In the third series of Angel the titular vampire with a soul was forced to stand alone thanks to the (temporary) death of his beloved Buffy and her show's move to a new network, with no crossover between the two allowed. He returns from seeking peace in a demon-haunted monastery to find the LA Angel Investigations team fighting supernatural crime in his absence. Fred is still haunted by the nightmare dimension from which they rescued her; Cordelia's visions get ever more painful and debilitating. The schemes of the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart become every more imaginative and dragon lady Lilah Morgan becomes even more of an enemy when lusting after Angel. Unbelievably, Darla, Angel's vampire sire and lover, turns up, pregnant with his child and is tortured by inexplicable motherly feelings as well as a raging thirst for human blood.

For a few episodes things go pretty well--but Angel's enemies, both those he has made in his quest for redemption and those he made when he was unadulterated evil, are still out there. Stephanie Romanov comes into her silky own in this series, making Lilah Morgan all the more seductively evil because she is clear about the choices she has made; the satanic law-firm of Wolfram and Hart are this show's most inspired creation. As the series moves to its close, Wesley (Alexis Denisof) has hard choices to make. The devastating climax is compulsive viewing and this series also contains one of the most impressive single episodes of the entire show: in "Waiting in the Wings" writer, director and creator Joss Whedon comes up with a classic ghost story as Angel and his crew go to the ballet and find a performance that is literally timeless.

On the DVD: Angel, Series 3 DVD box set is generously stocked with extra features--a season overview, commentaries on three episodes, a documentary on the way scripts are transferred to screen, and an overview of the story of the doomed vampire Darla. Of especial interest to fans are two deleted scenes--one from the ballet episode "Waiting in the Wings", in which Amy Acker (Fred) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley) dance a pas de deux at once touching and hilarious, and the other a hilarious scene from "Cordy", the cute situation comedy in which Cordelia stars in an alternate universe. --Roz Kaveney

if this were a book, i would say "i couldn't put it down." But, as it's not a book, it's a DVD, I now say "Wow, what a great series. In fact, it is so good that I am reviewing it without even having watched the whole thing!" I would say that Billy is one of the best episodes, but others do come close.

Being stupid and unable to resist the temptation of series 5, I watched that before series 3 (but after 1 & 2). I now understand some of what went on in series 5 (it being the best ever series with such great episodes such as the one where one of the main characters dies and becomes another main character for the rest of the series - hope im not giving too much away, but for those who know which episode that is, i would say it is the best ever episode.) Anyway, im rambling.

To conclude - great series (so far) cant wait for series 4 and then series 5 (woo hoo - series 5 is great)

I'm someone who has season 2 on Video and saw the final season five on Sky One this year. I bought this (from America 'cos it's far cheaper even with the ??8 customs import charge) as I knew I'd missed some episodes of season 3 and especially season 4. I was in for a pleasant surprise because I found that I had missed a lot more of season 3 than I thought and I have to say this series is absolutely brilliant in the majority of episodes. Roll on the end of the month when I can afford to order series 4. Great stuff.

Please ignore comments made claiming that Angel has got worse since season 1, that is simply ridiculous. I have just finished watching the season 5 finale (sadly the last ever episode) and what a brilliant end for the show it was. As I look back on the five years it becomes clear that it was Season 3 where Angel really grabbed me, it was in this series that the show really found it's voice. Series 1 seems infantile by comparrison with its 'monster of the week' format and limited emotional depth. Series 3 also saw the inclusion of the wonderful Fred and saw Lorne take a welcome larger role. In short Season 3 of Angel shows us what a TV show at the top of it's game is capable of, well worth a spot on your DVD collection.

This is one of the most popular seasons of Angel, in my opinion it's not as good as season 4 but it's still got incredible storylines.
A lot changes this season, this is when the show starts becoming a bit more like Buffy The Vampire Slayer show. There are more characters, big bads, longer running storylines and big finales.
Angel, Cordy, Wesley, Lorne, Gunn and new character Fred face big problems this season when Darla shows up again, heavily pregnant with Angel's child! This is impossible...isn't it? What sounds even more impossible is that the baby, spawned by two vampires, is a regular human boy. But that baby boy is wanted by everyone, demons everyweher, as well as some of Angel's old rivals from the past, who come back to steal him.
The fist half of the season is great fun, and seems a lot more upbeat that the previous seasons. Angel smiles at least ONCE in every episode! And he wears...white. He's a daddy. But then, throughout the second half of the season, things get very, very, dark. It slowly starts setting up storylines to be unfolded in the darkest season of all, season 4. The characters all change a develop in this series. Most of all though, the brilliant Wesley Wyndom Price. This is when he undergoes a huge change in character, halfway through the series, and will never be the same again.
The finale ends on a massive cliff hanger, as apposed to a happy defeating of the big bads, so after watching this you'll have to get season 4 to see how the whole storyline concludes. But this is a must see. Great villians, such as Holtz, Lilah, Sahjahn and Justine. But also great new characters like Skip and Connor.
The best episode of the season has to be "Billy" which is near the beginning. it's a terrifying stand-alone Halloween special where we get a glimpse of Wesley's dark side which comes later in the series.

Season 3 saw many big changes for Angel: the focus of his love changed from Buffy to Cordelia and he got a son - Connor - from his old flame Darla. But I think that one of the best things about this season is the fact that Angel isn't the only one with an important character arc.

Cordelia continues her journey to sainthood by being brave with the visions and incredibly supportive (for the most part) of Angel in his times of need, but this is really Wesley's season. Poor Wes spends a large part of this season trying to figure out the links between an ancient prophesy and Angel. This leads him to kidnap Connor away from Angel with disastrous consequences for all concerned. By the end of the Season, Wes is utterly alienated from his friends, is quite literally sleeping with the enemy and is in an altogether much darker place than he was at the season opener. Alexis Denisof does a wonderful job.

Overall an excellent season with good stories/arcs and strong performances from the leads.