one of the most creative and entertaining seasons of any of Whedon’s three series.

Sometimes, redemption comes with a cost - frequently that cost is temptation. When Wolfram & Hart cede their Los Angeles office to Angel Investigations for thwarting *world peace* [however evil the process by which it was gained], the gang finds that they are surrounded by temptation: Fred has a magnificent R&D set-up, complete with huge budget; Wesley has access to every book he’s ever wanted to use for research [and personal reading, as it turns out]; Lorne, as head of the entertainment division, is in hog heaven; Angel has the assets of the L.A. office to combat evil. Even Gunn has a temptation: his insecurities are eliminated by having the legal texts of every dimension downloaded into his brain [along with the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan - for elocution].

Instantly, their lives change in almost incomprehensible ways. On a patrol of the city, Angel saves a young woman from a vampire [echoing the teaser from the first ep of the series] - but an entire army of Wolfram & Hart employees appear out of nowhere - taking publicity photos, getting the woman to sign a waiver [‘Sign here for your immortal soul!’] and offering to bring angel’s car around. We’re not in Kansas anymore...

Although the network wanted more standalone eps, Whedon & Company somehow managed to deliver their through arcs in ways that pay off both in unexpected ways [who expected the masked mail guy to turn out to be a former Mexican superhero?] and ways that seem to have escaped the suits’ notice? In truth, the A-plots of most eps were big, flashy and standalone [once Numero Cinco appeared and his problem was handled, he again receded into the background, for example], and once the standalone nature of the season’s first several eps were established, Whedon’s crew began moving into upfront major arcs, like the Circle of the Black Thorn.

While the season took a lot of unexpected turns [who would have expected an homage to the Mexican luchadores movies of the forties and fifties, or a god-king taking over Fred’s body?], none were more beautifully executed than the final five episode arc that replaced W&H liaison Eve with the chipper Marcus Hamilton, and the huge series of showdowns that closed out the series.

For its sheer originality, ‘Angel: Season Five’ pretty much every series airing at the time. The writing was mostly brilliantly [occasionally dipping to well above average]; the production and direction [bearing in mind that the budget had been cut] were amazing; and every one of the regular casts was performing at the height of their ability.

If there was a misstep, it was the introduction of snooty, glib Eve [Sarah Thompson], who replaced Lilah as the liaison with the Senior Partners. Unfortunately, despite the glowing way she’s referred to in the commentary tracks, Eve lacked both the menace and the class of Lilah [the much missed Stephanie Romanov, who did get to guest in one ep, which showed how much she was missed]. Other than that, Season Five was the best of the best.

Features:

Boy, are there features! Mutant Enemy and FOX went all out for the final Angelverse DVD set: six featurettes and seven [SEVEN!] commentary tracks! We’re talking a trove of treasure; a jackpot of golden extras!

Disc one’s ‘Hey, Kids! It’s Smile Time’ is an in-depth discussion of the making of the ep, and chronicle of the fun that was had on set. Disc four features ‘Angel100’, a five-minute series of clips on joining the elite series that lasted for at least 100 eps. But it’s on disc six where we strike the motherlode.

Beginning with the season overview, ‘Angel: The Final Season’, we begin to understand just how special the series participants [cast, creators and crew] saw the year. Although the format is the same as on previous season sets, there seems to be just that little bit more enthusiasm as everyone talks about the year - and the ep-by-ep bits are, if possible, even more fun than in previous years. From there we come to ‘To Live & Die In L.A.: The Best of Angel’ - wherein Whedon catalogues what he considers to be the best eps of the first four seasons [leaving us to wonder what he thought were the best of season five...]. Then we get ‘Halos and Horns: Recurring Villainy’, a dissection of the best of ‘Angel’s’ recurring villains: Drusilla, Darla, Lilah and Lindsey - each includes clips by the actors who played them. Finally, ‘Angel Unbound: Gag Reel’, a funnier than usual gag reel that is perhaps about ten seconds too long, but does contain some genuinely funny stuff.

The commentary tracks are for ‘Conviction’ [the season premiere, but writer/director Joss Whedon], ‘Destiny’ [director Skip Schoolnik, writer Steven DeKnight and ‘Drusilla ‘Juliet Landau], ‘Soul Purpose’ [director David Boreanaz, writer Brett Fletcher and ‘Lindsey’, Christian Kane], ‘You’re Welcome’ [writer/director David Fury, Kane and ‘Eve’, Sarah Thompson], ‘A Hole In The World’ [co-writer/director Joss Whedon, Amy Acker, ‘Wesley’, Alexis Denisof], Underneath [director Schoolnik, co-writers Elizabeth Kraft & Sarah Fain, ‘Hamilton’, Adam Baldwin] and ‘Not Fade Away’ [writer/director Jeffrey Bell]. In a minor ‘oops’, none of the commentary tracks are listed in the booklet that accompanies the set...

Most of the commentaries are excellent, though the one for ‘A Hole In The World’ finds Whedon uncharacteristically distracted and neither Acker nor Denisof add much to the proceedings - though we do get a few interesting tidbits on the ep’s connection to both Emmylou Harris and William Shakespeare.

The best commentaries are for the season premiere, ‘Conviction’ [Whedon talks technique, explains the wonder of the new Wolfram & Hart main set, and generally has fun] and ‘Not Fade Away’ [Bell is blunt about the simplicity of the plot and how the characters make it work; deals with things like cast chemistry, achieving certain shots, and how everyone felt about shooting the series finale].

Grade: ‘Angel - Season Five’ - A+

Grade: Features - A+

final Grade: A+