The Angel Season Summaries includes a tagline, summary, main cast and recurring characters.
Season One
Season One (City Of - To Shanshu In LA)
Angel arrives in LA seeking redemption and learns that it is a rocky path.
Poor Angel is brooding over his choice of leaving Sunnydale and Buffy behind. Now, he's in LA with cool sleeve stake thingies and vampire dusting action. He's soon approached by a Irish demon called Doyle, sent by the Powers That Be to set Angel on the path to redemption. How is works is that Doyle gets nasty explosive visions from the PTB which shows Angel's next damsel-in-distress. Also reluctantly entering in the game is Cordelia from Sunnydale who sets her heart on becoming an actress. She's dragged into the vampire slaying gig too. However, the gang decide to be commercial. Enter Angel Investigations. We'll help the helpless. For a fee.
So while the gang are on their merry way, doing the good guys thing, Angel makes enemies with the big corporate law firm called Wolfram and Hart with nasty lawyers and mojo, both mystical and legal. They're out to get Angel, but discover that they're Senior Partners have big plans for Angel in the Apocalypse. Along with the big WFH, Angel makes nice with a pretty blonde police woman called Kate, who gives Angel the inside legal scoop on cases and stuff.
Meanwhile, poor Doyle is having the major crush on Cordelia but doesn't have the guts to make a move, nor tell her that he's a demon. When he finally does both, the two share their first and final kiss, before Doyle sacrifices himself to become a hero and save Angel, Cordelia and a roomful of persecuted demons. Angel and Cordelia are devastated. Cordelia crankily finds herself inheriting Doyle's mind-numbing treat of explosive visions and becomes Angel's new PTB link.
Handy at the moment, leather-clad and rogue demon hunter-former Watcher Wesley enters the scene. The two work on a case together and eventually end up joining the AI team permanently, no matter reluctant Angel is too lose another partner. Plus, he's good with the books and knowledge stuff. With the new change in cast and AI team, Angel increasingly bumps heads with WFH lawyers Lindsey and Lilah. Meanwhile, Kate finds out that Angel is a vampire. Yes, they exist! Suddenly, the entire world opens up to demons, vampires and monsters. Typically human, she can't handle and trips into becoming a Moulder-like character, blaming Angel for her father's death and whatever else comes along.
With Kate all gone rambo with denial, Angel meets a young group of street vampire hunters head by Gunn, who brings attitude and help to the gang. Meanwhile, Angel nabs the Abjerian Scrolls from WFH. However, before correct decipheration can be done, chaos ensues. WFH is in major works. Cordelia is cursed with never-ending visions. Wesley almost gets blown to bits. Miffed at his friends getting all hurt, Angel interrupts WFH's fancy ritual and does damage, but is too late to stop the ritual or find out what it was about.
Post-chaos, the gang are all better. Wesley finally reads the cryptic scrolls which includes a Shanshu prophecy about the vampire with a soul. It tells that the vampire will go through several apocalypses and trials before getting his reward. He will Shanshu, meaning he will become human. Nice.
Meanwhile, the WFH are checking out their ritual results. Peeking in the ritual box, Lilah sees a familiar face: Darla.
Character Developments:
Angel: The broody vampire finds a job and direction in life.
Cordelia: Ailing actress gets hit with visions.
Doyle: Irish drinker finds the courage to become a hero.
Wesley: Fired Watcher finds a new job and friends.
Love Developments:
Buffy/Angel: Still star-crossed than ever.
Doyle/Cordelia: His crush leads to their first and final kiss before his death.
Cast: DB (Angel), CC (Cordelia), GQ (Doyle), AD (Wesley)
Recurring Characters: Kate, Buffy, Faith, Lindsey, Lilah, Holland.
Season Two
Season Two (Judgement - There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb)
Angel turns dark when Darla returns and Angel Investigations is left in the cold.
Post-Shanshu prophecy, the gang are hyped to doing good. Angel finally gets the guts to hire Gunn on a paid role, so he officially becomes one of the gang. Meanwhile, WFH is tripping over their little resurrection of Darla, who is to say the least majorly miffed at Angel for staking and killing her for that little blond cheerleader what's-her-name Buffy the Vampire Slayer. WFH has big plans for her and want to use her to get to Angel. Meanwhile, Lindsey starts to get the big lurv on Darla.
So, while the AI gang are running around doing the good deeds, Angel starts to have very nice 'dreams' involving Darla who is visiting him at night, seducing him to the dark side. The gang are worried about Angel who is acting distant and broody. More so that usual. Angel starts to act obsessively cuckoo and questions reality, while Darla teases him by appearing in reality then disappearing mysteriously. She's also human.
The gang eventually figure out WFH and Darla's little tricks, but Angel gets even more broody and obsessive over Darla's resurrection. To make matters worse, Darla gets crazy too when she can't handle being human, having a soul and apparently dying of syphilis, just like before she was turned by the Master. She only has a few months to live. Darla pleads Angel to change her, saving her just like she did for him. Angel refuses and tries like hell to find another way to save Darla. But to no avail. Darla soon accepts her fate and is comforted by Angel.
Meanwhile, Lindsey, being the lovesick lawyer, tries to be a knight in shining armor. Enter Drusilla. Next thing you know, Darla the blood-sucking fiend is popping out of the grave, reunited with her 'granddaugther-mother' Drusilla to wreak havoc in LA. Angel is going nuts over losing Darla, which drives the gang nuts with worry over his obsession with her. They're afraid he's losing the mission by being distracted by Darla. They're right. Drusilla and Darla massacre WFH leaving Lilah and Lindsey half-alive. Angel, sick of being a champion, gives them the thumbs up and sacks the AI gang.
While the gang try to pick up the pieces to form a new agency possibly named Chase or Gunn or Wyndham-Price Agency, Angel goes psycho with trying to destroy WFH once and for all, taking a trip to hell but discovers that its home. Ironic much? Drowns in sleeping with Darla. He has an epiphany, saves Kate from herself, and grovels his way back into the AI gang. They agree to take his sorry bum back, but now Wesley is the leader. The gang are majorly miffed at Angel. Meanwhile, Darla takes off.
Under the new leadership of Wesley, the gang follow a new vision from Cordelia which leads to some trans-dimensional mojo and Cordelia's express trip to Lorne's home demon dimension, where she's a cow turned Princess. The gang follow to try and find Cordelia. Once there, the group gets split up. Angel unleashes his demon side and shacks up with crazycave girl, Fred, seen in Cordelia's vision. Gunn and Wesley find themselves in a crusade against the rulers of the dimension. Cordelia is ordered by demon priests to sleep with Gruu, a handsome warrior, but will lose her visions to him. Lorne reunites with his estranged family. After much action, the gang manage to make the dimension a democracy, free from the cow slavery and mean demon priests. Gruu is left in charge while the gang and Fred return to their own dimension.
The gang head back to the hotel. Willow is there with news. It's Buffy.
Character Developments:
Angel: Obsessive brooding leads to the dark side and hitting rock bottom.
Cordelia: Accepts her visions and duty to help the helpless.
Wesley: Gets more suave and promoted to AI leader.
Gunn: Torn between his crew and new job at AI.
Lorne: Reluctantly helps the gang.
Love Developments:
Darla/Angel: Resurrected and human. Turned vampire. Sleep together. Still got soul. Poor Darla.
Cast: DB (Angel), CC (Cordelia), AD (Wesley), JAR (Gunn).
Recurring Characters: Darla, Drusilla, Lindsey, Lilah, Holland, Lorne, Fred.
Season Three
Season Three (Heartthrob)
Darla returns to bear Angel's son who is far from the good.
The gang are holding down the LA fort. Newbie to the gang, Fred, is still a lot crazy and hermity. Meanwhile, Cordelia's visions are getting worse and worse with the exploding pain and all. Eventually, she's on the brink of dying from them. A PTB guide gives her the choice to lose the visions or keep them and become part demon. Cordelia chooses the latter, along with some strange new powers. At the same time, love is in the air! Angel and Cordelia get cosy while Wesley and Gunn both fall for Fred. Sadly, Fred falls for Gunn while at the time becoming more sane and a helpful part of the group. Just as things are nice despite a prophesized incoming horror, Darla pops back...and she's pregnant with Angel's child.
Cordelia is miffed. The gang are shocked by this impossible vampire birth. And so is WFH. Meanwhile, an old enemy Holtz from ages back is revived to seek vengeance on Angelus, now known as Angel. Suddenly everyone is after Angel and Darla's kid. Such a popular kid! The gang soon find out that the child is...human. And a boy. With a soul, which Darla soon feels too. During labor, the child is dying. The gang escape from Holtz into the alley, where Darla, in a moment of redemption, stakes herself to save the child. Pfft...wahhh!
Gruu pops in from Pylea for Cordelia, much to Angel's dismay. Holtz is irked by Angel's soul and this child, now named Conner. He enlists some Slayer-wannabes to help him seek vengeance on Angel. Meanwhile, Angel is having a swell time dealing with being a father. However, Wesley uncovers a disturbingly...brief prophecy: The Father Will Kill The Son. Afraid for Conner, Wesley kidnaps the kid. However, he doesn't get much further. Slayer-wannabe Justice cuts his throat and steals the kid for Holtz who plans to rear the kid up as his own.
Obviously Angel and co. are miffed at Wesley and kick him out of the gang. They run after Holtz just as Sahjan, the demon who revived Holtz, and WFH are there as well. The four parties are locked in a stalemate. Sahjan intends to kill Conner who apparently is a threat to kill. He opens a hell-portal to threaten them, but Holtz shockingly escapes from all 3 parties by high jumping into hell. With Angel's son. The other parties leave satisfied as Angel falls to the floor, shocked and grieving.
Angel goes loco on WFH to try and bring back Conner. Meanwhile, Wesley, all depressed, dark and rugged, discovers that the prophecy was a fake, written by Sahjan to trick him. Poor guy lost his friends for an April's Day joke. Lilah begins to sneak around with Wesley, offering him work at WFH. Back at the hotel, Angel has given up when suddenly a big old portal crackles open. And who pops out, but a 17 yr old Tarzan-like Conner, all grown up and hating dad.
They discover that Conner and Holtz a back, both aged a lot by that nasty time dimensions thing. Conner is mightly mad and hating of Angel, curtesy of Holtz. Conner eventually spends time with Angel and co. However, Holtz stabs himself with and ice pick (ewww) and frames Angel for killing him. Conner is out for blood! He thinks that nasty vampire bit his dear old adopted father. Nasty scheming Conner decides to play it cool for the while and plays the part of Angel's loving son. Meanwhile, Gruu realizes that Cordelia is in love with Angel and leaves. Cordelia and Angel finally decide to reveal their feelings for each other. Finally!
However, Cordelia's caught up in traffic. Frozen traffic. Her PTB guide is here. Apparently, she's been a good girl with her new demon powers and all. Now, they've promoted her from demon to a higher being (like an angel), but she has to go now, without any goodbyes, to the higher plane. Elsewhere, Angel is waiting, nicely dressed, at their meeting spot when Junior shows up and nabs him. Shoves him a box and sinks him to the bottom of an ocean.
Angel and the crew, Wesley, Cordelia, Fred and Gunn are shocked when Darla returns revealing that she has gotten pregnant with Angel's child. She asks for their help. However, Wolfram and Hart and just about any cult is after the baby, born impossibly from two vampires. Angel soon finds that his old enemy, a vampire hunter from his Angelus days who has been reawakened to take vengeance on Angel. The baby, Conner, is born when Darla stakes herself. However, Wesley receives a shocking prophecy that Angel will kill his son. Determined to save Conner, Wesley kidnaps Conner. However, Holtz and is gang steal Conner from Wesley and slits his throat. The crew are shocked by Wesley's betrayal and brush him off. They try to get back Conner but caught in a standoff, Holtz holding Conner jumps through a portal into a hell dimension. Angel is devastate, having lost Conner and fails to get him back. However, Angel and the gang are shocked again when Conner returns with Holtz both aged about 18yrs. Conner has now become a vampire hating boy like his adopted father and is convinced that Angel is evil. Angel is desperate to get Conner back. However, Holtz devises a trap by killing himself with two self-inflicted puncture marks on his neck. Conner sees the mark and is convinced that Angel killed Holtz. Conner pretends that he now wants to live with Angel. Meanwhile, Angel and Cordelia soon realize that they love each other and decide to tell each other. However, Angel is met by Conner who ambushes him, locks him in a cage and sinks him to the bottom of the ocean. Cordelia is stopped by her PTB guide who announces that she's been elevated to a higher plane to become a higher being. Cordelia disappears into a bright light.
Character Developments:
Angel: Becomes a proud papa.
Cordelia: Her PTB positions gets rapidly promoted.
Wesley: Betrays the gang and is abandoned by them.
Gunn: Commits himself to the AI mission.
Lorne: Loses Caritas and shacks up in the hotel.
Fred: Becomes sane and important part of AI.
Conner: Growth sprouts in hell-dimension and comes back with vengeance.
Love Developments:
Angel/Cordelia: Realize they love each other but both meet untimely demise.
Wesley/Fred: He's in love with her but she chooses Gunn.
Gunn/Fred: Their mutual crush leads to falling in love.
Cordelia/Gruu: Gruu realizes that Cordelia loves Angel, not him.
Cast: DB (Angel), CC (Cordelia), AA (Fred), AD (Wesley), JAR (Gunn)
Recurring Characters: Holtz, Gruu, Lorne, Conner, Justine, Darla.
Season Four (Deep Down - Home)
The LA crew back together again to face an Apocalypse of their very own.
Well, this season starts off cheerfully...not. Angel's at the bottom of the sea and Cordelia's bored out of her brains up there. Lorne's gone to showbiz and Fred and Gunn, the happy couple, are babysitting the evil son, Conner, clueless about his betrayal. However, things pick up. Angel is fished out...by Wesley. Conner is kicked onto the street. Lorne is rescued from showbiz and Cordelia returns from up there...with no memory of who she was. Then things go down. Fred and Gunn break up after the two are involved in a nasty murder. Guess, Fred has a darker side than we thought. Wesley puts the moves on Fred and a fight ensues. Cordelia regains her memory but can't deal and shacks up with the Connor, who has a crush on her. The two sleep together and Angel happens to see them...gosh, is he mad!
All the while, an Apocalypse is coming, complete with rain of fire, blocking out the sun and a big nasty Beast that pulverizes the gang. They soon discover that the Beast, like much of their enemies, has a past with Angelus. Angel remembers nothing. In comes one of Wesley's smart plans: let's unsoul Angel! You know from this moment that this gonna be good. Angelus wreaks havoc and his soul is stolen by...Cordelia?! Yes, we learn that our little used-to-be saint is the devil herself. She's the Beast's master! While the gang are running around trying to stop the Beast and discover who its master is, she's been sneaking around stealing souls, hacking Totems and...getting pregnant! With Conner's child. On the sad side, wicked lawyer Lilah is killed by Cordelia. Gonna miss her.
Faith is brought in to chew down Angelus, who just happens to kill the Beast for them, out the evilness of his heart. Cordelia gets him to join her side (still hiding who she really is), but Willow pops by and manages to re-soul Angel. The gang are rejoicing. The Apocalypse is stopped, the Beast is destroyed and Angelus is packed back in where he belongs. Dear, oh, dear, their party is pooped by Cordelia who announces that she's pregnant with Conner's kid. Clearly, this child is some hellspawn and not human. Child of a higher being/demon/PTB link Cordelia and impossible vampire birth from Angel (vampire with soul) and Darla (resurrected human/then vampire) Conner. Darn family lines.
Soon enough the gang discover that Cordelia is evil! Not usual Cordelia-evil but devil-evil! However, she escapes with Conner who is blinded by Cordelia's sweet talk and manipulation. Darla pops by for a cameo to try to talk some sense into that boy but to no avail. Meanwhile, the gang discover from Skip (evil double-agent demon of PTB) that they're entire lives have been set up to this moment, to this birth. The evil being had been dormant inside Cordelia until Lorne's memory spell woke it up. Now, Cordelia is no longer in control. Poor Angel sets out to kill Cordelia, but the nasty hellspawn pops out before they can do anything.
Cordelia is in a coma. An the hellspawn is a beautiful full-grown goddess named Jasmine (who resembles nothing like either Cordelia or Conner) who is out to save the world, hippy style with love and peace. The entire world is under her peace spell, but something is obviously awry with this preachy goddess. Good old Fred is the first to discover when she accidentally mixes her blood with Jasmine's and is now able to see the true Jasmine, a decaying flesh, crawling with maggots goddess. The entire LA is now a pansy flowery city. Fred manages to mix Jasmine's blood with the gang's who are less that happy to be out of lala land.
However, it doesn't have any affect on Conner, who had known all along about Jasmine from the beginning. We soon discover that her big no-no is that she eats people. Soon, the entire gang minus Conner (evil) and Cordelia (coma) are running from its LA citizens and Jasmine. Wesley comes through and discovers that Jasmine popped in from another dimension. Angel pops in there and discovers that to break Jasmine's love over people, he must get her true name. He returns just as Jasmine is about to go global with her love and reveals her name. Soon people are screaming, rioting and chaos ensues. Jasmine is revealed as that maggotty creature. Meanwhile, Conner is off dealing with his own issues. He's majorly depressed and hates his life, which couldn't be solved even with Jasmine's lies. Jasmine turns to daddy for help, but Conner punches a hole in her head killing her before running off to get more depressed.
The gang slack off after their big battles in the hotel, but they have a guest...Lilah?! That's right. She's back just like Holland because her contrast isn't over. Anyway, she's here to offer the gang the opportunity to run the LA branch of WFH, however they like. It seems like the devil's tempting them...so they take it! At the office, its brand spanking new with huge lab for Fred, celebs for Lorne, books for Wesley, big panther for Gunn and a big TV for Angel. They also give him a package about Sunnydale? However, Conner is on the news. Being all depressed and stuff, he's going to blow him, Cordelia (still comaing) and a bunch of people up. Meanwhile, Angel sees this on his new TV and takes Lilah's offer. He rushes down to stop Conner, who he gives an entire new life too. When he returns, Lilah has done what he asked. Angel leaves the gang to check out their offices to go see Conner. But they ask: Conner who? Yup, he's gone, no memory, no existence! New slate. Angel pops by a house, where Conner is obliviously added to a family (like Dawn). He's happy and doesn't remember anything of those past horrible years. Angel is sad but happy for Conner and leaves to Sunnydale.
Character Developments:
Angel: Fights a big Apocalypse to earn the spot of CEO of WFH.
Cordelia: Turns out to be evil. Falls into a coma.
Wesley: Becomes part of the gang again.
Gunn: Secretly murders a guy.
Fred: Secretly murders a guy.
Lorne: Returns to join the gang again.
Conner: Gets majorly depressed but is granted a new life.
Love Developments:
Cordelia/Angel: She returns but falls into Conner's arms. Angel is angry at her betrayal.
Cordelia/Conner: Conner has a crush on her. The two regrettably sleep together and spawn evil.
Gunn/Fred: The horror of murdering a man breaks the two up.
Wesley/Fred: Wesley's still in love with Fred, making both Lilah and Gunn jealous.
Wesley/Lilah: Lilah's in love with him. When she's killed, he genuinely grieves and tries, but to no avail, to burn her contract with WFH.
Cast: DB (Angel), CC (Cordelia), AA (Fred), AD (Wesley), JAR (Gunn), VC (Conner) and AH (Lorne)
Recurring Characters: Gwen, Faith, Willow, Lilah, Gavin, Jasmine, The Beast.