Angel as a show did not know what it wanted to be. Most of the plots of Angel were basically Angel vs some evil that he defeats with the help of his friends. In the first season the show kicked off to a terrific start in the first episode, with Angel essentially introducing himself to LA.
Then the show went on a gimmick fest, with stories about, what are these people hiding, why is Angel acting so strange, etc etc. By the forth season it became a sad depressing soap opera, with one continuous story. By the fifth season, they brought the gimmicks back with a party show, a dance show, and a puppet show. However, during the fifth season we see the sad death of two major characters in touching scenes.
It seamed the show searched for an identity: is it a soap opera? is it a sad story? it is a gimmick fest? what are they doing? what is Angel's purpose, helping the helpless? fighting evil?
In the mist of all this, during the gimmick search of the first season, somehow, they smashed a home run, a hundred miles out of the stadium. Bringing the Buffy character evil Faith Lehane, to LA, the writers may have wanted to play with the meaning of the word "bad" in a story called "Five By Five". They came up with a fantastic story, with a great ending, and suddenly the writers appeared to wanted to continue that theme. The Angel show became about "saving souls" and "redemption". Despite using these words often, this theme did not last long and probably would have been a better theme for the show, than where the stories actually went.
I have searched the Angel episodes for another like "Five By Five" and could not find it.
"Five By Five",
overtakes any movie or other story as simply the
most powerful dramatic story
I have ever seen.
Eliza Dushku gives her best and most stunning performance in this episode, and I feel certain this episode is the reason, she was given the lead in two TV series within the first 5 years after Angel ended.
I recognize it is not easy to write a terrific story every week. I recognize that people watch the show for other reasons, other than seeing some powerful dramatic story. There are some good inventive stories. There are some surprises.
But most of all, the show appeared, to go in many direction, when it could have been so much better going in one direction.
Then the show went on a gimmick fest, with stories about, what are these people hiding, why is Angel acting so strange, etc etc. By the forth season it became a sad depressing soap opera, with one continuous story. By the fifth season, they brought the gimmicks back with a party show, a dance show, and a puppet show. However, during the fifth season we see the sad death of two major characters in touching scenes.
It seamed the show searched for an identity: is it a soap opera? is it a sad story? it is a gimmick fest? what are they doing? what is Angel's purpose, helping the helpless? fighting evil?
In the mist of all this, during the gimmick search of the first season, somehow, they smashed a home run, a hundred miles out of the stadium. Bringing the Buffy character evil Faith Lehane, to LA, the writers may have wanted to play with the meaning of the word "bad" in a story called "Five By Five". They came up with a fantastic story, with a great ending, and suddenly the writers appeared to wanted to continue that theme. The Angel show became about "saving souls" and "redemption". Despite using these words often, this theme did not last long and probably would have been a better theme for the show, than where the stories actually went.
I have searched the Angel episodes for another like "Five By Five" and could not find it.
"Five By Five",
overtakes any movie or other story as simply the
most powerful dramatic story
I have ever seen.
Eliza Dushku gives her best and most stunning performance in this episode, and I feel certain this episode is the reason, she was given the lead in two TV series within the first 5 years after Angel ended.
I recognize it is not easy to write a terrific story every week. I recognize that people watch the show for other reasons, other than seeing some powerful dramatic story. There are some good inventive stories. There are some surprises.
But most of all, the show appeared, to go in many direction, when it could have been so much better going in one direction.