HOLLYWOOD — Joss Whedon created a pop-culture phenomenon and a cult following with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off, "Angel." But neither of those shows (nor his short-lived series "Firefly") found huge ratings and mainstream success. Does he care?

"Do you want more viewers and more money and for your actors to be hugely famous and well-compensated? Yes," Whedon said. "Is it why you do what you're doing? No. You want to tell the stories. You want to tell them with the people you love. Anything beyond that is gravy."

And Whedon and his team continue to tell great stories. "Angel's" 100th episode (8 p.m., Ch. 30) is the best episode to date in what has turned out to be an excellent season.

Former series regular Charisma Carpenter returns as Cordelia, who's been in a coma since last season. She's awake and back to cracking wise, tugging at heartstrings and making Angel (David Boreanaz) recall who he is and what he's about.

"That's very much kind of an opportunity to sum up and sort of go — we've been doing this for a while," Whedon said. "And . . . really using it as a milestone and having her — because she was there at the beginning — come and say, 'Where are you now? Where were you when you started and where are you now and how do you feel about that?' "

Angel, of course, is a vampire. Once a vicious killer, he was "cursed" by having his soul returned and, thus, feels guilt and remorse. Now he helps the helpless and fights evil.

But this season he's doing it from the heart of evil. Angel and his friends are now in charge of the Los Angeles office of Wolfram and Hart, an evil law firm whose "senior partners" are something akin to Lucifer himself.

That and an emphasis on stand-alone episodes has revitalized a show that almost didn't get renewed this season. Not that the show was broken — creatively, it was very strong.

"The reason our die-hard fans love the show is because of the emotional arcs of the characters," said executive producer Jeffrey Bell. "And to try and tell stand-alone stories that begin and end while maintaining the big emotional arc has been tricky."

But it has worked. As has the addition of Spike (James Marsters), another vampire with a soul who moved over from "Buffy."

Tonight's episode is a big Valentine to fans. Cordelia, who's been a part of this universe since the first episode of "Buffy," is as saucy and sassy as ever. It's a fabulous way to wrap up her story line — albeit one that will leave fans gasping.

Which is exactly what Whedon hopes for.