[REPOST] ACP: Season 4 Review - Roll Call

Boscalyn (11/04/14):
So. Uh.

This.

---

Freudian Vampire:
I think the reason we've seen so little here is that none of us love Angel particularly. I considered taking a section and it's still something in the back of my mind, but ultimately ... I don't think I care enough. Is there anybody here who thinks Angel is amazing? I'm struggling to think; I know Scott and Zarnium are both pretty apathetic, as is Boogtehwoog.

I think if we were back in the infancy of the Angel Completion Project I might have been compelled to review a single episode that I loved, but the only great character on Angel is Wesley and Iguana's got that locked down.

Is anybody here down for tackling a character?

---

MikeJer:
This is a tough one, because S4 is the least liked season of the entire show. I think it might be easier to get people to write for S5.

Regardless, it looks like the only thing holding this back from happening is getting some volunteers for the Angel, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne sections.

I suppose I'll throw this out there: if someone with a strong understanding of Angel's arc in this season agrees to write on his behalf, I might volunteer to take care of the other three characters (it's not as though there's much to talk about anyway).

---

Other Scott:
I would definitely volunteer to do a section if I had finished the show. As it stands, I haven't and don't have plans to in the near future. But hey, we have a bunch of new forum members (and site writers!) since this was last brought up.

---

Freudian Vampire:
We need Pros/Cons too, right?

There's this voice in my head that tells me 'FV, you should take the Fred or Gunn section!' and I get all excited, but then the smart, realistic voice pipes up and says 'But FV, you don't like Fred or Gunn' and I deflate again.

I might re-watch season four though, and see if I have anything worthwhile to say. I never really saw Angel as having much of an arc given how prominent the plot was and how most of his time was spent as Angelus, so a revisitation might be necessary to deepen my understanding.

Here's a promise, though: if I am still on this site when the community gets around to the season five review, I will write something for it. I think Lorne and Gunn undergo brilliant transformations at the end which turn them into genuinely sympathetic and compelling characters, and since nobody seems to share that view, I might have quite a lot to write. But that's for the future.

---

Iguana-on-a-stick:
Yeah, that's my problem too. I don't know if Angel -has- a bloody arc in season 4.

Although maybe that's the point...

Lemme brainstorm for a second. Season 2: Elevator speech, Epiphany. We all know and love this one.
Season 3: Angel's still pretty much at peace with his resolutions from season 2, winning back trust with his friends, starting stuff with Cordelia, when the whole Connor thing happens and redefines all notions of purpose and happiness for him. But, thanks to Wes, that goes off the rails in a really nasty way. Later in the season his main purpose is salvaging both his son and his relationship with his son. And that ends with said son putting him in a box and dumping him in the ocean to hallucinate horribleness for three months. Yeah.

So here we are at the start of season 4: Angel gets fished out by Wes, mostly because the latter has an axe to grind. Everything has gone well and truly to shit. The team is broken, Cordy is gone, Connor and Wes have turned against the rest.

For the first bunch of episodes, Angel tries to pick up the pieces. Or goes through the motions, perhaps. He makes some lame non-apology to Wes, puts some actual effort into finding Cordy, tries to figure out what to do with Connor... all of this fails, and he seems resigned to it? That's what I recall from re-watching this season when I was writing the Wes and Lilah stuff. (Which eh, still needs another draft or two. But I digress.)

And then Cordy shows up, amnesiac and possessed, and everything goes to shit even more thoroughly. His son and the woman he loves (or what looks like her) hook up, (Queue bile rising in throats) a horrible demon appears threatening more apocalyptic stuff, the sun goes out, etc, etc. And Wes proposes turning him into Angelus. Are we supposed to take Angel's acceptance as an attempt on his part to escape the whole dreary mess of his existence, a la "Amends" or "Reprise?" I honestly find it difficult to explain this plot except on the Doylist level of "the writers thought it time to turn Angel evil again." And then when he gets un-eviled, (new word!) he gets brainwashed by Jasmine along with everyone else.

I'd need to watch "Orpheus" again to see how that fits in. I skipped it earlier because Wes is hardly in it. And I have no idea whatsoever how one is supposed to make sense of Angel and Angelus being so separated they literally fight eachother in Angel's head.

Anyway, the soul-taking dream-sequence episode thingie does show Angel still believes in the possibility of a perfect outcome. He still wants Connor back, Wesley back, Cordy's love, the team reunited and the world safe.

By the end of the season, there no longer is even the slightest possibility for any of these things. Cordy is in a coma, Connor is out of control, the world is still just as doomed as Holland Manners so famously explained to him, the trust between him and Wes will never truly recover. And so Angel signs it all away in a deal with the devil, giving Connor one final shot at a happy life, at the price of his identity. And that of all of Angel's friends. And at the price of consigning everyone to the bowels of Wolfram & Hart, L.A. Branch. They can do some good there!

Yeah, I bet that really is what Angel believes will happen. No wonder we get 5 episodes of "Angel has lost his sense of purpose" next season.

So to sum up: I guess Angel's arc this season is about destroying his hopes for (what passes for) a normal life, his hopes for the mundane kind of happiness brought by things like children, love, friends, having a home. Season 2 destroyed his hope for redemption, for a greater good that would somehow give meaning to his life. Season 3 got him hoping for an alternative. And season 4 destroyed that too.

Or that's what I'd come up with from the top of my head.

---

Boscalyn:
IIRC Noah saw a lot of merit in this season; I'd love to hear him try and figure the character arcs out.

Shame that this is the worst season in the entire Whedonverse. (Since Buffy S1 is charming if nothing else, and none of you can talk shit about Dollhouse S1 without facing MY WRATH.)

---

Zarnium:

I've thought about trying to write something for the site before, but the Angel Completion Project is really out of my grasp. I think I'd have to rewatch the entire series over again to have a decent idea of how all the pieces fit together, and that's just something I don't have the time or inclination to do. Plus, I absolutely hated season 4, so I'm probably not the best person to be writing reviews of it even in the best of situations.

We've got Noah now, though. His love of season 4 probably makes him better suited to write for it than most.

---

Jeremy:
I finished my sections on Connor and Cordelia a few months ago. (As predicted, it was refreshing to review something I didn't like for once.) I'm a bit surprised that no one else has picked up the gauntlet for any of the other characters. Where'd all the ACP episode reviewers go?

I'm thinking of giving Gunn a shot, though. I believe Season Four represents the peak of Gunn's series arc, and not enough people realize what it does for him.

(Did I just say "giving Gunn a shot"? What is wrong with me?)

---

Boscalyn:
By the way, if any of you want me to look over your pieces, just shoot me a PM. I can't promise to offer new insight into the characters, but I'm a really, really good proofreader.

---

Noah:
I'll take all of the remaining character arc sections, as long as you guys don't mind getting them in about three and a half, four years.

(Jeremy, nothing's wrong with you. Nothing at all.)

---

Jeremy:
Oh, you.

Listen, if no one else wants, I'm willing to take the Gunn section. And what the heck, I'll take Lorne, too. That one should be easy.

---

Zarnium:
I don't remember there being much substance to his presence in season 4. My take on it would probably just be "Lorne still doesn't have anything to contribute to the team. Why the heck is he even here instead of starting a new bar? He was so much better in 'recurring guest' capacity."

---

Noah (11/05/14):
In all seriousness, I would be delighted to take Angel's section, but it would definitely have to wait until the present semester is over in December.

---

MikeJer:
There's no rush, Noah. So I'll mark you down for it?

---

Noah:
I'm in.

---

MikeJer:
Done.

Anyone want to take the Fred section? It's the last character section left.

(I'll worry about the Pros/Cons later. I think that'll be easier to throw together than you might think.)

---

Freudian Vampire:
I'll take Fred.

---

MikeJer:
Perfect. All the character sections now have writers.

---

buffyholic (11/07/14):
Curious to see how the overview of the season will turn out. I´m sure it´s not gonna be very easy because season 4 is a bit... complicated.

Boscalyn (7/08/16):
Well, on the other hand, if this continues to not be done there's a good chance *I* might end up writing a section.

---

Flamepillar112:
Someone would have to put it all together though, and Mike said he didn't have time. Think about this Bosc. Do you really want to watch Season 4 multiple times. I'd do it for 5, but not 4.

---

Boscalyn:
Watching Season 4 multiple times might be a chore, yes.

Watching Season 4 might also be great fun!! Unlike you, I watch seasons of television before I judge them

---

Jeremy:

Just when I thought I didn't need any more motivation to keep writing...

---

Flamepillar112:

You haven't seen "That Old Gang of Mine", but you accused that episode of being racist. On a side note, I really like Season 4. It's the run from "Inside Out" to "Peace Out" that mars it a bit. Then "Home" is amazing. I think the Jasmine arc clouds people's view of the whole season. I think it's really exciting and fun up to that point, minus Cordy and Connor, of course. But suddenly it all grinds to a halt.

---

Boscalyn:
I *did* watch "That Old Gang Of Mine." And individual episodes are fair game for mockery anyway.

---

Flamepillar112:
Fair enough, but I think context helps.