Angel: Season 1 - Joss Whedon

When it first aired, I wasn't very invested in Angel as a series. I was a huge fan of Buffy, and although I was excited for Angel to get his own show and to see more of Joss Whedon could do, the show didn't really grab me. This might have been partially because I was so into the whole Buffy world and didn't really want to leave it, or that I was just liked the characters in Buffy more (especially Willow and Giles), but whatever the reason I never really considered myself an Angel fan: I was a Buffy guy. Then when Buffy switched networks after the fifth season and at the beginning of my senior year of highschool I stopped watching both of them. It seemed like a clear stopping point for Buffy, and I let Angel fall with it. I always considered picking up watching Angel at some point, and besides a little viewing here and there I didn't re-watch any of it until I saw it on uber-sale at Target. (4 seasons for $35? How could I resist!?).

Watching the first season it's hard for me to see what I didn't really like about the show. It's true that because the three main characters are castoffs from Buffy it did feel a little bit like Buffy JV, and the characters they picked were some of the least likable from the parent show. They took the rich spoiled Cordelia, the brooding overly serious Angel, and later the bumbling super-British occasionally dickish Wesley. Although fans from the early seasons of Buffy might balk at watching the show from the list of characters, they are given much more of a diverse and in depth characterization. Plus, Angel is spectacular. Many of the MOTW plots are extremely inventive, there are some extremely funny scenes, and overall the show is both clever and engaging.

Like Buffy, the majority of Angel is done on a MOTW (monster of the week) basis. Each week our heroes investigate a demon or supernatural event and try to help those in need. However, unlike Buffy, the first season of Angel doesn't have a 'big bad'. For those unfamiliar with he show, each season of Buffy would have a 'big bad', or a super evil villain, that drove much of the plot and was finally defeated at the end. The first season of Angel chooses to forgo this route, and I think it's refreshing. There are overarching themes, and recurring characters (both good and bad), but there is no videogame-like villain that needs to be defeated by episode 22. I hear the show has more of a series long story arch, but since I haven't seen much else of the series I can't really comment on it.

Because of this, Angel is much more of a typical procedural than Buffy was. In this day and age calling a show a procedural (a drama that has mostly stand-alone episodes that follow a similar formula) is often considered an insult, but I don't think that it should be. Having somewhat of a formula can be comforting, and makes episodes where overarching themes or plots occur that much more exciting. In this context, an episode that is a two-parter or ends on a 'to be continued...' is much more exciting than if every episode ends this way. This is not to say Angel doesn't reward faithful viewers, but you can easily pick up and watch a stand alone episode of the first season much easier than you can most of Buffy.

Speaking of faithful viewers, one of the major problems of Angel season one is that to fully appreciate it the viewer needs to have seen Buffy. In fact, in the first season (and I believe also the second) there are many crossover episodes where something would happen on Buffy, and then repercussions would be seen on Angel (which aired immediately afterward). I remember being very excited for these at the time, but mostly they are unrewarding. Typically the only thing that you get from the crossover episodes is getting to say something like 'hey I remember Oz!' where people who never watched Buffy would be left slightly in the dark. Furthermore, the episodes where Buffy visits the show tend to be more depressing than one would like. I know people want to see them interact because of their epic love affair on Buffy, but watching them yell at each other like the recently broken up lovers they are is extremely upsetting. Buffy comes across as a one-dimensional bitchzilla without the lush characterization she is given in her own show. I recall Angel also being a one-dimensional mopeasaurus during his appearances on Buffy so maybe the writers just have problems writing the titular characters in each other shows.

As with many shows, the first season takes a little while to get going. There are some clunker episodes here and there and it takes a while to get used to 'Angel the private investigator' rather than 'Angel the vampire boyfriend'. But one thing is sure, Angel is much more likable on his own show than he ever was on Buffy. David Boreanez shows a much wider range of acting ability (much of which he uses in Bones) and he is easily able to carry the show. Additionally, because Angel takes place in LA rather than in the small-time Sunnydale, we're introduced to a much wider word of demons than we ever are in Buffy. In many ways it's a more complex world, where there are less events or characters that are strictly good or bad, and much more in the moral gray. When first watching Angel it feels like you're watching un-aired or 'lost' episodes of Buffy. However as the show develops over its first season it starts to separate itself from Buffy and becomes its own beast, and another worthy addition by Joss Whedon to the pantheon of great sci-fi shows.