Of Better Finales

Netflix is a wonderful thing. I've wasted far too many hours doing homework watching movies and shows (or, maybe even procrastinating). only moments ago, I finished my 6-week long project of watching Angel, the spin-off show from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And I wanna talk. Be warned, I try to avoid

huge plot spoilers, but there are minor spoilers.

First off, a little background. Title character Angel originally started out on BtVS, first as Buffy's guide as she navigated being a Slayer, then as her love interest. He starred in three seasons with the Buffy cast before moving to grander stages: Joss Whedon's companion show to BtVS, Angel. Now, he had a detective-type agency that catered to "helping the helpless" - those who fell victim or prey to the supernatural forces in L.A. Over the course of five seasons, Angel's team changes, he makes many astounding revelations and discoveries, wavers

between good and evil, and yet the message of fighting for the greater good - even when you're in doubt that the greater good exists - is the most important thing.

I was not as enamored and captivated by Angel as I was by BtVS. In fact, the first time I tried to watch Angel on Netflix, I quit not far into season 4. As a woman and a feminist, maybe I identified with Buffy more; maybe I liked the angle of the show more - more comedy, drama, satire, less CSI-like action. Moreover, I feel like season 4 was the season that "jumped the shark", so to speak. I don't want to get into any spoilers, but there were just SO many things that happened in season 4 that, as you're watching, just don't make any sense.

As thing after thing kept happening, I just kept thinking, This is so Stephenie Meyer fare. What the hell, Joss? In the end, though, when I finally got through that season, the explanation did help to clear up some of the confusion. Still, though, I was left with this feeling that this season may have been where Angel-ites began wandering. Especially since the original fans were watching this by week, not hour. I just wonder how much support was lost over this season.

Season 5 started out alright enough, I guess. Although, not even slowly, you see the team losing sight of what had bound them together for so long: the good fight. Spike joins us for th

is last season and, as my favorite Buffy character, this was half of the reason I decided to give Angel another try. I was pretty disappointed at first though: he just totally hung around, doing nothing for the first third of the season! I felt like he was severely underused.

Anyway, back to the point. The staff, now under the trappings of W&H, are beginning to slip. Angel slips the farthest towards the end, and it's the others who are watching in terror. The final conflict was too quick for 5 years of build-up. After 5 years of hearing about this battle, I wanted it to strike a chord, to really mean something. Though it becomes clear An

gel still is on the right side, you wonder how good he truly is. I absolutely loved that Connor fought with him - one of the things I hated about season 4 was how much of a brat Connor was to Angel and the whole team, despite them trying their hardest to do right by him. So, I just loved to see him showing kindness and gratitude to his father at this epic battle.

So, my last say, I guess, is that I just wish that the last episode

of this (for the most part) pretty awesome show had just rung a little more true. Everything went too quickly, everyone was too disconnected; I'm sorry, a two-minute rendezvous of the remaining team members at the end does not sit well with me.

Overall, I'd recommend the show. It provides serious food for thought, along with some mind bending and excitement. If you're a fan of Buffy, realize that this won't be the same or as good. Realize that there will be some things you see and think, Really? WTF? But,

overall, I enjoyed it. That's my peace. Later.

As a side note, the second screen shot may be my FAVORITE episode from Ange

l - check it out: Season 5, Smile Time.