Angel 10th Anniversary!

[Ethros]

Hard to believe, but today October 5th is the 10th anniversary of Angel airing its premiere episode "City of..." back in 1999

Now, I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I remember when I first heard about an Angel spinoff I wasn't overly excited about it, of the seven main characters in Buffy Season 3, Angel & Cordelia would have been my two least favourite.
I remember thinking "I'll watch the first couple of episodes and see what it's like." But man, the teaser in the first episode just blew me away. With Angel going super badass in that alleyway I was like "... this is awesome!"
Over time it grew and grew, soon eclipsing my love of its parent show.


So let us honour the exploits of Team-Angel and look back and remember a great show. So maybe just throw in your memories, favourite episodes, characters, quotes, comments, moments, demons and whatnot


All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because - I don't think people should suffer, as they do. Because, if there is no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness - is the greatest thing in the world

 

[cultcross]

Wow, I can hardly believe it's been that long. Angel still almost seems the new kid on the block, especially when I watch early Buffy.
I was a huge fan of Buffy, that show defined my adolescence in a sense, but Angel caught me in a very different way - a much more 'grown up' show, which certainly had its 'down' moments but went out on one of, imho, the strongest seasons a Whedon show has ever done.
I remember watching the first season on Channel 4 when it first aired here and being really caught up in Angel's world. Buffy had to grow on me, but Angel grabbed me straight away, I thought it was a brilliant show right from the start. Angel was a character who you didn't just have to be told 'had a deep dark past', you saw it in everything he did, every look Boreanaz gave the rest of the cast, and in the plots that followed. This was a show that could do character progression brilliantly; Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn. A show that in one year made Spike a far better character than Buffy managed in 6.

 

[DonIago]

If nothing else, I would always love Angel for taking a cardboard cutout character such as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and turning him into what it turned him into.

Loved getting to meet his "father", but since Roy Dotrice is one of my favorite actors that's somewhat of a gimme. Great to see him on the show.

 

[wamdue]

been looking for an excuse to start an Angel thread, loved Angel S1-4 (well some of S4) and ive just got the S5 DVD, its early days, but I am disappointed by the series, the characters all seem off, could be the storyline, but at times its just dull, and god forbid they should even go outside more than once per episode.

Agreed its good to see Spike away from Buffy, it helps, but even his one liners are missing something.

 

[Ethros]

I remember watching the first season on Channel 4 when it first aired here and being really caught up in Angel's world.

I'm suprised you made any sense out of it, seen as how Channel 4 completely cut it to ribbons.
Luckily I'd already seen them on Sky, but I rememeber watching the airing of "City of..." when they showed it at 6pm, and how just the teaser was unwatchable with how it was cut.

I think I'm gonna get the DVD out and watch the episode now actually.
"Can you fly?"

 

[Michael Chris]

I love Angel. One of my all time favorite TV shows. Very cool. I was just watching this fantastic video: [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBan9REHNpM[/yt]

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I've been working my way through Buffy and Angel recently, just about to start season 2 of Angel. I think it's probably my favourite Whedon series.
I've just read Angel: Aftermath too. I think there's some fantastic moments, and the canvas is bigger since there's no budget concerns, but I really miss the character that the actors bring to the roles.

 

[amdmiami]

Second best show after Buffy!

I love how it's just so epic and the how most of the characters go through a signficant change from the start till the end of the show. It also had some some of the best characters written for tv.

The only flaw that this show has is Connor, if it weren't for him, this show could have been better than Buffy. (I could go on a whole rant about him)

 

[RoJoHen]

I just finished rewatching Angel a couple weeks ago, as a matter of fact. I love every minute of it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I love Angel. It has so much more depth and maturity than Buffy does, not to slag Buffy which I love but it was a different show about different things. Angel's about redemption, not just for Angel but for those who are following him too I think. The first season is excellent, and as most series first year's aren't that great that says a lot about the series. The first season reminds me a great deal of Batman: Year One. Angel is getting used to his new city, confronting the evils that lurk in the dark, making alliance with a police detective, etc. It only gets better from there. I miss Kate Lochley. I thought she and Angel had good chemistry together.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

10 years?! Damn, I feel old. Actually, one of my favorite parts of Angel was how he would occasionally remind you of how old he was. I just rewatched part of "She." There's a scene where Angel pretends to be an art museum tour guide and makes references to having known Manet back in the day. ("He was actually a little taller and a lot drunker than depicted here.") I also love the scenes in "Belonging":

"Guy's I'm not cheap. I'm just old. I remember when a few bob could get you a bottle, a good meal, and a tavern wench..."

"Lorne Greene!... From Bonanza... 15 years on the air mean anything to you people?... OK, now I feel old."

Angel came at a very important time in my life, when I was going through some of the same existential crises that he was. It wasn't just about redemption, it was about defining what that meant. As cheesey as it sounds sometimes, I find great truth in the mantra, "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do."


Hey! No posting of stuff like that now. It's too sad.

I'm ambivalent about Joss Whedon. On the one hand, his characters, especially on Angel, feel absolutely real to me. They've become dear friends, as true as any of flesh & blood that I've ever had. And Joss is the genius who created them. On the other hand, this also means that Joss Whedon is responsible for killing many of my closest friends!

"The good fight, yeah? You never know until you've been tested. I get that now. ... I guess now we'll never know if this is a face you could learn to love."
--the final words of Alan Francis Doyle, "Hero"

I've just read Angel: Aftermath too. I think there's some fantastic moments, and the canvas is bigger since there's no budget concerns, but I really miss the character that the actors bring to the roles.

Agreed. I've tried to get into the comics but I find I miss the actors too much. Would it kill them to do some sort of direct-to-video movie!?

I miss Kate Lochley. I thought she and Angel had good chemistry together.

Yeah. She was a great character. And as much as I enjoyed Elisabeth Rohm as Serena Southerlyn on Law & Order (probably my 3rd all-time favorite TV drama after Angel and Star Trek: Deep Space 9), I think anyone could have played another of "Jack's angels." But she was so vital to the Angel storyline, I wish they could have kept her.

Some other favorite moments:

"We made it! And we didn't come out as some kind of hideous 4-headed monster!"
"That was a risk? Why didn't anyone tell me that was a risk?!"
--Wesley & Gunn, "Over the Rainbow"

"They must just think it's make-up, like the Blue Man Group. You don't think the Blue Man Group is-"
"Only two of them."
--Fred & Angel, "The House Always Wins"

"So you're half-demon? Big whoop. That is so far down the list, way below 'short' & 'poor.'"
--Cordelia, "Hero"

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Cant believe its been off as long as it was on. >.<

 

[votd]

I thoroughly enjoyed Angel - especially scenes with Darla

I can't watch it any more though, I used to watch it with my ex-girlfriend who was also a big fan so now it just depresses me.

 

[God Magnus]

I'm one of the few geeks I know who actually got into "Angel" before "Buffy". I knew it was a spin-off, but the premise of a character looking for redemption appealed to me more than Buffy's (though I later grew to enjoy that series immensely as well). "Angel" produced some of the best episodes of scifi/fantasy TV I've ever seen, so I applaud it as a series and I too can't believe it's been a decade!

 

[Dar70]

Cant believe its been that long. Its in my top ten favorite shows if not top 5. Im still very pissed after 5.5 years that it was cancelled abruptly. I work with a friend who also loved the show and we have both been stewing about it together for these last 5.5 years. He just mentioned it the other day when we were trying to convince a coworker that she needs to start watching Buffy and Angel instead of reading her twilight books.

 

[Ethros]

Watched the first episode again last night, I'd say it easily ranks as one of the best opening episodes for a TV show I've seen.
What I really like is the twist that Angel doesn't save the girl, he actually fails in protecting her and she is killed by the bad guy. Also a great performance from Tracy Middendorf as Tina, really love the scenes between her and Boreanaz.


Here's one of my random favourite scenes, Lindsey singing at Caritas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzuLNE5SsAo

Also here's a fun reunion pic Alexis Denisof took at the Emmys

And for the record, my Top 10 episodes would be (1 as the best)
1. Not Fade Away (5x22)
2. To Shanshu In L.A. (1x22)
3. Five By Five (1x18)
4. A Hole In The World (5x15)
5. Darla (2x07)
6. You're Welcome (5x12)
7. Shells (5x16)
8. Apocalypse, Nowish (4x07)
9. In The Dark (1x03)
10. Reunion (2x10)

 

[Warp Coil]

I simply love Angel for it's dark and brooding nature. It was a series that really went into such a dark, screwed up place and told incredible stories with incredible characters. Back before we had shows like Lost and nuBSG, we had Buffy and Angel.

Top Ten episodes:
"I Will Remember You"
"Reunion"
"Billy"
"Sleep Tight"
"Spin the Bottle"
"Apocalypse Nowish"
"You're Welcome"
"A Hole in the World"
"Shells"
"Not Fade Away"

 

[davejames]

I've started going through the show again too, and I'm loving it just as much as I did back then.

Unlike a lot of Whedon fans, I had only watched the episodes once (with a few exceptions for the big event episodes or season finales), so it all still feels VERY new and fresh to me. And it still holds up incredibly well.

And I agree about Kate. She seemed like such a great fit with Angel (much more than Buffy ever was), and it's a shame she wasn't kept around. With all the other wisecracking, immature characters around, there was something refreshingly mature and adult about her I really liked.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

I must confess that I struggle with Angel. I like it, but I have to work at it. It lacks the "zest" of Buffy, and I don't find most of the supporting cast as engaging. Conner was just a bad frakking idea.

 

[RoJoHen]

Conner was just a bad frakking idea.

I would argue that the casting of Conner was a bad idea, but I liked the idea of the character. Vincent Karthesier (or whatever his name is) was just not very good.