Angel: 5x22 Full Reaction
Added 2025-12-10 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
Comments
I'm with you regarding the comics. I'm not into comics, so I've never read any of the ones from the Buffyverse and I never plan to. I prefer to have my own head canon for what happened after each show. Regarding the last battle the show ended on, here's how it went. Keep in mind, first of all, Angel is at super strength. He still has the power of Marcus' blood flowing though him. He manages to commandeer the dragon and take control of it, riding on its back. He then uses the dragon to begin scorching Hell's minions, all the while having Spike and Illyria pulverize brutes left and right on the ground. Charles does what he can, but he's pretty beat up, so he hangs back, taking out who he can. It's a long, arduous battle, but ultimately the forces of hell begin to overwhelm Angel and his team. They've fought a good fight, slain many demons, but there are just too many of them. Just when hell's army is closing in for the kill, another battle cry sounds off in the distance. Something else not shown in the episode is, Angel managed to get into contact with Buffy and Giles and inform them of his plan. Though reluctant at first, at length they agree to help him once they realize team Angel really was still on their side all along. An army of slayers materializes from behind hell's army, swords and pikes at the ready, gleaming in the moonlight. They charge and plunge their blades into the hearts of maddened beasts, they slash the Achilles' tendons of giants, bringing them down and finishing them off. From atop buildings fly down projectiles shot from crossbows, plucking off demons one by one, a deadly rain of medieval missiles that puncture skulls and wound hearts. Recognizing this new threat, hell's army regroups and begins to charge in the slayers' direction. However, Willow appears at the right hand of the slayers and puts up a mystical barrier. The demons can't get through and are maddened into a frenzy as arrows continue raining down on them. Being maddened beyond reason, some of them begin attacking each other, tearing themselves apart limb from limb. Taking advantage of this new development, Angel, still atop his dragon, Illyria, Spike, Gunn, and the slayers close in, having reversed the odds, and finish off hell's army. Meanwhile, Willow uses her magic to close hell's gate so that no more reinforcements can come through. Team Angel and the Army of Buffy are victorious, having struck a significant blow to hell itself and having been reunited in the end. So.... something like that, anyway. Bottom line is, they all kick ass in the final battle.
Steve Quast
2025-12-18 03:38:18 +0000 UTCAnother great Buffyverse Reaction. Many fans were left with this feeling which led Joss Whedon and other writers to do a comic continuations that he said is canon - Angel: After the Fall and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seasons 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. If you're interested on seeing where the characters go from here, there's a route. However, the upcoming show is doing their own thing I believe.
Cody
2025-12-18 02:52:20 +0000 UTCI have the belief that Wesley is with Fred in the afterlife because no demon can destroy the human soul. I’m not getting religious none of that stuff. I’m just saying I don’t believe Illyria destroyed Fred’s soul like Spike said way back on Buffy. That’s just tough guy talk. Demons love to talk tough. The soul is eternal. The soul is undying. No demon can destroy the soul. Wesley and Fred are together in paradise. In my humble opinion.
Sam Alexander
2025-12-13 02:53:50 +0000 UTCThe show runner said they wanted the angel cast to go out fighting like the battle never ends. I don’t really like that explanation. I would’ve rather had at least a little bit of a conclusion to the story.
Sam Alexander
2025-12-13 02:47:06 +0000 UTCThe Shanshu was always a red herring, and even at times a detriment, to Angel's character arc. The entire thesis of the show isn't fighting for good because of a reward, or for fame, or for some arbitrary definition of redemption. TRUE WHOLISTIC ALTRUISTIC redemption comes from doing what is right because it is the right thing to do, and fighting to do what is right in the face of evil. It was never about Angel becoming a human, or winning his penance, or successfully becoming human again. They postponed the apocalypse because it's the right thing to do, and they went out on their shields as true heroes. It's my favorite episode of any TV series ever and the best series finale I've ever seen. It's the perfect thematic encapsulation of the entire series and the main character all wrapped up in 43 minutes.
paul canedo
2025-12-12 05:21:45 +0000 UTCWhat always guts me is how sad and broken Lorne is at the end.
Jared Wiltshire
2025-12-11 23:32:45 +0000 UTCI had mixed feelings about this finale when it aired, but I came to really like it. It's a very journey before destination type message. The fact is that good cannot ever completely triumph over evil. There will always be evil. That's been a running theme of the whole show. So then what does it mean to be a hero? Is it always winning? No. What defines a hero is the fact that they never give up. Never stop fighting. Never stop trying to push back the darkness even though they know that they can never stop it completely. And in that light, I'd say our heroes acquitted themselves well. From what I've heard, this was always the intended end of the series. They just wanted another season to play it out. Imagine the whole Angel corruption storyline and the secret plan to eliminate the Senior Partners' agents on Earth spread out over a whole season instead of 2 1/2 episodes. I think it would have been pretty great.
R. Chang
2025-12-11 15:40:55 +0000 UTCThey did have more planned for season 5 and beyond but at some point during the season they knew they were not being renewed so they pivoted from some of the planned season 5 plot and compressed ideas from the next season into the back half of season 5. Its part of what makes it so good, most of the episodes really get an injection of season arc plot. The end did feel sudden and deflating at the time.
The Testimony of Mushroom
2025-12-11 10:36:33 +0000 UTCWe do get an answer, the episode tells us several times. They all die in the alley. But that's not the important part. The important part is that they keep on fighting. And yes, ignore the comics.
Henry McFadyen
2025-12-11 03:50:42 +0000 UTCThis is probably my favourite series finale of basically any show ever. I think it's pretty much perfect. They shook the pillars of hell, and they went down swinging.
Arlo Murphy
2025-12-11 02:52:16 +0000 UTC
