Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Sometimes it's nice when summer reruns hit, so I can get caught up on my newest obsessions that are no longer on the air--Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Two strong series, Angel's third season was the first one standing "alone" on WB without Buffy as a lead-in, as the original vampirocentric series was sent packing to UPN. This season of "Angel" took some risks, but as the characters grew more complex and took on new roles, I found myself more and more engrossed in this series about the unlikely vampire with a soul.

Season 3 is divided into two major arcs: the first involves Angel's former lover Darla, who returns from an eight and a half month absence with a surprise baby brewing in the belly. This is impossible, since two vampires shouldn't be able to breed and create life from their lifeless bodies. But somehow...it happened. The second arc involves that baby and what becomes of him, and the effect that fatherhood has on the champion of the series. The two arcs are connected by the Big Bad of the season, a vampire hunter named Holtz, who's been carrying a grudge against Angel and Darla for centuries. With good cause.

Besides Angel's literal family growing, his family of heroes fighting for justice in Los Angeles grows as well: besides Angel, we have Cordelia Chase, former Sunnydale cheerleader and spoiled brat; Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, ex-Watcher and egghead extraordinaire; Charles Gunn, who used to fight vampires with his gang; Lorne, a green-skinned horned demon with a karaoke bar; and Fred, a waifish bookworm physicist rescued from another dimension.

The ensemble works well together, and provides a family feel, even when circumstances spin the family apart and against each other. Of these characters, the one that proves most interesting to me again is Cordelia. She's undergone enormous growth over the last few years, and the seeds of romantic interest between Angel and Cordy are finally ready to bear fruit...when she leaves for a number of episodes with a new boy toy. Blah. But her arc continues to be impressive--possibly the most impressive of any Sunnydale/Los Angeles resident. Where this arc is taking her I'm not sure, but I'm loving her all over the place.

The season still has a lot of comedy in it, but tends to be darker than other seasons of Angel have been. There's a significant betrayal, the law firm of Wolfram & Hart returns, and Darla's presence bring a great deal of darkness and mayhem with it. The darkness never overwhelms the characters, and I didn't feel like the show was ever inappropriately dark or over-the-top violent, but it is darker than previous seasons, and I wouldn't watch it with young viewers.

Even the throwaway episodes that don't contribute to the overall arc have significant moments for key characters, and the series on a whole is as solid as ever. I was worried about a slump because of the split between the "Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series, but "Angel" has already found it's footing, and Season 3 was great.

The season ends in a cliffhanger, making me want to rush right out and pick up Season 4...I'll try to give it a few months, so I don't run out of the "new stuff" too soon. This is a well-written, well-acted series, and if you haven't experienced "Angel" for yourself, you should give it a try.

MORE ANGEL AND BUFFY REVIEWS:

Buffy Season One http://www.epinions.com/content_148969197188

Buffy Season Two http://www.epinions.com/content_158297394820

Buffy Season Three http://www.epinions.com/content_161138445956

Buffy Season Four http://www.epinions.com/content_173637602948

Buffy Season Five http://www.epinions.com/content_178931404420

Angel Season One http://www.epinions.com/content_173638848132

Angel Season Two http://www.epinions.com/content_179964251780




Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD