Angel: 
The Complete Second Season 
(6 Disc Boxed Set)
(2000)
review by Head Cheeze

When we last left Angel (well, in terms of DVD boxed sets) the brooding vamp (Boreanez) and his left hand tramp Cordelia (Carpenter), were reeling from the loss of the loveable demon, Doyle (Glenn Quinn, who was released from the show due to a drug problem that later claimed his life). However, before his untimely demise, Doyle left behind a special gift for Cordelia; his excruciating painful ability to see occult crimes before the occur. With new teammember Wesley (Denisof) now officially in the fold, Angel Investigations moves into some plush new digs in an abandoned hotel in the heart of the city and go about their business of bustin' demon skulls and solving the problems of the hopeless. However, the dastardly lawyers across town, Wolfram and Hart, have their own plans for Angel; plans that involve an old playmate from the days in which Angel roamed the countryside as the bloodthirsty Angelus.

The first season of Angel was both exhilarating, and frustrating. The series started off strong, giving Angel an almost Batman-like quality, and the supporting cast of Carpenter and Quinn provided ample comic relief in the face of the constant darkness that encompassed the titular character. Once the writing team found what seemed like the perfect balance, the well publicised falling out with Quinn claimed one of the show's most endearing elements. With the second season, team Whedon set about the task of re-introducing Buffy the Vampire Slayer's foppish Wesley to the audience as a bit more capable and battle hardened former watcher, as opposed to the blundering foil he'd once been. The results were, at first, mixed, with Wesley serving as more of an obstacle than a useful ally, but eventually the show found it's footing again just in time for the writers to bog it all down in the excruciatingly dull Darla saga.

For those not familiar with the series, Darla was a minor villain in the early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An ancient vampiress, Darla was the one who turned Liam (Angel's human name) into a vampire, and the pair terrorised the Earth until a gypsy spell gave Angel back his soul and set him on the path of righteouness. For season two, the writers decided to bring Darla in as a tool for Wolfram and Hart to use against Angel, in hopes that she would once again bring out Angel's dark alter-ego. To achieve this, the series spent many an episode flashing back to Angel's origins, he and Darla's escapades, and generally ignoring the chemistry of the three leads by sending Angel off on a sort of urban walkabout to try and and deal with this alone. The results were often fun, in a dark and brooding way, but almost as often the episodes were just dull. Luckily, this story arc didn't completely encompass the whole season, as the gang moved on (with new recruit, the urban street fighter Charles Gunn, in tow) to bigger and badder bads.

Season Two also introduces us to Lorne (Andy Hallet), the green karaoke singing demon who reads minds as people perform for him. Lorne would go on to become a fan favourite, and provide many of the series biggest laughs (to see Angel sing Barry Manilow's Mandy is priceless). The season also leads up to the introduction of one of the series future regulars, Fred (the gorgeous Amy Acker) in the season finale that takes the team to Lorne's homeworld of Pylea.

Angel-Season Two is, probably, the weakest in the series' run, but considering just how good of a show this is, that's not really a slam at all. As a matter of fact, bad Angel is better than pretty much anything else on television, but it's just that we Whedon fans are used to a certain degree of quality, and it seemed that the cast changes and new writers threw a wrench in the works for a little less than half of the season. However, once the dull Darla stuff passes, the show kicks right back into the campy vamp monster fest we all know and love.

The DVD set from Fox presents all 22 episodes on six discs. Angel didn't make the transistion to widescreen until season three, so these episodes are all full frame, as is the case with the Season One boxed set. Extras are on the skint side, with just a pair of commentary tracks, and a few featurettes that add up to just under an hour's worth of bonus stuff, but the set is priced right at just south of $60 bucks, and well worth it for over 25 hours of solid entertaiment.