So, exactly how long do I need to wait before I can
own this on DVD?
Cast and Crew
David
Boreanaz as
Angel
Alexis
Denisof as
Wesley Wyndham-Pryce
J.
August Richards
as Charles Gunn
Amy
Acker as Illyria
Andy
Hallett as
Lorne
James
Marsters as
Spike
Written by Jeffrey Bell and Joss Whedon
Directed by Jeffrey Bell
Past TV reviews can be found here.
Original Airdate
Not Fade Away originally aired on Wednesday,
May 19, 2004.
Synopsis
Angel and friends take on the Circle of the Black
Thorn.
High Point
“One word.”
The wardrobe specifications came close, but not close
enough. The
reasons for coffee were also good. “It’s on the
desk” is a classic
line, as is the comment after feeding time, and the
trophy plan, and
the volunteer, the last line of dialogue, and, well,
a hell of a lot of the rest.
Low Point
Did they suddenly stop monitoring everywhere? It
just seems like
certain aspects of the plan should have been known.
Putting one particular image in the ads also ruined a
pretty good
surprise in the way they tied off one of the
characters, too.
The Review
You want originality? Look at how they
ended the series. I
give it 6 out of 6.
The effects on most of the episode were very
good. The only
complaint I have was that one of the instances of CGI
looked like it
was an instance of CGI. (I don’t want to say more,
but it’s related
to Angel’s last line of dialogue.) I give it 6 out
of 6, as that bit
was so minor.
The story had only the one major problem
listed above. The
rest really moved, and they made some decisions that
are hard to make
on network television, but work perfectly for the
tone of this
series. This may have had the best final scene of
any series. I give
it 5 out of 6. I want to give it 6, but that problem
is just too big
to ignore.
The acting was very well done. Some
characters came to a
close, and others have well deserved endings. The
actors sold their
roles well, and were completely convincing. I give
it 6 out of 6.
The emotional response was excellent. I was
psyched going
in, and not dissappointed. I love it when a series
can make decisions
that most network execs wouldn’t be happy with, and
this show did it.
It’s a magnificent way to go out. I give it 6 out of
6.
The production was, again, a Mutant Enemy
high. Joss Whedon
considered taking over as director of this episode,
but after talking
it over with Jeffrey Bell and comparing notes, he
decided Bell was
better suited to the job. Whedon is a good director,
but he made the
right choice. I give it 6 out of 6.
Overall, it’s a fabulous way to go out.
It’s a series that
will be missed, but it ended well. I give it 6 out
of 6.
In total, Not Fade Away receives 41 out of
42.
to the WB…
…you’re welcome.
to Joss and the rest of the cast and crew of Angel, THANK YOU!
(great episode, great series, now there’s nothing to watch *snif*)
Argh…
Of course there was a rather nasty storm and we lost power during the finale, and on top of that, due to the power loss and the storm my DirecTivo didn’t sync back up until 5 minutes from the end. I missed about 12 minutes, all of which were when the action just started.
And something tells me they won’t be showing Angel repeats this summer…
Re: Argh…
My guide says it airs again Tuesday.
Re: Argh…
On TNT, Right?
Re: Argh…
No. Tues, May 25 at 8:00 (EDT) on The WB.
I hate my job.
When will I be able to get BitTorrents of this?
Re: I hate my job.
Torrents been out for hours.
http://torrents.co.uk/
Perfect exit
That was absolutely amazing. The only way it could get better is for there to actually be more shows made.
However since my understanding is it’s the last I will be finally ditching my cable. I would have already done it 2 years ago if it wasn’t for this show.
I’ll be relying on you guys to advertise if Joss has any new shows coming up.
simply amazing
I really felt an emotional response in the two main Wesley-Illyria scenes. Really made you feel for him.
I like how we gradually saw Lorne’s attitude change, which made his last scene very poetic. His actions were on the boundries of his character, but not over.
And Spike was probably the funniest character, with his “day off” scene & all his lines during “the volunteer” scene.
Good episode, good show, sad to see it go.
Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
There is so much that I would like to say about the end of this series and the way they did it that to me, seems classy and another reason why I am a fan of Wheyton and his crew’s work. But then, I would be typing for hours and I need my sleep. I’ll just touch on one aspect with a few entertaining points.
The wry dialogue:
My apologies if Iv’e misquoted anything below.
“Would you like me to lie to you now?” – Illyria
. A moving moment that points out what normally happens during the death scene of a character. What character in movies and television hasn’t been told their going to make it! (Anyone see Enterprise?)
“Go ahead, little girl, take your best shot!” -Vale
. Ah, the arrogance of a villian as we, from their perspective see the “little girl” shift back to the powerful creature she was. I guess he didn’t know that she could do that. Take that, bender of reality!
I spiked his drink”. – Angel
. Other than the great play on words it was a pivotal twist that had me on the edge of my seat. I never suspected he had already done the deed earlier to one of the villians; great!
“Can I deny you three times?” – Spike
‘ The touch on biblic lore was interesting considering the group was going into the lions den, so to speak.
“It’s over there on your desk” – Angel
. Angels expectation of betrayal without getting that person back was so, so classy. A reference already written?! A subtle turn of the cheek in that! LOL
“I’ll take the Dragon. Its a hero thing.” – Angel
‘Again the wry nod to the stereo type of the champion facing a dragon.
I knew that the good guys would win, some paying a price, but how they did, the details, even now wow me as I ponder it. I look forward to Wheyton and crew’s next production in the hopes it would be just as entertaining.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
You said it.
I couldn’t think of a better ending. It played to the series’ strengths and the character exposition was excellent. I loved the way that nothing got maudlin, with no drawn-out goodbye scenes or big speeches. In a way, Anne encapsulated the whole theme with her comment about packing the truck. It also kept the same balance of different types of humor and drama, so if somebody were watching without tuning in, it could as well have been a season finale as a series one.
Thanks and kudos to all concerned (except, of course, the ones who decided to cancel while the team was still capable of episodes like this one.)
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
The scenes with “Fred” and Spike at the Slam were great. But am I the only one not overly impressed with the Batman: Dead End-style ending? I got it. I even somewhat liked it. I just would have preferred something else. I’m not sure what. From a writing standpoint, it seemed like an easy way out, which they generally avoided in the episode.
Dramatic license note: obviously, it would have been a disaster, dramatically, to add a whole bunch of new characters into the mix. Just as obviously, you’d think someone would have notified one of the eight hundred or so Slayers now in the world that something big was going down in L.A. (especially when they first had doubts about Angel).
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
Of course do not forget the possibility of the movies. So perhaps they left it open ended like that to permit such things to happen.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
Open Ended?!
Besides, The Movies Looks Less Likely. And If It Were To Happen, Joss Said That It Would Be A Different Corner Of The Buffy Verse. (The Article Adds That Aly’s Not Doing Anything…)
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
The open ended finish did leave us without knowing if they survived. We didn’t see their futile run at the evil hordes. Then again, who wants to see a hero fall, eh? I look at it as a “they hacked happily ever after” type ending.
The possibility of a Buffy or Angel movie would be entertaining, but I note that the exposition of story in theses series is done so at a pace that allows for absorbtion and pondering of pivotal, dramatic points. They hook us with a fact. Leave us to ponder it as commercials run. Then relieve our questions with a continuation of the story. It’s part of the “ride” so to speak.
My guess is that the scripts would need to be scrutinized and Wheyton would have to have more control than the first Buffy TVS movie. It’s a challenge for Wheyton and his team. If they can retain that feel in the movies I would gladly go to see it.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
The team did have a slight tactical advantage. Only a few of the legions could attack at any given time, given the width of the alley. So, it’s possible Team Angel fought off the dozens (hundreds?) of demons, taken 10 at a time.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
And Angel may still has the blood he took from Hamilton in him, so he’d be more potent than usual.
Of course, even in a small space like that, it’s easy to think you’ve killed someone, only to have them trip you while you fight something else. Next thing you know, you’re on the ground, being pinned, trampled and killed.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
That’s a really good point.
Prone is only a -4 to Attack. Surely Hamilton’s blood bonus offsets that.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
LMAO.
I’ll agree that certain members of our crew could get away – but one of them was seriously injured, and is likely to die without medical attention. I don’t think that’s likely to happen, do you?
That said, I’d have no trouble believing the relatively whole folks that were left could withdraw during the fight; indeed, they could likely fight an entire war while withdrawing. One mistake would likely kill them all, but I have absolute faith in them.
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
I thought Wes’ death scene, while it started good, just went to too long. Illyria, in particular, got way too maudlin and cheesy.
“Not Fade Away” was better than “Chosen”. I liked seeing Gunn’s hubcap axe again. And his assault on the Senator (Congresswoman?) was good. I was shocked that Wes was the one to die; I thought for sure it’d be Gunn, what with all his talk of redemption a few shows ago. The rest? Meh.
ME really should have cut the pointless Italy episode (and the WW2 ep, and several others this season) and used the last few eps to build up to this finale, rather than springing it on us in the final two and rushing through. I realize that they probably weren’t expecting cancellation, but this ending really felt like it came out of nowhere.
Why do “bad-ass” villains always just throw their opponents around? That’s so lame. Punch someone! Demostrate your bad-assness! Sheesh…
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
Ah, so that was from the Bible. This explains why I
didn’t catch the reference. (I usually catch his pop
culture, geek culture, and past episode references, but I
was clueless on that one.)
Anyone care to enlighten the heathens among you?
Re: Bravo! Bravo! So much to appreciate!
Heathens Tend To Follow Odin More Than the Bible…
But Still: The Brick Testament Hasn’t Caught Up There, Yet, So You’ll Have To Read The Unillustrated Version. Basically, Peter Denies Knowing Jesus Three Times.
Shansu?
OK… I’ll admit it was a great episode, but as a series finale, one thing really bugged me.
Am I the only one pissed that they through the Shan-shu prophecy out the window? They’ve spent a lot of episodes playing on it, and it just got signed away?! True prophecies should have bigger teeth than that.
Re: Shansu?
It probably does. The other members of the Black Thorns wanted to remove Angel’s hope. If he believed that the prophecy was voided by signing, the fact that he was willing to give it up was enough to reassure them. Besides, the Senior Partners wouldn’t want the prophecy voided as they were still hoping to have Angel on their side for the apocalypse and with him in the Black Thorns they would seem close to that objective.
Re: Shansu?
It dawned on me as they were asking Angel to sign away the prophecy that “pivotal role” could be evil as well as good (just like Anakin “restoring balance to the Force”). I don’t belive Angel’s role was to be “evil”, but it could certainly be interpreted as such.
Re: Shansu?
Also, It Could Have Been Spike.
And Did It Bug Anyone Else That Angel Signed Without Reading It? He *Works* At A Law Firm!
Re: Shansu?
Yeah, but he’s not the lawyer; that was Gunn’s job.
Re: Shansu?
Didn’t anyone watch what he signed his name as?
He signed ‘Angel’, which is not his given name. He chooses Angel over Angelus, but Angelus is his given name, and it’s not even his full given name.
There’s a lot of power associated with names, in demonology, and not giving his ‘True Name’ is significant.
Re: Shansu?
Also, I seem to recall that the signature on his Wolfram & Hart contract was different than the one he used here. Of course, I could be misremembering.
Re: Shansu?
The thing I remember about the Shansu prophesy was that “shansu” means “live” and “die” in that language, and that precise meaning is derived from context, which in this case is ambigous.
If we beleive that the Shansu Prophesy refered to Angel’s death during the Apocylpse, then… well the Senior Partners just shot themself in the foot…. If they have feet.
Re: Shansu?
Which is more powerful, the name you’re given or the name you choose?
At any rate, Angelus is no more “given” than Angel. His given name is Liam.
the good and bad
Overall, it was a great send off. I’m not sure it was better than the Buffy finale, but it was very close. (At least they didn’t give us a dozen annoying new Slayer characters.) The writing was well-paced and maintained its characteristic humor.
The biggest problem I had was Wesley’s exit. It’s not so much that I feel he shouldn’t have left, it’s just that I think he would have been better prepared to fight a magical demon. And his backup was a switchblade? "Seperate illusion from truth."
Secondly, I hated that they brought Connor back. Most people here agreed with me that his exit was a fine piece of writing. Then "I know you’re my father." Do the writers think we’re stupid? Though "You drop by for coffee and the world’s not ending?" was a good line.
Other questions: Why were the Senior Partners so oblivious? Why was Eve still at W&H? Did Harmony drink Hamilton’s blood? Did Angel really think Wesley could handle Vail?
On the upside, I did enjoy the Wesley-Illyria interaction, and I like that (predictably) Illyria is becoming more human.
I’m also glad Lorne got to do something other than repeat "Angelkins, I don’t think this is a good idea." His role was badass, and it caught me offguard.
The fight with Hamilton/poisoning of Sebassis also was a nice surprise.
I’m sad now, but not because Angel is finished. All things must end, and the best end like this. It’s because the prospects for something to watch next season are slim.
Re: the good and bad
I don’t know what the writers were snorting for this episode, but they were rocking. Alot of the writing this season has felt like it lacked energy. On the other hand this could have been a plot device that stired feelings of discontent in the audience similar to those felt by the characters, but it doesn’t make for “fun” stuff. This time, they brought the fun, a brought it hard. There were just so many good lines, ranging from cute to funny, to poigniant, to profound.
I do wish that this had been a 2 parter though. It would have been nice to draw out some of the other fight scenes. Illyria, feeling grief for the first time, taking her sweet time killing… uh the dude she killed after she finished hers…
Re: the good and bad
I understand somewhat being a little disappointed at that one fellow’s return, but even Whedon and ME can understand that we need a little tiny bit of nice mixed in with the ongoing naughty. This is especially true if the entire team ended up getting whacked. I thought it was just right.
I’d say more but the glowing reviews already written covered all of my high points. If asked to choose a favorite, it’s all about the Harmony. I’ve loved everything she’s done since being turned (with the Xander slap fight being tops) and her ending was perfection.
Re: the good and bad
And can we please have a round of applause for Adam Baldwin, showing a little of Jayne Cobb in his characterisation this week. A fine, fine actor, and everything he did was utterly appropriate.
Stunning television. If Angel can get that good from where it started from, it really makes me upset to see how much higher Firefly started. Imagine where that could have been after five seasons.
But nonetheless, Joss Whedon, I salute you, for you are a master of your art form.
Re: the good and bad
I didn’t see too much of Firefly, so I didn’t see too much Jayne Cobb in Baldwin’s performance. But I was having Agent Smith flashbacks and so was my brother.
CGI?
Ok, what’s that CGI problem you’r on about?
Re: CGI?
OK, if people have read this far, they’ve already been
spoiled. The dragon looked lousy.
Re: CGI?
What? A dragon? Man, now you’ve ruined it. ;)
Angel’s timeslot
<p>Have you seen what’s taking the Wednesday 9:00 slot?</p>
Re: Angel’s timeslot
Typical.
Opinions on different characters finalies
Man this was an awesome show and I found it interesting how the different characters got wrapped up.
Angel: I liked his decision on how to spend his “final” day. I was actually wondering if he did in a way fulfill the SanShu prophecy, remember we all know how tricky prophecies are and I found it odd that he would just be able to sign it away like that (I’m sure Sazjan would of liked to sign away his part in a perfect prophecy:). Also as to Angel becoming human it always bugged me since he’s already once given up a ring that allows him to walk in day like a human but gives it up since he has to be in the night (personally I think they just screwed up that ep). But later he did become human and gave it up to be able to fight human, I’ve always felt it odd that the “reward” which he seemed to be fighting for was something he didn’t really want. However I wonder if Conner, who served as Darla’s second chance at living, also served as Angel becoming human, moreso once Connor regained his humanity after Angel was a pivotal figure in the apocyalypse surrounding Jasmine. I felt that the meeting with Connor and fight side-by-side affirmed that part of Angel was going on to live a happy human existance. Angel’s final conclusion was fitting going out as the stereotypical hero he always tried to be fighting a dragon.
Spike: As opposed to the in-your-face heroics of Angel was always more emotional about it, had more fun in the fights and was more emotional about those around him. I loved his final day the best of any, the poem, in case you missed it, was the one he told to the girl he was wooing back when he was human, and he got horribly mocked for it. In a way he had some SanShuness too by regaining that poem from his humanity and making it work. He got to go out in a big brawl which was always he favorite part.
Gunn: Never really comfortable with the Angel’s gang he got to take out the evil politician aided with vampires which would probably be the greatest victory from the perspective of his gang days.
Wesley: Was slain in a great watcher style fight with an uber-powerful wizard. He failed but his personal project then came in and saved the day and he finally found peace surrounding the death of Fred.
Illuria: Found an integral part of her humanity with the death of Wesley
Lorne: More than any other character didn’t belong in Angel’s world, tried to be a supportive character like Xander was in Buffy but could never quite do it as he was never involved enough, he was finally forced to acknowledge that he didn’t belong and go off to find his own path (and actually live).
Lyndsy: His end was probably the toughest one. He was always capable but never had what he needed to succeed in his destiny, he tried to betray Wolfram & Hart at the beginning of the series only to fall deeper in with them, then he couldn’t complete his destiny with them as he wasn’t quite evil enough. Next he tried to destroy Angel but was too cocky and didn’t kill Angel when he had the chance. Finally he was happy with Eve but got drawn hack in by Angel. He thought he had finally found his proper path, fighting with Angel’s team and living with Eve only to have a completely ignomious ending being shot by Lorne who really was nothing but a flunky in the end.
Re: Opinions on different characters finalies
It’s said time and time again that he feels its something he must earn. In the Gem of Amara ep, as the sun sets and he explains to Doyle what he’s about to do, he says that the modern world is designed to protect the 9-5 people, who are blind to the problems of those at night. If he becomes one of the “day” people, he, too, might be so blinded.
Re: Opinions on different characters finalies
Seriously, tell me that line wasn’t a copout, Angel would of been a titanic fool to destroy an invincibility ring in the battle against evil, probably a better move would of been for him to have defeated the evil doctor dude by smashing the ring while he as wearing it but that wouldn’t give him the walk in the sun.
Re: Opinions on different characters finalies
Angel has the advantage of being a demon in disguise, except around those that know him or other vampires. So, he’s already invulnerable to conventional weapons like guns, and he is superior in strength and speed to some portion of his adversaries.
Slightly disappointing…
This was a fantastic episode, but as the final ever Angel installment it was a real letdown. There were too many loose ends — Harmony just walked out even though she was a traitor, Illyria has only just been introduced to the mix and is still developing as a character, most of the cast seem to survive, what happens to Wolfram and Hart, what about the thousands of Slayers, etc? The final season of Angel was so badly squandered that we have to resolve everything in a single forty-minute episode, which is obviously not possible.
I used to be a real fan of Joss Whedon. Season five of Angel tells me that Joss has “jumped the shark”. The character arcs he managed to close were Wesley, Lorne, Lindsey, Connor and Cordelia. Whedon gets points for that — at least he bothered trying to resolve a few parts of his massive story.
I’m sorry, but WTF was up with the ending? “Wolfram and Hart will reign hell on us.” Of course, with Joss Whedon at the helm, this amounts to an invasion by demon warriors and a couple of big monsters. Ooh, I’ll give that a 6 for originality — it isn’t like every apocalypse is preceded by a group of demon warriors and a couple of big monsters. Angel’s gang should have no problem sorting this mess out — ahem, season four fighting the national guard?
The episode was emotionally charged (espcially Wesley’s death) and highly exciting, but I could not conceal my disappointment. The Shanshu prophecy (the whole point of this show) casually written out (don’t tear the contract up or anything after all the demons are dead), Gunn STILL making NO contribution whatsoever — I mean, what vital aspect of this show would be different if Gunn never joined up? — and Spike still stole all the screen time, walking away with every scene he was in as usual. I would miss Lorne if he hadn’t been reduced to a total cipher ever since they returned from Pylea — Travis Mayweather, Hosi Sato, Chakotay and Harry Kim, anyone?
This show jumped the shark when Lilah came back from the dead with the keys to WR&H. There’s NO WAY Wesley and Fred would have signed on to WR&H’s employment drive.