The remaining Buffyverse show Angel went out with a reasonable modicum of class and style… which was purely a product of the final season. Having recently watched most of the run in order, I can tell you that this show was awkward for its first four seasons, never settling in thematically, and with a clunky sense of darkness that made it just dreary to watch. With the completion of Buffy last year, it felt like the A-team came over to this show and made it, if not as good as Buffy at its best, at least as good as Buffy at its most typical, which is a rather good show indeed.
A clear sign that the show was lost: of the four original characters, only one remained at the beginning of the fourth season.
Unlike some endings which leave people remembering the show as less than it was, this leaves people remembering it as better than it was. And that ain’t such a bad thing.
