Buffy and Angel Rewatch part 27

Angel Season 1

This is mostly an uneven season with some fantastic episodes and some not as good ones. Whilst it is definitely better than Buffy's first season it has the added advantage of not having to introduce its characters too much. However the season did have to substantially differentiate itself from parent show Buffy, which was a hard task considering the overlap of characters and the fact that they are very similar shows. I think mostly the show achieves this though it becomes more evident in later episodes and the differences in the way Faith was handled in both shows is real evidence of that. Another example is that Doyle, Wes and Cordy are all very accepting of Angel's past and makes the character of Angel very different in his own show as he is not constantly having to prove himself like he was with the Scoobies.

Angel's strength in later seasons really lies in overall arcs, but season 1 didn't really have this though there were a few subtle ones in there. For instance there is a fantastic build up of Wolfram and Hart throughout the season, but as the characters from the law firm vary (until the last few episodes) and they don't appear in every episode, it doesn't feel like an arc.

Character wise there were only a few regular characters in Angel and only two of them were new. The first Doyle, was such a great facet to the team. He can hold his own against demons (for the most part) and also understands Angel's dark history as he is not squeaky clean himself.It makes you wonder what the show would've been like with him in it for longer especially as Wes is such a different character and changes the dynamic of the show quite a lot (not necessarily in a bad way though). Kate the other new regular character was a less successful character. Her character always felt like a bit of experiment and its one that didn't really work as she was too skeptical and hating of Angel and his world to every really fit in it. She was slightly better when she liked Angel but the episodes with her father were boring and she she became increasingly annoying after he died.
The returning characters of Angel Cordy and Wes were all more interesting and developed on Angel. This may be because they went from being outsiders to being the core team and we got to see more about them and what makes them tick.
Overall, this was a successful first season and despite some lesser moments and episodes, it was highly entertaining and enjoyable. (8/10)

Buffy season 4

This is generally considered the worst Buffy season and following the stellar season 3 it sometimes looks like it. The fact that Joss Whedon and team were pulling double time at Angel probably contributed to the fact that Buffy season 4 wasn't as creatively coherent as past seasons have been, but on the whole I think this is still a pretty good season. There are many uninteresting and not very good episodes in season 4, but there are also some of the best the show has done. My own ranking for all the episodes has been very varied. However looking at the season as a whole and watching it in close succession makes for enjoyable viewing as certain arcs such as the first year of college and the Initiative, make more sense when the episodes are watched closely together. The overall character arcs are interesting as well. Whilst some of them don't always play out that well in episodes (Buffy and Parker for instance), generally speaking they are truthful and realistic and many are poignant to the first year after high school eg Xander/Giles struggling to find direction, and Buffy/Willow trying out new experiences in college and in the love department. I didn't like the lack of Giles and Xander storylines we got though. Whilst both had stuff to do throughout the year, there were some episodes were we barely saw them at all. Part of this was storyline related but it was still disappointing.

There were a lot of new characters this year in the show, Riley and the Initiative, Tara, and Spike and Anya joining the cast as regular. I don't think any of the characters fitted in perfectly with the Scoobies which is good as this would be unrealistic considering the Scoobies have been together for 3 years. Spike was a little overused IMO, he was very purposeless most of the time and his involvement sometimes had very little to do with the actual story.

In terms of Big Bads, the Initiative and Adam were interesting ones. The idea of the government fighting demons fits with the story and it isn't the first time the government has interfered with something they don't understand. It also shone a light onto Buffy as a Slayer itself which will of course be looked at more in later seasons. It was nice to see civilians facing demons and winning which we see more of in Angel, as on Buffy, civilian fighting never goes very well. I do wonder though if the idea of cyborgs being the ultimate goal was a after-thought and just something to bring about a big showdown for Buffy in the finale. The whole thing felt a little tacked on and not where the storyline was always going to go.

Overall this is a good and very entertaining season. I won't say it was the best since it clearly wasn't and some episodes were hard to sit and watch. The overall arcs and a few stellar episodes make this season still a great one. (8/10)


Buffy & Angel

Episode order:
The episode order mostly worked but it was harder to watch in exactly the right order as the seasons went on. For instance the list gives the Faith 4 parter separately with 6 episodes in between, whereas they would have been better watched closer together if not consecutively. It basically meant that Faith took a number of weeks to reach LA and whilst this may be likely, it probably would've worked better together. However since the Yoko Factor takes place directly after Sanctuary, the episode order I used was probably the best it could be.
I also had to alter the end order somewhat as the episode order I was using listed Primeval and Restless separately even though they take place on the same night. I changed the order slightly so I would watch them consecutively.
I must say it was a little weird watching them together as some of them momentum built up in the shows was lost a little when I switched to the other. It also meant I was watching both seasons for a quite a long time.

Episodes:
For me it felt like the writing team and Joss Whedon especially, was doing double time on the shows. More often than not if there was a good episode on one show the other would have a bad one. I must admit some episodes were really hard to actually sit down and make myself watch!! This meant that both shows had great and bad episodes. Interestingly enough however even though I probably enjoyed Angel a little more, Buffy's episodes had a higher episode average ranking than Angel's did (only slightly though). This probably means that Buffy had more higher ranked episodes.

Crossovers:
These two seasons had the highest number of crossovers between the shows. There were a few smaller ones where there would be mentions to the other show (Angel/Wes/Cordy's histories and actions in Buffy all came up at some point over the season). I'm a little disappointed there weren't more allusions to Angel in Buffy though. I understand why this was done (Buffy was the bigger show) but it would've been nice.
Personally I think the Faith crossover was the best, as it really helped the shows to define what they were, especially Angel. Faith causing havoc in both Sunnydale and LA was a joy to watch and she made the appearances memorable.

Overall:
Both were enjoyable seasons and the cross-overs helped maintain the links between the shows, but also allowed them to mature individually. Angel probably had a slightly better season, but season 4 of Buffy was definitely better than its reputation.