Angel 1×01: City of

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt | Director: Joss Whedon | Aired: 10/05/1999]

Welcome to the very first review of AtS (Angel the Series), for the premiere, “City of.” This is a flash-bang of a series opener which is nothing short of flawless. We get a feel for Angel as a leading man, meet his new sidekicks and follow him through an airtight plot as he starts his quest for re

Angel 1×02: Lonely Hearts

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Fury | Director: James A. Contner | Aired: 10/12/1999]

The theme of connection continues in “Lonely Hearts,” the second and sadly overlooked episode of Angel’s first season. Since it follows such a bang of a series opener and doesn’t exactly plot a point in a season long arc (despite its dominant theme, S1 lacks an arc) it is often forgotten, but is, r

Angel 1×03: In the Dark

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Doug Petrie | Director: Bruce Seth Green | Aired: 10/19/1999]

“In the Dark,” one of several cross-over episodes with parent show Buffy the Vampire Slayer (where characters and plot threads cross over) is the first in a series of episodes that carry significant elements and characters from one show to another with the central purpose of helping the new and eme

Angel 1×04: I Fall to Pieces

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Joss Whedon (Story) and David Greenwalt (Story and Teleplay) | Director: Vern Gillum | Aired: 10/26/1999]

One of the few slight dents in S1’s almost perfect quality consistency is “I Fall to Pieces.” It’s no doubt a solid episode all around and has more entertainment value than an episode like “She” [1×13], but is kind of a sag in the overall scheme when compared to the preceding episodes. In fact, it’s pr

Angel 1×05: Rm w a Vu

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Jane Espenson and David Greenwalt | Director: Scott McGinnis | Aired: 11/02/1999]

“Rm w/a Vu” is a fairly exceptional episode. It marks the third major facet of the S1’s most visited metaphor: Life in your early twenties. The Fang Gang has now moved to the big city (“City of” [1×01] ), tried to go out dating (“Lonely Hearts” [1×02] ), and now they need to find a new place to live. More sp

Angel 1×06: Sense and Sensitivity

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tim Minear | Director: James A. Contner | Aired: 11/09/1999]

“Sense and Sensitivity” is another fun, fairly light hearted episode that also gets to the root of some pretty important issues. This is in keeping with the previous episode which was mostly happy-go-lucky, yet had Cordelia near-suicide at the behest of a murderous ghost and equally murderous d

Angel 1×07: The Bachelor Party

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tracy Stern | Director: David Straiton | Aired: 11/16/1999]

“The Bachelor Party” starts, as so many episodes in this fictional universe wonderfully do, with some on-topic discussion. Doyle is unhappy with the current situation, being stuck around the office. As a marvelously gowned Cordelia leaves with a high class date, he laments his complete lack of

Angel 1×08: I Will Remember You

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Greenwalt and Jeannine Renshaw | Director: David Grossman | Aired: 11/23/1999]

In BtVS “Amends” , Buffy tells Angel that “Strong is fighting! It’s hard, and it’s painful, and it’s every day.” Unknowingly she gave him, that night, what would be the mission statement of his entire spin-off show. Having watched AtS through to its end a couple of times now, despite th

Angel 1×09: Hero

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tim Minear and Howard Gordon | Director: Tucker Gates | Aired: 11/30/1999]

“Yes, Doyle is dead. We killed him. Sorry about that.” – Joss Whedon

“Hero” is an episode with much strength and some nasty, rather unfortunate weaknesses. I was in fact, disappointed with it the first time I saw it, as my appreciation

Angel 1×10: Parting Gifts

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Fury and Jeannine Renshaw | Director: James A. Contner | Aired: 12/14/1999]

“Parting Gifts” is the logical and necessary addendum to “Hero” [1×09], since in the time around a major character’s death there’s usually an episode or two spent dealing with the pain and consequences. Doyle was no Buffy, and so you won’t see Angel or Cordelia wailing for three weeks post-his

Angel 1×11: Somnambulist

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tim Minear | Director: Winrich Kolbe | Aired: 01/18/2000]

The first half of AtS’ first season roars across the finish line with “Somnambulist,” an important, impressive, and hugely entertaining episode. It’s the second episode to receive a Perfect score so far, and despite some early doubt, full consideration gave me the answer that this episode w

Angel 1×12: Expecting

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Howard Gordon | Director: David Semel | Aired: 01/25/2000]

“Expecting” is an average episode, mostly because of an uninteresting plot that fails to deliver on its on most interesting issues by the end. Where it’s redeemed and finds much of its likeability (yes, I really liked it) is in its importance to the characters and their development. It again

Angel 1×13: She

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon | Director: David Greenwalt | Aired: 02/08/2000]

Shockingly, this episode was written by series co-creater David Greenwalt, and right-hand-to-Joss-herself Marti Noxon. This shocks me because “She” has problems that writers of their caliber, especially on this show, don’t often cause. The episode itself is an anomaly; an intriguing mix of my

Angel 1×14: I’ve Got You Under My Skin

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Greenwalt and Jeannine Renshaw | Director: Robert David Price | Aired: 02/15/2000]

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” while not quite being Top 20 material, and admittedly, unable to crack the coveted Perfect Score either, is quite memorable for its many merits. Fantastically shot and slithering about in its cool and unnervingly creepy atmosphere, it is also pointedly written an

Angel 1×15: The Prodigal

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tim Minear | Director: Bruce Seth Green | Aired: 02/22/2000]

If C-rate sitcoms, B-rate rom-coms and every quasi-humorous advertisements featuring two young people on a date have taught us anything, it’s that fathers are protective of their daughters. Above sons and wives, a father places his daughter on a pedestal. The poet Joseph Addison gave me one of my

Angel 1×16: The Ring

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Howard Gordon | Director: Nick Marck | Aired: 02/29/2000]

“The Ring” is a harmless and fun little piece of work that’s more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Cliche to its core, save for the first act, it’s redeemed entirely by a confident swagger in its writing. The wo/men behind the pen (or in this case, word processor) have unflinching con

Angel 1×17: Eternity

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tracey Stern | Director: Regis Kimble | Aired: 04/04/2000]

Angelus, one could argue, is the single most powerful force in the fictional universe of both “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel: the Series.” Most fans could only argue for a force equal in power. For “Buffy,” Angelus defined her character; having to kill her one true love to save t

Angel 1×18: Five by Five

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Jim Kouf | Director: James A. Contner | Aired: 04/25/2000]

“Five by Five” is a spectacular piece of work; an action oriented episode with smart, nuanced character developments swimming just under the surface enough to shock you with their outcomes. This episode, short of a long-term impact, provides everything you could ever want from a show like this.

Angel 1×19: Sanctuary

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Tim Minear and Joss Whedon | Director: Michael Lange | Aired: 05/02/2000]

“Sanctuary” is another impressive stand-out; a superb standalone that can engage casual viewers and readily rewards those who have cared to pay attention for many seasons. Most impressive about this showing is how expertly it juggles and interweaves the many conflicts and threads that occur thr

Angel 1×20: War Zone

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Gary Campbell | Director: David Straiton | Aired: 05/09/2000]

“War Zone” is an episode when, upon my first viewing, I was surprised. Not entirely by quality, though; the idea of demon street fighters gave me the entice-ies, but I wasn’t sure what to do with what I had. This was something different than I expected, and my reaction was a well rounded ‘m

Angel 1×21: Blind Date

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: Jeannine Renshaw | Director: Thomas J. Wright | Aired: 05/16/2000]

“Blind Date,” in the proud tradition of shows as unique and therefore few as Buffy and Angel, carries on the show’s legacy of secondary character development today, and this time it’s for everyone’s favourite lawyer (if such a thing can exist): Lindsey McDonald. Sometimes a little awkward

Angel 1×22: To Shanshu in LA

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Writer: David Greenwalt | Director: David Greenwalt | Aired: 05/23/2000]

And at last, we come to the end of this fine season. “To Shanshu in L.A.” is, in every way, an amazing piece of work, as well as Writer/Director David Greenwalt’s finest offering on either Buffy or Angel. Since the series was co-created by Greenwalt (who took the reigns largely from Joss Whed

Angel Season 1 Review

[Review by Ryan Bovay]

[Overview]

Here we are: the completion of the first season of Angel’s very own show. Fans are usually torn on it, with some in adoration of it and others decidedly bored by much of it. Many detractors cite its possession of a flimsy arc, or a lack of one at all as its largest problem and while I feel this is