It's finally the Apocalypse. At last.

Written by: Joss Whedon and Jeffrey Bell

Directed by: Jeffrey Bell

Angel having explained his plan to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn, is backed by the gang, though they are aghast when he reveals that he has killed Drogyn. They go to Spike's basement, where they find an injured Illyria.

Meanwhile, Angel has been summoned to see the Circle, who force him to sign away the Shanshu prophecy. He seeks out Lindsey, and is able to persuade the ex-lawyer to help him against the Circle.

With the attack against the Circle set for that night, Angel tells the gang to take what may be their last day alive off. He calls in on Connor, Lorne takes the stage with a song, Gunn helps out at a homeless shelter, while Spike reads his poetry, to great acclaim, at a biker bar. Wesley, having nothing he wants to do, remains to tend Illyria.

The evening arrives, and each person sets off on an attack against the Circle. Illyria, Gunn and Spike have few problems, but Wesley is quickly bested by the sorcerer Cyvus Vail. As he lies dying, Illyria arrives, and becomes Fred for one last goodbye - then kills Vail with a punch. Lindsey, victorious against the Circle, is shot by Lorne, who has agreed to do this one last thing for Angel.

Back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel is prevented from leaving to kill Archduke Sebassis by Hamilton, who has been tipped off to the attack by Harmony. Almost defeated by Hamilton's inhuman strength, Angel is saved when Connor comes to his rescue.

The fight goes against them, though, until Hamilton's boast that ancient strength runs through his veins gives Angel a way to victory. Drinking the liaison's blood, Angel is infused with strength and kills Hamilton.

Escaping from the now-collapsing building, he rushes to meet up with his friends in a pre-arranged spot. There they are beset by a horde of demons and dragons, and rush into the fight once more.

Quiz: - ten quick questions.

Trivia

We are family: Spike compares the Angel gang to the Manson family - a very unsavoury gang of hippie-style mass murderers led by the notorious Charles Manson, who were responsible for the death of Roman Polanski's wife Sharon Tate.

Poetic licence: Despite being mocked by London�s 19th Century social elite for his bloody awful poetry, Spike finds more success with it at a biker bar. There, he recites an ode to former infatuation Cecily, previously heard in part during the Buffy season five episode Fool for Love:

"My soul is wrapped in harsh repose,
Midnight descends in raven-colored clothes,
But soft... behold!
A sunlight beam
Butting a swath of glimmering gleam.
My heart expands,
'tis grown a bulge in it,
Inspired by your beauty...
Effulgent."

Brings a tear to your eye...

Chopper squad: Gunn dubs Illyria Blue Thunder, after the early 80s movie and TV show about a super-advanced helicopter. Blue Thunder lasted only 11 episodes, possibly finding that, with Airwolf as a competitor, the market for action series about helicopters just wasn't large enough.

Goodbye to humanity: It looks like we'll never find out how the Shanshu Prophecy, first mentioned in the Angel season one finale To Shanshu in L.A. works out then. But as it's not Angel anymore, does that mean Spike's the man?

We Help the Homeless: Anne from the homeless shelter makes her final appearance on Angel. She hasn't been seen since season two's The Thin Dead Line, but the character, played by Julia Lee, has featured on both Buffy and Angel many times previously. Anne's first appearance in the Buffyverse was as a wannabe vampire in the episode Lie To Me. She called herself Chanterelle then.

Funny business: Angel tells Connor he was at the first ever recording of the Carol Burnett show, a massively popular variety show which ran on CBS between 1967 and 1978. Comic actor Tim Conway was a regular on the show, for which he earned three Emmys. He's still in the business today, after a career spanning over fifty years.

Thanks for the Memory: After the episode screened in America, the WB network played a montage of scenes from the show's history as a 'Thank You' to all its loyal viewers. We think they may have preferred a message that simply said "Angel returns next season". Ratings for Not Fade Away actually beat those for the Buffy series finale by quite a margin, by the way.

Lost future: Most rumours that have emerged about Angel season six suggest that the gang would have continued fighting on in a post-Apocalyptic scenario. Sounds fantastic - but expensive.

Review

Rob
Team Angel certainly don't fade away in this tightly scripted and deeply satisfying conclusion to five years of top-notch TV.

Lindsey's death moved me, as did Spike's moments of poetic glory. And as for Harmony, I really didn't see that coming, which is how the finest drama should always be.

My only disappointment with Not Fade Away was Wesley's demise. Did the writers play out their series finale exactly as they had planned to end season five (as they claim), or was Wesley killed for effect? I somehow expect the latter, although I guess nobody�s ever really dead in the Buffyverse anyway.

It's only starting to hit home that this is the end. The pain of Buffy's conclusion was dulled by the knowledge that we would still get an hour of Joss Whedon's genius each week, but now that's gone too. It's unlikely that the critics' darling will struggle to secure a new gig once he completes work on the Firefly film, but, right now that seems a long way off. Come back soon Joss, and make sure you bring Boreanaz, Marsters et al with you.

Ann
So, it's all over then. But at least it went out in style - and came back to its origins to do it. This was a superb ending - not maudlin or wistful, or in fact fading away in any shape or form. Its tricky, twisty, dense plotting, multiple reversals, and almost unrivalled* grasp of character were actually physically satisfying to watch.

I may be attacked for saying it, but this was a far better finale than Buffy's. So, the fights were smaller and there were fewer explosions, but the writing was streets ahead, and the rewards to the fans for staying with the show were vastly bigger. Two moments especially spring to mind - Spike's valedictory poetry reading, and the moment during the fight with Hamilton where Angel realises that his vampirism is the key to victory - returning squarely to the roots of the character.

This was the gang going out in the style to which we viewers have become accustomed. In my mind, they'll always be fighting that dragon.

*Rivalled only by Farscape, that is.