Angel: Season 5 (Slim Packaging)

I have never been a superstitious person, but Friday February 13, 2004 was one of the unluckiest days in the lives of many people. On that day, executives at The WB sent a memo to the cast and crew of Angel. At that time, Angel's ratings were climbing ever higher (I think they were at an all-time high), many new fans were tuning in every week (myself included), and Angel was the #2 show on The WB in its demographics group (Smallville was #1, and it was actually losing ratings). The memo stated that Angel's fifth season would be its last and they had the rest of the season to wrap things up.I'll come back to that later. Angel's fifth year picks up about 20 days after the events in Home, the Season 4 finale. Angel (David Boreanaz) and his friends had been given control of the LA division of Wolfram and Hart, free to do whatever they wanted with it. As we already knew from last year, Angel became CEO, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) became the head of the research department, Fred Burkle (Amy Acker) became the head of the science division, Lorne (Andy Hallet) was put in charge of the entertainment department, and Connor (Vincent Kartheiser), Angel's son, had his memories erased and was placed in a loving family. This year, we finally learn what happened to Gunn (J. August Richards); he underwent a procedure to artificially place an extensive knowledge of the law into his brain, so now we have Gunn the lawyer, which is an interesting turn for the character. But just as the crew begins to get settled into their new jobs, an unexpected curveball is thrown their way. Spike (James Marsters), the other vampire with a soul, is (mostly) ressurected after his heroic death in the Hellmouth last year. The amulet that he used to destroy the First's vampire army held on to his essence, and it was annonymously mailed to Angel. When he opened the package, Spike emerged as a ghost.So for the first 1/3 of the season, Spike is incorporeal, and he takes out his frustration by annoying Angel and wooing Fred. Its mostly pretty funny, but after a while, the whole ghost routine gets a little tiresome. His body is finally returned to him in the 8th episode, and there was much rejoicing.Meanwhile, Angel is dealing with feelings of doubt about taking the job at W&H, due to all the gray areas they run into on the job. For example, many of their clients are demons and/or sorcerors who, if displeased by Angel and co., can unleash some pretty powerful forces upon LA. So in order to save the city, Angel is forced to help out his scumbag clientele.For about the first 7 episodes, there isn't much of a story arc (or so we think). One of the reasons is that The WB execs further meddled with the show; they told Joss that, unlike the serialized 4th Season, they wanted year 5 to be more episodic so they could attract new fans. I'll give them this- it worked. As I said earlier, ratings for Angel soared this year. However, while the first few episodes were very good, one of the things fans like about shows like Angel and Buffy is the grand story arcs. In episode 8, the episode where Spike becomes corporeal again, things really start to pick up. Angel begins to worry that he might not be the vampire that the Shanshu prophecy mentioned, Spike finally beats Angel in a fight, and an old adversary resurfaces. After that, things continue to spiral downward for Angel and his friends. A man who calls himself Doyle and claims he gets visions fromt the Powers That Be tries to get Spike to become a hero for the masses and counteract the evil Wolfram and Hart led by Angel, Cordelia (Charisma Carpentar), after falling into a mystical coma last year, regains consciousness in a world she barely recognizes, Angel is haunted by dreams where Spike becomes a great hero while he is forced to become a recluse, and worst of all, Fred is killed by the demon spirit Illyria who then proceeds to take over Fred's body.Despite the episodic focus this year, a lot happened, and most of it was very enjoyable to watch. The whole Angel/Spike relationship was a riot, as well as a little inspiring as they put aside their differences in order to become powerful allies for the forces of good. The new character of Illyria was very interesting as well as comical in her own way, and yet the loss of Fred will reverberate through fans hearts forever. Still, as sad as I was to see Fred go, Illyria was a breath of fresh air. Gunn's overall arc was completed this year. He started out as a future-less street punk, became a force for good, achieved greatness through his new intelligence, committed a serious offense through it (accidentally of course), and, like a true hero, sought redemption. Wesley's further descent into madness and depression was both sad and intruiging. He probably has had the most dramatic character arc I have ever seen. The nerdy watcher from Buffy is long gone. By the end of this season, he can barely stand to be in this world any more. Finally, the reemergence of Angel's old nemesis was a very welcome twist. Their new relationship, which grew through the mutual hatred of W&H, was an interesting turn. The appearance of Andrew in a few episodes was priceless. The only thing that got me a little angry was that they had Buffy two episodes, but Sarah Michelle Gellar wouldn't guest on the show, so we only saw her from behind, and her minimal dialogue was recycled lines from old episodes. Oh well. This year's arc was ingenius; the lack of an arc WAS the arc. Yes, it sounds confusing, but by the end, Angel realized that, by sitting around and accepting the world as it was, he is no longer the hero he used to be. Solution: seek more redemption!This is probably my favorite season, but it is a very close call. So many of the episodes were great this year. This season had the series' funniest episode Smile Time, where Angel turned into a little puppet! It also had an episode called Life of the Party, which was funny, but it was kind of a copy of the Buffy episode Something Blue. The season's very best episodes (they were all good, so here are the best of the best): Conviction, Hellbound, Lineage, Destiny, Soul Purpose, Damage, You're Welcome (100th episode!), Smile Time, A Hole In the World, Shells, Underneath, Origin, The Girl In Question, Power Play, and Not Fade Away.The extras for the set are, for the most part, really good. There was a featurette with Joss talking about his favorite episodes. It was similar to the one on the Buffy Season 7 set, except instead of listing his Top 10 episodes, Joss talked about his favorite episodes from each season. He only went through Season 4, though, but I think that the Season Overview listed his favorite episodes from this year. Most of the other featurettes were entertaining enough. Finally, I've watched most of the commentaries, and they have been pretty good for the most part. The two best in my opinion were the ones for Conviction and A Hole In The World, both of which had Joss Whedon. One of my favorite lines was from the Conviction track; they started the year thinking that this would be their last season, and by the time they actually got cancelled, they had come to believe that they WOULD get a sixth season. However, I must say that I was extremely disappointed by the commentary for Not Fade Away, the series finale. Buffy's series finale, Chosen, got an awesome commentary track from Joss; it was informative about the story and had great little anecdotes. This commentary was from another Mutant Enemy crew member, who focused on production aspects rather than the story. Those are all well and good for most episodes, but for such an important story, we want to hear about the backstory to the writing, abandoned ideas, and possibly even what they were planning if there had been a Season 6. Also, the little jokes and anecdotes he made were pretty stupid, as if he were trying to hard to be Joss. But overall, the extras were good.Here is what I have to say about Not Fade Away: the reaction to this episode is a little polarized. A lot of fans liked it, while others didn't due to the way it ended the series. Personally, I thought it was a great episode. However, it did not end the series the way I would have wanted it to. WARNING, SPOILER. I think that a show like Angel deserves closure, and this episode did not give it. My theory is that Joss Whedon was angry with The WB (and he had every right to be) for cancelling his show when it was doing so well, and he knew that fans would direct their anger at the TV station and not him. Also, this leaves the door open for future Angel stuff.As of right now, things are looking very ironic. Joss Whedon is working on Serenity and some X-Men comics, and most of the cast and crew have gotten jobs elsewhere, and, while they miss doing Angel, they are content where they are. The WB is a different story. They are feeling a lot of pain due to the loss of Angel. A lot of fans decided to boycott the network due to the cancellation of the show, and a lot of their new programming is not earning high ratings. They want Joss to come back to do some Angel spin-off movies (or ressurect the show), but right now, it doesn't seem very possible.So current events aside, this is definitely a must for any Whedon fan's collection. This is my favorite season of Angel, and it was also many others' as well. Also, if you've never seen the show before, you should definitely check it out, but you might want to start at the beginning. Enjoy the show, and hope for a return of the Vampire with a Soul someday.

Angel, as a show, pretty much lost me in season four (see my less than enthusiastic review of that one for details.) Season 5, however, won back my heart.The introduction of Spike was done so well that it shouldn't be considered "jumping the shark." All the hows & whys of his post-post mortem reappearance were answered in such a way that it actually strengthened the season-long arc. They could have very easily just said "oooh, it was magic" but they didn't. The writers carefully wrote a back story and even brought back Mr. Urban Cowboy himself (Lindsey) and even suggested that W&H wanted Angel (not Spike) to die in the hellmouth and then be connected to W&H...but Buffy unwittingly threw a monkey wrench in those plans.The first part of the season mainly deals with creatrues-of-the-week, most of whom are W&H clients, and the Angel Gang's transistion from their previous roles to their new one, that of working for good inside the belly of the beast. The Angel/Spike rivalry is also explored in more depth, with "Destiny" being one of the best episodes in the history of the Buffyverse. Another episode, "Damage," explores the consequences of Buffy's actions at the end of that series in a tasteful yet disturbing manner.The season, and the show, really turned a corner with the 100th episode "You're Welcome" where Cordelia made a triumphant but brief return. She was the true Cordy from season 3, not the vacuous and superficial teenager from Buffy nor the pawn of evil from Angel Season 4. Her one appearance really helped direct the rest of the season towards its final conclusion, and the ending scene brought tears to my (usually unemotional) eyes.After that point, there is a little comic element, including a flashback to WWII with spike wearing a Nazi jacket (he wasn't a Nazi, he'd just eaten one and liked the jacket) and one of the most darkly humorous episodes in the history of television, "Smile Time" where Angel gets turned into a puppet. The scenes where Nina the Werewolf attacks puppet Angel was absolutely hilarious and the one where puppet-Angel vamps out during a fight scene had me in stitches.After the humor comes turmoil, as we must bid farewell to Fred. I don't know of any fan of the series who did not love Fred, and her death and subsequent metamorphosis into Illyria caused as much anguish amongst fans as it did amongst the characters. Her death seemed to simultaneously eliminate the hope of a happy ending, while at the same time emphasize that the fight must go on.Towards the end of the season, the weekly plotlines are supplemented by subtle yet powerful indications that something big is about to go down. Angel appears to become desensitized to evil (at least) or becoming a part of evil (at worst.) The characters must come to terms with their actions and decisions over the past few years.In the midst of this, Connor returns. Only he's not the annoying brat from a hell dimension he once was. Now he's a normal, intelligent young man who still can't escape his destiny. This year's Connor was actually more likable and quite a bit more attractive) when compared to the previous years.Probably the only non-great episode is the third to last, "The Girl In Question" when Angel & Spike go to Rome to save Buffy from and old enemy of theirs. It just didn't work well, but the secondary plot with Illyria reverting to "the Burkle persona" was dark & disturbing. What saves the episode are the flashback scenes, particularly when Drusilla & Darla go to take a bath together and Drusilla says "is it time for another pony ride?"Character development was great in season 5. Not a single member of the group remained unchanged (in the case of Fred, quite literally) but yet they stayed true to their core values and to fighting the good fight.The last two episodes were quite simply orgasmic. Enough said.Favorite episodes: Destiny, Damage, You're Welcome, Smile Time, Not Fade Away.Most emotional: Destiny, A Hole in the World, Shells.Funniest episodes: Smile Time, The Girl in Question.

Great value, fast delivery

Livraison plus rapide que prévue et tous DVD en excellent état...J'ai déjà remercié le vendeur.Je recommande.

Soy fan, me gusto

Non lo legge né il lettore dvd né la play station 4 !!!! Come posso fare ????🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Ich finde es super das Angel neben Bufffy eine eigene Serie gewidmet wurde.Habe alle 5 Staffeln gesehen und schaue sie immer wieder gerne an.Das einzige, dass mir an der Serie nicht gefällt (vorsicht spoiler), ist der Verlauf und das Ausscheiden der Rolle von Cordelia, sie fehlt in der letzten Staffel irgendwie total da sich ihr Charakter im laufe der Serie doch sehr zum positiven verändert hatte :(Von mir 5 Sterne für die Serie