ANGEL "Home"

A whole new universe for Angel

By John Ringer     May 15, 2003

Usually, when a show makes a radical shift at the end of a season, it's cause for dread either the thing wasn't working in the first place and is beyond help, or some bozo is tampering with something that wasn't broken. ANGEL, however, was going just fine but the last episode of Season Four (which, thank you WB, is not the last episode of the series) opens up a whole new universe of opportunities for our characters without compromising what we know and love about the show.

Although they sometimes make grave errors, vampire-with-a-soul Angel (David Boreanaz) and his friends are doing their best to make the grim streets of Los Angeles a better place. This season, they've defeated a Beast that blotted out the sun, then at last put an end to the Beast's master, an entity known as Jasmine (Gina Torres), who arranged her own full-grown birth from the Great Beyond and had the power to make everyone who saw her adore her unquestioningly and feel utter bliss even those she ate apart from those who came into contact with her blood. Angel's son Connor (Vincent Kartheiser), lapsing into utter despair, killed Jasmine and ended her world domination. Er, that's one way of looking at it. The Hell-run law offices of Wolfram & Hart, Angel's mortal enemies since he first set foot in Los Angeles, see it as an end to world peace and are so pleased by this development that they offer Angel and Company the leadership of W&H's L.A. branch. Think of all that could be accomplished! Ego-bruised Gunn (J. August Richards), battle-weary and techno-stoked Fred (Amy Acker) and showbiz-savvy demon Lorne (Andy Hallett) all can't help but be tantalized, while enigmatic Wesley (Alexis Denisof) has his own agenda. Angel rejects the deal outright until it's clear that he must accept it if he's to have any chance of saving Connor from himself.

Boreanaz, a textbook

case of an actor who has grown into his role, makes Angel's all-encompassing fatherly love tremendously powerful for the viewers, and Kartheiser is splendid in depicting very different sides of the dangerously despondent Connor. More fascination is provided by the steely determination of Denisof's ever-alert Wesley and the pragmatic zest of his dead-but-back-with-us, evil-but-oddly-delightful sometimes lover Lilah (Stephanie Romanov) high on the list of next season's anticipated pleasures is seeing what happens next between this duo. The resolution of the situation with Connor is handled heartrendingly and intelligently, although the ambiguity of Cordelia's (Charisma Carpenter) condition is a little disappointing it's a handy way of keeping the character sidelined until she's needed, but it's a bit drab for someone we've been watching for seven years (three years of BUFFY before ANGEL's four seasons so far). The supporting cast is expert, with Richards' Gunn getting an intriguing new development, Acker's Fred increasing in prudent toughness and Hallett (rightfully promoted to series regular a few episodes back) displaying his perpetual perfect comic timing. Jonathan M. Woodward (who played the psych student vamp in BUFFY's "Conversations With Dead People" episode earlier this season) turns up in what we can hope will be a recurring role as Fred's assistant.

ANGEL has been in high gear all season, with an end run of genuinely thrilling episodes. Series creator Joss Whedon, episode writer/director Tim Minear and company end this year on a high note, with a strong suggestion that the best is yet to come.

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