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One of Angel's best seasons A number of reviewers have pegged this as the best season of Angel, and I half agree. The first two seasons were great fun, but in those early years, Angel was truly a Buffy spinoff; it kept the spirit, style, and frequently even the characters of Buffy, and so instead of establishing itself as a unique creation, it borrowed from the energy of that earlier series. By the fifth season, though, I mostly found myself asking, "Buffy who?" So my own feeling is that, while this might not be Angel's best season, it's definitely the best season for non-Buffy fans to enjoy. Its zippy first episode, Conviction, is great fun, and is so different in style and spirit from season four that it almost serves as a pilot for a new series. It establishes the new season's premise adequately: Our crime-fighting, vampire-butt-kicking gang has moved off the street and into the high-powered world of corporate law, and they're left asking why exactly they've been handed this dream gig. Though the drama throughout this season is pretty effective (especially an extended and inventive plotline involving the death of one of my favorite characters), I found that I enjoyed the comedic episodes more than anything else. Smile Time, The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco, Harm's Way, The Girl in Question... I laughed and laughed and laughed. Among the more serious episodes, I really appreciated the ones that more or less stood alone. I found Conviction, Unleashed, Lineage, and A Hole in the World especially enjoyable. And those eight episodes were only the ones that really floored me. Almost every other episode contained at least a few moments of genius, and when I turned off my television at the end of Not Fade Away, I felt a little sad to have reached the end but even more grateful to have gotten to see Angel through its amazing run. If you're new to Angel, you're in for a treat.