Angel/Season 5

Season Five of Angel, which was the final season from the series, aired on the WB Network from October 1st, 2003 to May 19th, 2004, spanning a total of twenty-two episodes. The episodes aired on Wednesday evening at 9:00 pm. All of the season four main cast returned for season five, reprising their respective characters. David Boreanaz played the eponymous dark & brooding hero, Angel, with J. August Richards as Charles Gunn (with an upgrade!), as well as Amy Acker as plucky science whiz Winifred Burkle, Andy Hallett as the equally plucky demon Lorne, and Alexis Denisof as the scholarly Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Joining the main cast line-up for the final season is James Marsters as everyone's favorite wise-cracking vampire, Spike, who makes a triumphant return to the franchise after his seemingly permanent demise at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another Buffy alum, Mercedes McNab makes appearances as a gust star this season, but is bumped up to the main cast with episode 5x17, "Underneath". Actress Amy Acker retires the Winifred Burkle character on the back-end of the season, but remains on the series, but now plays the mortal form of an Old One known as Illyria.

Season five brings to a head major plot developments that had been brewing since the show's inception as the evil corporate law firm Wolfram & Hart put the final pieces into place to bring about the Apocalypse. Series fan favorite character Cordelia Chase returns for a one-time send-off to say her final good-byes, Angel and Spike engage in the most oft-putting bromance in all of television history. The firms gets a new liaison with Team Angel and Lindsey McDonald returns to play a part in Wolfram & Hart's master game plan. Oh yeah... and there's puppets.

Production

 * Skip Schoolnik - Co-producer
 * David Greenwalt - Consulting producer
 * Steven S. DeKnight - Supervising producer
 * Ben Edlund - Supervising producer
 * Sandy Gallin - Executive producer
 * Gail Berman - Executive producer
 * Fran Rubel Kuzui - Executive producer
 * Kaz Kuzui - Executive producer
 * David Fury - Executive producer


 * Jeffrey Bell - Executive producer
 * Kelly A. Manners - Producer
 * Joss Whedon - Executive producer
 * Ross Berryman, A.C.S., A.S.C. - Director of photography
 * Stuart Blatt - Production designer
 * George Pilkinton - Editor
 * Mark J. Goldman - Editor
 * Mark S. Westmore - Editor
 * Robert J. Kral - Composer

Directors

 * Ben Edlund
 * Bill L. Norton
 * David Boreanaz
 * David Fury
 * David Greenwalt
 * James A. Contner
 * Jefferson Kibbee


 * Jeffrey Bell
 * Joss Whedon
 * Marita Grabiak
 * Skip Schoolnik
 * Steven S. DeKnight
 * Terrence O'Hara
 * Vern Gillum

Writers

 * Ben Edlund
 * Brent Fletcher
 * David Fury
 * Drew Goddard
 * Elizabeth Craft


 * Jeffrey Bell
 * Joss Whedon
 * Sarah Fain
 * Steven S. DeKnight

Notes & Trivia

 * Angel was created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt.


 * Featured "Big Bad": Wolfram & Hart; Circle of the Black Thorn.


 * Series co-creator David Greenwalt had left the series following season three. However, he was credited as a consulting producer throughout the remainder of the program's duration. However, he did return to direct the season five episode, "The Girl in Question".


 * Mercedes McNab was a recurring guest star in season five of Angel, but was bumped up to the main cast with episode 5x17, "Underneath".


 * Amy Acker's opening credit montage scenes changed from Winifred Burkle to Illyria with the season five episode, "Underneath".


 * Series star David Boreanaz made his directorial debut with this season. He directed episode 5x10, "Soul Purpose". It was his only episode of the series as a director, but he would go on to direct episodes of another series he had a starring role in, Bones.


 * David Boreanaz and Christian Kane are the only actors from the series who appear in both the first and final episodes. Coincidentally, they also happened to be very close friends.


 * This is the fourth season of the series with J. August Richards as a main cast member.


 * This is the third season of the series with Amy Acker as a main cast member.


 * This is the second season of the series with Andy Hallett as a main cast member. He joined the main cast midway through season four with "Long Day's Journey".


 * This is the fifth season of the series with Alexis Denisof as a main cast member. He joined the show midway through season one with episode 1x11, "Somnambulist", replacing departing series regular Glenn Quinn.


 * This is the only season of the series with James Marsters as a main cast member.

Home video

 * Angel: Season Five
 * Angel: The Complete Series