Angel season 4
The fourth season of the television series Angel, the spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered on October 6, 2002, on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 7, 2003. The season aired in a new timeslot, Sundays at 9:00 pm ET, and then relocated to Wednesdays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with "Habeas Corpses".
Cast and characters
Main cast
- David Boreanaz as Angel
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- J. August Richards as Charles Gunn
- Amy Acker as Winifred "Fred" Burkle
- Vincent Kartheiser as Connor
- Andy Hallett as Lorne
- Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
Recurring cast
- Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan
- Vladimir Kulich as The Beast
- Gina Torres as Jasmine
- Alexa Davalos as Gwen Raiden
- Eliza Dushku as Faith
- Daniel Dae Kim as Gavin Park
Guest cast
- Julie Benz as Darla
- David Denman as Skip
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Laurel Holloman as Justine Cooper
- John Rubinstein as Linwood Murrow
- Jonathan M. Woodward as Knox
Crew
Series creator Joss Whedon remained as the sole executive producer of the show after David Greenwalt left at the end of season three to produce the ABC series Miracles after his contract with 20th Century Fox was up. He stayed on as a consulting producer for the remainder of the series. At the start of the season, David Simkins was made showrunner and executive producer, but after three months, he left the show due to "creative differences" and is not credited in any episodes. Jeffrey Bell was promoted to co-executive producer and assumed the role of showrunner for the season. Tim Minear also left the series to run Whedon's new series Firefly but, like Greenwalt, stayed on as a consulting producer, and wrote and directed the season finale "Home". Whedon would write and direct only one episode of the season, "Spin the Bottle", because of his commitments to the first season of Firefly and the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Steven S. DeKnight, who had written for Buffy during seasons five and six, moved over to Angel where he stayed for the remainder of the show's run. He wrote or co-wrote six episodes of the season, including the season premiere and also directed his debut episode; "Inside Out". Buffy writer-producer David Fury joined as a consulting producer and ended up writing four episodes. Mere Smith was promoted to executive story editor and wrote or co-wrote four episodes. Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain joined the show as staff writers and wrote or co-wrote five episodes. Firefly writer Ben Edlund was hired as a producer towards the end of the season, following the cancellation of Firefly.
Episodes
Reception
The fourth season was nominated for five Saturn Awards – Best Network Television Series, Best Actress in a Television Series, Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, and David Boreanaz won for Best Actor in a Television Series. The season was also nominated for four Satellite Awards – David Boreanaz for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, Andy Hallett for Best Supporting Actor – Television Series Drama, and Amy Acker and Gina Torres both for Best Supporting Actress – Television Series Drama.The Futon Critic named "Spin the Bottle" the 33rd best episode of 2002 and "Peace Out" the 25th best episode of 2003.
The fourth season averaged 3.7 million viewers, slightly lower than the seventh and final season of Buffy.