Angel Conclusion

Spike: And in terms of a plan?

Angel: We fight.

Spike: Bit more specific?

Angel: Well, personally, I kinda wanna slay the dragon… Let’s go to work.

-final lines of the series in Not Fade Away

Note: The pictures are of some of my favorite non-Buffy-related guest stars that I haven't already included pictures of in other articles

I’m going to do this differently than with Buffy. I will list the seasons in preferential, but I’m not going to do villains, mostly because it would pretty much end up being W&H followed by a list of the more notable people and things they brought forth to screw with Angel. I’m also not going to list my ten favorite episodes. I genuinely feel like, on the whole, if I were to score every episode of Buffy and every one of Angel and then find the median and average scores of both, Angel’s would be noticeably closer than Buffy’s would. In other words, the quality of Angel’s episodes was far more consistent. That’s not to say that the series is better than Buffy, because I don’t think that. What I am saying, is that Buffy had far more standout episodes than Angel did. Angel didn’t have a Hush or a Once More, with Feeling. It didn’t have a Passion or a The Body (of course, nothing else ever could). It did, however, have amazing quality consistency. I talked a bit about how inconsistent some of Angel’s seasons were, but, compared to some of Buffy’s, that’s simply not true. Even what I consider to be the worst season, season 4, only had one episode I would consider terrible. In fact, if you remove that episode and average out the rest of the episodes for the season, you’d end up with about an 80 or an 85. Okay, I’m just rambling now, I apologize. Anyway, I’m not ranking episodes, end of story. I will, however say that my favorite episode of the series is probably either Epiphany, Lullaby, or Lineage. The funniest  episode is Smile Time. The most touching moment, well gosh, there are so many: the last two scenes of Hero, the two most important scenes featuring Denisof and Acker in season 5, Cordy and Angel's final conversation in You're Welcome, the scene with the father and daughter in Untouched, Kate's emotional outpouring in Sense & Sensitivity; I just can't settle for one.

Season Rankings:

1. 2

2. 1

3. 5

4. 3

5. 4

Some More Stuff:

You know how I said I wasn’t going to list my 10 favorite episodes? Well, I’m still not, but I am going to do my top 8s from each season.

Season 1: City Of; In the Dark; I Will Remember You; Hero; Somnambulist; Five by Five; Sanctuary; To Shanshu in L.A. (The Prodigal is also an astonishing episode, but Quinn’s scene at the end of Hero elevates the rest of the episode so much)

Season 2: Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?; Untouched; Darla; The Trial; Reunion; Redefinition; Reprise; Epiphany

Season 3: That Vision Thing; Quickening; Lullaby; Waiting in the Wings; Loyalty; Sleep Tight; Forgiving; Benediction

Season 4: Deep Down; Spin the Bottle; Apocalypse, Nowish; Long Day’s Journey; Soulless; Salvage; Orpheus; Peace Out

Season 5: Lineage; You’re Welcome; Smile Time; A Hole in the World; Underneath; Origin; Time Bomb; Not Fade Away

I didn't lie, I just changed my mind. I am going to try this. I think I'll do two lists. The first will sort of be my top 10 episodes. The second will be my top 10 stand-alones as I feel one thing that Angel does do slightly better than Buffy are stand-alones and the impact they have.

My Top 10 Episodes:
1. Epiphany (2.16) (these 3 are really all absolutely perfect, so they're just in alphabetical order)
2. Lineage (5.7) (these 3 are really all absolutely perfect, so they're just in alphabetical order)
3. Lullaby (3.9) (these 3 are really all absolutely perfect, so they're just in alphabetical order)
4. Reprise (2.15)
5. Smile Time (5.14)
6. Not Fade Away (5.22)
7. Reunion (2.10)
8. City Of (1.1)
9. Darla (2.7)
10. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (2.2)
Honorable Mention: Somnambulist (1.11), To Shanshu in L.A. (1.22), and Shells (5.16) barely missed this list, and I mean barely.

My Top 10 Stand-Alone Episodes:
1. Lineage (5.7)
2. Smile Time (5.14)

3. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (2.2)
4. Somnambulist (1.11)
5. Waiting in the Wings (3.13)
6. Five by Five/Sanctuary (1.18/19)
7. In the Dark (1.3)
8. Untouched (2.4)
9. The Prodigal (1.15)
10. I Will Remember You (1.8)
Honorable Mentions: That Old Gang of Mine (3.3); Why We Fight (5.13); Billy ( ); Sense & Sensitivity (1.6); The Bachelor Party (1.7)

Best Episodes by Important Cast Members:

-David Boreanaz—Epiphany (2.16)

-Charisma Carpenter—You’re Welcome (5.12)

-Glenn Quinn—Hero (1.9)

-Alexis Denisof—Lineage (5.7)

-J. August Richards—That Old Gang of Mine (3.3)

-Amy Acker as Fred—either Supersymmetry (4.5) or A Hole in the World (5.15), but probably Hole

-Amy Acker as Illyria—Time Bomb (5.19)

-Andy Hallett—Spin the Bottle (4.6)

-Vincent Kartheiser—Peace Out (4.21)

-James Marsters—definitely In the Dark (1.3), especially because none of them really stand out in 5^th season

-Mercedes McNab—there really is nothing, but I’ll say this, Harm’s Way (5.9) is a great showcase for McNab’s comic talents, though it’s terrible plot-wise; her best scene probably comes at the end of Not Fade Away (5.22)

-Elisabeth Röhm—definitely either Sense & Sensitivity (1.6) or Somnambulist (1.11); Somnambulist overall is better for her, but that speech she makes to her father in S&S gets me every time

-Christian Kane—probably Dead End (2.18), but he’s pretty much just good in everything

-Stephanie Romanov—probably Deep Down (4.1); honestly, she doesn’t have too many stand out episodes because she is so damn good every single time she appears

-Julie Benz—either Reunion (2.10) or Lullaby (3.9), but probably Lullaby; she’s brilliant with Juliet Landau in Reunion, but her performance in Lullaby is absolutely heartbreaking (that final scene is just absolutely tremendous work)

Some Closing Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed my two-month-long foray into the Buffyverse, and that includes the time I spent watching Angel. I am unashamed to admit to anyone that I like these series, not one bit. I think a lot has to do with how intricate the writers made the plots, how complex many of the characters were, and how terrific both shows were at flawlessly spanning numerous genres, oftentimes touching on three or four of them in the span of 10-15 minutes, maybe even less. I tremendously enjoyed this series, and know that, at some point in the future, I will be returning to the Buffyverse at some point.