Angel Season One (and Don’t Forget March Madness!)

Denisa and I have been going back in Buffy time to watch Angel now, and we just finished Season One. In retrospect, it was a mistake of us to watch Buffy by itself and ignore Angel until after we were finished. I’m still enjoying the show, but I think I would have liked it even more if I were watching it concurrently. The shows weave together so closely, with characters bouncing back from one to the next, that I just think it makes more sense. Of course, doing it that way would be a bit more work–especially if you’re trying to stream it on Netflix or watch it on disc. It makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be worth it for them to release a Buffy and Angel Complete Series set, with all of them intertwined. That would be pretty cool.

So what do I like? I missed Cordelia when she left Buffy, and it’s nice to see her back at it. Also nice to see some character growth. I like how the show keeps you on your toes. You never know who’s going to die–or come back to life–next. (Of course, in a world where pretty much anyone can come back from the grave, it sometimes diminishes the tension. There seems to be a way to save just about anybody in this show, if the characters just put their mind to it.)

The humor’s pretty good, and it gets stronger as the season progresses. The characters are good, the bad guys entertaining. The writing is fun. It’s a good series.

Things not to like? Angel is his broody old self. I wasn’t that sad to see him leave in Buffy. Sad for Buffy, but not sad that he was gone. Spike’s just a lot more fun to be around than Angel. Even the theme music to this series is dark and brooding. I just wish the guy would lighten up once in a while and stop moping so much. But hey–he’s been doing that for hundreds of years, why change now?

I also would have liked a bit of a better overarching plot. There wasn’t much to tie the season together as a whole like there was in Buffy, but this is more of a quibble.

Anyway. Fun show, and we’ve already started Season Two. Thumbs up from both of us.

And if you missed it yesterday, don’t forget to check out my blog’s March Madness pool! Fabulous prizes! (sort of)