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Angel - Season Two
- Color
- Closed-captioned
- Box set
The Editors Desk:
The second season of Angel saw the cult vampire show finally stand on its own from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, assembling all the members of the show's core cast, transferring the action to a fashionably run-down L.A. hotel, and bringing in a few Buffy characters from Angel's history to further establish the moody vampire's own mythology. Moving their Angel Investigations to posher digs, Angel (David Boreanaz), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), and Wesley (Alexis Denisof) were soon joined by street fighter (J. August Richards)–-and by street fighter, of course we mean demon street fighter. But just as this group was solidifying, up popped Angel's old love, Darla (the fantastic Julie Benz), freshly arrived in L.A. from a hell dimension… just in time to be turned into a vampire again by her old cohort, Drusilla (Juliet Landau), and lure Angel into abandoning his newly formed team. It was the best and worst of times for Angel in its second year, for while the basis was being set for the show's stellar third and fourth seasons, dramatic tension was diluted by Angel's going solo and the necessary (but plot-debilitating) flashbacks to various points in Angel's history. However, just when it seemed everything was about to fly out the window, Angel's creative team threw its characters for a loop--literally--by transporting them to the demon dimension of Pylea, a medieval-style fantasyland populated by monsters and humans alike. It shouldn't have worked, as hokey as it was... but it did, thanks to crack storytelling, sharp dialogue, and the sheer joy the actors unleashed, especially the gifted and fiendishly funny Carpenter. The second half of the season also saw the addition of two of Angel's best characters: the horned Lorne (Andy Hallett), a green demon with a penchant for karaoke, and Fred (Amy Acker), a physicist trapped in Pylea who helped the gang engineer their escape. With these two in tow, Angel began to soar. --Mark Englehart
Avg. Customer Review: 
 Chapter 2
This is the Second chapter in the Angel series, and the prelude to one of the finest seasons of TV that Television has ever seen (Angel Season 3). The second season takes place about 5 months after the season 1 finale, and shows the gang in full demon fighting swing of things. They've picked up two new friends: Charles Gunn (a street-fighting demon hunter) and Lorne (A green lounge singing demon). Through the season Angel enters a downward sprial, due to the return of Darla (the vampire who sired him). He returns to normal in just enough time to go to Pylea (A demon dimension) and save the race of humans... Only to return to La with the new of Buffys dealth. The second season contains many stellar episodes, and the best guest stars the show has ever seen: Eliza Dusku (Faith), Andy Hallet (Lorne), Julie Benz (Darla), and Juliet Landau (Drusilla) to name a few. The season included the wonderful episodes: Judgement, ARe you now or have you ever been, First Impressions, Untouched, Dear Boy, Guise will be Guise, Darla, The Shroud of Rahmon, The Trail, Reunion, REdefinition, Happy Anniversary, the Thing Dead Line, Reprise, Epiphany, Disharmony, Dead End, Belonging, Over the RAinbow, Throught he Lookinglass, and There's no place like Plrtz Glrb. If your a fan of great television, or horror this is the box set for you. And if you have any intention of buying the 3rd season this season is a must see to understand much the 3rd and 4th season plot lines.
ANGEL soars on its own in a wonderful season 2
When the evil lawyers of Wolfram & Hart bring back Angel's old lover/enemy, Darla, back from the dead, the soulful vampire finds himself pushed to the limit. Even staunch allies Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Wesley (Alexis Denisof) and Gunn (J. August Richards) find themselves adversely affected by their friend's situation in this solid second season of the BUFFY spin-off. As always, David Boreanez is on top of his game as the heroic Angel, being able to handle both the demands of the show's drama and comedy. Charisma Carpenter continues to shine as the sometimes sarcastic Cordelia, while Alexis Denisof continues to make the formally foppish Wesley into one of the more multi-faceted characters in TV today. Upgraded from recurring status, J. August Richards makes Gunn a valuable addition to the team with wry humor and solid timing. As the resurrected Darla, Julie Benz is equal parts sexy and sinister. Special mention must go to Andy Hallet, who makes the recurring role of Lorne (aka the Host, a singing demon with a Las Vegas attitude), a wonderfully fun creation. In a special cameo towards season's end, co-creator Joss Whedon manages to steal the show as a dancing green-skinned demon. The DVD once again has solid picture and sound. Like the previous set, the special features are again somewhat limited with a small variety of featurettes, audio commentaries and picture galleries. Still for fans of the show, and its parent series, it's all about the characters, stories, and that rare mix of drama and humor that few shows ever do well. This makes it one to definitely recommend.
On its own... at last
Angel: Season 2 was where the show started to move into its own 'formula', and the opening statement that Angel himself was not devastated by the loss of Buffy served to encompase one fact: the show was on its own. Where the first season essentially followed the monster-of-the-week plus occasional storyline episode formula that has been tried and true on Buffy, Season 2 started to move away from that into the darker, emotionally churning state of being that we viewers have grown so used to in the third and fourth seasons. The second season of Angel also points at the show's tendency to serve an overarching plot rather than a seasonal "Big Bad", when it ends with a trip to a different dimension instead of concluding the Darla storyline (which is completed in the third season). But though this season has a darker, more plot-arc oriented spine, it still contains some excellent character and monster-of-the-week episodes. One of these is "Are You Now or Were You Ever?", thought by fans everywhere as being one of the best episodes of the show. Other greats include "Darla", "Guise will Beguise", and "The Shroud of Rahmon". There are also portents of the futures of the different characters interspersed throughout the season. This is where Wesley really matured, becoming a hard-bitten leader rather than a comical sidekick. You can see his character being prepared to make the harder choices that cause him to be so dark later on in the series. Angel himself has a hard time of it throughout this season, but then, when does he not? He grows dark, deep-set despair keeping him from both his mission and his friends. But his redemption is both funny and touching when he returns towards the end of the season. Cordelia grows immensely during this season, primarily because of her visions. She's still "tell it like it is" Cordy, but her caring for others grows by leaps and bounds, setting the stage for the Cordelia we know later on in the third season. Charles Gunn also joins the Fang Gang, forsaking his old 'crew' to help Angel Investigations in a slow process that is (fortunately) very believable. Also in this season we are introduced to two new characters that will later become regulars: Fred and Lorne (the Host). The first is a slightly cooky, very intelligent woman who was stuck in Pylea for five years before returning with the Angel Investigations gang. The second, Lorne, is a truly unique character - a demon that sings, and can read a person's destiny when that person sings. Both are excellent additions to the group, and help to flesh out the dynamic between the characters. In conclusion, Angel: Season 2 serves as a stage-setter for the third and fourth seasons' storylines and characters, and contains some truly memorable episodes as well.
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