Season is superb but extras lack wings

Angel Season Five DVD

Season:

out of

…Angel Season Five DVD

Season:

out of

It’s finally over.

After eight years, eight main-character deaths and millions of dusted vampires, the universe created by Joss Whedon has finally come to a close with the release of the final season of “Angel” on DVD.

Featuring some of the series’ most comical and most touching moments, this DVD set is a gem. After being rescued from cancellation land, season five had a different feel than its predecessors. Gone were the somber, seven-episode-long story arcs season four thrived on. No more apocalypse. No more Gina Torres or icky Conner-Cordelia sex.

Instead, fans were greeted with something new, something more terrifying than the rapture.

Puppets.

It was only one episode, but “Smile Time” and its adorable puppet Angel left such an impression on fans that they voted it the second-best episode of the entire series in this month’s Angel Magazine. For those of you wondering what could possibly beat a stuffed vampire with a soul, it was fluff, pure and simple, in the form of the Buffy-Angel reunion in “I Will Remember You.”

Then there was the heart-wrenching “You’re Welcome,” the 100th episode of the series, and “A Hole in the World.” The first said goodbye to a well-loved character, while the second continued with Whedon’s theme of “happiness is bad” by breaking apart the only happy couple on the show.

Aside from featuring three of the greatest episodes of the series, the season five DVDs hold many special features, including a gag reel that will make you fall off your seat. There are also countless episode commentaries featuring writers, directors and actors, including one with Alexis Denisof (Wesley) sans British accent.

Once you get past the laughs and the, at times dull, behind-the-scenes information the commentaries and gag reel provide, there’s not much left. The retrospective featurette on the discs was made at least a year ago and is missing season five. That would be fine, except it’s a glaring omission. The actors don’t just talk about the past four seasons; they lead you on about season five.

As for the season five overview and the other featurettes, they cover so much, so fast, there’s not much to see. It seems that the set was rushed and not a lot of care was put into the special features.

The strength of this set is found in the season itself rather than all its extras. There’s no substitute for entertaining plotlines, strong acting and solid writing.

Well, unless Whedon replaces his stars with puppets. That might work.