Angel is a surprise to watch after getting through the Buffy the Vampire series. They're not really alike, except that both shows have weekly monsters (or sometimes do, other times focusing on mishaps with the central characters) and the 'Big Bad' (in this case, for a while, law-firm Wolfram & Hart). While Buffy chronicles what it's like for a young woman becoming a hero, the saga of being a kind of superhero with super strength but still being a regular human being, Angel is about its own hero of sorts, a vampire who has been "cursed" to help others and has a soul. So, he goes to Los Angeles, teams up with a few people- Cordelia, from Buffy, and Doyle (who didn't last long), Wesley (who did last long), and Gunn, a street hood who is his own kind of slayer- and opens up a kind of detective agency "to help the hopeless".
Usually when I look at Joss Whedon's TV shows, a lot of them rely best on a central arc carrying over the series episode to episode (one saw how this worked so well on Buffy and with a little more trouble on Dollhouse). This isn't to say that episodes don't flow together or have strong story lines (they often do, and the sub-plots with Wesley, Cordy and eventually Gun are always involving). But here though it's episodic first, arc second, and this actually works out really well. While the "Big Bad" of the season isn't always out of reach, what we look forward to on Angel is seeing what case he has to solve next, what monster he'll have to fight or what person/non-person he'll have to save. And meanwhile the constant is him trying to be a little more compassionate and caring while also being a dark brooding vampire who on occasion, if he achieves true happiness, becomes the evil 'Angelus' vampire. This isn't as confusing as it sounds (a vampire who becomes... an evil vampire?)
What also helps is that Whedon and co-creator David Greenwalt always put in a sense of humor about things, be it the nightclub run by green-skinned Fred where the demons sing (and Angel gets to belt out "Mandy"), or in some of the wisecracks from the characters. There's also some fantastic action and fights- or, sometimes not- and there's the usual lot of crappy CGI that one saw on Buffy too. But what makes it constantly enjoyable is the film-noir aesthetic: Angel is a little like a Raymond Chandler leftover doused in a touch of Batman and left out to do his thing in seedy LA. The characters are fun and convincing, and even when they're not (take season four for example, a lot of it), a good juicy villain or memorable moment is around the corner.
Angel was a successful spin off, running for five seasons, and when one gets into just the first two seasons it's easy to see why. It's more Whedon-esquire goodness on display, with an oddly charismatic David Boreanaz in the lead (improving/building much upon his character on Buffy).
Usually when I look at Joss Whedon's TV shows, a lot of them rely best on a central arc carrying over the series episode to episode (one saw how this worked so well on Buffy and with a little more trouble on Dollhouse). This isn't to say that episodes don't flow together or have strong story lines (they often do, and the sub-plots with Wesley, Cordy and eventually Gun are always involving). But here though it's episodic first, arc second, and this actually works out really well. While the "Big Bad" of the season isn't always out of reach, what we look forward to on Angel is seeing what case he has to solve next, what monster he'll have to fight or what person/non-person he'll have to save. And meanwhile the constant is him trying to be a little more compassionate and caring while also being a dark brooding vampire who on occasion, if he achieves true happiness, becomes the evil 'Angelus' vampire. This isn't as confusing as it sounds (a vampire who becomes... an evil vampire?)
What also helps is that Whedon and co-creator David Greenwalt always put in a sense of humor about things, be it the nightclub run by green-skinned Fred where the demons sing (and Angel gets to belt out "Mandy"), or in some of the wisecracks from the characters. There's also some fantastic action and fights- or, sometimes not- and there's the usual lot of crappy CGI that one saw on Buffy too. But what makes it constantly enjoyable is the film-noir aesthetic: Angel is a little like a Raymond Chandler leftover doused in a touch of Batman and left out to do his thing in seedy LA. The characters are fun and convincing, and even when they're not (take season four for example, a lot of it), a good juicy villain or memorable moment is around the corner.
Angel was a successful spin off, running for five seasons, and when one gets into just the first two seasons it's easy to see why. It's more Whedon-esquire goodness on display, with an oddly charismatic David Boreanaz in the lead (improving/building much upon his character on Buffy).