Angel - Season Four (Slim Set) | David Boreanaz | Still brilliant, after all these flaws.

Angel - Season Four (Slim Set) | David Boreanaz | A year of Twists and Turns

DVDs:

Angel - Season Fou...

	Angel - Season Four (Slim Set) David Boreanaz 20th Century Fox, 2006 average customer review:based on 173 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Still brilliant, after all these flaws.

The fourth season of Angel had its fair share of difficulties, it's true. Obviously the writers weren't counting on their lead actress and pivotal season four character to get knocked up, and all things considered, they dealt with it admirably. The story they came up with still included all of this show's main themes: sacrifice of loved ones, atonement for past sins -- and most of all, the fine, grey line between "good" and "evil".

In Season Four, we see some of the most complete character development of any season of any show. Just when you thought these people could get no darker, the writers find all new corners of absolute black to take these characters to. The relationships between each and every character change, become deeper and more convoluted. And singular among all characters delving into the dark is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Gone forever is the bumbling nincompoop we loved from Buffy, and from the first season of this excellent show. With each season, Wesley became more and more complex, until he is now the most intriguing character in Buffy-verse. He has a whole new arsenal of weapons at his fingertips, and a whole new M.O. when it comes to dealing with the forces of darkness. He is no longer taking any prisoners (save one notable exception), and we are no longer taking him for granted.

The first half of season four was absolutely indescribable. Episode after episode, I watched with my mouth open in complete shock as to how GOOD this really was. I couldn't believe it. From Fred's willingness to punish Conner for his wrong-doings, to Gunn willing to commit murder for Fred . . . and let's not even get into the twisted relationship between Wesley and Lilah Morgan. I thought the show would be too weak-kneed to touch some issues, such as the interracial relationship element. Boy, was I wrong. They jumped head-first into that one, not to mention a number of other things I just didn't see coming. The Beast, for instance. What a stellar scene that was, when they all tried to fight him at once, and failed miserably. Gwen Raiden, for instance. What a phenomenal character, and how sad that she never got a chance to be brought back.

So what went wrong? The moment the big reveal of Cordelia being the bad guy behind the curtain comes along, the show just kind of . . . tapers off. I was expecting a bang, but all I got was a whimper. And though it pains me to say this, to admit ANY fault with this amazing show, I have to say that the writing got weaker, for Evil Cordy and for Angelus in particular. Angelus simply lacked the menace he had in previous incarnations, even on Buffy. At least on Buffy, they let him kill someone, eventually. Here, he's all bluster and almost no bite. And the one person he DOES bite is already dead! David Boreanaz obviously did the best he could, but the writing simply wasn't there to support his performance. Angelus, the most evil of all vampires, hanging out in a bar, drinking with random demon nobodies when there are friends of Angel's to torment and kill? Give me a break.

And I don't know whether it was the pregnancy, the writing, or simply the limit of Charisma Carpenter's acting ability (but I'm thinking it's a combination of all three), but "Evil" Cordy simply did not work, as a character or as a concept. It was hard not to laugh watching those scenes of her "controlling" Angel in her magically amplified voice, and the entire thing was simply feeble. Even the final confrontation between Angel and Angelus lacked any discernible tension at all. It was, in a word, disappointing.

When we finally get to Jasmine -- the season's true big bad, neatly wrapped in a writhing-tentacle bow -- there's another word I can use: boring. I liked the idea of them ending world peace for the right reasons, because that simply added to the grey, to the conflict that lies at this show's core. But getting there was only half the fun, literally. Watching everyone moon and mope over Jasmine was dull, watching them run away from someone from whom there is no escape was pointless, and in the end, defeating her was ridiculously easy. It only took one episode. You're telling me this whole thing could have ended with one simple punch through the face four episodes ago? Holy waste of time, Batman.

Overall, however, I still have to grant five stars to this season, because in spite of all that went wrong, the stuff that went right was still 100 times more powerful, more gripping, and just all-around BETTER than anything that came before it, in this show or Buffy. I wish they could have kept that up, but hey . . . stuff happens. Either way, it doesn't diminish my eager anticipation for the fifth season. Maybe I'll get that bang I was hoping for after all.

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A year of Twists and Turns

This DVD set is one of those ones you will start watching and won't stop until all 18 hours are done. A year of constant twists and turns, and more surprises then you can count. Charisma Carpenter really comes into her own this year, the return of Faith is awesome, and the Big Bad is incredible. This set is a must watch.

I want to say it's great...

The first season of Angel was a lot of fun. I found it lighter than what was happening over on Buffy's show where everything was the "end of the world" and I liked the personalities, relationships and plot twists. As things have progressed, however, doom and gloom has permeated the Angel world and, by season four, I'm beginning to actually notice the absence of Joss Whedon's writing. The grand plan still seems to have the Whedon touch and some of the twists are vintage but most of the writing is not Joss' and it shows (where it doesn't show on Buffy). I loved Firefly, I was addicted to Buffy and I will watch all five seasons of Angel but I feel that, by this point, there's something missing.

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"You Have to Believe that there are People Who Love You..."

Depending on your tastes and preferences, the forth season of "Angel" (chronicling the adventures of the vampire-with-a-soul in Los Angeles), is the season where the show finally hit its stride, or began to go belly-up. For the past three seasons the episodes have been rather episodic; as part of a supernatural organization that investigates paranormal phenomena (with vampire-slaying on the side) Angel and his team; ex-cheerleader and present-seer Cordelia Chase, intellectual scholar Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, former street-kid Charles Gunn, karaoke-demon Lorne and physicist Winifred "Fred" Burkle, who spent five years trapped in a demon-dimension, have all joined together to form a surrogate family and fight the good fight against the forces of evil.

But Season Three introduced several new components into the mix; predominantly that of Conner, Angel's teenage son. Born out of a mysterious union between two vampires (Angel and Darla; a seemingly impossible occurrence) Conner was kidnapped by an old foe of Angel, taken to a demon dimension and returned in what was years for Conner, but mere weeks for Angel and the gang. Disillusioned and bitter towards his father, the season ended with Conner turning on Angel and sinking him to the bottom of the ocean in an iron box. Meanwhile, Cordelia was taken in a quite different direction; after the pain of her physic visions became too great for her to bear and she was made part-demon, she ascended into a higher plane of existence in the season finale. With Angel and Cordelia missing, Lorne off to Las Vegas, and Wesley estranged from the group, Fred and Gunn are left to run the detective agency on their own.

With the group split up, the first prerogative of Season Four is to reunite all our main characters. Without giving away too many details, we eventually get our gang together again, with one major problem: Cordelia is returned to them without any memory of her life - and perhaps something else is wrong with her too. In attempting to restore the lost affection and dynamics within his self-created family, Angel embarks on a personal quest to restore his son, his love and his friends to him. This is a little tricky what with the latest apocalypse hitting L.A., complete with fire falling from the sky, an eclipse blotting out the sun, and a giant beast stalking the streets of the city.

Season Four boasts a cohesive and intricate storyline, in which practically each episode picks up directly after the one before. Expectations are continuously undercut, there are twists and turns galore, every character gets their dark side tapped into, and we get plenty of treats: the return of Faith (not seen since a brief cameo in season two of "Angel"), the return of Angelus, the surprising deaths of a few major characters (not that that's technically a *good* thing, but it's always good when a show isn't afraid to use death as a legitimate consequence), a cameo role from Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and some really nifty special effects - although they did go a bit overboard on the slow-motion scenes.

Angel's extended family has always been a bit more tempestuous than the Scooby Gang on its sister-show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". When Buffy fights with her friends, it tends to get resolved by the end of the episode. When Angel's friends fight, it can be several weeks before reconciliation is made, and as such Angel's desperation to keep his loved ones together (and more often than not, failing in this respect) is heart-rending. This season also brings the subject of fate to the forefront, a theme that has run throughout all previous seasons (and even back into the third season of "Buffy" - think back to the snowfall in the pivotal-episode "Amends" - who do you think was responsible for it now?) This age-old question that hangs over humanity; whether we are subject to fate or in control of our own destinies - is handled with incredible depth. In the black void that is mindless Hollywood movies these days, it's good to know that lowly television shows can tap into the human psyche and condition. Does the loss of free will justify world peace? Are we bound by fate or do we have a choice? Is the saving of many lives worth the sacrifice of one innocent one? Just a few questions that the show raises and deals with in mature and surprising ways.

On the other hand, there were several elements of this season that didn't mesh well, much to the distress of the fans. The relationship of Angel and Cordelia has always been the backbone of the show, and their platonic friendship has been a delight to watch develop over the course of three seasons. Unfortunately, making Angel romantically interested in Cordelia opens up a whole new can of worms (the least of which is how Angel planned to pursue any kind of long-term relationship with Cordelia when he is a vampire, and she isn't; not to mention Buffy, his son, his immortality, and the curse on his soul that has dire consequences should he ever experience a moment of true happiness). The fact that the writers ignored every single one of these factors in their treatment of the relationship was frustrating to say the least, resulting in the taking of the strongest platonic male/female friendship on either show (I don't count Willow/Xander/Buffy considering their friendship began as a love triangle) and turning it into a weird and twisted Oedipal mess. Maybe I'm just watching the wrong shows, but I'm constantly annoyed to find a complete lack of straight male/female platonic friendships on television. It is possible to love someone of the opposite sex without falling in love with them - Angel and Cordelia were the perfect example of this till Season Four.

Ruining the established friendship between the two of them by forcing them into a romantic relationship one was of several odd choices made in the latter half of the season, along with turning the potentially tragic figure of Conner into a whiny teenager and pulling a three-sixty with Cordelia's character. Apparently actress Charisma Carpenter's unannounced pregnancy threw a spanner in the works for the writers of the show, forcing them to introduce a new antagonist for the Gang to fight whilst rendering Cordelia incapacitated - ultimately resulting in Charisma's exclusion from Season Five.

But of course, this is all my opinion. From another point of view, all these elements could be seen as the best parts of the season - that's the tricky thing about writing reviews, they are entirely subjective! And for all its flaws, there were some undeniably fantastic elements: the use of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, taking the once-comic figure into a new realm of darkness, the epic quality that the show began to take, the character development that Gunn and Fred (finally!) get, and a season finale that foreshadows the possibilities of Season Five with a strange new opportunity for Angel and the gang to take...

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