10 Best Angel Episodes

Getting a finale right is easier said than done. But Not Fade Away made it look easy, bringing Angel's battle against the Senior Partners to a riveting climax and movingly concluding the journeys of the core characters.

The scenes in which the team used what they believed to be their last day on Earth were defining moments for them all, whether Spike was finally receiving recognition for his poetry or Gunn was finding meaning in acts of kindness. The comfort most of the team found made Wesley's admission that he had nothing left to live for even more painful.

Angel's carefully engineered attack against the Circle of the Black Thorn was utterly compelling, as he and his allies wiped out the Senior Partners' agents in a series of thrilling showdowns. It was all the more powerful for the sacrifices made to secure the victory, as Angel surrendered his possible role in the Shanshu Prophecy, Lorne was forced to kill Lindsey in cold blood, and both Wesley and Gunn were mortally wounded. Wesley's death was unbelievably poignant, as he finally asked Illyria to assume Fred's form and lie to him, and the scene was performed beautifully by Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker.

The episode concluded with the remains of Angel's team facing hopeless odds in the shape of a vast army, but remaining undaunted nonetheless. Symbolising the fact that the struggle for redemption never ends, the show's final moments brought the story to an unforgettable close.