world's greatest cruises episodes

World's Greatest Cruises

Episode 10: Danube History and Innovation

Episode 9: Rhone River of Wine

Episode 8: Danube Culinary Central Europe

Episode 7: Going 'Dutch' in the Caribbean

Episode 6: French Canada

Episode 5: Alaska Gold Rush

Episode 4: Scandinavia & Scotland

Episode 3: Rhythms of South America

Episode 2: Alaska Seafood & Wildlife

Episode 1: Rhone Culinary France

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World's Greatest Cruises Season 1 Episodes

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Celebrating the modern-day cruising lifestyle that has grown popular, with its destinations and traditions.

Season 1 Episode Guide

10 Episodes 2022 - 2022

Rhone Culinary France

Mon, Jun 6, 2022 30 mins

Sailing down the South of France on the Rhone River; making olive oil; visiting the market at Avignon.

Alaska Seafood and Wildlife

Mon, Apr 4, 2022 30 mins

A coastal cruise along the coast of Alaska, taking in its north pacific seaside scenery, wildlife sightings and seafood treats.

Rhythms of South America

Mon, Apr 11, 2022 30 mins

The luxurious cruise sails through several exotic places for the passengers to explore. They are amazed by the colorful culture and delicious cuisines each country has.

Scandinavia and Scotland

Mon, Apr 18, 2022 30 mins

The Danube flows through more countries than any other river in the world, and this river cruise visits three.

Alaska Goldrush

Mon, May 2, 2022 30 mins

Exploring Alaska and riding the train to Yukon; A look into the life during the gold rush-era brothel; and more.

French Canada

Mon, May 9, 2022 30 mins

Cruising back in time to 1898, the year of the Yukon-Klondike Goldrush. The cruise goes to the Pacific Northwest coast, starting in Vancouver, and ending in Alaska.

Going 'Dutch' in the Caribbean

Mon, May 16, 2022 30 mins

Lynn Elmhirst sails the Caribbean onboard a ship that connects the Netherlands and 'New Amsterdam.'

Danube Culinary Central Europe

Mon, Jul 25, 2022 30 mins

Lynn Elmhirst indulges in the tastes of Central Europe on a Danube river cruise, from traditional, Oktoberfest-style morning brunch in Germany, to the recipe for the oldest cake in the world, to the famous wines of Austria's scenic Wachauvalley, balanced by cycling from the ship along the river and tasting the waters in Budapest.

Rhone River of Wine

Lynn Elmhirst discovers the wines of a Rhone river cruise and a post-cruise extension in Champagne. She learns the secrets of the Rhone river's influence on wine, meets the maker of one of the last family-owned champagne houses, and tastes the sparkling wine in one of the most unusual tasting bars in the region: in the tree tops.

Danube History and Innovation

Mon, May 30, 2022 30 mins

Discovering the culture and the history of some of the countries along the fabled Danube river.

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World's Greatest Cruises

Season 1: World's Greatest Cruises

Hosted and produced by award-winning travel journalist and cruise expert Lynn Elmhirst, World’s Greatest Cruises celebrates the romantic traditions, fascinating ships, and transformative destinations of modern-day cruising - a style of travel that continues to grow in popularity.

Danube History and Innovation

Ep10 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst explores a river of abbeys and castles, cowboys and a museum of the future.

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Rhone River of Wine

Ep9 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst meets Makers and sips wine from the riverbank to the treetops of Champagne!

Danube Culinary Central Europe

Ep8 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst tries the oldest cake recipe, local wine, healing waters, riverside cycling.

Going 'Dutch' in the Caribbean

Ep7 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst yachts, rides horses on a private island and helps out ship operations.

French Canada

Ep6 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst cruises to discover upcycled fur, markets, and the world’s highest tides.

Alaska Goldrush

Ep5 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst cruises to bygone days, with trains, brothels, and a classic cruise dish.

Scandinavia and Scotland

Ep4 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst sails the North Sea discovering Vikings, highlands and Edinburgh’s Tattoo.

Rhythms of South America

Ep3 | 25m 17s

From Argentina to Brazil, Lynn Elmhirst finds new takes on tango, Carnival and cruise ship

Alaska Seafood and Wildlife

Ep2 | 25m 17s

Lynn Elmhirst cruises in search of whales and bears, crab feasts and salmon delicacies.

Rhone Culinary France

Ep1 | 25m 17s

On a river cruise in France, Lynn Elmhirst meets Makers of olive oil, truffles, and wine.

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The world is full of inspiring places just waiting to be discovered and explored. This new, epic series goes on a timeless journey around the planet, revealing the world’s greatest cities, natural wonders, animal encounters, journeys and adventures, monuments, and islands.

NEW: World’s Greatest Natural Icons Over the course of six episodes, this series explores the World’s Greatest Natural Icons. The icons are as different as the forces that created them, from exploding volcanoes to phosphorescent reefs, from snaking rivers to infinite ice sheets, from burning deserts to abyssal fjords. In turn, these natural wonders shape the evolution of all life. 6×52

NEW: World’s Greatest Engineering Icons The world is full of extraordinary buildings that soar and inspire; monumental marvels that have become cornerstones of our heritage and culture. This series explores The Great Pyramid of Giza, Angkor Wat, Stonehenge, The Acropolis, The Colosseum, Petra, The Forbidden City, Red Square, Buckingham Palace, The Eiffel Tower, Burj Khalifa and more. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Cities This series circles the globe on a quest to discover the beating heart—and seething underbelly—of the world’s most extraordinary cities, venturing through the grandest old capitals and most modern metropolises on the planet. World’s Greatest: Cities travels to Venice and New York, Hollywood and Bollywood, Cairo, Jaipur, Jerusalem, Rio and more. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Natural Wonders From Africa’s great savannah lands to the active volcano on Tanna; from Mt. Everest to the Great Barrier Reef; from Croatia’s lush forests and jaw-dropping waterfalls to America’s iconic Grand Canyon, this series is set to inspire nature lovers the world over. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Animal Encounters This extraordinary 6-part series reveals the best places on the planet to encounter the world’s wildest animals. Discover where killer whales cruise the coastlines and grizzlies catch fish in the wild; trek deep into the jungle to meet silver-backed gorillas and embark on an African safari. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Journeys World’s Greatest: Journeys  travels along Route 66, follows the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti, choppers over the Grand Canyon, rattles through the Rocky Mountains and sails to Antarctica. The series also takes a more adventurous route around the globe, seeking out the best places for walking, trekking, skiing, diving, surfing, riding, cycling and paddling. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Man Made Wonders A celebration of human endeavor through the ages, this series ventures to Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Tikal, Petra, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty, the London Eye and more. 6×52

World’s Greatest: Islands The six episodes celebrate the uniqueness of islands in all their isolated glory, looking at how they are formed, and what makes life in each place so extraordinary. Join us as we uncover the history and exquisite beauty of the greatest islands in the world: the Galapagos, Hawaii, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe, Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, the Maldives, Torres Strait, Tanna, Greenland, Komodo and more. 6×52

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I sailed on Royal Caribbean's 2 largest cruise ships. They were shockingly similar for the $1,000 difference

• Royal Caribbean operates many of the cruise industry's biggest ships.
• Icon of the Seas  launched in January, dethroning its predecessor, Wonder of the Seas, as the world's largest.
• Here's how the two mega-ships compare in size, neighborhoods, amenities, dining, cabins, and costs.

Icon of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's new mega-cruise ship darling, was deemed a success before it was even built.

In January, the highly anticipated vessel — complete with more than 40 bars and restaurants, a six-slide waterpark, and a waterfall — set sail, dethroning its less than two-year-old precursor, the Wonder of the Seas , as the world's largest cruise ship.

Before its debut, Michael Bayley, the president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, had already repeatedly called Icon its "best-selling product" yet. The company experienced its largest booking day ever when reservations opened for Icon of the Seas more than a year before its launch, it said

Despite all of this fanfare, you might be surprised by how similar it is to its predecessor.

I've sailed on both ships. Let's see how Icon and Wonder compare in six categories: size, neighborhoods, amenities, dining, cabins, and costs.

Both ships stunt the size of their competitors.

Wonder of the Seas debuted in 2022 as the then-world's largest cruise liner, measuring 235,600 gross-tons, 1,188 feet-long, and 18 decks-tall. The ship can accommodate up to 9,288 people, including 2,204 crew.

Icon of the Seas is, comparatively, 13,063 gross-tons heavier, eight feet longer, and two decks taller. It can sail up to 9,950 people, including 2,350 crew, although it's 52 feet less wide than its predecessor.

Both vessels feel more like amusement parks than traditional cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean invited me on complimentary, non-revenue sailings on both ships: two nights on Wonder in late 2022 and three nights on Icon in January.

I spent most of my time lost, overwhelmed, and exhausted.

It's no surprise both ships are operating weeklong itineraries this year. Any less, and you might not have time to experience all the activities and restaurants on your list.

Like other Royal Caribbean ships, Wonder and Icon have eight 'neighborhoods' that serve separate purposes.

The new ship shares three of Wonder of the Seas' neighborhoods : Central Park, Royal Promenade, and Suite.

Icon's other five — Thrill Island , Surfside, Hideaway, Chill Island, and AquaDome — are a first for the cruise line.

Many of the ships' amenities overlap, but in differing quantities.

Wonder has three waterslides. Icon has a six-slide waterpark complete with rafting and racing options.

Both have increasingly popular cruise amenities like decks-long dry slides, mini-golf courses, rock climbing walls, and playgrounds.

But instead of Wonder of the Seas' zipline , Icon of the Seas has Crown's Edge, a thrilling agility course with a small zipline that leaves travelers dangling 154 feet above the ocean.

Wonder’s Boardwalk neighborhood was my go-to.

Boardwalk delivered exactly as it had promised: an open-air space grounded by wood-planked floors, a hot dog stand, a sweets store, and kitschy, colorful decor.

Icon of the Seas' Surfside , designed for families with young children, felt like its closest dupe.

Both neighborhoods had a carousel, an outdoor playground, and family-friendly dining. But Surfside was more toddler-friendly, as suggested by the children's water play area and nighttime story readings.

On to entertainment: Both mega-ships have ice skating performances and exciting multi-disciplinary shows at the AquaTheater.

But travelers who enjoy musicals at sea will want to stick to Icon.

Unlike its predecessor, the new ship shows a rendition of Broadway hit "The Wizard of Oz" — Munchkins, a puppet Toto, and a 16-piece live band included.

The layout of Icon's amenities were better than its cousin.

Some of Wonder of the Seas' enticing outdoor amenities — like the surf simulator, zipline, and mini-golf course — are clustered on the deck above and away from the pools and water slides.

This layout might be difficult for parents with children who bounce from one activity to the next. Wouldn't it be easier to have all of these outdoor extras near each other, or at least on the same deck, for parental supervision purposes?

This is where Icon of the Seas excelled: All its exciting open-air activities were adjacent.

The rows of pools flowed perfectly into Thrill Island's waterpark , rock climbing walls, mini-golf course, and Crown's Edge.

The best part? The adult-only Hideaway — which flexes an infinity pool club with a DJ — is right behind Thrill Island, creating a clear separation between parents and their children without being too far from each other.

'Free' options like the buffet and build-your-own tacos and burritos bar are available on both ships.

But you won't find the larger vessel's five-stall food hall or mini-golf-adjacent finger food stand on Wonder.

As expected, Icon of the Seas has more dining options than its predecessor, although there are some overlaps.

Wonder of the Seas has 11 bars and 21 dining venues (9 complimentary and 12 upcharged).

Icon of the Seas has eight more bars, four more complimentary restaurants, and three more specialty dining choices.

Nor will you find the new ship’s plush $200-a-person Empire Supper Club on any other cruise liner.

The multi-course dinner, paired with cocktails and live music, stunts the cost of either vessel's other dinner options.

But if you love Johnny Rockets, you’ll be disappointed by Icon of the Seas.

Restaurants like the popular burger chain and Southern comfort-inspired Mason Jar are only on Wonder of the Seas. Fine by me: My fried chicken at Mason Jar was as dry as a desert.

The younger ship doesn't have Wonder's robot bartender-armed bar either. It does, however, have new watering holes with dueling pianos and live jazz.

Surprisingly, Wonder of the Seas has 65 more cabins than its new cousin.

But several of Icon's 28 stateroom categories are a first for the cruise line.

This includes the new family infinite balcony cabin, which has a small bunk bed nook for children.

Royal Caribbean assigned me an ocean-view balcony stateroom on both ships.

My Wonder of the Seas' cabin was 20 square-feet smaller than the one on Icon. But my bathroom on the latter was so tiny, I accidentally elbowed the walls at almost every turn.

Sailing on the world's largest cruise ship doesn't mean you'll have the world's largest cabin after all.

Wonder and Icon are both operating seven-night roundtrip itineraries from Florida to the Caribbean.

In 2024, Wonder of the Seas is scheduled for year-round sailings from Port Canaveral to the Caribbean and Royal Caribbean's private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay , starting at $700 per person.

Icon of the Seas is spending its first year in service operating nearly identical itineraries but from Miami instead. The cheapest 2024 option is $1,786 per person.

That's a difference of more than $125 per person per day.

"Bookings and pricing for Icon of the Seas can only be described as 'iconic,'" Naftali Holtz, the CFO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in February.

Icon of the Seas’ name speaks for itself.

If your family is looking for a jam-packed kid-friendly cruise with enough amenities to stay entertained for a week, both ships are a great option.

But if you're a seasoned mega-ship-cruiser looking to experience something new, Icon of the Seas is your best bet.

They may be similar, but no other behemoth cruise liner has a waterpark for children and a pool club for adults just dozens of feet from each other.

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Scotty Will Return in Season 3 of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

Martin Quinn's version of the character first appeared in season 2's finale.

The Big Picture

• Martin Quinn to bring authentic Scottish flair as Montgomery Scott on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• Quinn adds a new perspective to the character previously played by actors from Canada and England.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to explore the adventures of the USS Enterprise under Captain Pike.

A classic member of the Enterprise crew will return for the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . After debuting in the final episode of the show's second season , Martin Quinn will stay on board as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the upcoming season of Paramount+'s newest Star Trek series. As reported by BBC Scotland in an interview with Quinn, the character will recur on Strange New World 's third season, which is currently filming in Toronto, Ontario.

Quinn is the first-ever Scot to play the character, who was previously played by a Canadian ( James Doohan ) and an Englishman ( Simon Pegg ), and the interview notes that he's adding authenticity to the character, making sure that the show's writers use authentic Scottish slang: "They let me put in the word 'baw-heid' instead of 'turnip-heid'. Maybe they think all Scottish people are farmers? But they were very gracious about it." Quinn is from the town of Paisley; he has previously appeared on episodes of Limmy's Show , Annika , and Derry Girls .

Who is Montgomery Scott?

Played by Doohan in Star Trek: The Original Series , Scott is the ever-capable head engineer of the USS Enterprise , famed for his ability to solve catastrophic problems in short periods of time. After the series went off the air, Doohan reprised the role in Star Trek: The Animated Series and in all six of the feature films starring the series' original cast. He also returned for a cameo in Star Trek: Generations , attending the launch of the USS Enterprise-B , and guest-starred on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", where he is discovered by the Enterprise-D 's crew a century in the future, having been preserved in a transporter buffer. Pegg took on the role for J.J. Abrams ' cinematic reboot of the franchise, and reprised it for its two sequels; a fourth film is still up in the air .

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds features the adventures of the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike ( Anson Mount ) prior to The Original Series . It has so far featured two different chief engineers. Hemmer ( Bruce Horak ) was a member of the Aenar species, and sacrificed himself in the show's first-season finale to save the rest of the crew from the Gorn. His replacement was Pelia ( Carol Kane ), a long-lived Lanthanite, who joined the crew in the show's second season.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently filming its third season; no release date has yet been set . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (played by Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy in the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

The 10 best Angel episodes, ranked

T hough crossing over intermittently. the show follows Angel (David Boreanaz), fellow Sunnydale transplants Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Alexis Denisof), and a growing cast of new characters fight monsters, solve mysteries, and avert the occasional apocalypse.

Like Buffy before it, Angel had a knack for reinvention, and it evolved from a monster-of-the-week procedural to a grim serialized family drama to a workplace dramedy throughout its five seasons. It may not have the same legendary reputation, but Angel could be as thrilling, heartbreaking, or hilarious as Buffy , and these 10 episodes stand out among the very best the Whedonverse has to offer.

10. A Hole in the World (season 5, episode 15)

It may be shocking to some readers to see A Hole in the World listed so far down our list, but in truth, we almost didn’t include it at all. This episode, in which adorable science whiz Winnifred Burkle (Amy Acker) dies a slow, horrible death that gives birth to new character Illyria (also Acker), is one of the cruelest hours in the history of television, an example of writer-director Joss Whedon flaunting his power over the audience for his own jollies.

Whedon absolutely loves to “kick the puppy,” to pull the rug out from under his characters the moment they find any sort of peace or happiness, and much like Tara’s murder in season 6 of Buffy , Fred’s agonizing demise only one episode after finally getting together with Wesley feels like the show’s creator pointing and laughing at us for daring to experience hope or joy.

A Hole in the World is also undeniably great. Its opening act has the levity and jocularity of your typical monster-of-the-week episode, lulling the audience into a false sense of security. Once the stakes are set, the team’s determination becomes a loving tribute to Fred and her impact on their lives. (Wesley shooting a Wolfram & Hart staffer in the shin for flippantly interrupting his research is a great bit.) But as hope erodes, A Hole in the World becomes a showcase for Acker and Denisof as actors. Fred’s deterioration is heartbreaking to watch, not only because of Acker’s tearful performance, but because of how Denisof plays against it. Wesley wants to put on a brave face for Fred, but as the clock runs out, you can see it’s absolutely killing him to watch her suffer. We are observing the death of a beautiful future, in real time. 

9. Orpheus (season 4, episode 18)

It’s hard to deny that Angel ’s fourth season is an uneven mess, particularly since Carpenter went public with her allegations of abusive behavior by Whedon regarding her pregnancy. It’s hard not to read Cordelia’s possession by the goddess Jasmine, which turns her into the season’s primary antagonist, as a petty retaliation for the impact her family leave would have on the show. Still, the story arc in which Angel’s demonic persona Angelus breaks loose and wreaks havoc is a series highlight, even if it’s nested in the middle of a lot of weirdness. We could have picked any chapter in this six-part story for our list, but we’ll go with the grand finale, Orpheus , in which the desperate Angel Investigations team recruits the only other person who’s ever restored Angel’s soul — Sunnydale’s own Willow Rosenberg (Allyson Hannigan).

Of course, Orpheus has more going for it than an exciting guest star, or even two exciting guest stars, as vampire slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku) is also in the mix for this storyline. The episode’s A-plot sees Angelus and Faith in a shared magical hallucination that has them revisit some of the darkest moments in Angel’s past, when he was wandering America with a soul, but without purpose. This century-spanning retrospective ends with a one-time-only metaphysical matchup between Angel and Angelus, as they throw down for dominance over their body and their future. It’s Angelus’ last appearance on the show (except in flashback), making it the climax of an internal battle that had been raging since we first met him on Buffy.

8. Conviction (season 5, episode 1)

Season 5 of Angel is essentially a whole new show that mashes its established action/adventure format with the bones of a legal drama and, to an extent, a workplace comedy. Team Angel’s mission to “help the helpless” is put on hold as it takes the reins of the proudly evil law firm Wolfram & Hart and tries, against all odds, to use its resources for good. Conviction puts Angel’s old mission and his new job at cross purposes in a big way, when one of the firm’s nastiest clients threatens to release a deadly virus if he’s found guilty in court. The story sees each member of the team working the problem from their own angle, efficiently reestablishing each of their roles in the show’s new status quo, as well as the internal forces they’ll have to contend with in order to change the workplace culture at Wolfram & Hart. For example, where it was once customary to, say, massacre a classroom full of children in order to contain a threat, this is frowned upon by the new management. 

Perhaps the episode’s coolest twist — cooler even than the addition of Spike (James Marsters) to the cast — is the radical change in the role of Charles Gunn (J. August Richards) on the show. Once the team’s “muscle” and Everyman, Gunn accepts an offer from Wolfram & Hart to have their entire law library downloaded into his head, making him the superintelligent leader of their legal department. It’s great to see Gunn working in a whole new lane, but just as interesting to see the ways in which his new skills haven’t changed him. He is, essentially, the same guy with a new confidence, which becomes tragic when that confidence slips away later in the season. 

7. Five By Five/Sanctuary (season 1, episodes 18 & 19)

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) makes only two appearances on Angel , and most fans might prefer to see the romantic tragedy I Will Remember You make our top 10. But for our money, we find Buffy’s final visit to Los Angeles, in which she and Angel are at odds over the fate of murderous rogue vampire slayer Faith, to be far more interesting. Faith comes to LA after waking from a coma and hijacking Buffy’s body in a recent Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, and accepts a contract from Wolfram & Hart to assassinate Angel.

Before long, however, it becomes clear that Faith is trying to throw herself into being “evil” because she believes she deserves to die. After torturing Wesley, her former watcher, Faith goads Angel into a fight and, essentially, attempts “suicide by cop.” Angel, who recognizes Faith’s remorse and helplessness from his own life, instead offers her shelter and mentorship. This presents a problem when Buffy shows up in town to apprehend her, and Angel won’t allow it.

Faith is an excellent foil for Angel, an opportunity for him to help someone fight similar (if not literal) demons to his own. Faith would reappear on Angel a few more times, and always seemed more at home here than on Buffy . But more than that, Sanctuary is essentially the final nail in the coffin for Buffy and Angel’s romance, as they’re forced to acknowledge that they’ve begun to build separate, incompatible lives. When he was a supporting character on her show, Angel’s life could revolve around Buffy. Now, as the leading man, he has his own goals, his own crew, and there’s simply no room for either of them to play second fiddle for the other. It makes for terrific drama, as well as a good explanation for why neither of them appears on the other’s series for a while.

Also, Buffy and Faith fight a helicopter. That alone is enough to secure this episode a place on this list.

6. Spin the Bottle (season 4, episode 6)

Nestled into the incredibly grim darkness of season 4 is this comedic episode from Joss Whedon in which a spell gone wrong reverts the memories of each member of Team Angel to the age of 17. It’s an opportunity to gauge just how much these characters have grown since we first met them, and to get a peek into the early lives of the ones we haven’t known very long. Cordelia is once again the self-centered brat we first met on Buffy , a far cry from the compassionate, functional adult she’s become since acquiring her visions. Wesley is even more buffoonish and useless than when he first arrived in Sunnydale, the total opposite of his present, brooding avenger persona. Gunn arguably gets the least interesting change, merely becoming more defensive and suspicious, but it’s fun to see Fred as a stoner and a conspiracy freak, and Angel — or should we say Liam — as a man out of time who mistakes automobiles for screaming metal demons.

Sure, Whedon himself had already pulled a similar gimmick in the Buffy episode Tabula Rasa , wiping the Scooby Gang’s memories and letting the cast play different versions of their characters, but Spin the Bottle adds an extra dash of nostalgia for longtime fans. According to this episode’s DVD commentary, the entire story was reverse-engineered from the desire to let Denisof play the comically useless version of Wesley again, which got so many laughs on set that it actually prolonged the shooting schedule. The cast is clearly having a ball with this one, and in a year that’s mostly bummers and head-scratchers, Spin the Bottle provides some welcome comic relief. 

5. Life of the Party (season 5, episode 5)

Season 5 has a handful of comedic episodes (with Smile Time being an obvious pick), but none of them are as consistently funny as Life of the Party , written by The Tick creator Ben Edlund. In this episode, Lorne (Andy Hallett) goes overboard in planning Wolfram & Hart’s Halloween bash, which ends up having a death toll. Lorne is the member of Team Angel who was the most natural fit at W&H as the head of the entertainment division. He’s a schmoozer, a people-pleaser, and a demon who does his best to reserve judgment on the people with whom he works.

So, when Angel’s do-gooder reputation jeopardizes the firm’s biggest public event of the year, Lorne implores him to extend an olive branch to some of LA’s evil elite. Meanwhile, Lorne’s workload has gotten so untenable that he’s resorted to having his sleep removed, which has some unexpected side effects. Hilarity ensues.

Life of the Party makes terrific use of the entire ensemble, as Lorne’s new ability to write fortunes rather than read them puts the rest of Team Angel into compromising situations that have them playing against type. Wesley and Fred get stupid drunk, Angel and Eve (Sarah Thompson) resolve their sexual tension on the office floor, Gunn keeps peeing everywhere, and Lorne’s subconscious frustrations have manifested physically into a big, murdering muscleman. What’s not to like? Even more than the gimmicky Smile Time and its Muppet mayhem, Life of the Party is the quintessential “workplace comedy” episode of Angel , and we wish the series had run long enough to produce a lot more of them. 

4. Waiting in the Wings (season 3, episode 13)

Compared to concurrent shows Buffy and Firefly , Whedon has relatively few writing or directing credits on Angel . Before taking over as showrunner in season 5, only a handful of episodes received his personal stamp, and even these tended to be less experimental or groundbreaking than the Buffy episodes that bore his name. Waiting in the Wings , however, is Whedon through and through, a format-breaking hour in which the gang from Angel Investigations gets dolled up for a night at the ballet.

There, sparks fly between the team’s various will they or won’t they couples as they are swept up in both the stirring emotion of classical dance and, of course, a magical mystery. As it happens, this ballet company has been unstuck in time, and its prima ballerina (Summer Glau) is forced to repeat her performance forever for the pleasure of a creepy warlock (Mark Harelik). Angel and Cordelia may become trapped, too, if they can’t find a way to break the spell.

Waiting in the Wings is a ‘shipper’s dream, with the spell forcing would-be lovers Angel and Cordelia to reenact a torrid affair from a century ago, and the formal occasion and deadly stakes finally inspiring Fred and Gunn to act on their feelings for each other, much to the dismay of the lovesick Wesley. It’s also a dreamy, methodically shot episode, as one might expect from Whedon, who aspired toward a filmic atmosphere for many of his episodes. In place of the usual soundtrack, the episode is scored almost completely by Adolphe Adam’s ballet Giselle . Just as the trip to the theater is a special occasion for the characters, Waiting in the Wings feels like a momentous, classy affair for the audience as well.

3. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (season 2, episode 2)

From the early days of Buffy , audiences have been acquainted with the terrible guilt that Angel bears for the atrocities committed by his soulless demon self, Angelus, in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, until his spinoff, precious little was known about Angel’s life between the restoration of his soul in 1898 and his getting his act together to help the Slayer in 1996. In Are You Now or Have You Ever Been , Angel becomes fixated on a deserted, supposedly haunted hotel, the Hyperion, and asks Cordelia and Wesley to investigate it.

Angel leaves them in the dark as to the source of his curiosity, but the audience is treated to a series of flashbacks to the mid-1950s, during which Angel was a resident at the Hyperion. A total recluse, Angel tries to avoid entanglements with the other residents, but when trouble arrives at his doorstep, he’s forced to choose between maintaining his anonymity and correcting an injustice. Set against the backdrop of the Red Scare and the McCarthy hearings, Are You Now… is a portrait of both humanity and Angel at their worst.

In addition to being a solid hour of standalone period drama, Are You Now… depicts Angel in a new light, both in the flashbacks and in the present day. In the ’50s, he’s ensouled but embittered, a man worn down by witnessing centuries of conflict motivated by petty bigotry. In the present day, we see Angel facing his guilt over a shameful incident in his life for which he cannot blame the demon inside of him. His failure at the Hyperion was a human one, driven by the same fear and selfishness seen in the worst of humanity. It’s also a sin for which he may still be able to make meaningful restitution.

2. Sleep Tight/Forgiving (season 3, episodes 16 & 17)

When Wesley Wyndham-Pryce is introduced during the third season of Buffy , he is essentially the show’s C-3PO, a prissy and uptight buffoon whose role is primarily to make his fellow watcher Giles look cool and rugged by comparison. After three years of growth on Angel , Wesley is barely recognizable — he’s a ruggedly handsome warrior and tactician with sad eyes and a wounded heart. Like everyone else at Angel Investigations, Wesley has been through hells both figurative and literal, but his defining moment comes when a prophecy leads him to believe that Angel, his friend and ally, is destined to devour his own newborn son, Connor.

In Sleep Tight , after desperately searching for any way to discredit the prophecy, and also witnessing Angel’s recent uncharacteristically violent behavior, Wesley makes the fateful decision to kidnap Connor and skip town — only to have his throat slit by Justine (Laurel Holloman), who delivers the infant to Angel’s sworn enemy, Holtz (Keith Szarabajka). The episode ends with a devastating cliffhanger, as Angel discovers Wesley’s betrayal and Wesley bleeds out on his front lawn, with no help in sight.

The tragedy only deepens in the next episode, Forgiving , as Angel and company learn just how thoroughly they’ve been played by the alliance of Holtz, Lilah (Stephanie Romanov), and the time-traveling demon Sahjahn (Jack Conley). By the end of the second hour, Holtz has absconded with baby Connor into an inaccessible hell dimension, with no hope of rescue. Even Sleep Tight’s ending pales in comparison to the devastating final scene of Forgiving , in which Angel visits the ailing Wesley in the hospital and tries to smother him to death with a pillow.

This is the dramatic peak of the series, the point at which the conflict between the protagonists feels most irreconcilable. It speaks to the strength of the plotting and characterization of Angel that these two heroes could both break our hearts so thoroughly, and yet still elicit sympathy. They’ve both done something terrible, and yet it’s hard to say that either of them is wrong. It’s a perfect portrait of the complexity and moral ambiguity that Angel was created to explore, painted in a dozen shades of gray.

1. Not Fade Away (season 5, episode 22)

While it’s unfortunate that Angel was cut short after five seasons, it’s hard to imagine a better finale for the series than Not Fade Away. From the beginning, Angel has been fighting an uphill battle against the entrenched evils of the world, represented by the interdimensional law firm Wolfram & Hart. Though he’s been able to carve out a few victories and even gain control over W&H’s Los Angeles branch, it’s become clear that he will never be able to permanently defeat the gods and monsters that rule over the Earth. At best, he can give them a bloody nose, and perhaps some good can be done while the beasts recover.

In Not Fade Away , Angel and his allies decide to take the only shot they’ve got and embark on a suicide mission to wipe out the Circle of the Black Thorn, a cabal of demons that carries out evil’s will on Earth. They succeed in settling all family business, assassinating the Black Thorn’s entire leadership, but as expected, Wolfram & Hart’s otherworldly “senior partners” bring the hammer down hard. The series ends with Angel, Spike, Gunn, and Illyria squaring off against a literal army of demons, giants, and a fire-breathing dragon. With no hope of victory, our heroes ready their weapons and charge into battle, and the screen cuts to black.

Ignore the comics continuation — this is the end of the story, and that’s good. Angel is not, and never has been, a tale of good triumphing over evil. It’s been about good struggling against evil, whatever the cost. Throughout the series, Angel practically never gets a clean win over the forces of darkness. Every victory is short-lived and comes at a terrible cost, but he keeps fighting. Angel ’s final act is this same idea on a grander scale. It’s the biggest win Angel’s crew can possibly manage, it will have a limited impact, it will cost them everything, and they’re going to do it anyway, because that’s what makes them champions.

There is, and cannot be, a finish line, which is why Angel signs away the Shanshu Prophecy before the final battle. Even if he stopped the apocalypse mentioned in the ancient scroll and received his humanity as a reward, there would just be another apocalypse to fight afterwards, as there have been several before. The fight is only over when they’re dead, and since we don’t actually witness Angel and company’s demise, we are left to imagine that it goes on forever.

More From Forbes

‘x-men 97’ episode 5 cements it as one of the best marvel projects, ever.

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While everyone is raving about Shogun, the current best show on TV, I would argue that X-Men 97 is making a pretty strong case for itself.

What could have been a throwaway nostalgia play without much substance to it, capitalizing on ‘90s kids reliving their youth, has somehow become one of the most gripping things on the air right now, and as of the absolutely stunning episode 5 last night, I am willing to say that X-Men 97 may be one of the best Marvel projects…ever. In the MCU, before that. All of them.

We’re going to have to get into spoiler territory here, so don’t read on unless you’ve seen episode 5. Or if you haven’t started X-Men 97, fix that. To answer your next question, no, you definitely do not need to have seen the original animated series to jump on board with this.

Episode 5, Remember It, is one of the most haunting, thrilling pieces of superhero content I’ve ever seen onscreen. The entire 30 minutes is jam packed with compelling characters arcs culminating in a stunning finale that almost brought me to tears. X-Men 97! Making people cry! How?

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Even though it’s the finale that will get all the attention, I loved the Cyclops/Jean/Logan bits, where Cyclops flips out during a TV interview, saying that humans don’t deserve what mutants have sacrificed for them. Jean kisses Logan. Scott mentally(?) kisses Madelyne Pryor, who he still appears to be in love with despite being a clone, in part because well, she’s the mother of his child.

Speaking of his child, Cable shows up to warn everyone about a pending attack on Genosha which happens about ten seconds later. A giant “Godzilla” Sentinel shows up and starts murdering well, everyone. Every mutant it sees. Genosha, celebrating its new inclusion into the UN, is absolutely decimated.

This results in an incredible Magneto/Rogue/Gambit sequence, building on the love triangle aspect from earlier in the episode. Magneto shields a bunch of mutants he previously promised to protect, and seemingly dies from a Sentinel blast. Then, Rogue, in a blind rage, attempts to take it down by herself, but is knocked out of the way by Gambit, who then goes after the thing himself. He ends up skewered, but manages to energize the entire thing , blowing it up, along with himself. Gambit dies saving Genosha almost singlehandedly, saving Rogue and countless others in the process. I am not doing the scene justice with this description, but if you’ve seen it, you know. “Remember it.”

I am less convinced that Magneto is actually dead, as unlike Gambit, we don’t see his body, and the “Omega-level threat eliminated” could be him masking their detection or maybe it was one of the other mutants.

But yeah, what an episode. This is easily the best Marvel project since Endgame, and this specific Gambit moment reminded me of the epic Loki finale. It may have been better. I can’t believe how good this series is.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy .

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