The fourth season of the television series '' Angel'', the spin-off of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'', premiered on October 6, 2002, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 7, 2003. The season aired in a new timeslot, Sundays at 9:00 pm ET, and then relocated to Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with "

Habeas Corpses ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

Cast and characters

Main cast

* David Boreanaz as Angel * Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase *

J. August Richards Jaime Augusto Richards III (born August 28, 1973), commonly known as J. August Richards, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Charles Gunn on The WB television series ''Angel'' and Mike Peterson on '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D ...

as Charles Gunn *

Amy Acker Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Winifred Burkle and Illyria on the supernatural drama series ''Angel'' (2001–2004), as Kelly Peyton on the action drama series ''Alias'' (2005 ...

as Winifred "Fred" Burkle *

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...

as Connor * Andy Hallett as Lorne * Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce

Recurring cast

* Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan * Vladimir Kulich as The Beast * Gina Torres as

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

Alexa Davalos Alexa Davalos Dunas (born May 28, 1982) is an American actress. Her early role as Gwen Raiden on the fourth season of the TV series '' Angel'' (2002–03) was followed by some Hollywood films, including '' The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004), '' ...

Gwen Raiden This article features minor fictional characters who appear as guest stars on the television program ''Angel'', ordered alphabetically. For the show's main characters, please see the article list of ''Angel'' characters. A Alonna Gunn Alonna ...

* Eliza Dushku as Faith * Daniel Dae Kim as Gavin Park

Guest cast

* Julie Benz as Darla * David Denman as Skip * Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg * Laurel Holloman as Justine Cooper * John Rubinstein as

Linwood Murrow This article features minor fictional characters who appear as guest stars on the television program ''Angel'', ordered alphabetically. For the show's main characters, please see the article list of ''Angel'' characters. A Alonna Gunn Alonna ...

Jonathan M. Woodward Jonathan Mark Woodward (born November 20, 1973) is an American actor. He is the younger of two sons of an architect and a literacy teacher. He is a graduate of New York University at the Experimental Theatre Wing, 1998. He performed with Big D ...

as Knox

Crew

Series creator

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

remained as the sole executive producer of the show after David Greenwalt left at the end of season three to produce the ABC series '' Miracles'' after his contract with 20th Century Fox was up. He stayed on as a consulting producer for the remainder of the series. At the start of the season,

David Simkins David Simkins is an American screenwriter and television producer. His first produced screenplay was for the film ''Adventures in Babysitting'' in 1987. He has written for and produced television shows such as '' Charmed'', '' Blade: The Series'' ...

was made

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

and executive producer, but after three months, he left the show due to "creative differences" and is not credited in any episodes. Jeffrey Bell was promoted to co-executive producer and assumed the role of showrunner for the season. Tim Minear also left the series to run Whedon's new series ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' but, like Greenwalt, stayed on as a consulting producer, and wrote and directed the season finale "

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

". Whedon would write and direct only one episode of the season, " Spin the Bottle", because of his commitments to the first season of ''Firefly'' and the final season of ''

''.

Steven S. DeKnight Steven S. DeKnight (born October 28, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the Starz series ''Spartacus'', including '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', '' Spartacus: Gods of th ...

, who had written for ''Buffy'' during seasons five and six, moved over to ''Angel'' where he stayed for the remainder of the show's run. He wrote or co-wrote six episodes of the season, including the season premiere and also directed his debut episode; "

Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: *Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...

". ''Buffy'' writer-producer David Fury joined as a consulting producer (taking over Marti Noxon's role) and ended up writing four episodes. Mere Smith was promoted to executive story editor and wrote or co-wrote four episodes.

Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are American television screenwriters and producers, mostly working together as partners. They have also written two young adult fiction novels together. Craft and Fain are from Kansas City, Missouri, and wrote thei ...

joined the show as staff writers and wrote or co-wrote five episodes. ''Firefly'' writer Ben Edlund was hired as a producer towards the end of the season, following the cancellation of ''Firefly''.

Episodes

Reception

The fourth season was nominated for five

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

s – Best Network Television Series, Best Actress in a Television Series ( Charisma Carpenter), Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series ( Alexis Denisof), Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series (

), and David Boreanaz won for Best Actor in a Television Series. The season was also nominated for four Satellite Awards – David Boreanaz for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, Andy Hallett for Best Supporting Actor – Television Series Drama, and Amy Acker and Gina Torres both for Best Supporting Actress – Television Series Drama. The Futon Critic named " Spin the Bottle" the 33rd best episode of 2002 and " Peace Out" the 25th best episode of 2003. The fourth season averaged 3.7 million viewers, slightly lower than the seventh and final season of ''Buffy''.

DVD release

''Angel'': The Complete Fourth Season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 7, 2004 and in region 2 on April 1, 2004. The DVD includes all 22 episodes on 6 discs presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Special features on the DVD include seven commentary tracks—"The House Always Wins" by writer David Fury and actor Andy Hallett; "Spin the Bottle" by writer/director

and actor Alexis Denisof; "Apocalypse, Nowish" by writer

and director Vern Gillum; "Orpheus" by co-executive producer Jeffrey Bell and director Terrence O'Hara; "Inside Out" by writer/director Steven S. DeKnight; "The Magic Bullet" by writer/director Jeffrey Bell; and "Home" by writer/director Tim Minear. Featurettes include, "''Angel'' and the Apocalypse", which details how they depicted the apocalypse on the show; "Unplugged: Season 4 Outtakes", a series of outtakes from the season; "Last Looks: The Hyperion Hotel", a set tour of the Hyperion Hotel; "Fatal Beauty and the Beast", a look at the villains of the season; "Malice in Wonderland: Wolfram & Hart", a look at the law firm and its importance in the show; and "Prophecies: Season 4 Overview", a summary of the season featuring interviews with cast and crew members.

References

External links

* Angel (1999 TV series) 2002 American television seasons 2003 American television seasons {{DEFAULTSORT:Angel Season 4