Angel - Season 1

500 posts. Weird.

Angel isn't as funny or easily enjoyable as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it does enough to stand on its own in its first season while still feeling like part of the same universe. It's aided by a number of crossovers with its parent show, which makes for some interesting situations as a thread is opened in the original and tied up an hour later on Angel. Aside from a shorter-than-expected stint by an Irish half demon, the main cast in the first season is made up of Buffy castoffs, and while they were mostly tangential there, they manage to establish themselves as a decent foundation for a series on Angel. The titular character himself can handle the lead well enough, though I like him more when he's being dark and standoffish than when he's trying to make clever quips in battle. Cordelia's role in Buffy was mostly just being a huge bitch, but Los Angeles manages to calm her down a bit and make her more tolerable here. Even Wesley becomes likable once he finds his niche in Angel's crew.

Unlike Buffy, there isn't much of a story thread running through the whole season. Wolfram & Hart are an evil law firm that can be found hiding in the background behind a lot of the show's antagonists from episode to episode, and their presence increases as it goes on, but it seems like they're mostly just setting it up for something bigger later. The action and supernatural stuff is about as competent as Buffy, but where it's not as interesting is the other stuff - the lives of the characters. Buffy and her friends fight a lot of demons, but they also go to school and hang out, whereas Angel seems to be all business. It's still an interesting series, it's just not as fun to spend time in its world. Still, I'm curious to see where it goes.