By reviewing in the context of the entire series, I can look at it the way first-run reviewers do not: seeing the entire whole. This means that my reviews will not be bursting with anticipation of what’s to come so much as analyzing the part each of them play in the whole; a cog in the big, thematic machine that is the show. Be warned though, as this also means that like Mike’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer review site (the sister site to this one), each review will not contain spoilers just for that particular showing, but will contain spoilers for episodes anywhere in the entire series. Each episode will be graded using a score out of 100.

These reviews are done in my free time between work, school and the other writing projects I have going, so like Mike Marinaro’s this will be only as frequent as I can manage. After an entire season has been reviewed, I’ll do a comprehensive review of the season as a whole and display the average episode score for that season as well as my own personal score, and awards for Best/Worst Episode, Most Important Episode and the like.

Finally: since these reviews are done in my free time, and that amount of time is sometimes sparse, there can be large gaps between reviews. Consequently, the newer my reviews are the higher quality they will be, as I’m always striving to better myself and expand my artistic knowledge. On the flip side, the older my reviews are, the more they’ll pale in comparison to my current work. I do intend to edit large portions of this site when I’ve completed the series, but for now, take the truth to be fluid: what I hold true today might be very different in a month. When this project is finished, I’ll get to the nitty gritty of making it all fit together. Until then, enjoy the ride.

You can click the ‘Reviews’ button or simply jump into my review of 1x01: City of to get started. From time to time I may write some ‘Articles’, and you can view them in that section appropriately. Also visit the ‘Links’ section for all the best Whedon stuff I frequent, or visit the chatty rooms in ‘Discussion’ to dice up the show to your monad's content.

My methodology for reviewing has constantly changed since I’ve worked on the site, but my later reviews are written more academically. I’ll not only be analyzing the core ideas and plots of the individual episodes and seasons, but their implications for the real world. Art can and does have a profound effect on the way we view ourselves and the world, and Angel in particular makes a lot of excellent intellectual points, which is why it begs such deep analysis. In analyzing the episodes I’ll be dissecting and interpreting the themes/ideas, and on top of that I’ll be evaluating how well they’re executed through the episode’s plots.

It’s my belief that characters are the story, since our emotions and intellects are engaged through them. How well they’re developed within the plot, by the ideas, reflects how I’ll score episodes and seasons overall. The Perfect episode (the episode that is scored a 100) is difficult to describe because every perfect episode achieves that status in some unique way, but the basic criteria is that it must: be emotionally/viscerally engaging, intellectually stimulating, original within the context of the show (something the series has not done before) and make an artistic point that’s relevant to the real world. It has to do all of this very well, and it has to do this genuinely; an episode that pulls a situation out of its rear for the sake of drama will score considerably lower than an episode that builds that situation out of something that comes naturally from the characters.

But hey, what do I know? Artistic taste is entirely subjective. Different things interest people for different reasons that usually have to do with fundamental things about their personalities. You may see something entirely different in the series because you are you. My only claim to fame here is that I’ve developed a precise methodology for critiquing the series and articulating my interpretations. This is just how I’ll be doing things, and since any criteria for artistic preference will always be somewhat vague, I’ll do my best to adequately justify every score within every episode review.

So what does all this add up to? My ultimate goal here is to enhance your understanding of the series so you can better reflect on the writers’ ideas and take something more powerful away from the show; a message about hope, a warning about dishonesty, a new way of seeing other people. If you come away from these reviews with something beneficial to your life, then maybe this was worth the many unpaid hours. Enjoy.

While I hate the idea of putting 'grades' to percentages, if you feel you need something to gauge my scoring, here is how I would break down the grade levels. Note that I grade episodes in increments of 5, but the season averages can be any integer x such that: 0 < x < 100. Note that in order for an episode to get a score of 100, it must not only be flawless but also transcend the scope of that episode and have some kind of lasting impact on the series. Episodes that fall flat of that second requirement will undoubtedly receive a score of 95 instead.

My name, as mentioned, is Ryan, and I’m a College student studying the Arts for a career that will no doubt be penniless for many years. Besides working on this site, I study, work, and maintain several other writing projects: I’m currently plugging at some spec scripts and doing some journalistic work as well. I love collaborative writing. Got an idea? Drop me a line.

I also enjoy music of all different kinds of music, from Progressive Metal to the Romantic era of Classical music. I’ve played Guitar, Bass Guitar and Drums at different points in my life, but writing is where I’m set. My favourite shows, besides the whedon-trio of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, are Battlestar Galactica, Arrested Development, House, Flight of the Concords, and Dead Like Me. Feel free to PM me on this site’s message board, or e-mail me at gob_666(at)hotmail.com

This site is hosted on my friend, SuperJer's, server. There you can find an assortment of random funny things like his flash Counter-Strike cartoon, McDiddys, along with well-made CS maps for both versions 1.6 and Source. I must warn you about the superjer.com forums though. They are completely un-moderated (in the traditional sense) and can be quite crazy at times. For somewhat saner dialogue about these shows, please post in the Whedonverse forum which MikeJer and Ryan will moderate the best they can (click on 'discussion' above).

BtVS     Buffy the Vampire Slayer AtS Angel the Series SMG Sarah Michelle Gellar ME Mutant Enemy PTB Powers That Be

S1   Season 1 S2   Season 2    ... S5   Season 5