Because It Suddenly Occurs to Me That I Don't Have to Wait to See a Buffy Spinoff...

Well, I've now finished watching through the first disc of Angel Season One. Which is to say, the first four episodes. I haven't played the commentary track on the first episode yet, though, as I seem to recall that there were a number of spoilers for later eps on the Buffy commentaries, and I'd just as soon avoid that sort of thing until I've watched through the entire season. I'd previously seen a grand total of about five mintues of this show, so it's still all completely new to me.

I don't want to make any snap judgments based on just the first four episodes, but while what I've seen so far has been worth watching, it nevertheless somehow lacks a lot of the sparkle and originality that Buffy seemed to possess right from the very beginning. I think that's mainly due to the fact that, though there are occasional Whedonesque moments of offbeat humor and witty dialog in Angel, the overall tone of the show is much more somber and serious. Which means that a lot more is riding on the actual plots, in the absence of the kind of vibrant energy that kept my attention engaged by Buffy even when the story itself was more than a bit thin. So far, I think they've mostly succeeded pretty well on that score, but I'm afraid that even after just four episodes the storylines are starting to feel a tiny bit repetitive. I've enjoyed all of them, but at this point one more instance of Angel helping out a woman being terrorized by a demonic stalker boyfriend is going to be one too many. Yes, I do get the fact that Angel is doing for adult relationships exactly what Buffy did for the trials of adolescence: using supernatural metaphors to explore the human condition from a different set of angles. I get that, and, in fact, I quite approve of it. But, come on, there are different kinds of adult relationships worth exploring, you know.

All of which isn't to say that I've found the show disappointing, by any means. As I said, I have enjoyed what I've seen so far and am definitely looking forward to watching the rest of the discs. In any case, I can't say my expectations were hugely high going in, as Angel really never was one of my favorite Buffy characters to begin with. He does have his moments, though, and so far those moments have outnumbered the ones in which I've kind of wanted to slap him, so we're pretty much ahead of the game, there. As for the other characters... Well, Cordelia is still Cordelia. Doyle is vaguely likeable, in a non-threatening kind of way. And, based on admittedly short acquaintance, I've decided I very much like Kate. I do hope she's going to be hanging around for a while.

In fact, at this point, I think I only have two real complaints about the show, and they both come under the category of moderate annoyances, rather than serious sticking points. Number one is that Angel seems to have a remarkably easy time moving around during the daytime. That must be some amazing sewer system they've got in Los Angeles! And, number two, somebody please tell me that they eventually lose those really annoying fancy-schmancy scene transitions? They really don't add much of anything, and they sort of make me feel dizzy.