Created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt
1999 - 2004
Following Angel's departure from Buffy The Vampire Slayer at the end of season 3, this show focuses on Angel (and a few sidekicks) as they open a detective agency to rid the streets of L.A. of supernatural menaces.
It's a scientific fact that seasons 2 and 3 of Buffy found the show at its best, with a quick drop off happening shortly after only to finally come around again with a pretty solid final couple seasons. This is basically the same trajectory, only with the first 2 seasons being the best, 3 being a drop off, 4 being a massive misfire, and 5 mostly turning it back around into something worthwhile again. Sadly, this much "bleh" in only 5 seasons has a greater impact on the show as a whole than it did with Buffy.
David Boreanaz is a super charming actor, and while I love Angel as a character during his time in Buffy, I feel like this much exposure to him - paired with certain changes made to the character as a whole - had a negative impact on how he functions. He's much better as a near-silent corner brooder with a good heart and a tortured soul, not so much a one-liner dropping main hero. Maybe they thought that much brooding and internal pain would get boring after a while, but it's these kind of things Joss Whedon should have fully thought through before creating an entire show based around the character. Still, he mostly made it work and managed to carry the show through some pretty rough patches, so good job Mr. Boreanaz.
Visually, the show is nearly identical to Buffy, so there's nothing to really say there. The supporting cast are solid (with one major exception in the Connor character, which I just don't want to talk about), the episodes are mostly solid...that actually winds up being one of the biggest problems with the show. There aren't many truly great things about it, as it was mostly just pretty passable. There aren't many awful episodes, but just as few truly great ones. With that little exceptional material, it's hard for me to really look back on the show like it was something really good, even though I mostly enjoyed watching it.
There's really not much else for me to say about it, so I won't keep talking for no reason. If you enjoy Buffy, odds are you'll find something to like here. And if you like this show and haven't seen Buffy, I would definitely say you've been doing it wrong and you should watch Buffy. Still, I enjoyed it alright and it was nice getting to see Wesley (from Buffy season 3) fleshed out more, and I really enjoyed getting to see Spike again...even if I had to wait until season 5.
My grade: C+
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