AtS - Season 5 and Beyond

[hoponlilmama]

If AtS hadn't been cancelled, how much life do you think the series had left in it?
As I understand it, the taking down of the Black Thorn was supposed to span over two seasons? Would the series have ended at the 6th?

I think it had another 1 - 2 years in the tank. After that, it likely would've overstayed its welcome.

Thoughts?

 

[Btvs fan]

If AtS hadn't been cancelled, how much life do you think the series had left in it?
As I understand it, the taking down of the Black Thorn was supposed to span over two seasons? Would the series have ended at the 6th?

I think it had another 1 - 2 years in the tank. After that, it likely would've overstayed its welcome.

Thoughts?

Honestly maybe another season at best but I couldn't see them doing anymore.
5 years is pretty good all the same and many shows don't even get that.
Star Trek The Original only got 3 and even Roddenbury thought they were gonna cancel it at the end of 2

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Supernatural. The WB was very keen on male lead supernatural dramas with a hint of comedy, and running them into the ground. Both Charmed and Smallville got long runs as well. David is clearly the type of actor whose reach does not exceed his grasp, he's clearly proven that over the years, he's fine with a consistent pay check and access to pretty girls.

Plot wise, Angel can always find another evil law firm to war against. The show never really felt like one man's unique creative vision, but variations on a theme.

The only real downsides to the show are dealing with Joss and paying off the Kudzus.

Also it's Angel, the series is never consistent from season to season. Yes, I agree that another season of corporate shenanigans ending with the Blackthorn was the most likely outcome for six, seven could be anything. Maybe it's a Dru heavy season where Angel tries to fix his worst crime, maybe Sweet shows up as a client of Lorne. Maybe Cordelia falls from heaven and is now trying to earn her wings. Maybe the Slayer civil war breaks out? Maybe the Cordette civil war breaks out? Maybe Angel takes to the road, goes David Banner on us? Maybe he goes Dark Shadows on us, takes a nap, and wakes up in the future? The series has lots of options.

 

[Btvs fan]

Supernatural. The WB was very keen on male lead supernatural dramas with a hint of comedy, and running them into the ground. Both Charmed and Smallville got long runs as well. David is clearly the type of actor whose reach does not exceed his grasp, he's clearly proven that over the years, he's fine with a consistent pay check and access to pretty girls.

Plot wise, Angel can always find another evil law firm to war against. The show never really felt like one man's unique creative vision, but variations on a theme.

The only real downsides to the show are dealing with Joss and paying off the Kudzus.

Also it's Angel, the series is never consistent from season to season. Yes, I agree that another season of corporate shenanigans ending with the Blackthorn was the most likely outcome for six, seven could be anything. Maybe it's a Dru heavy season where Angel tries to fix his worst crime, maybe Sweet shows up as a client of Lorne. Maybe Cordelia falls from heaven and is now trying to earn her wings. Maybe the Slayer civil war breaks out? Maybe the Cordette civil war breaks out? Maybe Angel takes to the road, goes David Banner on us? Maybe he goes Dark Shadows on us, takes a nap, and wakes up in the future? The series has lots of options.

DB played to his strengths. He basically played a similar role ie The big tough guy. It was only in the first 2 years of Buffy he played the pretty boy love interest.

Angel isnt consistent in the seasons.
In S1 it was monster/victim of the week. After that it was changed to serialised in the 2nd half

In S2 we had the Darla arc and in the second half that got dropped because Joss was bored with it so they went to Pylea

S3 was a bit of mash up with Pregnant Darla/Baby Connor and Holtz then Dark Wesley and older Connor

S4 was the Beast/ Pregnant Cordy and then Jasmine

S5 was stand alones then back to serialised in the second half with Ilyria

 

[DagonSphere]

I thought it was going to run for seven seasons like Buffy. Season 5 felt like a creative revamp and proved that the show still had plenty of originality left and was capable of reinventing itself. It also would have given Joss and The WB enough time to potentially expand the universe with another spin-off.

I know the writers said that Season 6 would have featured Angel in Hell, with a sort of post-apocalyptic setting inspired by something like The Road Warrior, and that the Wolfram & Hart setting was never intended to last more than one season. David Fury even mentioned plans for a ruined Los Angeles and a much darker direction for the series.

Still, I’ve always had doubts about whether they could realistically have pulled that off with the budget they had at the time. Season 5 already relied heavily on the Wolfram & Hart offices and fewer exterior locations because of budget limitations, so a full post-apocalyptic Hell-LA setting seems like it would have been difficult to sustain on a WB television budget.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Re: HelLA; Voyager had an episode that was set in "Klingon Hel," which first used a barge sailing that a blood river. Once those scenes were over, hell was just the Voyager set with a lense filter and some weird lighting. I suspect a similar approach, hell is really an cubicle farm or hell is the hotel with red lights. I doubt with would be a full firey underworld set. Although, I did like the hell from Legend of the Seeker. But, weird lighting effects.

 

[hoponlilmama]

Honestly maybe another season at best but I couldn't see them doing anymore.
5 years is pretty good all the same and many shows don't even get that.
Star Trek The Original only got 3 and even Roddenbury thought they were gonna cancel it at the end of 2

Very true.

If they had found out last minute that AtS was picked up, it would've left them

Spoiler

without Cordy, Gunn about to die, Wesley dead, Lorne out, Harmony gone

. I'm not sure what the show would've looked like at that point.

And without other actors from BTVS crossing over (please God, no Andrew!) to be part of the main cast it wouldn't feel right.

But if they'd gone for their original plan to take down the Black Thorn over two seasons (s5 & a potential s6) then I think the series would come to its natural conclusion.

 

[hoponlilmama]

NotASlayer You just know that Andrew would have been the one they could get...

Yikes!

I would've liked to have seen Willow there. Faith too. Oz would be welcome!
Who would you have chosen from BTVS to cross to AtS?

 

[NotASlayer]

Yikes!

I would've liked to have seen Willow there. Faith too. Oz would be welcome!
Who would you have chosen from BTVS to cross to AtS?

I would have been okay with anyone except Andrew, the Potentials and Buffy. Because if you had Buffy, you would need to get rid of Spike and Angel; neither character is improved by having Buffy around, and in Spike's case especially, vice versa.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I think it could have made it for seven seasons. There's a lot more that could have been explored.

 

[NotASlayer]

I think, rather than extending the show, it should have, like Buffy should have, ended at five seasons and gone onto more spinoffs. Perhaps instead of Buffy S6&7 we get Giles & Spike S1&2, with Spike deciding to make up for his failure to protect Dawn by heading to the UK with Giles and, maybe, getting a soul, then both heading to LA for Angel S5. Then maybe an Illyria spinoff for instance. Just, dear god, no Andrew and the Vampyres spinoff. Unless Andrew gets eaten in Episode 1.

 

[Btvs fan]

I would have been okay with anyone except Andrew, the Potentials and Buffy. Because if you had Buffy, you would need to get rid of Spike and Angel; neither character is improved by having Buffy around, and in Spike's case especially, vice versa.

Buffy was never gonna be more than a episode guest star at best. Gellar did offer to do the finale but Whedon said no as he felt (correctly) that it should be the main cast.

 

[hoponlilmama]

I think, rather than extending the show, it should have, like Buffy should have, ended at five seasons and gone onto more spinoffs. Perhaps instead of Buffy S6&7 we get Giles & Spike S1&2, with Spike deciding to make up for his failure to protect Dawn by heading to the UK with Giles and, maybe, getting a soul, then both heading to LA for Angel S5. Then maybe an Illyria spinoff for instance.

I agree, I think this would've been the better option.

Just, dear god, no Andrew and the Vampyres spinoff. Unless Andrew gets eaten in Episode 1.

Please make it happen, thank you. 😁

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Re: Buffy; The Buffy - Angel relationship was the key story for both characters. An appearance from Buffy would have been warranted. I would have subbed her in for Nina, make it clear he can’t feel total happiness in these circumstances, that Buffy knows what he is going to do, “You taught me to fight, you are why I fight” and send her off to prep the second front.

 

[Btvs fan]

Re: Buffy; The Buffy - Angel relationship was the key story for both characters. An appearance from Buffy would have been warranted. I would have subbed her in for Nina, make it clear he can’t feel total happiness in these circumstances, that Buffy knows what he is going to do, “You taught me to fight, you are why I fight” and send her off to prep the second front.

There relationship was boring and stale by Season 3 of Buffy. So no it wasn't the key to both

 

[NotASlayer]

Please make it happen, thank you. 😁

I suspect that Andrew regularly fails to survive in fanfic...

There relationship was boring and stale by Season 3 of Buffy. So no it wasn't the key to both

Yes; it was only when Angel was away from Buffy that he started to properly grow as a character. You put Buffy next to Angel again, especially with Spike around, and the story becomes about those relationships. Which means no story.

 

[Btvs fan]

I suspect that Andrew regularly fails to survive in fanfic...



Yes; it was only when Angel was away from Buffy that he started to properly grow as a character. You put Buffy next to Angel again, especially with Spike around, and the story becomes about those relationships. Which means no story.

Yep even the writers were mocking the relationship by Buffy S3 with Xander interrupting them during the Zeffo and that scene in Dopplegangland "Hey Angel looking for Buffy" "As always"