Angel

STUDIO: Fox Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: Feb. 15

TIME: 16 hours, 30 mins.

DVD EXTRAS: Commentary by Joss Whedon and various cast on selected episodes, featurettes including "Angel: The Final Season," "Angel: 100," "Choreography of a Stunt," "The Best of Angel," "Halos & Horns: Recurring Villany," and "Angel Unbound: The Gag Reels." All episodes presented in widescreen with English and Spanish subtitles.

INTERNET SITE: www.foxhome.com/angel

ZAP2IT RATING: 3 stars

The dark companion to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" comes to an end with season five. Not an end with tears and retrospectives or an end which was abrupt and jarring (a la "Farscape"), but an ending that fit the series to a T.

In the fifth and final season, Angel (David Boreanaz) has taken control of his nemesis, Wolfram and Hart and all the evil lawyers contained therein. After the destruction of Sunnydale and the closing of the hellmouth, Spike (James Marsters) joined the cast for this final season as a humorous and perfectly paired sidekick and foil to Angel. If the show had continued for further seasons, it would have been interesting to see how their partnership had grown. As such, characters live, characters die (including some you don-t expect to) and the show ends much like it began - in battle.

Yeah, but was it better than the whole whiny season with Connor? YES! Unequivocally! Season 5 is worth watching solely for the episode entitled "Smile Time" in which an evil children-s show turns Angel into a muppet! (Which I understand will be for sale later this year, incidentally!)

To close out the series, there are featurettes a plenty on this box set. They are a double edged sword in that they would be helpful to new viewers, but they give away some major plot points which make them ruinous! So I would advise watching them AFTER you-ve watched the show. The gag reels are light years ahead of the pseudo gag reels on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" seasons. These are worth it if anything just to see Angel smiling and laughing!

The featurette called "Halos & Horns: Recurring Villany" focuses on the villains of the series including Darla, Eve, and Drusilla. The actresses all speak to the loyalty of the fans, the love of the characters, and the general obsession with the evil ladies of the show. Overall, the featurettes are well done and provide not only a focus on season five, but an overview of the entire series. Lastly, there are the always humorous and witty commentaries by Joss Whedon on selected episodes which are one of the first things I always head for on one of his series.

In a time of reality television and news magazines, "Angel" was a well written, beautifully shot, precision crafted show which is sorely missed.

Does season five leave some characters hanging? Yep. Does it leave the series open for movies or a miniseries? Absolutely. Is everything tied up in a neat tidy ending? NO, no and NO. Does "Angel" go out on top of its game? Definitely. And it ends perfectly.