How's the first half?

[Five]

If I own every episode of Buffy on DVD and know them all by heart, I must have seen like one episode of Angel: the one in first season when Buffy comes to LA and Angel becomes human again, blah blah blah. I thought it was good, very Joss-like, even though it bothered me that the story was not centred on Buffy as I'm used to lool for example, when they split up in the sewers, the camera follows Angel (which is totally normal ^^) and I was like "Ohooh, don't forget Buff!" =D

Anyway, I've decided to begin Angel, even though I've never been a big fan of the character - or of Cordelia or Wesley, for that matter. I'm thinking, it's the Buffyverse, it's Joss, come on, it's gotta be good.

So, I've seen a really, reaaally interesting offer for the first half of the first season. I bought it online yesterday but I won't have it until next week. My question is : Is this first-half any good? First episodes often lack of what's gonna make the show excellent. So, if I don't like it, am I going to never like the show, or should I go on with the following eps ?
Thanks.

[JCC]

The first half of the season is weaker than most of the rest of the series. But it's still awesome, the worst episode is probably the first, but even that's enjoyable enough to watch.

[white avenger]

The entire "Angel" series, all 5 seasons, is definitely worth watching, and I'm sure that everyone will agree with me when I say that, at least on the first viewing, it should be seen in order. otherwise, you miss a lot of character development.

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

The first half is slow going, but that's to be expected. A lot of it is setting up the premise, esp for people who didn't watch Buffy so that they could get into the show without having to have been a fan of BTVS. But its more than worth watching. Especialyl for Doyle who is a great character. Wesley doesn't come in til the latter half of the first season, so if you don't like him, don't worry. Besides he becomes super cool in the show in the long run.

[Lily]

Personally I love the first half of the season, granted the show is finding it's feet and learning that the comedy/dark stuff can work together in the right balance, and I have a soft spot for Doyle - but you can't not watch it, as it gives the whole premise for the show and cements Angel's purpose.

[Five]

Okay! Thank you very much everyone! I'm looking forward to watch it now... Look at what you've done!! lool =) I'll probably get it on Tuesday or Wednesday.

[Five]

Wow, I'm loving it. Last ep I watched was "Hero" and it was soooooo sad... I loved Doyle :-( Like, really loved. F*ck, he's not coming back. Spike's coming back. But Doyle is not. F*ck.
I'm gonna sell this first half and use the money to buy the whole season, since it's really cheap these days, here in France.
I must say I'm a little sceptic about the following events; of course, I've learnt a few things about this show while it was on air... By example, I know about Angel and Darla's son, I know about Fred turning bad, like Dark-Willow bad and dying in Wesley's arms; I know about Cordelia getting visions, disappearing, reappearing... having sex with Angel, turning him bad again (well I think it's with Cordy, please do not correct me if I'm wrong so I'll still get the surprise)... I know about that strange green horn-y dude... Whatever... Well I know about some stuff and I'm a little sceptic because from the outside, it looks like complete nonsense. However, I remember 'Buffy' looked like total nonsense from the outside, like the arrival of Dawn, Buffy sleeping with Spike, etc. And when you watch the show you see how marvellously prepared it was and greatly led it is, and you forget about that nonsense rubbish. So, I'm just hoping it'll do the same with 'Angel'. I'll see.

[Queen B]

I'm totally with you on that, Five! I've always been a Buffy fan, but I just recently started getting into Angel. I was like you, I only saw a couple Angel episodes when they were on the air... most notably, IWRY. *sigh

But you're right, from the outside, both BtVS & ATS can seem like a bunch of nonsense if you're not fully involved from the beginning. I'm excited to see how everything pans out in Angel.. even though I pretty much already know everything from reading this forum & other stuff online. :-P

[littlewilly]

Overall the first half is ok, its saved by In the dark and Somnambulist, and the other Kate episodes Lonely heart and Sense & Sensibility. But there is a pretty weak run from eps 7 - 10.

[angelchick182]

Don't let it discourage you if you find yourself not really blown away with the first half of Season 1. There are some really great episodes in Season 1, but it definitely gets better as the series progresses.

[nc519]

Where are you getting only half a season?

And the first half is really good, though it is completely filled with stand-alone episodes. The way the characters interact with each other make the entire first season very enjoyable, even though it doesn't have the great long term story arcs that later seasons have.

[angelchick182]

Where are you getting only half a season?

And the first half is really good, though it is completely filled with stand-alone episodes. The way the characters interact with each other make the entire first season very enjoyable, even though it doesn't have the great long term story arcs that later seasons have.

I don't have any DVDs that are broken up that way, but I have seen DVDs(on ebay and other places online) from other regions that are split up like that. The first half of the season would be Angel Season 1, Vol. 1...and so on.

[Bluebird]

I think the first half of season 1 of Angel has some real classic episodes. I know some people don't like City Of but I think it is a great introduction to the show and it defines the atmosphere that prevails throughout the season.

And talking of the first episode, I only noticed the other day that on the DVD menu the episode is called City Of Angels. Is this an alernative title or am I seeing things again?

[The Kinslayer]

And talking of the first episode, I only noticed the other day that on the DVD menu the episode is called City Of Angels. Is this an alernative title or am I seeing things again?
Nope. Mine says that too. But I´ve always blamed it on being a german version. ;) Gotta love the title though. "Angel : Jäger der finsternis". So just "Angel" wasn´t enough for you guys? Or do you have another show with that name?


Is this first-half any good? First episodes often lack of what's gonna make the show excellent. So, if I don't like it, am I going to never like the show, or should I go on with the following eps ?
Thanks.

I guess you´ve seen the episodes by now. And that´s good. Becasue otherwise I might have to tell you which episodes I like. And well, I have a feeling some people would taunt me to death with a certain one. Not a happy thought.

[InsaneMystic]

Nope. Mine says that too. But I´ve always blamed it on being a german version. ;) Gotta love the title though. "Angel : Jäger der finsternis". So just "Angel" wasn´t enough for you guys? Or do you have another show with that name?
Germanized titles for shows and episodes just suck. Everyone knows that. :D

The all-time greatest idiocy award for ep titles has to go to the German title of "Beer Bad": "Das Bier der bösen Denkungsart" ("The beer of bad way of thinking" - and yes, the German title sounds just as stilted as my retranslation does!). I cringe and moan every single time when that title appears on screen.

[OldSwede]

Since by now you must be well on your way through the season, there is no reason for me to write that: a) I thought Doyle was a rather boring character, and I can see why they had to kill him off and b) I kept thinking well into season 2 that without the support of Buffy fans the show would never have survived this far, until it actually took off - with the long-term arcs and Wesley's character development and so on.
Since I do agree that the first episodes are still very enjoyable I would only risk angry replies for no reason, so I'm not going to hit the "submit reply" button this time. Oops...

[InsaneMystic]

Germanized titles for shows and episodes just suck. Everyone knows that. :D

The all-time greatest idiocy award for ep titles has to go to the German title of "Beer Bad": "Das Bier der bösen Denkungsart" ("The beer of bad way of thinking" - and yes, the German title sounds just as stilted as my retranslation does!). I cringe and moan every single time when that title appears on screen.
As if I needed another example to make the point... I just read the German title of "Smile Time" in my TV magazine (to be first aired Monday night, July 14th).

German TV proudly presents:

"Angriff der Mörderpuppen" ("Attack of the Killer Puppets"). That title is almost enough to nix my looking forward to the ep. Almost.

[nc519]

As if I needed another example to make the point... I just read the German title of "Smile Time" in my TV magazine (to be first aired Monday night, July 14th).

German TV proudly presents:

"Angriff der Mörderpuppen" ("Attack of the Killer Puppets"). That title is almost enough to nix my looking forward to the ep. Almost.
HAHA Thats an awesome title.