I think they wanted to make it darker, but their hands were tied by the network who were pushing in the opposite direction. You can tell where the network gave up and Whedon did what he wanted...(S4 and the end of S5), which is when it went in the direction the writer probably intended all along.
I haven't read any comics since 2010, so can't comment. The character of Angel? I liked him well enough in the TV series - interesting character. Fascinating in the last two seasons 4 and 5. S1 was hampered by Buffy, S2 by the uneven Darla story, S3 by the uneven baby plot. Granted S4 had the Cordy story, but it oddly bothered me less than the baby plot did. ;-)
Angel had its moments. The best bits were the beginning of S2 up to Pylea (which did not work for me), the Faith cross-over in S1 (which was rather brilliant), the Darla arc in S2-S3. The Holtz/Justine/Wes/Lilah bit in S3. (If you excise Cordelia and baby Connor from S3 and S4, the series isn't bad at all.) The Fred/Wes/Gunn arc in S4 and the Angel/Connor/Faith arc in S4 was quite good as was the Wes/Lilah and Wes/Faith arcs in S4. S5? Spike/Angel made that season work. As did Illyria/Wes. I actually loved S5 and disliked S3. I have a lot of people on my flist who are the exact opposite, they loved S3 and hated S5. LOL!
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-04-05 02:33 am (UTC)I think they wanted to make it darker, but their hands were tied by the network who were pushing in the opposite direction. You can tell where the network gave up and Whedon did what he wanted...(S4 and the end of S5), which is when it went in the direction the writer probably intended all along.
I haven't read any comics since 2010, so can't comment. The character of Angel? I liked him well enough in the TV series - interesting character. Fascinating in the last two seasons 4 and 5. S1 was hampered by Buffy, S2 by the uneven Darla story, S3 by the uneven baby plot. Granted S4 had the Cordy story, but it oddly bothered me less than the baby plot did. ;-)
Angel had its moments. The best bits were the beginning of S2 up to Pylea (which did not work for me), the Faith cross-over in S1 (which was rather brilliant), the Darla arc in S2-S3. The Holtz/Justine/Wes/Lilah bit in S3.
(If you excise Cordelia and baby Connor from S3 and S4, the series isn't bad at all.) The Fred/Wes/Gunn arc in S4 and the Angel/Connor/Faith arc in S4 was quite good as was the Wes/Lilah and Wes/Faith arcs in S4. S5? Spike/Angel made that season work. As did Illyria/Wes. I actually loved S5 and disliked S3. I have a lot of people on my flist who are the exact opposite, they loved S3 and hated S5. LOL!