Angel starts out where Buffy The Vampire Slayer season 3 left off, with Angel, a vampire with a soul, leaving Sunnydale so that his beloved Buffy can have a semblance of a normal relationship, which the two of them could never have. The entire series can be divided into three parts, all of which take place in L.A., Angel's new home.
The first part consists of season one, and does not have a defining story arc. In season one, Angel starts a supernatural detective agency, "Angel Investigations", with the help of Cordelia Chase, who has moved to L.A. from Sunnydale, and half human-half demon Doyle. Doyle dies a courageous death half-way through the season, and failed ex-watcher Wesley Windham-Pryce, who is now a "rogue demon hunter", joins the cast. At the end of the season we are introduced to Charles Gunn, a streetwise kid who has been fighting demons his whole life. Slowly, he comes to trust Angel and eventually joins the group.
The second part of the series consists of seasons two through four, and is one long story arc. Season two deals with the resurrection of Angel's vampire lover Darla. The ordeal of getting Darla back as a human, and then losing her again when she becomes a vampire once more, drives Angel to the dark side of his soul. He turns against his friends for a brief time as he goes on a crusade of punishing the guilty - Wolfram & Hart - rather than helping the helpless. Eventually he returns to his friends and his senses - but not before he and Darla have a night of passion that results in season three's story arc - Darla's pregnancy and the "birth" of Angel's son Conner.
In season 3, an old enemy from Angel's vampire past is mystically conjured up - Holtz, a man whose entire family was killed by Angel and Darla when they were both vampires. Holtz' revenge involves stealing Angel's infant son and jumping into a portal to a hell dimension rather than give up the child. Later in season three, Conner and Holtz both return from the hell dimension. With time running differently in the two dimensions, Conner is now 18 years old, and none too fond of Angel, due to Holtz' influence. Holtz conjures up a plan to commit assisted suicide and make it look like he has been murdered by Angel so that Conner will take revenge on him. The plan works, and Conner sinks Angel to the bottom of the Pacific in a box, to suffer an everlasting torment of slow starvation.
Season four is the most disorganized of any of the seasons. It is a dizzying blur that involves a mysterious Beast that blots out the sun, yet another mystical pregnancy that culminates in an evil higher power - Jasmine - coming into the world, and that evil power bringing "world peace" in return for the world's unquestioning worship - until Angel enables people to see Jasmine's true appearance and they run from her in horror. The season concludes with Angel and his crew being given control of the L.A. branch of evil mystical law firm Wolfram & Hart supposedly as a reward for "destroying world peace". Angel agrees to the deal, if in return all memories of Conner's existence are erased from everyone who knew him and Conner is placed in a "normal" family with memories that involve only his new family, and not his actual past. Only Angel retains his memories of what actually happened.
Season five stands alone as the third and final part of the series which returns to the monster-of-the-week format that was present in season one. Spike, another vampire with a soul who also loves Buffy, appears first as a ghost that is unable to leave the premises of Wolfram & Hart. Later in the season Spike reclaims his corporeal presence. The first part of the season is on the light side, as each member of the Fang Gang receives their dream job at Wolfram & Hart with the hope of doing good deeds in a place once renowned for evil. However, they slowly discover that it is they that are being changed and compromised, not the law firm. This culminates in one great tragedy two-thirds into the season, resulting in the death of one the members of the Fang Gang. In the end, Angel and his crew decide to turn the tables by killing all of the members of a powerful evil secret society. They are successful, but there are casualties among their ranks. The last scene shows the survivors cornered in an alley about to be attacked by Wolfram & Hart's minions, but they go out fighting.
Angel is not the only character on a journey in this series. The once shallow and selfish Cordelia Chase changes into a brave soul who is willing to become part demon in order to continue on in her mission. We also watch as Wesley changes from buffoonish comic relief into a true rogue demon hunter who has a penchant for darkness that rivals Angel. Charles Gunn changes from the street-wise kid who is proud of being the muscle into someone who is willing to sell his soul to not to return to that role. Even Lorne is not spared, as he changes from the consummate entertainer with an ever-sunny personality into someone who can only find solace at the bottom of a glass and loses his heart for the good fight "the moment I found out a girl I loved was going to die".
The first part consists of season one, and does not have a defining story arc. In season one, Angel starts a supernatural detective agency, "Angel Investigations", with the help of Cordelia Chase, who has moved to L.A. from Sunnydale, and half human-half demon Doyle. Doyle dies a courageous death half-way through the season, and failed ex-watcher Wesley Windham-Pryce, who is now a "rogue demon hunter", joins the cast. At the end of the season we are introduced to Charles Gunn, a streetwise kid who has been fighting demons his whole life. Slowly, he comes to trust Angel and eventually joins the group.
The second part of the series consists of seasons two through four, and is one long story arc. Season two deals with the resurrection of Angel's vampire lover Darla. The ordeal of getting Darla back as a human, and then losing her again when she becomes a vampire once more, drives Angel to the dark side of his soul. He turns against his friends for a brief time as he goes on a crusade of punishing the guilty - Wolfram & Hart - rather than helping the helpless. Eventually he returns to his friends and his senses - but not before he and Darla have a night of passion that results in season three's story arc - Darla's pregnancy and the "birth" of Angel's son Conner.
In season 3, an old enemy from Angel's vampire past is mystically conjured up - Holtz, a man whose entire family was killed by Angel and Darla when they were both vampires. Holtz' revenge involves stealing Angel's infant son and jumping into a portal to a hell dimension rather than give up the child. Later in season three, Conner and Holtz both return from the hell dimension. With time running differently in the two dimensions, Conner is now 18 years old, and none too fond of Angel, due to Holtz' influence. Holtz conjures up a plan to commit assisted suicide and make it look like he has been murdered by Angel so that Conner will take revenge on him. The plan works, and Conner sinks Angel to the bottom of the Pacific in a box, to suffer an everlasting torment of slow starvation.
Season four is the most disorganized of any of the seasons. It is a dizzying blur that involves a mysterious Beast that blots out the sun, yet another mystical pregnancy that culminates in an evil higher power - Jasmine - coming into the world, and that evil power bringing "world peace" in return for the world's unquestioning worship - until Angel enables people to see Jasmine's true appearance and they run from her in horror. The season concludes with Angel and his crew being given control of the L.A. branch of evil mystical law firm Wolfram & Hart supposedly as a reward for "destroying world peace". Angel agrees to the deal, if in return all memories of Conner's existence are erased from everyone who knew him and Conner is placed in a "normal" family with memories that involve only his new family, and not his actual past. Only Angel retains his memories of what actually happened.
Season five stands alone as the third and final part of the series which returns to the monster-of-the-week format that was present in season one. Spike, another vampire with a soul who also loves Buffy, appears first as a ghost that is unable to leave the premises of Wolfram & Hart. Later in the season Spike reclaims his corporeal presence. The first part of the season is on the light side, as each member of the Fang Gang receives their dream job at Wolfram & Hart with the hope of doing good deeds in a place once renowned for evil. However, they slowly discover that it is they that are being changed and compromised, not the law firm. This culminates in one great tragedy two-thirds into the season, resulting in the death of one the members of the Fang Gang. In the end, Angel and his crew decide to turn the tables by killing all of the members of a powerful evil secret society. They are successful, but there are casualties among their ranks. The last scene shows the survivors cornered in an alley about to be attacked by Wolfram & Hart's minions, but they go out fighting.
Angel is not the only character on a journey in this series. The once shallow and selfish Cordelia Chase changes into a brave soul who is willing to become part demon in order to continue on in her mission. We also watch as Wesley changes from buffoonish comic relief into a true rogue demon hunter who has a penchant for darkness that rivals Angel. Charles Gunn changes from the street-wise kid who is proud of being the muscle into someone who is willing to sell his soul to not to return to that role. Even Lorne is not spared, as he changes from the consummate entertainer with an ever-sunny personality into someone who can only find solace at the bottom of a glass and loses his heart for the good fight "the moment I found out a girl I loved was going to die".