Angel: Season 03 (2001)

If Angel's second season explored a darker tone and longer story lines with varying degrees of critical and ratings success, its third season could almost be regarded as the beginning of a single, two-year narrative. Individual episodes focused on new characters such as super-scientist Fred (Amy Acker), who became a key player at Angel Investigations; established characters such as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), whose very life was threatened by her supernatural visions; and the title character himself (David Boreanaz), who had to deal with the death and resurrection of yet another of his ex-girlfriends. But with parent show Buffy the Vampire Slayer having defected from the WB network to rival UPN, Angel was no longer part of a two-hour Tuesday "Buffyverse" block. Crossover-free, it became its own show, and two words sum up its newfound independence: Darla's pregnancy. The return of Angel's vampire paramour (Julie Benz), pregnant with Angel's human son, set the stage for the show's entire third and fourth seasons. Darla once again received a shot at redemption. Angel was suddenly cast into a new role, that of father and protector. Manipulated into betrayal, Wesley (Alexis Denisof) became a pariah and took up with evil lawyer Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov). Angel's son, Connor (Vincent Kartheiser), was kidnapped to a hell dimension by vengeful vampire hunter Holtz (Keith Szarabajka) only to return, mere weeks later, fully grown and with a chip on his shoulder. By the end of the third season, the characters had scattered: Angel was trapped in a watery tomb, the victim of his son's betrayal; Cordelia had ascended to a higher plane to serve The Powers That Be; and Lorne (Andy Hallett) had skipped town for a gig in Vegas. That left lovebirds Gunn (J. August Richards) and Fred (Amy Acker) to wonder what would become of Angel Investigations -- a question that would be answered over the course of the entire fourth season. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi