Harm's Way (Angel)

The fifth and final season of the television series ''Angel'', the spin-off of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', premiered on October 1, 2003 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season and its television run on May 19, 2004. The season aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET. This was the first and only season of ''Angel'' to air following the finale of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* David Boreanaz as Angel
* James Marsters as Spike
* J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
* Amy Acker as Winifred "Fred" Burkle/Illyria
* Andy Hallett as Lorne
* Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall
* Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Recurring cast

Special guest star

* Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase

Guest cast

* Julie Benz as Darla
* Jack Conley as Sahjhan
* Julia Lee as Anne Steele

Crew

Series creator Joss Whedon served as executive producer, now able to concentrate more on ''Angel'' as both ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Firefly'' ended. Whedon wrote and directed two episodes throughout the season ("Conviction" and "A Hole in the World"), co-wrote the story for "Smile Time" and co-wrote (as well as directed a number of scenes of) the series finale, " Not Fade Away". Whedon was originally intended to direct the final episode of the show but his commitments to filming ''Serenity'' (the sequel film to ''Firefly'') made it impossible for him to do so. He delegated the task to showrunner Jeffrey Bell who also wrote the episode alongside Whedon. Bell would write and direct only one other episode of the season.

After ''Buffy'' ended, David Fury joined the writing staff full-time as co-executive producer, later promoted to executive producer midseason, and wrote or co-wrote four episodes, including writing and directing the 100th episode. ''Buffy'' writer Drew Goddard also joined the staff as executive story editor and wrote or co-wrote five episodes. Steven S. DeKnight was promoted to producer, later promoted to supervising producer midseason, and wrote or co-wrote six episodes, two of which he directed. Ben Edlund was promoted to supervising producer and wrote or co-wrote four episodes, including writing and directing "Smile Time". Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain were promoted to executive story editors and wrote three episodes. Brent Fletcher, who was a script coordinator, wrote one episode, which was directed by series star David Boreanaz.

Co-creator David Greenwalt, who had left ''Angel'' in an official capacity at the end of season three, came back to direct the antepenultimate episode of the series, "The Girl in Question".

Episodes

Cancellation

On February 14, 2004, the WB Network announced that ''Angel'' would not be brought back for a sixth season. The one-paragraph statement indicated that the news, which had been reported by an Internet site the previous day, had been leaked well before the network intended to make its announcement. Joss Whedon posted a message on a popular fan site, The Bronze: Beta, in which he expressed his dismay and surprise, saying he was "heartbroken" and described the situation as "Healthy Guy Falls Dead From Heart Attack." Fan reaction was to organize letter-writing campaigns, online petitions, blood and food drives, advertisements in trade magazines and via mobile billboards, and attempts to lobby other networks (UPN was a favorite target, as it had already picked up ''Buffy''). Outrage for the cancellation focused on Jordan Levin, WB's Head of Entertainment. It was the second highest-rated program to be canceled on the WB.

Writer and producer David Fury "guarantees" that if Joss Whedon hadn't requested an early renewal ''Angel'' would have been back for a season six:

The only reason that ''Angel'' didn't come back...it's a very simple thing. Because our ratings were up, because of our critical attention, Joss specifically asked Jordan Levin, who was the head of The WB at the time, to give us an early pick-up because every year they ouldwait so long to give ''Angel'' a pick-up nda lot of us ouldturn down jobs hoping that ''Angel'' will continue – he ossdidn't want that to happen. So, he was feeling very confident and he ossjust asked Jordan, "Like, make your decision now whether you're going to pick us up or not," and Jordan, sort of with his hands tied, with his back up against the wall, called him the next day and said, "Okay, we're canceling you." Jordan's no longer there and The WB has since recognized...I believe Garth Ancier at The WB said that it was a big mistake to cancel ''Angel''. There was a power play that happened that just didn't fall out the way they wanted it to. We wanted to get an early pick-up, we didn't. In fact we forced them he WBto make a decision, and with his hand forced he evinmade the decision to cancel us.

I guarantee that, if we waited as we normally did, by the time May had come around they would have picked up ''Angel''. I can guarantee that.

Reception

The fifth season has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 8 out 10. The site's critics consensus reads, "''Angel''s final season concludes the series with a creative resurgence that restores the show's signature blend of humor and horror, ending on a bittersweet high note that should satisfy fans while leaving them wishing there could have been more."

The fifth season won four Saturn Awards – Best Network Television Series (tied with ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''), Best Actor in a Television Series (David Boreanaz), Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series (James Marsters), and Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series (Amy Acker). While Alexis Denisof was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series and Charisma Carpenter was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series. The series, Marsters, and Acker also received nominations again in 2005.

"Smile Time" and " Not Fade Away" were nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

The Futon Critic named "Lineage" the 32nd best episode of 2003, "Smile Time" the 21st best episode 2004 and "Not Fade Away" the 4th best episode of 2004.

The fifth season averaged 3.97 million viewers, slightly higher than season four.

Comic book continuation

After the success of the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' comic books, Joss Whedon announced a canonical comic book continuation of ''Angel'' would be published. Titled '' Angel: After the Fall'', published by IDW Publishing, written by Brian Lynch (along with the help of Whedon), the book takes place after the events the final episode, with Los Angeles in Hell. The first issue was released on November 21, 2007. Originally released as a 17-issue limited series, the book spawned into an ongoing spin-off series.

DVD release

''Angel'': The Complete Fifth Season was released on DVD in region 1 on February 15, 2005 and in region 2 on February 21, 2005. The DVD includes all 22 episodes on 6 discs presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Special features on the DVD include seven commentary tracks—"Conviction" by writer/director Joss Whedon; "Destiny" by writers David Fury and Steven S. DeKnight, director Skip Schoolnik and actress Juliet Landau; "Soul Purpose" by writer Brent Fletcher, actor/director David Boreanaz and actor Christian Kane; "You're Welcome" by writer/director David Fury and actors Christian Kane and Sarah Thompson; "A Hole in the World" by writer/director Joss Whedon and actors Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker; "Underneath" by writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, director Skip Schoolnik and actor Adam Baldwin; and "Not Fade Away" by co-writer/director Jeffrey Bell. Featurettes include, "''Angel'' 100", a look at the 100th episode celebration party; "To Live & Die in L.A.: The Best of ''Angel''", where Joss Whedon discusses the best episodes of the show; "Halos & Horns: Recurring Villainy", interviews with cast members who played villains over the course of the show; "Hey Kids! It's Smile Time", a featurette on the making of "Smile Time"; "''Angel'': Choreography of a Stunt", detailing the a performance of a stunt and interview with stunt coordinator Mike Massa; "''Angel'' Unbound: The Gag Reels", a series of outtakes from all five seasons; and "''Angel'': The Final Season", a summary of the season featuring interviews with cast and crew members.

References

External links

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{{Angel episodes

Angel (1999 TV series)

2003 American television seasons
2004 American television seasons