Angel: The Complete Second Season

Review by Tom Johnson
TomJohnson@TheCinemaSource.com

In “Angel: Season Two, the long set-up from Season One is finally put to good use, as the episodic structure is finally broken down, and a serialized story somewhat emerges, focusing on the cliffhanger that ended the Season One finale.

Darla’s back in town, thanks to arch-nemesis Wolfram & Hart, and she’s human. Well, at least initially. Let’s just say that the Angel/Darla relationship is used as the jump-off point for a host of bizarre and thoroughly entertaining developments that will keep viewers just as riveted to their televisions as they were for previous Whedon-approved adventures. David Boreanaz begins to shine in ways never thought imaginable back in his two-dimensional “Buffy” days. The main aspect of his character which comes out and affects the entire show is the humor he’s found beneath the dark, brooding loner.

Charisma Carpenter and Alexis Denisof also come into their own this season, as Carpenter’s comic timing reaches euphoric highs, spliced between significant chunks of character development. Denisof finally proves to be a worthy replacement for Season One’s third man, Doyle(the late Glenn Quinn) and Andy Hallet debuts the Host, a bizarre yet perfect addition. The only weak link in the stellar group is Gunn(J. August Richards), who eventually becomes a complex and engaging character, but exists in Season Two as little more than a “Yo, belie’ dat, son!” ghetto stereotype of a black male from South Central. Even the top notch writing team behind these episodes drop the ball here by giving him lines like “what’s the 411 on that green monster dude?” These cringe worthy moments aside, Gunn is a solid member of the team, but Joss Whedon has raised the bar so high with his previous character sketches that “solid” just doesn’t cut it here.

As for the story, this is the season that separates the Angel fans from the Buffy fans still tuning in to see old characters, as the plot veers off towards some truly quirky directions that Buffy, at the time, had yet to touch with a ten foot pole. Without spoiling much, I can say that that in one season, we visit 1950s Hollywood, explore a tragically doomed romance, see our heroes splintered and hardened, and wrap up with a big medieval fantasy set in a dimension named Pylea. I remember slowly turning away from Angel this season when I first watched it. It just got a little too comic booky for me, and turned me off until the middle of the incredible fourth season(which I now consider my favorite season of any show, ever) On second viewing, however, my perspective changed, and I really enjoyed the subtle arc displayed through the season, and began to admire it for its odd structure and random shifts of direction. On DVD, it’s easy to keep up with everything that’s happening, and it’s even easier to ...