Angel Season 4 vs. Buffy Season 4

Joshua

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I've noticed that these two seasons are their most fan hated, but which had the better main plot and which had the better premiere episode

For Me:

Premiere: The Freshman
Plot: The Body Jasmine Posessing Cordy
 
S4 is my least favorite of Buffy (by quite a bit actually), but The Freshman is probably my favorite season opener after the series premier. It's a fantastic episode. The Angel S4 opener was solid.

You know, I actually think S4 of Angel is quite underrated. The overall arc with Jasmine is just dumb (that's about the best word I can think of to describe it) but beyond her and how off the rails it gets during that arc, I really enjoyed S4, especially after re-watching it. There are a lot of fun episodes and while Connor is freaking annoying during most of it, he doesn't ruin the season like I had remembered him doing. I'm also one of the few who actually liked the storyline with The Beast and Angelus, and the Faith return was awesome.

Which had the better arc? I think the potential was there in Buffy S4 to have a really cool storyline. Having the government and the military get involved fixed a huge plot hole from the first few seasons and opened up what I thought were going to be a wide range of interesting possibilities. I just don't think it worked out. Adam was boring, I found it just impossible to get into Riley and the whole Initiative thing got really bogged down at times. There are great stand alone episodes in S4 and it's not that I hated it or anything, but I think it fell short of what it could have been.

If we're talking arcs, I also thought that in the first three seasons of Buffy, the show really, truly understood high school, and absolutely nailed everything about it. They didn't really capture the same magic with college.

I'd say it's a bit of a coin flip. The Angel S4 arc is great all the way up until the end. The climax of Jasmine was a total letdown, but the rest of the season was great, so I'd probably have to choose Angel.
 
L
Living Dead Boy
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Angel season 4 is the only season of anything Joss has ever been a part of that I actively dislike, so I have to say BtVS season 4 has a better arc and is a better season, because I do like it.

AtS had some excellent stand alone episodes, especially before 'Spin the Bottle', but overall...*gah* An interesting note for those who didn't know. 'Soulless' was directed by Samwise Gamgee, err, I mean Sean Astin 🙂

That having been said, 'Deep Down' is a fantastic season opener and gave us the immortal line 'That's right, Sparky. Daddy's comin' home. And I'm guessing there's gonna be a spanking.' 😀

Actually I meant this line 'We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be'. but the other one is pretty good, too.
 
The first 3/4 of Angel season 4 is amazing. It's non-stop epic action (the Apocalypse, the Beast, Faith, Angelus all in one season!). However, people mostly dislike it because of what happened to Cordelia and the Jasmine arc.

Buffy season 4 is just boooooring! Riley doesn't help (I like the guy, but he was dry, they gave him to much responsibility on the show). Giles was depressed the whole season. Spike became comedic relief. Oz left the show. Adam brought tears to my eyes with his boring-ness.

So Angel season 4 is better, in my opinion
 
I actually really enjoyed both seasons. Buffy season four was very fun and lighthearted, plus it gave us some of the best episodes of the series. On the other hand, Deep Down is the better premiere, IMO. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Jasmine arc, but it definitely kept my interest. Great idea, shoddy execution. But the Faith arc is probably my favorite run of Angel episodes ever, so I honestly can't say I hate either season. 🙂
 
I actually really enjoyed both seasons. Buffy season four was very fun and lighthearted, plus it gave us some of the best episodes of the series. On the other hand, Deep Down is the better premiere, IMO. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Jasmine arc, but it definitely kept my interest. Great idea, shoddy execution. But the Faith arc is probably my favorite run of Angel episodes ever, so I honestly can't say I hate either season. 🙂

I wanted to rep you but I ran out of words. That Faith arc is just phenomenal. The stuff between her and Connor might have been my highlight of the season. I thought "Deep Down" was a great opener, and the line that Angel has in that one, where he talks about living in the world as it should be, is probably my single favorite quote from either series.
 
Angel season 4 is the best season, I love the Jasmine arc, I don't get why people hate it so much..? and Deep Down is a better ep than The Freshman. I love season 4 of buffy too, I think it's a very underrated season.
 
Angel Season 4, simply because Zak Wylde is in it, shredding on his guitar in Angel's hotel.

Though Buff season 4 had better stand out episodes like Hush and Restless, over all Angel Season 4 was more consistent.
 
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