Angel (season 4)


The fourth season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on October 6, 2002 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 7, 2003. The season aired in a new timeslot, Sundays at 9:00 pm ET, and then relocated to Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with "Habeas Corpses".

Season synopsis

and Fred search for Angel, who had been trapped at the bottom of the ocean by his treacherous son Connor, and Cordelia, who had been summoned to a Higher Plane of existence. Wesley, banished for betraying Angel, rescues Angel after coercing Justine. Angel banishes Connor from the hotel, and searches for Cordelia.
Eventually, he and his team learn about Cordelia's ascension, and give up their search. After going to Las Vegas to rescue an abducted Lorne, they find an amnesiac Cordelia waiting for them at the hotel. After Cordelia is made aware of the demonic world, and of her past, she decides to go live with Connor, believing him to be more trustworthy.
Meanwhile, Fred and Gunn's relationship suffers friction, as she seeks to kill an old college professor who sent her to Pylea. Gunn kills him himself, to prevent Fred from doing so, angering Fred. Wesley is sleeping with Lilah Morgan, who was made head of special projects at Wolfram & Hart. The two develop feelings for each other.
Lorne restores Cordelia's memories, upon which she has a vision of a monster rising up underneath Los Angeles. This monster, known as the Beast, brought forth at the place of Connor's birth, brings about an L.A. wide Apocalypse. Angel and his team are defeated by the Beast, who calls down fire from the sky. In the ensuing chaos, Cordelia sleeps with Connor, to comfort him for his terrible life thus far. Angel witnesses this, resenting them.
Connor believes that he and the Beast share a connection, and contacts Wolfram & Hart to study this possibility. However, the Beast breaches the building, and begins killing everyone inside. Angel and his team go to rescue Connor, and Wesley saves Lilah in the process. The group reaches the White Room and confront the Beast, who is draining the power of the conduit who resides there. Using the remains of her power, the conduit teleports the team away. The gang realizes that the Beast's goal is to kill the five totems of the sun god Ra, to block out the sun. The Beast succeeds, and in another confrontation, refers to Angel as "Angelus". Wesley surmises that Angelus may know a way to defeat it, and the team uses magic to remove Angel's soul, confronting Angelus.
Angelus tells the team little of value, taunting and ridiculing them, causing Gunn and Fred to end their relationship. Lilah offers to free Angelus if he'll help her kill the Beast, although the team stops her. With Angelus' indirect help, the team realizes that the Beast is working for a greater entity. As Angelus holds no more information, they decide to return Angel's soul. While they appear to succeed, it is a ruse, and after the rest of the gang leaves, Angelus hunts down Cordelia and Lilah in the hotel. In the ensuing chaos, Lilah is killed by Cordelia, who reveals that she allowed Angelus to escape.
The gang return to find Lilah dead and Angelus feeding off her corpse. Angelus escapes, and Wesley decapitates Lilah. Wesley then frees the rogue Slayer Faith in order to stop Angelus. Cordelia, revealed as the Beast's master, tries to recruit Angelus, but fails. Angelus orchestrates a fight between Faith and the Beast, wherein the Beast defeats Faith, and is then slain by Angelus, restoring the sun. Angelus then attempts to kill Faith, sucking her blood, but she reveals that she has spiked her blood with a magical drug, and they both fall into a coma. They witness Angel's past, while Willow Rosenberg attempts to restore his soul, against Cordelia's efforts to foil the attempt. Willow succeeds, and takes Faith back to Sunnydale to aid in their fight against The First. Cordelia, who has hidden her true nature from the team thus far, reveals that she is pregnant with Connor's child.
Angel realizes that Cordelia is the Beast's master, proving this with an elaborate scheme. Realizing that Cordelia is possessed by a greater entity, who seeks to be born as Cordelia's child, Angel decides to kill Cordelia. Cordelia goads Connor into a dark ritual to accelerate the child's delivery. Angel fails to kill Cordelia, and the child, the godlike entity Jasmine, is born. Anyone who looks upon her falls into a loving and peaceful trance, and she charms Angel, Connor, and his team, while Cordelia is left in a coma. Jasmine spreads her influence to the city, planning to expand it to the entire world. Fred, accidentally breaks free of her influence, and sees Jasmine as a hideous creature, with nefarious intentions. Fred is able to bring Angel and the rest of the team to her side, except for Connor.
The team flees the city and goes underground. Wesley discovers an ancient being from a world Jasmine once ruled, and learns that Jasmine's real name can break her charm, and sends Angel to the being's world, as Jasmine's army captures the team. Jasmine begins making her presence known to the world at large. Connor, who is growing mentally unhinged, becomes dissatisfied with Jasmine's actions and finds the comatose Cordelia. Meanwhile, Angel brings a being who knows Jasmine's name back to Earth, where he says it out loud, destroying her power, and leaving the city in ruin. An enraged Jasmine overwhelms Angel with her strength. Connor saves Angel, killing her.
Connor then runs off. Angel returns to the hotel, where a seemingly alive Lilah offers him and his team the L.A. branch of Wolfram & Hart, due to their ending world peace. Taking a trip to the firm, each member is given a tour of departments they would be suited for. Angel declines the offer, but is then shown Connor, who, completely unhinged after the death of Jasmine, is strapping explosives to himself, Cordelia and a crowd of innocent people. Angel confronts him, and seemingly kills him.
It is revealed that Angel has accepted the offer to head Wolfram and Hart, with the condition that Connor is magically granted a new and normal life, with fabricated memories. All knowledge of him has been erased from his friends' memories. Wesley, meanwhile, fails to free Lilah from the company, although she is grateful for the attempt. The season ends as Angel witnesses Connor sharing a joyous dinner with his new family, before walking away.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Series creator Joss Whedon remained as the sole executive producer of the show after David Greenwalt left at the end of season three to produce the ABC series Miracles after his contract with 20th Century Fox was up. He stayed on as a consulting producer for the remainder of the series. At the start of the season, David Simkins was made showrunner and executive producer, but after three months, he left the show due to "creative differences" and is not credited in any episodes. Jeffrey Bell was promoted to co-executive producer and assumed the role of showrunner for the season. Tim Minear also left the series to run Whedon's new series Firefly but, like Greenwalt, stayed on as a consulting producer, and wrote and directed the season finale "Home". Whedon would write and direct only one episode of the season, "Spin the Bottle", because of his commitments to the first season of Firefly and the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Steven S. DeKnight, who had written for Buffy during seasons five and six, moved over to Angel where he stayed for the remainder of the show's run. He wrote or co-wrote six episodes of the season, including the season premiere and also directed his debut episode; "Inside Out". Buffy writer-producer David Fury joined as a consulting producer and ended up writing four episodes. Mere Smith was promoted to executive story editor and wrote or co-wrote four episodes. Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain joined the show as staff writers and wrote or co-wrote five episodes. Firefly writer Ben Edlund was hired as a producer towards the end of the season, following the cancellation of Firefly.

Episodes

Crossovers with ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''

The fourth season of Angel coincided with the seventh and final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was the final year in which both shows were on television together.
In the Buffy episode "Lies My Parents Told Me", Willow receives a call from Fred. She leaves immediately and goes to L.A. without telling Buffy why. Willow appears in "Orpheus" to re-ensoul Angel as she previously did in the Buffy season two finale "Becoming, Part Two". After successfully re-ensouling Angel, she brings Faith back with her to Sunnydale to help in the fight against The First Evil.
In the season four finale, "Home", Angel receives an amulet from Wolfram & Hart which is important to the final battle in Sunnydale. Angel goes to Sunnydale in the penultimate Buffy episode "End of Days" and also appears in the series finale "Chosen". Angel gives Buffy the amulet and offers his help, but Buffy declines as she needs him to be the second front if they fail. Buffy and Angel share one final moment in a graveyard where they discuss a possible future.

Reception

The fourth season was nominated for five Saturn Awards – Best Network Television Series, Best Actress in a Television Series, Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, and David Boreanaz won for Best Actor in a Television Series. The season was also nominated for four Satellite Awards – David Boreanaz for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, Andy Hallett for Best Supporting Actor – Television Series Drama, and Amy Acker and Gina Torres both for Best Supporting Actress – Television Series Drama.
The Futon Critic named "Spin the Bottle" the 33rd best episode of 2002 and "Peace Out" the 25th best episode of 2003.
The fourth season averaged 3.7 million viewers, slightly lower than the seventh and final season of Buffy.

DVD release

Angel: The Complete Fourth Season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 7, 2004 and in region 2 on April 1, 2004. The DVD includes all 22 episodes on 6 discs presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Special features on the DVD include seven commentary tracks—"The House Always Wins" by writer David Fury and actor Andy Hallett; "Spin the Bottle" by writer/director Joss Whedon and actor Alexis Denisof; "Apocalypse, Nowish" by writer Steven S. DeKnight and director Vern Gillum; "Orpheus" by co-executive producer Jeffrey Bell and director Terrence O'Hara; "Inside Out" by writer/director Steven S. DeKnight; "The Magic Bullet" by writer/director Jeffrey Bell; and "Home" by writer/director Tim Minear. Featurettes include, "Angel and the Apocalypse", which details how they depicted the apocalypse on the show; "Unplugged: Season 4 Outtakes", a series of outtakes from the season; "Last Looks: The Hyperion Hotel", a set tour of the Hyperion Hotel; "Fatal Beauty and the Beast", a look at the villains of the season; "Malice in Wonderland: Wolfram & Hart", a look at the law firm and its importance in the show; and "Prophecies: Season 4 Overview", a summary of the season featuring interviews with cast and crew members.