Rapid Reviews - Angel Season One DVDs - Part IV

Angel [1-09]: Hero: I knew that Doyle died at some point in the series. The episode in the fifth season that I caught, in which Cordelia returns, made that fact pretty clear. But I didn't expect it to be so soon into the series. Nor did I expect it to hit as hard as this did. This episode also builds on the previous in a way that I hadn't seen in the first eight episodes, with Angel starting out hurting badly from the events of the last episode, and nobody having any idea why. I suspected, when Doyle kissed Cordelia, that something was being passed on (the special effect there gave it away, really). It was a powerful little episode. Having two powerful episodes in a row like that was actually pretty darn effective.

Angel [1-10]: Parting Gifts: Thanks to the series finale, I knew what gift Doyle had passed on to Cordelia. I just didn't expect any of the fun events that quickly followed after. Amazing how, when a big loss occurs in Cordelia's life, an empath suddenly shows up and helps her through it. Anyway, this one is fun despite some slightly glaring plot holes. But the big shocker for me was Wesley. I sort of knew that he'd shown up in Buffy. I didn't realize that he knew both Cordelia and Angel. And I had absolutely no idea that he was such an idiot. From the little bit I saw of the final season of Angel, Wesley was a powerhouse of a character. Seeing him like this was like looking at an old High School yearbook and being shocked at how much a person had changed. This was definitely one of the more odd moments in my viewing of Angel.

Coming up in comics reviews this week (assuming everything ships): Demo, Way of the Rat, Conan, Harley & Ivy, New Frontier, Green Lantern, JLA, Common Grounds, Thor, Supreme Power, Ant, and Futurama. Girl Genius is also due to ship, but didn't show up on Diamond's list. I've also got more Angel DVD reviews coming up, as I've finally got a chance to sit and watch some of these. I'll also try to pull together another Random Thoughts post, but news that interests me has been light on the ground so far.