Top 10 Angel Episodes

Angel was not just a spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but could arguably be a more grownup version of the original show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer started off about a teenage girl and her high school friends who battled the forces of evil, initially the forces of evil were vampires, but that moved on as the show did. While Buffy grew up, the problems surrounding her and her friends grew up but it still remained something that mostly teenagers or original fans would watch.

Angel could appeal to older viewers as well as the legion of fans that were from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character Angel was a 250-year-old vampire (give or take a few decades) and had a lot of world knowledge, something that the older viewers could relate to but he still had younger people surrounding him who could help keep the younger viewers interested, such as Cordelia Chase (originally a Buffy the Vampire Slayer character), Charles Gunn and Fred Burkle.

With that in mind, and after taking a look at my top 10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes, here I’m taking a look at my top 10 Angel episodes.

10. Life of the Party
Starting with a relatively upbeat and humorous episode, Life of the Party was an episode with a very good message; You can always ask for help!
In this episode, Lorne, played by the wonderful late Andy Hallett, has his need for sleep removed so that he can throw the best Halloween Party ever, but by doing that he causes everything he tells people to do to really happen and a demon to be released on all those at the Halloween Party.
Most humorous parts have to be Gunn marking his territory while Fred and Wesley are drunk after just one drink.
Message to Lorne: You can be your own worst enemy.

9. I Will Remember You
An early episode and one of the first Buffy/Angel Crossover episodes. This episode had a mixture of everything, seriousness, humour, sadness…
When Angel is made human, we see him have to make a decision that he just doesn’t really want to make. We see him a true champion. Realising that he cannot fight demons without his vampire strength, he makes the choice to have time rewound 24 hours, to just before he became human, and only he would have the memories of it.
David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s acting were high quality throughout the episode as they go from a very much in love couple who due to circumstances are not able to be together, who then find out they can be together, only for it all to be taken away from them. The scene where Buffy fights hard to keep the memory of the past 24 hours is actually heartbreaking to watch when for many years, this is a couple that Buffy fans wanted to see together.

8. Waiting in the Wings
Even though the episode is centred around a Ballet production, it definitely doesn’t make most people want to fall asleep (like Cordelia during the episode).
The beautiful story told through dance has a supernatural side when Angel realises that he recognises every single dancer from a previous showing decades earlier. As the team starts searching backstage for what could possibly be the problem, we finally have Fred choose between Wesley and Charles, the exploration of a love story between Angel and Cordelia and some very creepy demons with the usual theatre “Comedy” and “Tragedy” masks.

7. Smile Time
You want an episode that involves children and what’s the best way to bring that, that makes you question all things innocent? The use of evil puppets!
This episode may have brought in laughter but that the same time, I’m sure anybody who had puppets in the house or knew someone who had puppets, took a glance at them to question whether they really were the evil masterminds that this episode showed they could be. It also made you look at Children TV shows in a completely different light.
Despite all of that, Angel as a puppet has to be one of the best ideas ever to come to the Buffy and Angel worlds. You have to feel for him as he battled with staying in control of Wolfram and Hart while all of his employees were trying not to laugh at his predicament.

6. Damage
After the season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where all potential slayers become slayers, this episode shows the downsides to Willow’s spell.
After years of abuse, a young girl ends up in a psychiatric hospital, but with dreams of previous slayers mixing with her nightmares of the abuse she suffered, she escapes from the psychiatric hospital and starts to find the answers to her broken past.
As the memories of past slayers and her own memories mix, the young girl believes Spike is the reason for her insanity and goes for revenge. And as Andrew appears to take the girl to where all new Slayers are training, it begs to question whether Willow’s spell actually did more harm than good.

5. A Hole in the World
One of my favourite and saddest episodes from season 5. This episode shows amazing acting abilities from everyone on the show.
Just an episode or two after Wesley and Fred finally agree to a date, Fred is infected by an ancient disease. But it isn’t just Wesley that is affected by Fred’s sickness, the whole team are. If it was any other character on the show, I don’t think all the characters (or fans for that matter) would have been as upset as they were with Fred. She was the heart and soul of the team; even Spike was annoyed that it was Fred, and he only cared that much about one other person.
While Spike and Angel go to England to find out a way to save Fred, it’s Wesley that holds her in her dying moments – and that final scene between Fred and Wesley has to be one of the greatest acting moments on Angel throughout its five year run.

4. You’re Welcome
Angel’s 100th episode seems like the best place for Cordelia’s final appearance in the show. As Angel begins to struggle with his position at Wolfram and Hart, Cordelia returns from her coma to set him straight on his new path. However, it’s not until the very end that you realise that this is the last time Cordelia would appear on the set of Angel.
The final moments between Cordelia and Angel were a final goodbye, not just between the two characters but also between Cordelia and all Angel fans.

3. Not Fade Away
Another season 5 episode, and the last on the list. It also happens to be the only season finale on the list!
This episode showed all the season’s questions answered and also had a mixture of every emotion possible. It gave all the main cast a chance to shine for one final time; Wesley as he died in the comforting arms of Illyria as she pretended to be Fred, Lorne as he surprisingly killed Lyndsay MacDonald, and Charles Gunn taking on an office load of vampires (taking him back to his original roots).
The final scene was slated by many fans as it ended on a huge cliff hanger, making you wonder whether the remaining members (Angel, Spike, Illyria and a dying Gunn) would make it out alive. However, the final scene had memories from previous episodes and ended just the way Joss Whedon wanted it to; even when one battle ends, there are more to come.

2. Five by Five
An episode that gave the writers of Buffy and Angel a chance to show that redemption isn’t easy. This episode brought in a still evil Faith who not only went to kill Angel but also tortured Wesley, showing us some wonderful acting skills from all actors in the episode.
It was this episode that showed us there was more to Faith than just being evil, she craved attention and this was the way she could get it. She had found out that she had lost her father figure, Mayor Wilkins, and was now after all those responsible; not just for his death but also for how she had turned out.
What puts this at number two on the list is the final scene between Angel and Faith, when all Faith wants is for Angel to kill her. However, Angel sees himself in her and won’t do it. Instead it sets up her storyline of seeking redemption and rehabilitation, which set for her return in season 7 of Buffy.

1. Hero
The episode was a brilliant modern day, supernatural take on Nazi Germany. Full blood demons were after half-breeds to rid the world of all those who weren’t pure.
Every scene was brilliantly acted by all actors and the final moments set up what the show would be about until its final episode with the line “You never know your strength until you’re tested”
The episode was also the one where all fans said goodbye to a much loved character, Doyle, sacrificed his life to save a family of half-breed demons like himself. He never had to do it, Angel was there to make that sacrifice, but the fact that he did without being asked made him a true hero.
With all of these episodes here, it's no surprise as to why Angel could appeal to so many different viewers. Underneath each supernatural tale was a morale for everybody. Each character written could appeal to many different audiences. It can be argued that Angel was one of the most versatile shows in that aspect ever shown on TV.