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Just finished Angel Season 5, a.k.a. the last season of Angel. My thoughts (SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!COCK)
I can see why Radagast said he found it disappointing. There were too many standalones, especially at the beginning of the season, and more importantly, there were too many boring standalones. But when the writers were willing to try out something new, they made some bloody great episodes that had little to do with plot- The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco was so wonderfully odd, and Smile Time, the one where Angel is turned into a puppet, is one of the funniest episodes of TV I've ever seen.
But some of the writing was off for even the plot episodes, which pretty much is new ground for Angel, which you could always count on for great arc episodes. The one where Fred dies was absolutely horrible, overly sentimental dreck- Whedon should be ashamed of himself for writing that one. Parts of the Illyria story were kind of boring. And Spike, until he became corporealized, was pretty useless- that being said, his character became enjoyable again after his crappy turn in mid Buffy season 5, so good on him.
Overall though, I really enjoyed it. Lindsay had a great role, Spike became a good rival to Angel, and the intensity of the season really ramped up towards the end. And then there was the finale, which was perfect in every way. I love that they ended the series on a giant cliffhanger, with Angel and the remaining gang standing drenched in the rain, about to face the Senior Partners' army. That's the whole point of the show. They keep fighting together, even though they'll never win, even though it's not going to matter for more than a few minutes, and they'll do it no matter how much the world pisses on them. I'm so happy the writers went that route instead of showing the gang winning and wrapping everything up with a happy bow.
So, an inconsistent season, but ultimately very rewarding.
And the non-spoiler part, to all y'all who haven't watched Angel: Do. I know spinoffs have a bad reputation, but this show really merits attention. True, it starts off pretty weak in season 1, but after that it really begins to exceed Buffy in every way. Angel is a dark show, about a group of people who have generally fucked up and have to keep on fighting. They rarely win, and the shit keeps on piling on (especially in seasons 3-4, and at the end of season 5). The characters are developed naturally and darkly; it amuses me that the same production company which called the wanky melodrama of Buffy season 6 and made Willow a crack addict to make her "dark" could completely pull off the development of Wesley from a bumbling idiot to a dark, competent, assholish badass. And Angel, who is a pretty boring character in Buffy, really comes into his own and is one of the best leading characters in television (nicely coinciding with this is Boreanaz's development into an excellent actor over the course of the series). I'm so happy I watched this show. Though it had it's weaker seasons (season 1 in particular, and the first half of season 5 generally) and though each season except season 4 had some pretty bad episodes mixed here or there, it's definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen, and I'm so happy they ended it perfectly.
And now... It's finally time to finish off Deadwood and Buffy.
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Never mind.