absolut_tragedy hat geschrieben: Der Sender startet überigens mit der 3. Staffel, also der Folge "Herzflattern".Hab's mittlerweile vergessen: Bis zu welcher Ep. hat Pro7 die Serie gezeigt :?:
(chris) hat geschrieben: Seit froh, dass Angel überhaupt gezeigt wird...Bin ich auch
(chris) hat geschrieben: Die 3. Staffel ist ja schon einige Zeit her, dass sie gezeigt wurde, da find ich die Wiederholung gar nicht schlecht, davon abgesehen ist die 3. Staffel recht gut gewesen.Genau, man muß ja schließlich wieder in die Geschichte reinkommen
Maeth hat geschrieben:Team Angel hat Erfolg!! *kaputt* :lol:War ich auch mich nervte generel die ganze Baby sache, war irgendwie etwas was ich als störfaktor empfand.
ProSieben hat soweit ich weiß mit 3x16 Sleep Tight / Das Tor zur Hölle aufgehört (eine der besten Folgen der Season imo). Muss aber sagen, dass ich von S3 eher enttäuscht war, besonders nach der tollen zweiten Staffel ...
Maeth hat geschrieben:Team Angel hat Erfolg!! *kaputt* :lol:Das stimmt nicht. Pro Sieben hat die dritte Staffel komplett gezeigt.
ProSieben hat soweit ich weiß mit 3x16 Sleep Tight / Das Tor zur Hölle aufgehört (eine der besten Folgen der Season imo). Muss aber sagen, dass ich von S3 eher enttäuscht war, besonders nach der tollen zweiten Staffel ...
We help the hopeless
A look on Joss Whedon's Angel
After having written an entry about my favorite "Buffy" episodes, I thought about writing entries concerning other favorite television shows of mine which already ended. The first show after "Buffy" to have the honor of being reviewed, is "Angel", which is a spin-off of "Buffy the vampire slayer" of course.
Angel lasted for five years. It aired from 1999 to 2004 on the WB network.
The series
Joss Whedon and his "Buffy" co-producer David Greenwalt created "Angel", because they thought that the character of Angel on "Buffy" had enough potential to carry a show on his own. While "Buffy" was about a typical teenage girl who turns out to be extraordinary, "Angel" is about a man with a questionnable past who is looking for redemption. "Buffy the vampire slayer" broke with conventional horror film clichés among others. While a blonde woman in horror movies usually has to be saved by a male hero, the blonde girl in "Buffy" was capable of saving herself instead of just being rescued. "Angel" went back to the more traditional way of hero stories, because it was a show about a male hero and so female characters became once again damsels in distress, but "Angel" wouldn't be a Joss Whedon-show if there wasn't more to it than what the eye can meet on the surface. "Angel" is not only a show about a hero, but also a show about people in their twenties in the big scary city. ´To underline that the show also deals with the problems that people in their twenties have, the show used a lot of metaphors, just as "Buffy" did it with "teenage problems".
Compared as a whole to "Buffy", "Angel" unfortunately ranks behind "Buffy". The show didn't have as much extraordinary episodes as "Buffy" had, but "Angel" nevertheless is one hell of a show. If you take a look on seperate elements on "Angel", you might find out that "Angel" nevertheless was capable of beating "Buffy" in certain aspects. Season four of "Angel" for example, is the best season in the whole "Buffy"-universe. Season four of "Angel" was such an extraordinary, thrilling and intense season that "Buffy"'s best seasons got pale in comparison. But as a whole, "Angel" unfortunately loses to "Buffy". The show was searching too long for its own identity and one problem that particularly affected the first couple of seasons of "Angel" is the fact that "Angel" wasn't an ensemble show when the show first started out. If you watch an episode of the latter seasons, you'll notice that the interactions between the characters and the dynamics that rule between those characters are what makes the show fun to watch. The show got more and more interesting when "Angel" extended its cast.
What makes "Angel" watchable, is the development of the characters on the show. Just as the characters changed on "Buffy", the characters on "Angel" changed a lot during the run of the show. Although some characters changed in a way you wouldn't have expected them to change, their development always was understandable and believable. "Angel" proabably could have beaten "Buffy" as a whole if the series had continued. In season five you already notice that the writers of the show started to experiment with their stories just as they did on "Buffy" (which resulted in some of the best episodes of "Angel"), but unfortunately it was too late and the show could never live up to its full potential.
The best episodes of season one (not ranked)
Lonely Hearts (1x02)
After a truly weak pilot episode, "Angel" delivers with "Lonely Hearts" one of the best episodes of the first season. "Lonely Hearts" deals with a series of killings that happened in L.A. and were linked to a nightclub called "D'Oblique". Soon we find out that some sort of parasite demon is looking for the human body in which it can survive, but hasn't found it yet and goes from body to body by hollowering people out on the inside. What makes the episode so interesting, is the overall theme of the episode. The episode is not about the demon itself, but about single people in the big city who desperately look for their soulmate. It's about people who feel lonely and are in need of human interaction. But the episode also deals with the illusion of telling yourself that you have found the right person. You meet a person and you think that this is the right person for yourself, but when you wake up next to that person on the next day, it becomes clear that this could never work. "Lonely Hearts" is a very dark episode about the loneliness that exists in the big city and that deals with the question of whom to trust, handled with a lot of awesome fight sequences.
Rm w/a Vu (1x05)
"Rm w/a Vu" is an episode which is centered around Cordelia and her search for a new apartment after cockroaches pop up from nowhere in her first apartment. An episode which centers around Cordelia is always fun, because the character is bitchy, but also loveable which makes it fun to watch. The episode is about the first apartment on your own and deals with the independence that young people want to get when they finish school. Although Cordelia already had an apartment at the beginning of the show, "Rm w/a Vu" deals with the first apartment you get on your own. Cordelia's first apartment was just a temporary solution. Her new apartment is something about which she's excited, because it looks neat. At the moment she notices that a ghost of an old woman lives in that apartment who wants to see her dead, she expresses that she would rather die than give up the apartment and her independence which she gained through the apartment. The revealation at the end of the ghost being the mother of a son who killed her son, because he wanted to leave with a woman the mother didn't approve of, is also a nice twist in the story and shows even more that this episode is about accomplishing independence.
I Will Remember You (1x08)
In "I Will Remember You" Angel temporarily becomes a human and he and Buffy (guest star Sarah Michelle Gellar) fall once again in love with each other. But when Angel realizes that he can't neither protect Buffy as a human nor save people who are helpless and in need of a savior, he decides to sacrifice his humanity and his luck for the greater good. This episode shows once again that Joss Whedon creates modern tragedies on his television shows which don't need to avoid the comparison to classical plays of Shakespeare. This is once again one of those things that make Joss Whedon-shows special. The episode also shows that love isn't always enough and that people who love each other sometimes have to give up on each other to avoid catastrophe and to make at least one of the two of them happy.
Hero (1x09)
"Hero" might be the biggest episode of the first season of "Angel". In "Hero" Angel, Cordelia and Doyle try to save a group of part-human Lister demons from The Scourge, an army of supremacist stormtrooper demons who claim "pure" blood and consequently persecute those of "mixed" blood. The episode obviously is a metaphor for racism and the national socialism of World War II. The Scourge even have a weapon which can kill every single creature which has human aspects and that weapon resembles the concentration camps which existed during the second World War. "Hero" is a dark episode with a message: As different as we might be, we're all the same.
Also, once again that episode shows us how Shakesperian a Joss Whedon-show can be. At the end Doyle comes out to Cordelia as a half demon and ultimately sacrifices himself to save those who are helpless and to keep Angel on his mission. The end just leads you to cry your soul out. The character of Doyle was a very sympathetic one and Glenn Quinn played the hell out of the character. Additionally a great romance is scotched. Doyle and Cordelia will never be together which makes the episode much more tragic:
Doyle: (After kissing Cordelia and just before he leaps onto the Scourge bomb and sacrifices himself) "Too bad we'll never know... (Turns demon face)... if this is a face you could learn to love."
The best episodes of season two (not ranked)
Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been (2x02)
In the 1950s, Angel aids a woman hiding from her past inside a hotel with a long history of death and mayhem; in the present, Angel returns to that same hotel and tracks the demon he refused to stop the last time.
"Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been" is an interesting story which takes place in the 50s and deals with mistakes Angel has made in the past. This episode is one of the best episodes of season two, because it is completely different from what the show is usually doing and because it's always fun to go into another decade to explore the past. This episode generally deals with people trying to hide from what they've done in the past, but who become helpless and hopeless, because they may be able to hide what they've done from other people, but they can't hide it from themselves.
Darla (2x07)
Angel tries to rescue Darla from the clutches of Wolfram & Hart, who brought her back to life, as she begins suffering from the guilt of her demonic past and staying around Lindsey, who has feelings for her.
More classical drama elements to "Angel". This episode explores Angel's past and how he tried to stay a part of his vampire group when he regained his soul, but failed. It also deals with Darla's wish to become a vampire again, because her feelings of guilt start to eat her up from the inside. She asks Angel, the only one who truly understands her, to make her to a vampire again, so that she doesn't have to suffer anymore. It's an episode about how pain and guilt can lead a person to suicide, but Angel tries to tell Darla that her new life is a chance for her and that they are things which she could achieve in life which makes her life worth living. It's an episodes which deals with the theme of suicide and includes the message that you should continue your life no matter how much pain you feel, because it's your life and your chance to make a difference.
Reunion (2x10)
Angel and the gang race against the clock to find Darla before her imminent rebirth as a vampire after Drusilla, who’s now on the Wolfram & Hart assassin payroll, killed her.Unfortunately Angel doesn't succeed and Darla is reborn as a vampire, both aiming at creating chaos on the streets of Los Angeles.
"Reunion" is an episode about loss and how it can lead people to darkness. After Angel failed at saving Darla's humanity and after Darla and Drusilla have started a massacre at a Wolfram & Hart whine tasting, Angel fires his friends and becomes a loner, who isolates himself even more from society and starts a campaign of vengeance against those who are responsible for his loss. It's an interesting episode, because the hero of the show who is supposed to be good and supposed to save people comes more and more into a grey area and the episode shows us that people can't be put into a simple black or white category, because human beings are not that simple.
The best episodes of season three (not ranked)
Forgiving (3x17)
After Wesley has betrayed the gang and Holtz has kidnapped Angel's son Connor, Angel tries to figure out how to get Connor back, while Fred, Gunn & Lorne try to get to know why Wesley has betrayed them and to achieve that, they've got to find him before he is going to bleed to death.
Once again an episode about loss and how Angel is willing to do just about anything to get to the things he wants the most. The most interesting aspect of "Forgiving" is the fact that the relationships between the characters change significantly. Wesley has betrayed the group and has to live with the consequences, while Angel is once again looking for vengeance. The thing about Joss Whedon-shows which is truly appealing is the fact that the relationships between the character never stay the same just as it is in real life. It's a very shocking twist that Angel is willing to kill his former friend Wesley at the end and it brings new intensity to the show and is the beginning of a very interesting interactions between the character which are going to endure until the end of season four.
Benediction (3x21)
Angel tries to get closer to Connor after they successfully engage in some much-needed father-son bonding when they find themselves fighting side-by-side against a group of vampires at a nightclub. But things get stirred up when the aged Daniel Holtz tries to make Connor kill Angel which leads the vampire to have a face-to-face with the aged Holtz. Also, Lilah continues to try to recruit Wesley to work at Wolfram & Hart where he brushes her off, but he keeps her business card to think about the offer.
"Benediction" is another very good episode of season three which ends with an intrigue. After Holtz has told Angel that Connor is going to live with him from now on, he lets himself getting killed by Justine, but they make it look as if Angel was responsable for Holtz's death which leads Connor to make plans on how to kill Angel. Holtz's intrigue to sacrifice himself to get his revenge on Angel is once again classical drama, while the episode additionally sets up the very interesting dynamic between Wesley & Lilah.
Tomorrow (3x22)
In "Tomorrow" Joss Whedon shows once again how Shakesperian his show is. While Angel is betrayed by his son Connor and as a result of that in a truly uncomfortable situation, Cordelia is supposed to become a higher being and has to leave this world to fulfill her purpose which leads to the both of them not being able to express their true feelings towards each other.
The best episodes of season four (not ranked)
At first: It's very difficult to pick the favorite episodes of season four, because every single episode in this season was extraordinary, but I am only going to list those episodes which were a landmark for the show.
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The best episodes of season five (not ranked)
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kabel eins bringt «Angel» wieder ins Free-TV
Nach über zwei Jahren kommt die US-Serie «Angel» wieder ins Fernsehen. Auf dem komplett umstrukturierten kabel eins-Montag soll die Serie an einstige Erfolge anknüpfen.
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Melly hat geschrieben:Gestern habe ich das 1. Mal in meinem Leben "Angel" geschaut. Mensch, war das geil.hehe das mit dem Hausgeist ist witzig...als sie eingezogen ist, war der schon drin und die leben jetzt zusammen...Was ist eigentich mit Cordy passiert ? Sie hat ja Visionen und hat einen Geist im Haus ?! :shock:
The Rock hat geschrieben:Oh danke für die Erklärung. Wer ist eigentlich Doyle ? :oops:Melly hat geschrieben:Gestern habe ich das 1. Mal in meinem Leben "Angel" geschaut. Mensch, war das geil.Hehe das mit dem Hausgeist ist witzig...als sie eingezogen ist, war der schon drin und die leben jetzt zusammen...
Die Visionen hat sie am Ende der ersten Staffel von Doyle bekommen...bevor er starb, übertrug er seine Fähigkeiten Visionen zu bekommen, an sie weiter.
