Angel (season 2)

The second season of the television series "Angel", the spin-off of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", premiered on September 26, 2000 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 22, 2001. It maintained its previous timeslot, airing Tuesdays at 9:00 pm ET, following "Buffy".
Season synopsis.
The Angel Investigations team, now in their new headquarters at the Hyperion Hotel, are trying to decipher what Wolfram & Hart raised at the end of season one with the Scrolls of Aberjan. It turns out that it was Darla – now human, ailing and mentally unstable – who is being used by Wolfram & Hart to unhinge Angel by mystically invading his dreams. Darla has been returned in her pre-vampire state, having a soul, but dying from syphilis as she originally was. 
She begs Angel to turn her into a vampire to save her life. He refuses and instead takes part in a dangerous trial, attempting to buy her a second chance. He succeeds, but this fails to help Darla, with her already living a second chance. Moved by his sacrifice, she makes peace with the idea of dying as a human. However, Wolfram & Hart have Drusilla turn her into a vampire in Angel's place. Again soulless, Darla and Drusilla run loose in Los Angeles, and Angel decides to sink to their level in order to defeat them. 
He fires (Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn) and purposefully allows Darla and Drusilla to slaughter the Special Projects division of Wolfram & Hart including Holland Manners. During the massacre, they intentionally leave Lindsey McDonald and Lilah Morgan alive to act as liaisons to Wolfram & Hart. The two lawyers begin competing for the position of head of Special Projects, in fear of losing their jobs. Meanwhile, Angel trains himself to take on Darla and Drusilla. He finds and eliminates a potential demon army they planned to use to destroy Los Angeles, and then violently sets both of them on fire.
Meanwhile, his fired team start their own detective agency. In "Reprise", Angel decides to attack the Senior Partners directly, and attempts to find a way to the Home Office, where they reside. Darla also seeks the Senior Partners, intending to join them. Angel eventually sneaks onto the Wolfram & Hart property and shares an elevator ride with the deceased Holland Manners. Manners tells him the Home Office is simply Earth, instead of Hell, as Angel expected. In despair, Angel sleeps with Darla, hoping to lose his soul, but fails, having an epiphany. He instructs Darla to leave on penalty of death, and seeks out his team, humbly asking to work for them, instead of being their boss. They agree to do so hesitantly. 
They move back into the Hyperion Hotel and Wesley is put in charge of the Agency. As the season progresses, Cordelia changes from her superficial, carefree self to a strong and humble helper of the helpless; Wesley evolves from a bumbling fool into an semi-assertive leader, while Gunn is brought down a notch and bonds further with the team. The group also meets Lorne, a mystical guide who helps people find their way by looking into their souls when they sing karaoke at his nightclub "Caritas". 
Lindsey becomes tired of his life at Wolfram & Hart and, after getting a new hand, shoots up the office and leaves Los Angeles and his rivalry with Angel behind. Lilah is subsequently put in charge of Special Projects. Meanwhile, detective Kate Lockley falls deeper into a state of loneliness and despair which compromises her skills as a detective, forcing the department to fire her. She subsequently overdoses of medication but is saved by Angel. Kate begins to come to terms with the world, and believes some higher power is watching out for her, since Angel was able to enter her apartment to save without an invitation.
Later in the season, Cordelia is accidentally transported to Lorne's home world, Pylea, and the rest of the team follows. In Pylea, the population is ruled by an occult priesthood known as the Covenant, headed by a demon named Silas, and humans are kept as slaves and referred to as "cows". Lorne discovers that his family hates him as they did before. Cordelia, marked as special because of her visions, is made a monarch but is unknowingly just a tool of the priests. Angel can walk in the sun and see his own reflection in this world, but has his demonic side amplified to the point that it threatens to overwhelm his humanity. He also saves the life of a slave girl named Fred, who had been similarly transported there years earlier. 
Gunn and Wesley, acting somewhat as advisors to Cordelia, learn of a connection between the priests and Wolfram & Hart and decide to leave Pylea. They escape but fail to bring Cordelia. Gunn and Wesley eventually join a group of humans planning to rebel against the Covenant and Wesley takes charge of the attack, showing true skills as a leader. Silas is eventually cornered, and Cordelia chops his head off before he can slaughter every slave on Pylea. Cordelia then uses her royal power to free the slaves and declare everyone equal. The gang and Fred return home, but find Willow waiting at the hotel to inform them of Buffy's death.
Crew.
Series creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt served as executive producers, while Greenwalt would serve as the series' showrunner as Whedon was running "Buffy". Whedon didn't write a script for the season, although he did write the stories to "Judgment" and "Happy Anniversary", directed the fourth episode "Untouched" and even acted in the season's penultimate episode as Lorne's dancing cousin Numfar. "Buffy" writer/producer Marti Noxon served as consulting producer, with other "Buffy" writers Jane Espenson, Douglas Petrie and David Fury were asked to write freelance scripts.
Tim Minear (supervising producer, promoted to co-executive producer midseason) and Jim Kouf (consulting producer) were the only writers kept on the staff. Minear ended up writing the most episodes of the season, including important episodes during the Angel/Darla story arc including "Darla", "The Trial", "Reunion", "Reprise" and "Epiphany". "Darla" also counted as Minear's directorial debut. Mere Smith, who was a script coordinator during the first season was promoted to a staff writer, and began writing episodes. Shawn Ryan was hired for the season and also served as a producer.
James A. Contner (also co-producer) directed the highest number of episodes in the second season, directing three episodes. David Greenwalt directed two, including the season finale.
Episodes.
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Crossovers with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
The second season of "Angel" aired along with the fifth season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Both shows retained their timeslots on The WB Television Network, airing on Tuesdays at 9:00 PM ET and 8:00 PM ET respectively.
The "Buffy" episode "Fool for Love" is a companion to the "Angel" episode "Darla". Both episodes feature multiple flashbacks to the history of Spike (James Marsters) and Darla (Julie Benz), shown from their respective viewpoints. Angel (David Boreanaz) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) also appear in both episodes. Both episodes feature the same scene – one from the point of view of Spike and the other from Angel, Darla, and Drusilla.
"Buffy" recurring character Drusilla makes her first present appearance on "Angel" in the episode "The Trial". She returns to Sunnydale in her final present-tense appearance in the episode "Crush".
Angel visits Buffy in the episode "Forever" to comfort her after he learns her mother died.
"Buffy" recurring character Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab) visits L.A. in the episode "Disharmony". Willow (Alyson Hannigan) also appears in the episode in a conversation with Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) over the phone.
Willow comes to L.A. in the season two finale, "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb" to deliver the news to Angel that Buffy had died.
Reception.
The second season won the International Horror Guild Award for Best Television. It was nominated for five Saturn Awards – Best Network Television Series, Best Actor on Television (David Boreanaz), Best Actress on Television (Charisma Carpenter), Best Supporting Actor on Television (Alexis Denisof) and Best Supporting Actress on Television (Juliet Landau).
The Futon Critic named "Reunion" the 20th best episode of 2000. Slayage cited the episode "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" as the greatest episode of the series.
The second season averaged 4.1 million viewers, slightly lower than the fifth season of "Buffy".
DVD release.
"Angel": The Complete Second Season was released on DVD in region 1 on September 2, 2003 and in region 2 on April 15, 2002. The DVD includes all 22 episodes on 6 discs presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Special features on the DVD include two commentary tracks—"Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" by writer Tim Minear and "Over the Rainbow" by director Fred Keller. Scripts for "Darla" and "Disharmony" are included. Featurettes include, "Making up the Monsters", which details the make-up design; "Inside the Agency" is a set tour of various sets; "Stunts" details the choreography of the stunts; and "Season 2 Overview" is a summary of the season featuring interviews with cast and crew members. A photo stills gallery is also included.