Rating: 
Summary: Buffy's spinoff begins in strong fashion
Review: When Angel was given his own show, questions were plentiful. Could Angel carry his own show? Would Buffy survive without two key supporting characters?They shouldn't have worried. Angel's first season is excellent, despite the struggle to find its direction early on (although the Doyle episodes have a promise of their own). By season's end, most of the core cast (Angel, Cordy, Wes, Gunn, plus Lindsey, Holland Manners, and Lilah Morgan from Wolfram & Hart and policewoman Kate Lockley) is present, and what stands as one of the great cliffhanger endings of recent history closes a fine season of television. The featurettes serve as a primer for anyone new to the Buffyverse (specifically Sunnydale refugees Angel and Cordelia), plus a season overview that gives away just a little too much. There aren't too many commentaries, unfortunately, which has been the Achilles' Heel of the Buffy DVD sets so far. The artwork is great, although decidedly focused on the original cast (Angel, Cordy, and Doyle). Key episodes include the final stakes in the heart of the Buffy/Angel relationship, "I Will Remember You" and "Sanctuary"; Doyle's swan song, "Hero"; Spike and Oz's trip to LA, "In the Dark" (especially Spike's hilarious voice-over of Angel and one of his rescued dasmels); the season finale, "To Shanshu in LA"; Faith's first episode in LA, "Five by Five"; and Angel and Wesley's horrid attempts at dancing in "She". A must-buy, especially for fans of Buffy and Angel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I started watching Angel last year (3rd season of the show) along with Buffy. wanting to get caught up on both shows, I watched the first three seasons of Buffy. I soon stopped watching the 6th season of Buffy and stuck with just those first three since they were, in my opinion, the best. SO I got caught up on who Angel was and whatnot, but I was still in the dark as to how Angel had evolved to season 3. So, I was ecstatic when I found out season 1 was released on DVD. The first season of Angel is absolutely excellent. It started off on shaky steps, almost as thought it wasn't sure whether it could survive without Buffy. Fortunately, it blew away all expectations and has done exceptionally well. Even if you have never seen Buffy, Angel will stand alone. It has everything: humor, great plots, great characters. It doesn't have a big story arc, though, which I attribute to Joss et al being unsure whether it was going to be able to stand on its own. So, each episode is pretty much its own little story. You have some of the more classic episodes in season 1 as well, such as I Will Remember You. Plus, you get that hilarious dance scene of Angel in the episode She. One interesting aspect of Angel that I believe many shows lack is the realistic growth of the characters. A theme of the show for this season is finding where you belong and what your purpose in life is. At the beginning of Season 1, everything is weird.. Angel's in a new weird place and doesnt know how to go about achieving redemption, dealing with his new friend, or what the heck to do with Cordelia who is also trying ot find her place in the City of Angels. The show grows, as do the characters. Cordelia's wit is ever-present, Wesley finally starts to step out of his father's shadow, and Angel grows in what redemption means. Plus, you get really nice inspirational speeches on Angel's part, who knows what it's like to suffer and cause pain and try to overcome it all anyway. Angel continues to make these inspirational speeches all throughout the seasons, so you can look forward to them! The quality of the DVDs is excellent, but it is unfortunate that they didn't put any memorial to the actor that played Doyle.
Rating: 
Summary: We Help the Hopeless
Review: I missed a lot of this one on TV, so it's been a revelation to see the wonderful DVDs. Again, show gets 4.5 stars, DVD gets 3.5, because, dangnabbit, Joss... we need more special features! High points, so far... the closing credits for "She." The phantom Dennis. Just everything about "I Will Remember You" A demon face from a sneeze. How Wesley "Asks" for breakfast. Buy this DVD. Keep giving Numfar more money to make new shows!
Rating:
Summary: Started off much better than it looks like series will end
Review: I bought this set just to see how the series all began, it started out on a pretty good footing but has sure slipped since then.
I missed the first three seasons ( most of the episodes anyway)and have found the forth (and final?) season to be so dark and depressing. First season is so much different from what Angel has since become that I actually kind of like it. I haven't got the list on hand but various episodes had so much going for them. I was surprised to see Angel operating in daylight (not in direct sunlight) so much of the time, never saw that on Buffy, and really appreciated finally understanding some of those fourth season Buffy episodes that had crossovers with Angel episodes.
The one where Oz delivers that ring to Angel so that he can go out into daylight was a sort of mixed episode. I thought that James Marsters (Spike) did very well but Seth Green (Oz),while he did all right was largely wasted with hardly any screen time. Sarah Michell Gellar appeared in two episodes, the first, "I will remember you"(?)in which Angel become mortal but must get time turned back to better serve his mission (and Buffy's)is prehaps one of the best episodes for either of them. I even thought that the two Faith episodes were pretty good. Eliza Dushku makes a good wrong side of the tracks sort of slayer and in the second episode you see that she does in fact want to be good, something only hinted at vaguely in her Buffy appearances. Gellar was in that second episode as well, I think she did quite well too.
I liked seeing the bits where Angel first met Darla and got the Gypsy curse, she kicked him out for that. Her resurrection at seasons end means I'll either have to buy season 2 this fall or hope that somebody will syndicate the older Angel episodes before then. Angel's police friend Kate Locksley (Elizabeth Rohm?)was an interesting actress, not very well used but good, sad to see how they go from an uneasy friendship to almost hatred by season's end, I want to know whatever happened there as well.
Rating:
Summary: It only gets better
Review: ...Season One is still very enjoyable on its own merits. Doyle's brief time on the show, Wesley's introduction and Angel's slow acceptance of his new life in Los Angeles are all brilliantly done.
Rating:
Summary: Best season on Angel
Review: I will not add much to the previous reviews and will not aim to repeat what they have said. I love this show and it is great to get them on DVD. The only problem I have with them is there seems to be no menu option to play all the episodes on a DVD. Each time an episode ends you are require to navigate through the menus to play the next one.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest
Review: Overall this was a great season. I wish there were more extras and a teaser for the next season. Little clips of the next season episodes would be nice.
Rating:
Summary: A great start to one of the BEST shows on TV today
Review: This DVD collection brings you to the world of Angel...without Buffy. It shows the many layers this character has, that couldn't be shown on the aforementioned series. It shows his developing relationship with Cordelia, and his true friendship with Wesley. This is a MUST have for any Angel fan, truly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, if a little repetitive.
Review: Originally I had not been enthusiastic about the prospect of Angel, the moody vampire of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in his own show. In the third season of Buffy Angel had turned somewhat too serious for his own good, and I had not expected much of this series. I was delightfully surprised, for show creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt (one of the finest writers and directors in the Buffy stable) made a very smart choice by giving Angel some terrific comedic moments that help diversify the character. Though Angel still sulks quite a bit, he is also given some extremely goofy moments (which would never have appeared in Buffy) to help lighten up the tone a bit. Humour had always been Buffy's secret weapon towards achieving character sympathy, and the one inexhaustible source of mirth in Angel is when the serious, troubled vampire knight finds himself entirely out of his element. David Boreanaz shows us why they'd given him his own show: Freed of the heavy romance of latter-day Buffy, Boreanaz proves to be just as formidable a comic actor as Alyson Hannigan and Sarah Michelle Gellar, showing a devilishness which had made Angel's character compelling in the first place. And kudos to him for not being afraid to look silly for the wackier moments of the show. The supporting cast is not as strong as in Buffy -- Charisma Carpenter's Cordelia, while well acted, is somehow not as
interesting when stripped of the contrasting temperaments of Willow, Xander and Giles, while Glenn Quinn, while charming as Irish visionary Doyle, seems to lack for spark. Perhaps the problem is that this show has fewer supporting characters, period, and there isn't as much differentiation among them as I'd like. The redeeming factor: This first season's most important secondary character is really Detective Kate Lockley, Angel's sometime fighting partner and potential romantic interest. Elisabeth Rohm is simply impeccable as Kate, never lapsing into overt femininity or combat-booted heroine. Equally adept at comedy and drama, she is a wonderful sparring partner for Boreanaz and brings out more mature facets in him that had not been explored in the Buffy series. Without the ongoing plot developments of Buffy, Angel is bound to be less engaging overall, and the rewatch value of this DVD set is far less than that of Buffy. However, it's still highly entertaining. I'm not sure how I'll react Season 2 since show after show of episodic demon fighting seems already a bit thin even after this first season, but for the time being, I'm having fun watching this DVD set.
Rating:
Summary: Angelus, the demon with the face of an Angel.
Review: David Boreanaz gets his own show, a spin off of popular TV show Buffy The Vampre Slayer. At the end of season 3 of Buffy, Angel leaves and goes away from Sunnydale. He winds up in LA, on a new mission after a half demon named Doyle approaches him and tells him he is linked to the "Powers That Be" able to receive visions of people in trouble, and will aid Angel in finding his reason for returning. They are soon joined by Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), also a cast member from Buffy. Angel Investigations is born, a detective agency unlike any other, they "Help the Hopeless". Before the end of the season, they will also be joined by another familiar face, Wesley (Alexis Denisof). Angel is a pleasant surprise, considering it is a spin off show. While it is grittier and darker than Buffy, it still retains some of the lighthearted humor at times. For a first season, it rocks. Running parallel to season four of Buffy (see my review of that as well), crossovers ensue, with Oz, Spike, and Buffy all making guest appearances on the show. Of particular interest is Sarah Michelle Gellar's appearance as Buffy in the season's eighth episode "I Will Remember You". This is without a doubt this season's strongest episode, and easily ranks up there with the best that the Buffy show has to offer. In this episode, Angel is cured and made human, a vampire no longer. His greatest wish to be with Buffy is made a reality, a realty that proves to be something that he cannot afford to live with, despite his wanting to. He sacrifices this opportunity and goes back, leaving Buffy with no memory of the day they spent together as mortal lovers. This episode is heart breaking and if there ever was a tear jerker moment in modern television this is it. We also see the return of Faith in "Five By Five" and "Sanctuary", in which evil law firm Wolfram & Hart hire the crazed slayer to kill Angel. Wolfram & Hart becomes the unseen "Big Bad" of the show, and will continue to be so for the show's other seasons. 22 episodes of great TV, and a worthy companion to the Buffy DVD sets as well.
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