The Buffy/Angelverse Headcanon Season 4: The Fangtastic Four

I felt like I'd seen all of Angel at least once or twice when it was in syndication. It would run back to back with Buffy, and I remembered what I thought were huge chunks of the show. It turns out, I forgot or didn't see entire seasons of the show. And what I remembered as season long story arcs were sometimes only four or five episodes long. 

While we ended up watching all of Buffy and then all of Angel on our 2022/2023 rewatch (that's right I'm writing this from the fyooooootchure), it helped me fill in some major gaps of memory I had. It also showed me that while Buffy was parsed out by one Big Bad per season, Angel was split up the way I liked to split up these seasons: emotional beats.

Season Three was probably the most creative season, as the writers had to make up for the lack of interesting villains. This season focuses mainly on Angel/Angelus and his family of vamps: Darla, Spike, and Drusilla.

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Season Four:
The Fangtastic Four

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Episode 1: Darla
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Spike, Drusilla, Darla, The Master, Lindsey, Holland)

There is a lot of backstory in this episode as Darla was brought back by Wolfram & Hart between seasons, and it's up to Angel to save his fellow vampire with a soul.


Episode 2: The Trial
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Drusilla, Darla, Lindsey, Holland, The Valet)

Darla is dying fom syphilis, so, natch, Angel has to keep her alive. But Wolfram & Hart has other plans.


Episode 3: Reunion
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Kate, Drusilla, Darla, Lindsey, Holland, Lilah)

Whelp, Darla and Drusilla are back to being a pair of superbad vampires with the power to wreck lives. Is Team Angel powerful enough to survive them?


Episode 4: Real Me
(Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Joyce, Anya, Tara, Riley, Dawn, Spike, Harmony)

While Darla & Drusilla reign chaos in LA, Sunnydale has grown calm, so calm that their biggest threat appears to be...Harmony? Things have gotten so chill, they're even letting Buffy's sister Dawn join in on the fun...wait...Buffy has a sister?


Episode 5: No Place Like Home
(Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Joyce, Anya, Tara, Riley, Dawn, Ben, Spike, Glory)

It's the newest biggest bad so far in Buffy history, as Glory shows up. Also, Buffy learns an important secret about her sister, who most Buffyfans Hate.


Episode 6: Family
(Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara, Riley, Dawn, Ben, Spike, Glory, Harmony)

For the first time, we get an episode mostly centered on Tara, whose family tends to go all demony when they reach the age of...ohh...you know...the age Tara is now. Can the Scooby gang prevent the transformation while still fending off Glory?


Episode 7: Fool For Love
(Buffy, Angel, Giles, Willow, Xander, Anya, Joyce, Tara, Riley, Dawn, Ben, Spike, Drusilla, Darla, Harmony)

More backstory and more Darla and Drusilla badassery as Buffy asks Spike to explain how he has previously killed slayers so that she can prevent her own death at the hands of vampires.


Episode 8: Redefinition 
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Drusilla, Darla, Lindsey, Lilah)

Angel fired everyone at the end of the last episode, so the gang must try and figure out their place in the LA demon scene without him. Meanwhile, Angel is still trying to stop Wolfram & Hart's dynamic duo of Darla and Drusilla.


Episode 9: Reprise
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Kate, Darla, Lindsey, Holland, Lilah)

Are they called the Scoobies on Angel? Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn try and run a successful demon hunting business despite a skeptical human populace as Angel goes house on Wolfram & Hart who appear to have been abandoned by Darla & Drusilla.


Episode 10: Epiphany
(Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Kate, Darla, Lindsey)

Team Angel Investigations must work together again as Angel and Darla have done something that is going to seriously destroy the status quo of the Buffyverse.