Aint it Cool had a big pile of Whedon-y goodness today. I’m really quite hyped for Angel this year in a way I never was before. I used to kind of think of this show as “Buffy runoff” with the occasional interesting plotline, but nothing that really grabbed me the way that Buffy’s yearly Big Bads and journey-to-adulthood stuff did. Angel was always more all over the map.
But I love the new storyline of them running Wolfram & Hart, and the heavy concentration of good writers, with no other show to worry about, promises the kind of attention to detail and consistant greatness we got in Buffy’s first 3 seasons (though I wish Greenwalt was still involved…) I mean, right off the bat this year, we’re getting Joss-directed goodness, followed immediately by an Edlund-Fury teamup. Plus the return of Harmony.
There’s also a bit of a debate going on over the likelihood of a Firefly movie. I still don’t’ dare to hope, but Herc makes some good points about why this may be more than Joss’s pipe dream…
I always though Angel was the better show. As soon as he left Buffy, that show went downhill while his series kicked off in style. Looking forward to it now, even if I’m unable to see new episodes.
I’m looking forward to the new season after the last one. There was some great stuff there, but the Jasmine/Cordelia storyline was far too dragged out and while Connor’s introduction to and exit from the series were good, he got really annoying last season. The season finale was great, it’s going to be interesting to see how the Wolfram and Hart thing plays out.
The only thing I don’t like is Spike coming back. While the Angel-Spike dynamic could be a lot of fun, it’s unnecessary. There’s characters from Buffy I would’ve like to see in Angel far more. And I don’t particularly want to see Harmony again either.
Since the last time Harmony was on the show, the character got a little more three dimensional, and the actress proved she had a tad more range than we previously thought, I’m willing to give it another go.
I *want* Spike in there. It’s not just the history dynamic, it’s the energy the character gives to most storylines if he’s an actual figure in it (and conscious), rather than just a placeholder. He might be able to ground the team and the show during the whole splintering effect the W&H shift will have.
I love the character, but I’m just sick of Whedon and crew’s penchant for killing off characters and then having them magically reappear next season. It cheapens Buffy’s series finale and there’s really no need for it. Spike’s character arc is perfect as it is.
There’s characters from the Buffyverse I’d rather see show up that don’t require a return from the dead. As Whedon says in that AICN piece, Spike’s return will be “long and complicated”. It’s something that’ll dominate the show and grind it to a halt if done wrong, when there’s a lot of core characters and the new Wolfram and Hart situation to deal with. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
And I remember Harmony being just as shallow and one-dimensional as ever on her last appearance on Angel.
BTW, I saw last season’s premiere in reruns and I can’t believe I didn’t notice the whole “symmetry” thing they had going on there. To wit, the season began with an imaginary sequence with the whole Angel “family” sitting down and sharing a warm, friendly, loving meal with Connor. Then the season ended with Connor having a warm, etc. meal with his NEW family. Angel literally had a dream for Connor that came true at the end there.
To me, Spike being on Angel just means Fred will continue to suck. Which is bad, because I love Fred, and I’m, ah, not particularly into Spike. But I mean, look at this situation:
Angel–the show’s called Angel, so obviously they’ll have to give him alot of time. Wes–if we look at “Home” as a template for the coming season, Wes had the most active role (aside from Angel) in that episode, so we can assume this will continue into season 5. Gunn–that whole thing with the panther was obviously a setup for something big, so he gets lots of time. Cordelia–we know she’s leaving the show, so they’ll have to devote a good portion of time to getting rid of her. After all, this character’s been with the franchise since “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” they have to show some respect. And then they’re not only bringing Spike on, but apparantly bringing him back from the grave, with Joss allready stating that this is going to be a long process. That just doesn’t leave any room for Fred (much less Lorne) to have anything interesting to do. If we’re lucky we get 1 Fred-centric episode (like they used to do with Xander on Buffy), and Lorne continues to be a character that cracks jokes in the background. Bleh.
I’d be perfectly happy if the season opened with Fred getting mashed to a bloody pulp by a speeding short bus, which then skids to a stop atop Gwen Raiden’s head.
I’m glad that Cordy and Connor aren’t coming back, and I wish that Spike wasn’t, either.
Stop the Fred bashing. She’s hot and was awesome last season. The addition of Harmony which I heard about a while back should be great. She developed into a fun character esp. after her turn to a vamp. Her fight scene in season 4 with Xander is great. Plus she and Spike were fun together.
I think the cast change is going to be a good thing. Less Cordelia (she was getting to be a tired character in my mind), no Conner=Me happy.
I want to see more Gunn stuff. He and Fred are walking down a rather interesting road. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tossed in some real world issues with abuse or something. That looks to be the direction I’m seeing.
Gwen could be an interesting character. They can’t get rid of her because they placed that little plot point in her intro episode that she can start Angel’s heart. That is her real purpose, and she will probably serve as Angle’s love intrest next season.
I think Conner served his porpose to piss people off. The last 2 or 3 episodes made me like the character. Cordey im sorry to say was a broken horse couldnt go any fether.
But what about the visions? I never really thought about it but this thing with Cordy leaving made me thin about it. I know in the last season the visions weren’t really used but will they go on to someone else? Or how wil the powers that be get in touch with Angel?