I don't think the tone shifted that much, but S5 is kind of an abandonment of the core of the show. To this day Whedon claims AtS was about redemption and I'm not sure how that squares with AtS S5 that ends with a guy starting a demon war in the middle of a densely populated city.
I never thought AtS (or BTVS) was really about redemption, mind you, but coming to terms with who you are and what you've done and like I said, finding a place in the world. A family. That's all dropped in S5, too, anyway. Angel was always grimdark, Batman-esque writing (which gives it the faux-"adult" feel), but S5 is ultimately just bleak.
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I don't think the tone shifted that much, but S5 is kind of an abandonment of the core of the show. To this day Whedon claims AtS was about redemption and I'm not sure how that squares with AtS S5 that ends with a guy starting a demon war in the middle of a densely populated city.
I never thought AtS (or BTVS) was really about redemption, mind you, but coming to terms with who you are and what you've done and like I said, finding a place in the world. A family. That's all dropped in S5, too, anyway. Angel was always grimdark, Batman-esque writing (which gives it the faux-"adult" feel), but S5 is ultimately just bleak.