Angel RIP

So now Angel is going to join Buffy in the great undead afterlife. What a shame. I have to admit, though, that I won't miss Angel as much as I miss - and lordy, lordy, lordy do I miss - Joss Whedon's other late lamented shows, Buffy and Firefly.

This year's Angel has been disappointing, and I find that I often tape it on Wednesday night and then forget for days that I haven't watched it yet. This season has never really gelled, never really found a purpose.

What made Angel great for the last few years was the epic, season long - even multiple season - story arcs. Season Two had Angel's long, tortured night of the soul as he struggled with Wolfram and Hart. Season Three had the intricately crafted story of Angel and Darla's impossible child Connor, Holtz's demented obsession with revenge on Angel, Wesley's exile, Angel losing his beloved son. Season Four started strong and just kept getting better and better, with the Beast, the prophecies, Faith (!!), and finally the (unfortunately) somewhat anticlimactic Jasmine arc. These three seasons in a very real sense told a single story, exploring complex themes and showing the development of complex characters and difficult relationships.

This season has lost much of that. The Gang's taking over Wolfram and Hart could have been interesting, though I was always dubious, but the writers don't seem to have quite figured out how to exploit the scenario. There doesn't seem to be much narrative drive, and the one interesting subplot - Lindsay and Eve's schemes - was just unceremoniously dumped in what struck me as the worst Whedon plot decision since Adam killed Professor Walsh in Buffy's season four. The show really misses Cordelia, and even misses Connor (who I admit I found pretty annoying when he was around). Nothing really binds the characters together anymore, and many of them seem to have had personality transplants (in Gunn's case, literally).

Angel is still capable of quality episodes - the ones with Spike and Angel competing for the cup, Andrew and the crazy slayer, and Cordelia's curtain call stand out - but they just don't seem to add up to anything. From the spoilers I've seen, the show seems to be setting up the kind of arc that I've missed this season, but at this point it may be too little, too late.

Don't get me wrong - Angel is still one of the best shows on TV, and it is the last link to the Buffyverse. I'll miss it terribly, I have no doubt. I just wish that this season had been more compelling, now that we know that it's the last.

Comments

[gazebo]

I feel pretty much the same way about Angel this season... but from what I've gathered the show's current arclessness has a lot to do with pressure from the WB network execs. So they forced Whedon and co. to dispense with the arc, and then they cancel the show anyway...

I'm not so sure that Lindsey is gone for good--I haven't read any spoilers but just have a hunch that he'll come back somehow...

As for standout episodes this season: don't forget the one where Wesley kills, or thinks he kills, his father to save Fred. Man, I'm really going to miss Wesley and all his issues...