The second season of the television series ''

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'', the spin-off of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', premiered on September 26, 2000, on

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 9:00 pm ET, following ''Buffy''.

Cast and characters

Main cast

David Boreanaz David Paul Boreanaz (; born May 16, 1969) is an American actor, television producer, and director known for playing the roles of vampire-turned-private investigator Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Angel on The WB/UPN supernatural fiction, supe ...

Charisma Carpenter Charisma Carpenter (born July 23, 1970) is an American actress. She played Cordelia Chase in the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–1999) and its spin-off series ''Angel'' (1999–2004). She also starred as Kyra i ...

Cordelia Chase Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''; she also appeared on ''Buffy's'' spin-off series, ''Angel''. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a series ...

Alexis Denisof Alexis Denisof (born February 25, 1966) is an American actor, primarily known for playing Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spin-off ''Angel''. He also had a recurring role on ''How I Met Your Moth ...

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (also spelled Wyndam-Price and Wyndham-Price) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel''. Played by Alexis Denisof, Wesley first ...

* J. August Richards as Charles Gunn

Recurring cast

Guest cast

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American former actress. Dushku starred as Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Faith in the supernatural Drama (film and television), drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) an ...

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in network television and theater. In 2025, ''Time'' magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people. On television, he portray ...

as Gavin Park *

James Marsters James Wesley Marsters (born August 20, 1962) is an American actor, musician, singer, comic book writer, and audiobook narrator. He is best known for his role as the British punk vampire Spike in The WB series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ...

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...

Mercedes McNab Mercedes Alicia McNab (born March 14, 1980) is a Canadian former actress. She is known for her role as Harmony Kendall on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2001) and its spinoff ''Angel'' (2001–2004). She additionally is known for her role a ...

Harmony Kendall Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spin-off ''Angel''. The character is portrayed by Mercedes McNab. Originally cast as a minor character, McNab's credit ...

Mark Metcalf Mark Metcalf (born March 11, 1946) is an American television and film actor often playing the role of an antagonistic and aggrieved authority figure. He is best known for his role as sadistic ROTC officer Douglas C. Neidermeyer in the 1978 Amer ...

as The Master *

Alyson Hannigan Allison Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974), known professionally as Alyson Hannigan, is an American actress and television presenter. She began her film career with supporting roles in the comedy films '' Impure Thoughts'' (1986) and '' My Step ...

Willow Rosenberg Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan. Willow plays an integra ...

Crew

Series creators

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...

and

David Greenwalt David Greenwalt (born October 16, 1949) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He was the co-executive producer of the TV series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and co-creator of its spinoff, '' Angel''. He is also co-creator of the ...

served as executive producers, while Greenwalt would serve as the series' showrunner as Whedon was running ''Buffy''. Whedon didn't write a script for the season, although he did write the stories to "

Judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...

" and " Happy Anniversary", directed the fourth episode "Untouched" and even acted in the season's penultimate episode as Lorne's dancing cousin Numfar. ''Buffy'' writer/producer

Marti Noxon Martha Mills Noxon (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her work as a screenwriter and executive producer on the supernatural drama series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ( ...

served as consulting producer, with other ''Buffy'' writers

Jane Espenson Jane Espenson (born July 14, 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Espenson has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and shared ...

, Douglas Petrie and

David Fury David Fury is an American television writer, producer, actor and director. Career He is well known for his work on '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', '' Angel'', '' Lost'', '' 24'', '' Fringe,'' '' Tyrant'' and '' The Tick''. Fury was a co-exe ...

were asked to write freelance scripts.

Tim Minear Timothy P. Minear (; born October 29, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for four Emmy Awards (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) for his role as an executive producer on ''American Horror Story'' and ''Feud''. Life and ...

(supervising producer, promoted to co-executive producer midseason) and

Jim Kouf Jim Kouf (born July 24, 1951) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He received the 1988 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for his work on ''Stakeout'' (1987). Filmography Film Television *''White Water Rebels'' ( ...

(consulting producer) were the only writers kept on the staff. Minear ended up writing the most episodes of the season, including important episodes during the Angel/Darla story arc including " Darla", "

The Trial ''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...

", " Reunion", "

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

" and "

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: Psychology * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany seaso ...

". "Darla" also counted as Minear's directorial debut.

Mere Smith Meredyth (Mere) Smith is an American television script-writer who has been described as a key writer of the series ''Angel''. She was also the executive story editor and script coordinator for 66 episodes from 1999 to 2003. While living in Bro ...

, who was a script coordinator during the first season was promoted to a staff writer, and began writing episodes.

Shawn Ryan Shawn Ryan (born October 11, 1966) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including '' The Shield'' (2002–2008), '' The Unit'' (2006–2009), '' Lie to Me'' (2009– ...

was hired for the season and also served as a producer.

James A. Contner James Atwater Contner (born June 12, 1947) is an American film, television director and cinematographer. His work includes episodes of such television series as ''Miami Vice'', ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''F ...

(also co-producer) directed the highest number of episodes in the second season, directing three episodes. David Greenwalt directed two, including the season finale.

Episodes

Reception

The second season won the

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards were determined by ...

for Best Television. It was nominated for five

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

s – Best Network Television Series, Best Actor on Television (

), Best Actress on Television (

), Best Supporting Actor on Television (

) and Best Supporting Actress on Television (

Juliet Landau Juliet Rose Landau (born March 30, 1965) is an American actress, director, producer, and ballerina best known for her role as Drusilla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spinoff show ''Angel'', the latter appearance earning her a Sat ...

). The Futon Critic named " Reunion" the 20th best episode of 2000.

Slayage ''Buffy'' studies, also called Buffyology, is the study of Joss Whedon's popular television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and, to a lesser extent, its spin-off program ''Angel''. It explores issues related to gender, family, ethics and other ...

cited the episode " Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" as the greatest episode of the series. The second season averaged 4.1 million viewers, slightly lower than the fifth season of ''Buffy''.

DVD release

''Angel'': The Complete Second Season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 2, 2003 and in region 2 on April 15, 2002. The DVD includes all 22 episodes on 6 discs presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Special features on the DVD include two commentary tracks—"Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" by writer

and "Over the Rainbow" by director Fred Keller. Scripts for "Darla" and "Disharmony" are included. Featurettes include, "Making up the Monsters", which details the make-up design; "Inside the Agency" is a set tour of various sets; "Stunts" details the choreography of the stunts; and "Season 2 Overview" is a summary of the season featuring interviews with cast and crew members. A photo stills gallery is also included.

References

External links

* {{Angel episodes Angel (1999 TV series) 2000 American television seasons 2001 American television seasons