Nick Martin

I've always found the DVD talk ANGEL series reviews to me (mostly) consistent with my take on what will always be the BEST series I have ever been fortunate enough to witness.

I eagerly await the Season Five review here, as I recall opinions about the opening of the final season were less than favorable, so I'm interested to read how the season as a whole is regarded. (Yes, I thought the ending was perfect.)

And, at least this time the "previously on..." segments being removed aren't going to affect the DVD all that much, so that's something good, right?

Can't wait for that 9 minute outtake reel...

Until Feb 15.

Adam Tyner

Thanks for the kind words about my reviews!

I'm not keen on some of the earlier episodes of season 5, but I think the season rebounded very strongly as it progressed, and I agree that the ending was perfect. It's an uneven season, but I think the best parts of it more than make up for the weaker moments.

das Monkey

One of the very few positives of having my Top 50 fall apart this season was not having to tear apart this season of Angel. While I loved so much of how it ended, it is significantly flawed in many ways IMO. Adam and I often disagree with things in the Buffyverse, which is great, because I respect his perspective so much, so I'm very much looking forward to reading his take on this final season as well.

das

Nick Martin

Well, I've said those words before, but it's the truth, so I'm saying them again.

Josh Z

Bah humbug! You Angel S4 fans are crazy. Season 5 was a quantum leap improvement in every respect.

MasterofDVD

I hope the final season ends up as good as I've heard because I too think Season 4 was a joke. There were maybe 3 good shows in the whole bunch. I was happy with the way the 4th season ended and I have high hopes for the final season.

Josh-da-man

Season four had a lot of good things going for it, like , but there were a lot of critical errors that drug it down, namely

das Monkey

With the exception of 'Home' and 'Awakening', with some love for 'Apocalypse, Nowish' as well, Season 4 was a disaster. It makes me sad that I feel that way, but it's the truth.

das

Gil Jawetz

Huh. I thought that season 4 was phenomenal. So twisty and turny. I loved it. 5 was hit and miss, but no where near as bad as Buffy s7 or X-Files 8 and 9. And the finale of Angel was one of the finest finales I've ever seen (unlike those other two series, which had garbage finales)

garmonbozia

I agree. I thought Season 4 was the best season of the show....while Season 5 was by far the worst.

Vampirella

I loved Season 4! Had it not been for the appearance of Jasmine (what an anti-climax THAT was), it would have been my favourite season. As it is, Season 3 ranks top for me – purely because it is consistently fantastic throughout. Holtz was a fabulous “villain”.

I'm now waiting for Season five to be released. I figure it's gotten such a bad press everywhere that disappointment wouldn't be possible for me anymore.

boredsilly

I too thought season 4 was really great (save for Jasmine...ugh!). Especially when watching it through for the first time. I remember being on the edge of my seat every week.

My favorite seasons are now (oddly) season 1 and 2. They have the most rewatchability IMHO.

Hakim679

Season 4 of Angel was as good as if not better than season 2 of 24. Watching it for the first time on dvd kept me up all night. Granted Cordy was a joke and Connor can be irritating, it was an amazingly fun ride with high points for Amy Acker, J. Richards, and especially Alexis Denisof. I don't understand the hate for Jasmine though. To me, that was the greatest part of the show. From the Magic Bullet on, I thought it was amazing.

das Monkey

Is this supposed to be praise? I guess it does pose an interesting poll question, though. Which is the more idiotic plot device from a 2002-2003 series: Jasmine or Cougar?

das

slop101

I can't believe how canonized that cougar in 24 got - he was only in, like, one episode. However, people go on as if the cougar was the mastermind behind the terrorists. That said, it was pretty stupid, almost as stupid as the whole Jasmine thing. The Jasmnine arc killed S4 of Angel for me, which otherwise, would have been my favorite season.

Josh Z

The complete unwriting of everything interesting about Cordelia's character is what killed S4 for me. Jasmine and planet of the crab people were just further sour notes in the season.

Joss Whedon obviously agrees, as he worked very hard in S5 to undo the mess of S4.

MasterofDVD

I keep seeing this bumped and I get excited thinking the review is up.
Damn.

Season 4 was riddled with problems that got worse and worse the whole season. I under that both Buffy and Angel always "tortured" their characters and had them deal with a multitude of problems but so much of the cast was changed and messed up in the 4th season that I couldn't deal with it. My friend who got me into both shows when they came to DVD kept assuring me that season 4 would improve and I'm not sure if he lied to keep me watching or if he really liked the show. We don't hang out much but you can bet that as soon as I finish the last season I'm going to call him and tell him what I think. I just hope it's a good report.

Josh-da-man

If that's the case then they he should've

Adam Tyner

I acknowledge many of the same flaws some of you do, but they don't grate on my nerves nearly as much. Cordelia had already devolved into St. Cordy in season three, so the character was already pretty thoroughly ruined for me before any of these episodes aired. Jasmine was a fairly terrible idea, but as bad as a lot of that was, there were some moments I liked, particularly the entirety of "The Magic Bullet", which I see as one of the stand-out episodes of the season. Also, although Jasmine obviously had an influence over the season as a whole, her character is concentrated in...what was it, three episodes? That's a small enough number to not really drag things down too heavily.

I'm not sure if I'd blame Charisma Carpenter or not for what happened in season four, but she was clearly not up to the task of playing the role that was written for her that year...eye-rollingly unconvincing.

Gil Jawetz

Gotta say, I love Jasmine.


She's soooo beautiful....

drh4

I love the strong disagreement between our very distinguished reviewers here...

The hardest part for me about seasons 4-5 was the loss of any strong female presence in the show. CC had grown into one in seasons 1-3, which stayed true to the feminist legacy of Buffy IMO. I had a hard time keeping my wife and female friends interested once CC took her S4 turn and no one was there to replace her presence.

I thought 4 was better than 5, but chalked that up as much to the marching orders that ME were under from the WB as anything else.

tf50515

I just watched a little bit of the Season 5 DVD and apparently all the "Previously On..." segments(I think about 3) are kept on the DVD. I guess they thought that since there weren't that many then why bother.

Gil Jawetz

Nice time to start.

Puzznic

Thats not true about Joss agreeing. I remember in part of the special features on the S4 set Joss says that he thinks S4 is the best Angel season up to that point. I don't think Angel S4 was the best was it was definitely good. Angel isn't like Buffy, where some seasons are just horrible compared to the best seasons. To me all of the Seasons are great, but some are better than others. I find Season 5 to be the best with Season 3 coming in right under it. People are a little hard on the first 6 episodes of Season 5, i think they're good. They just appear a little average compared to how phenomenal episodes 7 through 22 are.

Nick Martin

I found it interesting to see clips from season 1 in the featurettes that were expanded to look widescreen, the exact same way they did season 2. (clips from "Eternity", "I Will Remember You" and a few others)

Almost made me wish season 1 had been released that way...just because it looked more consistent with the other season clips.

I admit I was shocked when I too noticed the 'previously on' segments were not removed.