Does the show "Angel" get any better? Is it worth my time?

We’re currently catching up on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on Netflix and LOVING it. We’re up to the beginning of Season 5 and they made some references to Buffy visiting Angel in LA, Cordelia working for him, and a few other things. So I decided to get the first disc of the spinoff “Angel.”

We’ve watched 2 episodes and it seems like it should be called “Touched By an Angel” instead. It’s OK, but I don’t think I’d watch more than the 4 episodes on the disc we have.

So tell me, does it get better? Is it worth watching? Are there specific episodes I should watch and skip the rest, or should I watch it all at the same time as I watch the last few seasons of Buffy? Help me out here!

(Oh, and if it helps, I don’t find the Angel character hot/sexy so that wouldn’t be enough to keep me watching. Now Spike, that’s altogether different ;)


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16 responses to “Does the show "Angel" get any better? Is it worth my time?”

  1. Karen Avatar

    not big angel fans here, but for more Joss Whedon, check out Firefly/Serenity series and movie. It’s over to quickly with moments of incredible humor and brilliance.

  2. crunchycarpets Avatar

    yes.. it does get better..the later seasons were far superior…took me a bit too

  3. Elizabeth Avatar

    The first season of Angel was not it’s best. But yes, it is ABSOLUTELY worth the time to invest in the characters and story line. It will get so, SO much better!!! And feel free to email me any time if you have storyline questions!

  4. Beth Avatar

    Angel gets much better.

    And do not despair, old Spikey makes a few appearances here and there.

    I didn’t like the last season though. But that’s just me.

  5. canape Avatar

    So worth it. Spike is there later. The very last episode is a bit of a let down, but everything up to it is worth the time.

    Unless you compare it to the awesomeness of Buffy. Which you can compare no TV show to the awesomeness of Buffy and not be let down.

  6. Annika Avatar

    Season 1 has some good episodes. Season 2 is the best television ever (though the last couple episodes don’t hold up). Season 3 is outstanding. Season 4 is so bad I could vomit just thinking about it. Season 5 is OKish.

  7. CrankMama Avatar

    Yay! Another TV series I missed that I can add to my queue.

    I’ve watched nearly everything I was behind on.

    Thanks for the tip!

  8. Jennifer Avatar

    It gets MUCH MUCH better. And definitely check out Serenity too.

  9. thalia Avatar

    It gets MUCH better. Better than buffy season six, IMO. In fact the best way to watch season 5 of buffy and season 1 of angel is to watch the buffy episode followed by the angel episode – that way you get the references, and don’t spoil any plotlines.

  10. Meg Avatar

    Like others have said, it does get way better… keep watching (and staring at the pretty-boy David Boreanaz doesn’t hurt much either).

  11. Homemom3 Avatar

    I loved the later seasons, after his kid was around more. :)

  12. Plain Jane Mom Avatar

    He has a kid? OK, ground rules. NO SPOILERS PLEASE!

  13. Moobs Avatar

    May I add another vote for Firefly? It was only one season (and a film) so it won’t delay you long from catching up with Angel. The only downside is that Angel may appear even less interesting once you’ve spend some time with Firefly’s crew.

  14. Plain Jane Mom Avatar

    OKOKOK you Firefly freaks! :) It will be here tomorrow. Sheesh, are you like a cult or something?

  15. Heidi Avatar
    Heidi

    LOL! I found this a few days ago after doing a search on the same topic. I had finished watching the first season, found this and decided to watch a few episodes from the second season. Ok, so it’s close to six years since you posted this, but in case anyone else is home after surgery (or for whatever reason!) and catching up on tv series from a decade ago and is wondering, the second season seems a lot better. I’m a bit of a “close” watcher, and in the first season the production values were very low — cheaply designed interior and exterior sets, two or three times used props in the same episode (lamps, paintings, even rooms!) different demons in different episodes wearing the same masks with maybe a couple more eyes added, shots of the same building under different aliases — and worst of all some bad dialogue combined with over-acting by the characters. I finally watched all of Buffy (had caught a few episodes but nothing continuous when it was on) and loved it but was not a Charisma Carpenter fan from that show and was certainly not impressed by her presence and performance in the first season of Angel. As for Boreanaz, his Angel character in the first season AND on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was played so dull he seemed perennially “just staked” when contrasted to a character like Spike. I know he’s supposed to be tormented, but so is the ensouled Spike, who portrays it with grief, shame, crying and shouting — even when he didn’t have a soul he was more soulful than Angel! I’m happy to say in the second season Boreanaz begins to play the character either with an acting coach or, at very least, less boredom (who knows, maybe a hike in pay loosened him up!). He and Carpenter seem more grounded and informed about who their characters are than in the first season or on Buffy, and the story arc of the law firm Wolfram and Hart, is starting to make sense as an organization that isn’t just weirdly sinister in a completely out of context way, but as a group that USES the Whedonverse demons for an end that stands in contrast to something like The Watcher’s Council and the Slayer mythos. I don’t think the creator, Joss Whedon, had wanted a “romantic” vampire. The character of Angel was not his idea nor was he all that pumped about the popularity of Angel leading to a spin-off from his beloved first love, the universe of Buffy, the teenage super girl struggling to grow and fit in knowing every day might be the day she dies (or does and gets resurrected), so perhaps he didn’t take much interest in Angel’s first season. Looking through IMDB he is listed as writer a lot more times in the second season, so maybe once it was renewed after the first season he decided to take more of an interest in building the show and the characters. Obviously there was an infusion of cash for sets, clothing, location, special effects, even for more extras; with Whedon more on board the dialogue is smarter, snappier and contains more of the underlying humour that Buffy does, while retaining a bit more of the dark side the vampire’s life represents than it did in her world. Given all this, I’m now looking forward to watching the rest of the Angel dvd’s. At any rate, thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about this (perhaps a little too at length, but, oh well lol), and happy watching everyone, I’m glad to say it does get much better! :D

    1. Erika Jurney Avatar

      Ha! Finally a comment worth waiting 6 years for ;)

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