Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10971 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-03-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 990 minutes

Synopsis
Features every episode from season three of the series about Angel, a vampire attempting to atone for his past sins. With a few close and good-looking friends he opens up Angel Investigations and becomes a vigilante determined to fight the forces of evil, which run rampant in the city streets. Includes: 'Heartthrob', 'That Vision Thing', 'That Old Gang Of Mine', 'Carpe Noctum', 'Fredless', 'Billy', 'Offspring', 'Quickening', 'Lullaby', 'Dad', 'Birthday', 'Provider', 'Waiting In The Wings', 'Couplet', 'Loyalty', 'Sleep Tight', 'Forgiving', 'Double Or Nothing', 'The Price', 'A New World', 'Benediction' and 'Tomorrow'.

Customer Reviews

The peak of Angel's run.
Yep, for me this is definitely the best series of Angel, where all the minor flaws from the first two seasons were ironed out but before the still good but slightly bloated fourth season. This third series represents all of the best things about Angel, and comes out on top in practically every way.

First off, the cast is at its best as all the major players have now arrived, i.e. Angel, Cordy, Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne, making this the first full series with what most people would probably consider the "classic" lineup. The addition of Fred was definitely a good decision (despite what a couple of my friends might say), as she both adds something new to the group (surely the only people who could possibly dislike her are those who enjoy drowning puppies) and shakes up existing relationships, in particular Wesley and Gunn's friendship, and Angel himself is on excellent form, all the brooding having got a bit tiresome in parts of season 2. It's also in this series that Wesley evolves into my favourite character in Buffy or Angel, with a descent into darkness that is both believable (this being vitally important when you consider the rather clownish figure he cut in his early days in Buffy season 3 and even the early seasons of Angel) and genuinely tragic, and has enormous consequences for the rest of the show's run. Cordy, too, shows massive growth as a character in this series, coming to terms with the responsibility of her visions and her mixed feelings towards more than one male character.

Series 3 is also the best series of Angel for both stand-alone episodes and a season-long arc, and for maintaining a perfect balance between the two, a balance which was definitely lost in the plot-heavy (though, as I say, still good) 4th series. This season's main plot arc is once again my favourite out of the 5 seasons (along with the finale of series 5), peaking in some excellent episodes around the middle of the series (Offspring, Quickening, Lullaby, Loyalty and Sleep Tight) and at the season's climax (Benediction and Tomorrow), and is matched by some of the best one-off episodes in the show's run, my favourites being That Old Gang Of Mine, Billy and Waiting In The Wings (written and directed by Joss Whedon).

I hope I've managed to give a good idea of what this series is all about without giving anything too major away, the only thing you really need to know is that if you like Buffy and/or Angel, neither show gets any better than this.

'Life's full of surprises...'
Season three of Angel is usually considered one of the best in its entire run, this is true to an extent. But I think the seasons each improve upon the last in many ways, thus after this season things only get better. I think its fair to say that the show hit its stride in season 3 and its events help to set the cogs in motion for the final two seasons.
'Life's full of surprises', that being the main theme of season 3; when Darla shows up pregnant at the hotel after her little tryst last year with Angel, things get serious. I won't give away the story arc, but the latter half of the season deals with Angel's son Connor and in the earlier part we are introduced to Holtz, the vampire hunter who persued Darla and Angelus back in the 1700's.

With the addition of the quirky scientist 'Fred' to the fang gang and the gradual integration of 'Lorne', this enabled the writers to explore the increasingly complex relationships between the main characters. The writing having greatly improved upon earlier seasons, meant the characters, the small and larger story arcs could progress at a steady compelling pace. Relationships of all kinds take centre stage this season, including the Fred, Wesley, Gunn love triangle and the familial ties that bind father and son. As well as people getting together, there was a fair amount of people and things falling apart.

Consequently, the season finale leaves us with a cliff-hanger leaving us with the unsettling message that great changes are just around the corner... I sorta get the 'where do we go from here?' feeling at the start of season 4, and nothing sets this up like the end of season 3. Ultimately, this season raises a lot of questions; most of the answers will come later, some not at all, but the most important role this season takes is to setup the events that will inevitably cause the circumstances of Angels last two years. Thus this season sets the cogs of fate in motion and delivers one of the series most dramatic and emotional story arcs.

The best episodes of the season include: 'Billy', 'Birthday' in which Cordelia feels the full effects of a human carrying the visions for such a prolonged period. 'Waiting in the Wings', the Joss Whedon penned episode where the fang gang go to the ballet, however the ballet is never complete without some good ole' spooky fun. Other good episodes of the season include: 'Offspring', 'Heartthrob', 'The Price' and 'Loyalty'.
The DVD extras include a few extra scenes from 'Birthday' and 'Waiting in the Wings' and a few commentaries which add some insight into the show, as well as featurettes analysing season 3.

So all in all, well worth buying whether you're new to Angel or not. 10/10

Angel Season 3 - Wesley's dark side
This third season of Angel is by far and away the best of the bunch as it contains many fantastic episodes and we get to see the progression of the Wesley character. Upon till the episode entitled Billy the Wesley character has been mainly for laughs, yet this episode sees him shine as the potential bad guy he can be. This is just the beginning of the downward spiral for his character, as he tries to do what is right he ends up agaist thoughs he has come to respect. The Angel and Wesley confrontations are unmissable. Holtz is fantastic as the avenging father and again his actions could be deemed honourable in some lights. This season shows how the lines can become blurred and it is difficult to work out ehat would be of the greater good.