Angel, a vampire character from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel, is known for his defining physical trait of a large tattoo behind his right shoulder. The tattoo depicts a winged lion with the letter “A” beneath it. Joss Whedon, creator and executive producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel, described the origin of Angel’s tattoo as a Celtic-themed symbol.
Angel was one of the most well-known vampires in vampiric history, legendary for both his savage villainy and great heroism. Born Liam in 1727 in Galway, Ireland, he was sired by Darla in 1753, taking the name Angelus. Angel’s tattoo is believed to be a copy of the symbol known as the Lion of Saint Mark.
The dubious canon story Over There, taking place during World War I, is the earlier instance of Angel’s tattoo. It is possible that Angel took one from the Book of Kells as a mockery or an affront to God, and the overturning of Christian values it should represent. The ‘A’ stands for both Wisdom and Strength and the union of both. Gryphons also represent greed, as they commonly guard gold in mythology.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show inspired Faith, one of the best characters to come out of the Buffyverse. Explore creative Buffy tattoo ideas inspired by the iconic show and discover designs that embody the spirit of the Slayer and fandom. It is rumored that Angel was meant to stay dead after Buffy sacrificed him at the end of season 2.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| When do you think Angel got that tattoo? : r/buffy | Maybe it was as part of an attempt to leave his human life behind. Maybe he took one from the book of kells as a mockery, or an affront to God, … | reddit.com |
| Angel’s tattoo | Fandom – Buffyverse Wiki | The earlier instance of his tattoo appearing was during the episode “Angel”; he never appears shirtless in any flashback. After it, the … | buffy.fandom.com |
| Angel’s tattoo | One of Angel’s most defining physical traits is a large tattoo behind his right shoulder. The tattoo depicts a winged lion with the addition … | ca.pinterest.com |
📹 The Metaphysics of Buffyverse Souls
Buffyverse soul canon is less incoherent than it seems. here’s a lil examination of one of my favorite characters in fiction and what …
What Does The Angel Symbol Mean?
Angels hold a significant place in modern culture, serving as symbols of hope, love, and protection across various forms of art, literature, and popular culture. This exploration focuses on eight prominent archangels—Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Zadkiel, Jophiel, and Metatron—examining their origins and symbolic meanings. Angels are understood as spiritual beings created by God, superior to humanity.
Although traditionally viewed as formless entities, some interpretations attribute them with a corporeal aspect. Throughout history, angels have been perceived as divine messengers, guiding and communicating God's will to humanity.
Each archangel carries unique symbols that convey deep messages, helping individuals navigate life's complexities. Common representations of angels include humanoid figures with wings, embodying divine love, protection, purity, peace, guidance, healing, and unconditional love. In dreams, angels can symbolize comfort and inspire a search for higher wisdom. Artistic depictions of angels have evolved but consistently highlight themes of innocence, faith, and strength.
Angel symbols frequently manifest in everyday life, such as feathers or other signs believed to convey divine messages, reminding individuals of their spiritual presence. While interpretations of angels may vary, fundamental concepts remain, emphasizing their roles as guardians and protectors. In various cultures, angels symbolize light, hope, and resilience, often acting as beacons during challenging times.
The term "angel," derived from the Hebrew "mal'akh," signifies a messenger or minister, highlighting their role in conveying divine messages. Whether through dreams, nature, or personal experiences, many believe angels communicate encouragement and support, reinforcing the individual’s connection to the spiritual realm. Statues or images of angels can serve as reminders of hope and positivity in one’s life journey, manifesting as symbols of the divine presence and strength during adversity.
Why Did Buffy Send Angel To Hell?
In the climactic moments of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Buffy Summers faces a heart-wrenching decision that propels the storyline into darkness and complexity. After a battle with her love and ally Angel, who transforms into the monstrous Angelus due to a curse triggered by their romantic involvement, Buffy finds herself in a dire situation. The transformation occurs after she sleeps with him, which causes him to lose his soul, converting him into a vicious creature intent on chaos.
Buffy, along with the help of her friends, known as the Scoobies, discovers that the only way to save the world from the threat posed by Acathla—a demon with the ability to swallow the world—is to act decisively; she must send Angelus to hell. As the situation escalates, Angel, who shares a complex existence with his demon self, is engaged in a fateful sword fight with Buffy. This fight symbolizes their tragic disconnect, as Buffy struggles between her love for Angel and the necessity of protecting the world from Angelus' atrocities.
The essence of Angelus remains alive even after Buffy’s intervention to restore Angel's soul, intricately binding the two identities. As she learns from Whistler, only Angel's blood can seal Acathla's vortex, establishing a painful yet necessary course of action. In a moment filled with emotional turmoil, Buffy stabs Angel, sending him through the vortex just as Acathla threatens to consume reality itself. This act of sending Angel to hell devastates Buffy, leaving her emotionally scarred and highlighting the painful contradictions of love and duty.
Throughout this narrative, Angel emerges as a multi-dimensional character. Originally known for his legendary status within vampire lore, Angel becomes Buffy's ally and love interest. Their relationship faces countless challenges, including the inherent dangers of being a vampire with a soul. Angel's curse, bestowed upon him by a Romani clan as punishment for his past deeds, comes with the heavy burden of experiencing human emotions and guilt, further complicating his interactions with Buffy.
As the storyline progresses into Season 3, the dynamics shift again, leading to Angel's mysterious return, raising further questions about identity and redemption. The narrative underlines a profound theme of sacrifice and the burden of love, emphasizing how personal connections can lead to devastating choices. Ultimately, the bittersweet finale of Season 2 serves as a poignant reminder of the series’ exploration of complex themes involving love, loss, and the cyclical nature of fate within the supernatural realm. Buffy's act of sending Angel to hell underscores the depths of sorrow and necessity in her journey as the Slayer.
What Does The Angel Gabriel Tattoo Mean?
The Gabriel Angel tattoo embodies the essence of divine protection, guidance, and spirituality, often depicted through a winged figure radiating light and a serene demeanor. This tattoo idea typically represents Archangel Gabriel, renowned for his gentle nature and significant presence in various religious traditions. In our exploration of this design, we will investigate the rich symbolism and cultural heritage associated with the Gabriel Angel tattoo, unpacking its various interpretations.
While the concept of an angel tattoo may appear simple, it encompasses numerous nuances that can significantly influence the design and personal meaning. Understanding these interpretations can help individuals align their tattoo with their intentions, allowing for a more personal connection to the art. The Gabriel Angel tattoo, for many, signifies love, purity, hope, and unwavering protection.
Culturally, angels are recognized as guardians, enriching the tattoo's significance by offering comfort and reassurance. For those who choose to bear the Angel Gabriel tattoo, it often reflects a profound connection to their faith and spiritual journey. The symbolism of Gabriel, translated from Hebrew as "Man of God" or "strength of God," highlights attributes such as communication and enlightenment.
This inked representation serves as a reminder of strength, faith, and the belief in divine support. Gabriel is noted for his roles in significant biblical events, including the Annunciation and Revelation, reinforcing his prominence as a harbinger of God's will. Artists frequently illustrate this design with intricate details, emphasizing Gabriel's wings and peaceful expression, reflecting the celestial bond between the divine and humankind. Ultimately, the Gabriel Angel tattoo is a powerful and personal symbol for many, signifying their unique spiritual beliefs and life experiences.
What Does 444 Tattoo Mean?
The 444 tattoo is a powerful symbol of eternity, renewal, and transformation, representing the conclusion of one life phase and the onset of another filled with hope. Its deep spiritual significance resonates with those who choose to wear it, serving as a constant reminder of determination, love, and life's cycles. Beyond its numeric form, the 444 tattoo embodies various meanings that ranges from spiritual enlightenment to personal affirmations. It can represent a desire for spiritual guidance, protection, or an affirmation of positivity.
Choosing a 444 tattoo is a personal journey, as its meaning varies for each individual. While commonly interpreted as a protective symbol, it is crucial to find a definition that aligns with one's personal belief system. This article explores the meaning, origins, and cultural significance of the 444 tattoo, highlighting its interpretations across different societies.
In tattoo culture, the number 444 is often linked to concepts of angelic guidance and alignment with the universe. A 444 angel number tattoo symbolizes a profound connection with the spiritual realm, reminding the individual of the ongoing support and guidance from angels throughout life's challenges. Essentially, it signifies divine guidance, protection, and personal alignment with one’s life path, acting as a spiritual emblem that encourages inner growth.
On a deeper spiritual level, the 444 tattoo represents divine communication from a higher power, angels, or spirit guides, suggesting mastery of the skills needed to fulfill one's soul purpose. In numerology, this number embodies stability and protection, regarded as a manifestation of divine guidance and alignment.
In various cultures, 444 is perceived as an emblem of protection and encouragement, indicating that you are on your correct path. For those noticing this number frequently in their lives, it might be interpreted as an angel number offering meaningful messages from the universe. Through tattoos, the 444 symbol illustrates personal transformation and serves as a reminder of love and support from the spiritual realm as individuals navigate their journeys of growth and self-discovery. Overall, the 444 tattoo carries significant emotional weight, motivating individuals to persevere and maintain balance in their lives.
Does Buffy Love Spike Or Angel?
The enduring debate among "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans revolves around who Buffy Summers ultimately belongs with: her first love, Angel, or the bad-boy vampire-turned-hero, Spike. Buffy's sentiments throughout the series reflect this tension, with her heartfelt conversation with Angel suggesting that he might be her true endgame, despite her eventual declaration of love for Spike in the series finale, "Chosen." This confession comes just before Spike makes the ultimate sacrifice to close the Hellmouth, solidifying his place in Buffy's life, albeit not in the same capacity as Angel.
Angel's romantic potential with Buffy hinges on the fact that he has a soul—a consequence of a curse that forced him to confront the pain of his past actions as Angelus, a ruthless killer. He is portrayed as Buffy's first love and soulmate, contrasting with Spike, whose transformation from villain to ally complicates his relationship with Buffy. While there is a lingering emotional connection between Buffy and Angel, her love for Spike becomes significant in its own right, though ultimately less profound.
Spike's role in the series is characterized by his initial villainy and flaws that hinder Buffy from fully trusting him. His connection with her evolves through shared experiences, leading to genuine affection. Still, Buffy's acknowledgment of her feelings toward Spike seems to stem more from gratitude than an enduring deep love comparable to what she has for Angel.
Buffy's romantic history is notably tumultuous, featuring connections with both vampires and humans. While Angel is her defining first love, her relationships with Spike and Riley showcase different dimensions of her emotional landscape. Ultimately, in "Chosen," Buffy's declaration of love for Spike is met with skepticism from him, reflecting his own struggles with self-worth and their complex relationship dynamic. Although she cares for Riley, her feelings for him lack the depth present in her connections with the vampires.
In summation, Buffy's journey navigates the intricacies of love, loyalty, and sacrifice amid supernatural struggles. While Angel embodies her formative love, Spike emerges as a significant figure in her life, illustrating the show's exploration of love in its many forms. Yet, the consensus remains that Buffy's heart is divided, leading to a complex interplay of feelings that complicates the straightforward notion of ultimate love. Buffy's relationships serve as a testament to her growth and her continual quest for identity and connection in a tumultuous world.
Does David Boreanaz Have An Angel Tattoo?
David Boreanaz is known for his two prominent tattoos: Kanji designs on each wrist representing "Soul" and "Destiny." His wife, Jamie Bergman, shares these matching tattoos. In addition to his real tattoos, Boreanaz sported a fake tattoo of a Griffin perched on the letter "A" for his role as Angel in the television series Angel. This fake tattoo, despite being fictitious, gained more recognition among fans due to its visibility during the show, becoming a defining trait of his character.
Boreanaz, born on May 16, 1969, in Buffalo, New York, is an accomplished American actor, producer, and director. He rose to fame through his role in the iconic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which aired from 1997 to 2003, followed by the successful spinoff, Angel, which lasted until 2004. Throughout his career, he has been involved in various projects, including starting a nail polish line while working on Bones, a show known for its demanding schedule.
Despite the fake tattoo's prominence, the actual tattoos Boreanaz has may not always be captured on screen as the makeup team sometimes omitted artworks when filming. Nevertheless, both his real and onscreen tattoos have contributed to his identity as an actor. Fans can find images of Boreanaz’s tattoos and explore his acting journey, reflecting on how significant his ink has become in connection to his roles and personal life.
Why Did Angel Turn Evil Buffy?
Angel's transformation into Angelus presents a significant plot point in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," fundamentally impacting his relationship with Buffy Summers. As the show unfolds, Angel terrorizes Willow and the Gang at school, heightening emotional turmoil for Buffy. A pivotal moment occurs in the library when the gang discusses Angel’s transformation, and Buffy comes to the painful realization that their intimate moments caused his descent into evil. This revelation ties closely to the curse that afflicts Angel: he was cursed by a Romani clan to have his soul restored, yet the curse would revert if he experienced a moment of pure happiness.
As Angelus, Angel's malevolent counterpart, he conspires with Drusilla, unleashing chaos and torment in Sunnydale. Despite his suffering and fight against these impulses over the years, the re-emergence of his soul leads to grave consequences when he loses it post-intimacy with Buffy. The narrative poignantly symbolizes the heartache associated with first love, suggesting that joy can sometimes give way to suffering. The complexity of their relationship is further explored through a dream where Angel hints at Jenny's deeper knowledge regarding curses, intertwining multiple characters and their fates.
Buffy, as the Slayer, struggles not only against external evils like Angelus but also against her own emotions and the burden of responsibility for Angel's duality. The conflict exemplifies how love and its consequences can be both beautiful and destructive. The show depicts Angel's transformation as a metaphorical critique of deeper themes such as the struggle against one's nature and the pain of lost love.
In Season 3, the stakes rise as the group grapples with the reality of Angel's turmoil and the shadow of the First Evil looms larger. Angel's journey eventually leads him away from Sunnydale, marking a transition in the storyline. However, his return in the series finale reestablishes his integral role in Buffy's fight against evil. Despite his past as Angelus, he seeks redemption and reconciliation, demonstrating a commitment to confront his dark history as he partners with Buffy once again.
The series ultimately evokes themes of love, redemption, and the perpetual battle between good and evil, encapsulated in Angel's tragic narrative arc, capturing the complexities of human emotion intertwined with supernatural struggles.
What Does An Angel Tattoo Symbolize?
An angel tattoo encompasses a rich tapestry of meanings, symbolizing the dualities of good and evil, protection, faith, and personal belief. While many associate these tattoos with religious connotations, they can also convey a deeper faith in oneself and one’s journey. The profound symbolism tied to angel tattoos typically reflects themes such as spiritual guidance, moral upholding, and a connection to the divine. They also signify hope and guardianship, acting as a bridge between the earthly realm and the spiritual.
Despite their seemingly simple appearance, the meanings behind angel tattoos contain numerous nuances and variations. Choosing the right design requires an understanding of the diverse interpretations associated with this motif. Clarifying personal intentions helps inspire a meaningful tattoo concept.
Angel tattoos have enjoyed popularity across various cultures and religions, denoting peace, protection, and guidance. They may signify spiritual journeys, illustrating one’s belief in a higher power or the desire to transcend earthly struggles and limitations. This unrestrained notion of flight found in angel imagery promotes empowerment and captures the essence of liberation.
In terms of design, angel tattoos can range from ethereal depictions embodying faith and protection to memorial tattoos honoring deceased loved ones. They thus serve multiple purposes, embodying purity, spirituality, and divine connections. For many, angel tattoos are not merely aesthetic pieces; they embody profound and uplifting spiritual significance.
Historically, angel tattoos are rooted in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, where angels are seen as messengers offering providence, guidance, and solace. This rich background contributes to the tattoo's symbolism, which often intertwines themes of faith, protection, and a spiritual bond between the earthly and the divine.
The angel motif appeals due to its multi-layered meanings, encapsulating protection, strength, beauty, and deep religious symbolism—drawing many to its comforting essence. For some, they signify enduring connections with lost loved ones, while for others, they reinforce personal beliefs and values. Ultimately, angel tattoos are profound symbols of guidance and spirituality, resonating deeply with both men and women, making them a timeless choice in the realm of body art.
Why Did Buffy Stab Angel?
Willow performed a ritual to restore Angel’s soul, leading to his initial confusion and loss of memory regarding past events. To stop Acathla, Buffy stabbed Angel with a blessed sword; the cut was necessary to access his blood, as Whistler had instructed to make the stab. Following the events of season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel chose to leave Sunnydale, but returned for the series finale, aiming to assist Buffy against the First Evil with an amulet. Buffy’s decision to use Faith’s blood may have been influenced by a desire to save Angel, given Faith’s willingness to kill innocents, thereby justifying the sacrifice.
In 1996, the tortured Angel was recruited by the demon Whistler to combat the evil that had tainted him and support Buffy, the newly-activated Slayer. However, though Angel regained his soul, Angelus, his demon side, continued to exist alongside him, complicating his quest for redemption. Introduced in 1997 as Buffy’s love interest, Angel struggled with his dual identity throughout the series, battling forces of evil while wrestling with his dark past. While Buffy the Vampire Slayer concluded on a positive note for Buffy, Angel ended with a grim confrontation that placed the remaining characters in danger.
Faith grew furious when Buffy attempted to sacrifice her to save Angel, especially after discovering Buffy’s estrangement from him. Their tense relationship further escalated when Faith escaped arrest following a confrontation with police. In 1998, when Acathla’s tomb was located, Angel unwittingly opened a portal for Acathla to unleash hell on Earth. Buffy, unable to avert this fate, stabbed Angel to utilize his blood to seal the portal and prevent disaster.
Despite the stab not causing his death, it effectively banished him, equating to a form of sacrifice. During this dramatic moment, Angel, still ignorant of his past misdeeds as Angelus, was caught off-guard when Buffy executed the act. It has been theorized that Angel’s actions related to Acathla stemmed from his inner turmoil and his struggle with feelings for Buffy, leading him to choose self-sacrifice over threatening Buffy’s life. Ultimately, amid the emotional chaos, Buffy sought out Angel to confront him one last time.
Why Did Buffy Kiss Angel?
Initially filled with rage, Buffy becomes captivated by Angel's plan, leading her to kiss him amidst a glowing aura. In a moment of passion, they engage in airborne intimacy, culminating in their entry into a paradise dimension known as Twilight. For Angel, Buffy is his ultimate desire, and although their love is profound, it is complicated by the curse binding Angel, which prevents their union. Despite their deep connection, the reality is that their relationship is fraught with obstacles; a realization that love alone cannot sustain them.
Buffy recalls their first kiss, which marked the revelation of Angel's vampire identity and set the stage for their tragic love story. Their relationship is characterized by powerful emotions, highlighted by Buffy's recognition of her feelings for both Angel and Spike, each representing different aspects of love. Ultimately, their happiness is threatened when Angel must confront that any moment of perfect joy will cause him to lose his soul, a burden that weighs heavily on both.
Buffy and Angel share a tender kiss during the day, reinforcing their deep bond, yet they are quickly reminded of the despair woven into their romance. Each encounter is marked by a struggle between their desires and the constraints of Angel's curse, making it difficult to establish a stable relationship. After helping Buffy fend off attacks from vampires, Angel stays with her, but the nature of their connection remains uncertain.
Buffy is torn between wanting to be with Angel and the fear that their relationship cannot last. Conversations about their feelings open up a dialogue about the sacrifices they may need to make, further complicating their emotional landscape. As they navigate their intensified feelings, they kiss again, showcasing their chemistry while being cautious of the impending consequences.
In a bittersweet twist, after Angel's moment of happiness and subsequent loss, Buffy loses her memories of their time together, leading her to believe that they should part ways. Despite this, both characters try to redefine their relationship amidst ongoing struggles. Their connection remains strong, though they are faced with the undeniable reality of their tragic fate, creating a poignant narrative of love and loss in Joss Whedon's universe.
What Does 111 Chin Tattoo Mean?
The "111" chin tattoo, prevalent among Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk women before the 20th century, is a potent symbol of resistance, resilience, and cultural revival. This tattoo serves as a connection to ancestral traditions while affirming contemporary Indigenous identities. Men from these tribes marked their upper arms with money tattoos to reflect their wealth through dentalia and other currencies, whereas women embraced the "111" chin tattoos, which signify more than mere aesthetics. For many Yurok women and members of other tribes, these tattoos carry individualized meanings— some view them as symbols of beauty, others as markers of transformation from girlhood to womanhood.
The "111" tattoo also holds spiritual significance, often referred to as an "angel number" representing new beginnings and personal journeys. Each tribe in California assigns different interpretations to the chin tattoo. Generally, they signify coming of age, social status, or personal qualities like courage and bravery since the chin is a challenging area to tattoo. The intricate nature of these designs requires considerable skill and dedication, solidifying their role as true representations of identity.
According to an article in News from Native California, women receive the "111" for various reasons—beauty, spiritual connection, or as a means to differentiate between sexes during battles or later in life. The chin tattoos are significant not just as beautiful marks but as profound declarations of one's journey and identity.
Each tattoo represents different life milestones, much like emotional markers, denoting when a girl transitions into adulthood. The "111" tattoo ultimately embodies the strength and continuity of Indigenous cultures, showing how these practices have evolved while respecting their historical roots. Whether interpreted as symbols of luck, beauty, or a rite of passage, the "111" chin tattoo represents a lasting connection to Indigenous heritage and personal identity in California.
Who Plays Angel In Buffy The Vampire Slayer?
David Boreanaz portrays the character Angel, created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt for the American TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel. Boreanaz first appeared as Angel in 1997, quickly gaining popularity, particularly noted for his transition from a savage villain to a heroic figure within vampiric lore. Angel's character is marked by complexity, displayed through his relationship with Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Following three successful seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel received his spin-off show, premiering in 1999.
David Boreanaz's journey to landing the role of Angel is anecdotal; he bonded with the casting director over a shared interest in food. Despite his early obscurity, Boreanaz's portrayal of the vampire seemed daunting initially, given the character's secretive nature—his vampire identity was not revealed until episode seven of the first season. Boreanaz's performance ultimately contributed significantly to the show's appeal, leading to a dedicated fanbase.
Born on May 16, David Paul Boreanaz is distinguished not just as an actor but also as a director and producer, finding success beyond the Buffy franchise. His portrayal of Angel established him as a prominent figure in TV history, reflecting the duality of the character as both a fierce vampire and a private investigator. The character's first appearance was in "Welcome to the Hellmouth," and he remained pivotal until the series finale, becoming one of the most recognized vampires in fictional history, renowned for both villainy and heroism.
📹 Why You Should Watch Angel
Sources (links support the channel) Angel: The Complete Series (Collector’s Set) DVD https://amzn.to/2TwaDNa Angel Season 1 …
I always thought of it in a manner on “conditions”. Season 2&3 of Angel explain what exactly a vampire is, which is a bottom of the barrel demon more akin to a virus. It only exists as a primal predator, but once it moves into a human body, the vampire gains its memories and personality. Liam was a man who loved indulging in the primal urges. He also had a bit of aggression because of his father. When he died, the vampire entered the body and gained Liam’s memories, becoming Angelus. Since a vampire is already primal, its behavior was amplified. When he got Liam’s soul, it was as a part of a curse, becoming Angel. As Angel, he frequently says that he remembers EVERY misdeed he’s ever taken part in. I believe the curse amplifies his bad memories and basically gives him clinical depression. William Pratt was a weak man with a great deal of love and frustration in not living life the way he wanted. Becoming a vampire amplified those desires and unleashed his anger. Willfully regaining his soul allowed him to function as a normal person who has regrets, but can deal with them.
I wish you touched on Spike a bit more in this article because he really highlights that even his impulses have always been aligned to be more prosocial compared to angel. Spike, before becoming a vampire, loved his mother and wanted to share that love with his attractions. After becoming a vampire, he still loved his mother and wanted to love his new vampire family. And when he realized not having a soul was becoming a detriment to the only person in his life that he cared about, he went through hell to get it back. And when he did get it back, his road to redemption wasn’t to rekindle a sense of good, but to remember why he did good things, even the few good things he did as a vampire. Being a vampire blinded him from what he cared about on a deep level, leaving him to chase the highs of life. As he described, the world just became one big party to him. I think this is why Angel resented Spike on such a deep level. Because, at every stage of his soul occupancy, he never had that natural drive for good the same way Spike did. The fact he did the reverse of what Spike did when he got his soul back says it all. He needed to work and suffer to be the angel we know him as. And he’s not mad at Spike because he didnt earn his place, but because he wanted someone else to be as bad as him, so he could at least feel there was some justification to his evil; that anyone could have been as bad as him. But as spike points out in their fight, the only reason spike was as bad as he was is because angelus taught him to be that way.
Great article. Something I would add, if I may: Angel went from blood-thirsty, animalistic beast to having a soul within the span of a heartbeat. Spike spent several years with a chip in his skull that zapped him every time he tried to commit violence on a human – that coupled with trying to change himself for Buffy, he had a good head start on Angel. Something else that sets them apart is that Angelus had his soul forced upon him, Spike sought his out and fought for it in order to be a better person.
Just found this website and i think this might be one of my favorite takes on the Angelus soul questions I’ve ever heard. Just having a soul doesn’t automatically make you good is something i honestly think a lot of people need to understand in their actual lives. Please make more buffy content you have s singular insight i could definitely hear more of.
This is great. I have only one (I don’t know if it’s a complaint or an opinion) thought here… people don’t change every five, ten years. Well, they change, physically, and maybe mentally realizing things, BUT, they don’t grow, unless something catastrophic happened, OR they become sooo radically aware of self. Radically aware is rare. Most people don’t want to deal with the shadow parts of themselves. So they tend to ignore any pain, dissatisfaction or unpleasantness until it’s too late, or too buried. Growth takes some serious thought work. it’s an active thing… Most people don’t do that kind of heavy lifting unless forced or divinely guided. If it happens, most of the time, it’s an accident or an epiphany.
The difference could also be in the different methods used to ensoul Spike and Angel. Angelus was a monster through and through. There wasn’t a shred of humanity in him so the idea of getting his soul back would be a nightmare to him, thus it was used as a punishment for all the evil acts he’d committed. Spike, on the other hand, still retained some human qualities after he was sired, such as his love for both his mother and Drusilla. He demonstrated that he was also capable of empathy and realising when he had done wrong, which is what led to him going to get his soul back. That’s the difference, Spike wanted his soul back, Angelus didn’t.
Awesome article! I often thought about the 100 years of remorse vs. Spike moaning in a basement for 2-3 weeks and then being fine argument as … an unfair comparison. When you think about it. Angel underwent the biggest changes over the shortest period of time (from rat-boy angel to champion of the helpless “Angel”) when he was with Buffy. Following her example, if you will. Spike was able to undergo a similarly fast change because he had Buffy.
I also think it’s important to consider Spike and his chip. Just because Spike isn’t a big bad anymore doesn’t mean he’s not still affected by his soul. and he still had a lot of affection for dru, just like he did for buffy, but he expressed it differently. just because his moral growth is stunted doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of learning things, like how to be more of what he thought buffy wanted. in the buffy guides from passion of the nerd, ian (narrator) repeatedly states how spike’s actions in s5/s6 are frequently selfishly motivated. they might be good/better/more-aligned-with-the-schoobies choices, but the motivation doesn’t change. at least not til s7, as seen in the bedroom scene in s7e20.
I’m a bit late to this, but I’m also a Buffy-phile. Something to keep into consideration about spike is that before he got his soul he had that inhibitor chip in his head that basically enforced moral decisions as far as his physical ability to deal with humans. That informed a lot of his decisions overtime, and for so long that actually became habit,2 full season (in-show years), plus a chunk of season 4. He had more time to make it to who he was before he actually got his soul than Angelus did when he got his. Yes, Spike was a little Punch-Drunk when he got his soul because he had the whole guilt thing going on for him, but instead of the psychological pain of a person with a soul-killing, he had to deal with a physical pain that was beyond his ability to cope with, but I think his enforced morality gave him a head start.
The best explanation I’ve heard is from Ian of @Passion of the Nerd: Spike was a poet and passionate and a mommy’s boy. Angel was a Chad, drunk Layabout with no interest beyond that. The Demon took him over completely as opposed to Spike It’s why in Season 2 of Buffy, the judge couldn’t burn him, but could Burn spike and Drusilla
I don’t think that Spike is at all the same person with or a without a soul. To see the difference, one must compare S7 Spike to S2 Spike, not to S6 Spike. The pain chip reduced Spike’s aggression towards humans starting with S4, but it didn’t really change his personality. He simply found other ways to exploit and hurt humans instead of killing them. The only reason Spike fought demons and helped Buffy was to impress her, so she would have sex with him, not because he genuinely wanted to fight evil. Only the soul allowed Spike to think, feel, and care about others as a human being and not just a selfish, calculating monster.
I love that you make the point about self-interest. My theory is that vampires basically operate on pure selfishness. I never thought about the angle of free will though, and an inability to change. It makes much more sense, especially when you consider how long Angel had his soul. I personally don’t see Angel and Angelus as all that different – or rather I see them on the same level as Spike and William. Angel even hints that they take their personality from the human. Angelus was very riled up over the feelings that Buffy gave Angel, and I think he aggressively wanted to desecrate Angel’s memory of loving Buffy. But outside of that, he and Angel share a liking for artistry. To me, there is a bigger difference between Liam and Angel than Angel and Angelus. Think about Liam dancing drunkenly on a table, then cut to Angel awkwardly singing “Oh, Mandy.” Liam was a party boy, and Angel grew up from that. Your theory that free will enables change sounds like a good reason why. Angel can’t unsee what Angelus has done, and decades of reflection has made him a different person than Liam, a different person than the person he was when the demon took over. In other words, Liam was an artsy, party boy, Angelus was the demon forged from that personality, Angel tried to fit in with vamps as an ensouled vampire, but ultimately his memories of Angelus’ experience changed and sobered him. William was constrained by society and wanted to break free. That’s the personality that the demon had to work with.
I really love the way you broke this down…..You are an incredibly smart person, love your articles so far. I am a big buffy fan so I came across your article on season 6 and really enjoyed the way you break it down. I wish I could be that poetic with my word as you seem to be. Anyway great job please make more.
Yes. In Buffy becoming a vampire takes your baseline personality and removes all empathy and inhibitions. The perfect example of this is Spike and Harmony. It’s him without self control. He blames himself for the actions (and so too does Spike) because they recognize that “crazy” in them is part of them and they are responsible for making decisions to stop it. Its the existential battle we all face between good and evil within ourselves. We are all capable of great evil, if we stop paying attention to our actions and act without care.
OMG, I’m rewatching (and also perusal the series back to back for the first time) the series right now and that’s something I’ve been thinking about lot (that Angel’s soul is a very big part of the characterization but Spike doesn’t have one but are good and sensitive anyway). I have just started season 6 so I will come back and finish this article later, but yeah cool that it’s not only me..
I always thought Angelus being a separate entity from Angel as a pleasant fiction that Angel likes to hide behind. Angelus is him with limited choices and ways of responding to things, but even sans soul it’s still his personality. One of the major reasons it took him so long to become Angel is because his personality would’ve never chosen to experience the hardship of getting his soul back. So having it forced back in was an even more traumatic event. Liam was a simple and selfish person. And his demon was the same thing. It was the traumatic trauma of being re-ensouled that forced him to confront his mental make-up and change. And even that took him a damn long time. Mainly because unlike Spike..he didn’t choose to change. And he didn’t have a good support network around him to help him facilitate that change. That’s one of the main things that separates Angel from Spike. William was a more odd and complex individual. He would probably be romantic enough to choose to go through the pain of getting his soul back for love. And that’s why the demonic entity in Spike also would. It’s the same personality, it just the thing driving it is demonic. And Spike demon having the navigate that personality along with having many of his baser impulses curtailed by his chip…well..unsouled Spike would make some very interesting choices. And when he made the boldest one…Angel had paved the way of knowing what’s that’s like. And he had Buffy around to give him a chance. All Angel had was Darla.
I think it’s really depend on the context of the mindset/personality of the human before being turned into a Vampire. Liam was a man full of vices and hatred, and thus Angelus was was more akin to this personality. Returning Liam to his body and see what his new persona did was part of the curse, so he was a “new” repented Liam, ashamed of his past as both the old Liam and Angelus and in conflict with both of them (hence why he rejected BOTH the Liam and Angelus names). He wanted to be a brand new persona and becoming one with Angelus was somebody both of them refused. William instead was a genuine good guy turned into a Vampire against his will. So under the surface of the violent Spike (convienently suppressed for a while by the Initiative chip), there was still the “good” background of William, and their similarities allowed both Spike and William to want to “merge” into a single personality without major conflicts, when Spike decided he wanted to have his soul back.
At his heart Spike was a romantic and that was stronger than his baser, soulless urges. He started learning to act differently when he got a chip in his head and then when he started to fall in love with Buffy. His desire to become a man who she would love overrode his desire to be a monster. He made the choice himself, it wasn’t a soul that did it. That’s why he remains unchanged (mostly) when he becomes ensouled because Spike wasn’t fighting or forced into the process. He’d already done the internal work to get him to the place of wanting a soul again. That’s how I always interpreted their differences. They also imply there is a spectrum of evil among vampires (much as there is in people) when The Judge in season 2 says Spike and Drusilla reek of humanity due to their strong love for each other, while he said Angelus was pure demon. This was another example of Spike exerting his right to choose by helping Buffy fight Angelus. Spike was always cut from a different cloth and a lot of his previous badness was done as a way to please Drusilla and impress Angelus. It’s difficult to know how much of Spike’s evil behaviour was his own versus a mask he learned to wear because of the company he was keeping.
Great article and take but I’ve always had a different understanding. To me, the demon just amplifies the inner person and their wants, so for angel it’s his anger at his father and for spike it’s his want to be loved. Specifically with the soul though, I’ve always felt it was the difference of how they got their soul. For angel it was a punishment, given to him against his will, where he hid from civilization and eventually lied to himself to create a separate persona in an effort to deal with his own actions. With spike he knowingly fought to get it back, and was more at peace with the monster he was, taking accountability for it and trying to move forward.
Before starting this article I just want to say I have always wanted people to discuss this topic and am glad to have come across this article. I’ve never understood why vampirism is an unstoppable ticket to hell. They’ve made it clear vampirism removes the soul, and losing one’s soul takes away their ability to do/choose good; so why are they held responsible for their actions? In Angel’s case, he didn’t know exactly what was gonna happen, but knew he’d be getting up to no good with Darla, so I would argue he deserved the damnation. But Spike was just bonked over the head and turned, poor guy didn’t ask for any trouble and yet he has to face the punishment for actions he made without definitive free will. Just my 2 cents. Angel as a show is very interesting with its moral philosophy, but lacks in theological philosophy to back it up
This was how I always viewed the Angel/Angelus dichotomy. Spike has said it best: “He always was a bit of a drama queen.” To use your analysis of the continuum from Liam to Angelus to Angelus with a soul to Angel to back and forth again, there is one consistency of Angel in all his incarnations as being an extreme person in beliefs and actions. As Liam, he lives a life of excess by overindulging in every vice possible. Living every day like it’s his last without seemingly caring for much because he will never have his father’s approval. Then he becomes a vampire and what does he do. Slaughters the town he lives in and murders his entire family. And then goes on to make a name for himself as the most sadistic and depraved vampire in recorded history. He is cursed with a soul and after trying and failing to fall back on what he knew for so long (wanton cruelty), he avoids people as much as possible for 100 years give or take in a reclusive depressive state. Then he’s called upon and introduced to Buffy and sees a pathway to use his situation to better the world and attempts to be a champion. He loses his soul again, regresses (as you phrased it), and proceeds to try to make up for any noble thing he tried to do by attacking what made him feel human and generally causing destruction, concluding with him attempting to destroy the world (an almost middle finger really at himself; “if Angel was trying to make the world a better place, I’ll respond with trying to tear it all down”). He’s reensouled and naturally goes through the guilt process again of new sins and body counts.
The reason why Angel/Happy Pill Angeluslite/Angelus were split personalities was because as a Human When he was Human called Liam while he was not a murderer or person that sexually assaulted people as far as we know he was a person that did not take his familial duties seriously aside from his younger sibling and loved to start brawls with people and get drunk and hammered and sleep around which society viewed as sinful for the most part so while he was not downright sadistic like Angeluslite Also Known As Happy Pill High Angel or Angelus he was not really much for honor and respect either around most people. Now as Angel he while he could he agressive he did not like to fight too much he stared out feeding on rats and other creatures in the sewers, sewage, tunnels, tubes, slides, caves, coves, and bridges to try to atone and to stay under the radar as well as to keep his darker urges under control then later on decided to do more heroic things with the aid of Whistler motivating him and also because he fell for Buffy upon first sight and liked what she represented. Now in terms of Spike he as a Human was a hopeless romantic lovesick puppy poet and was also a Mammas boy yet most of society made fun of him and constantly teased and mocked him he was creepy with his obsession for certain people he romantically loved even if his heart was in the correct spot up. Then he immediatly fell for Drusilla upon seeing for for the first time and wanted to be with her forever for eternity and have immortality and infinity with her and felt that way once he fully became a vampire and still felt love for his Mom so yeah.
The reason there’s Angel and Angelus and no Spike-elus is because of how long Angel had a soul for and who Angelus was. Liam was a hedonist, someone who sought pleasure in every form, and this is the strongest driving factor in his unlife. Angelus could best be described as an artist, with death and destruction as his muse and the destruction of human beings as art to him. The more insane he can drive someone, the more of a masterpiece he sees them as. As Angel himself said, he was only in it for the evil, with it being everything to him. When he got his soul, Liam was still dead, Angelus just got a conscious. It took 100 years of wallowing in self loathing and hatred that formed Angel as we know him, because helping Buffy and fighting the good fight gave him a way to website that self hatred. Spike isn’t all that different from who he was in life. William was a poet and loved his mother more than anything, with love being his most defining characteristic, and this trait followed him into his unlife. It was because he saw Drusilla was attracted to the darkness of Angelus that he decided to become the worst vampire he can be, but he still stayed as true to himself as he could. Drusilla sired him, but it was Angelus’ teaching and influence that made Spike a monster. As love changed Spike into a monster, love also made him want to become a man when he fell in love with Buffy. He wanted to become the person she deserved, so he willingly fought for and obtained his soul, but even before that he changed, forming connections with both Willow and Dawn and seeing both as something like sisters and trying to protect them for their sake, not just for Buffy, especially Dawn.
I think the reason Spike and Angel are so different when it comes to the soul is because Angel was cursed with his soul and Spike sought his soul because he wanted to be a better man, after being neutered by the initiative he started to see the value in humanity because vampires (in the show) can feel like they can love they can hate all the emotions are there just without a sense of morality spike as a human before he was sired by Drusilla was a mama’s boy who wrote bloody awful poetry hence William the bloody and his day tonight from Spike as a vampire much like Angel before he was turned and when he became a vampire at least that’s how I rationalized it in my head perusal the show growing up so the way I view it is the soul is more an allegorical representation of a moral compass
The writers had very little care for continuity of the lore, and rewrote and retconned many things in service of the plot at the expense of making any sense. The definitive answer to what a vampire is and how the soul functions appears to be the following, after a general overview of Buffy, Angel and the comics: • Maloker was a giant, bat-like Old One, pure demon. He bit and mixed his blood with a human, infusing his essence into the human. • The human died from blood loss. • The corpse of the human was magically changed by Maloker’s essence, giving it the physiology of what we know as a “vampire” – which is to say, a hybridised mutation of a human body with Maloker’s essence. But the body is nevertheless still dead. • Any other dimension that is able to link with “our” world (through gateways like the Hellmouth) allows for the transportation of demons across dimensions. • Any demon that is able to transverse into “our” world is able to enter the corpse of the mutated human, and possess and reanimated it, much like a puppeteer and puppet. This is what vampires in Buffy and Angel are – the corpses of mutated humans that are reanimated by a third-party demon. • A soul being restored to these “vampire” corpses dislodges the demon that is in possession of the corpse, and installs the human soul as the entity that possess and reanimated the body. It’s both convoluted and straight forward.
The way i see it,, I think its because of spike having the chip for 3 seasons he soulless was able to learn his ways, – through working with buffy, learned his ways enough to go fight for his soul,,, Angelous learned nothing, got his soul forced on to him as punishment, Angel now and then dose say things like he would miss it and also struggles with it like dark angel,, Since having his soul he was struggling with who he was his morals Uptill meeting buffy,, buffy and angel team only ones named him angel as we do, Everyone kept naming him angelus,, Deep down he still angelus,, So essentially he’s two people in one. Kinda dexter like similar situation,, angelus/dark passenger Thats the differences I see between spike and angel.
In the S4 finale, Spike is ready to watch Buffy get killed, almost gleeful about it, but then has that “oh bugger” look on his face and helps instead. This is why I don’t think the whole ‘the soul means you get to choose’ explanation is definite. Unless it means the demon part of Spike was the one choosing to help her, which would also mean it’s as much the demon who falls in love with her, but that never really gets answered or followed up on because Soul Spike is pretty much the same as S6 Spike (just a bit less ‘icky’ for lack of a better word).
My brain is getting tangled into knots trying to apply this philosophy to Harmony. So I guess that Harmony is basically unchanged as a vampire because, as a human, she was already emotionally immature and incapable of empathy? Except that now she doesn’t have any compunction about killing. But she does try to resist killing/feeding off of Cordelia in Disharmony…so there’s already some level of morality. And she joins the “good” team by working for Angel in season 5. I think she has a line somewhere along the way about how being a vampire makes it really difficult for her to distinguish right from wrong. But she tries. So a soul is…what, exactly? Just emotional intelligence? Some people lack that anyway. Is a soul just the ability to be selfless? But everything we do as people is selfish…even acts of “good” are selfishly motivated. On a long enough timeline, is any vampire capable of becoming just as moral, empathetic, and altruistic as any human is capable of being? Then Buffy slaying them is kind of problematic, isn’t it? The other dimension of a vampire’s “evil” is that they all have different definitions of what it means to be evil. Spike is simply selfish, wants to fit in and make a name for himself and has no problem doing terrible things to accomplish that goal, while Angelus enjoys torment for its own sake; he finds it fulfilling to murder and torture. He literally wants to destroy the entire world. In Conversations with Dead People, Holden says that being a vampire makes him feel “like I’m connected to a powerful all-consuming evil that’s gonna suck the world into a fiery oblivion”.
I actually think there are a few major differences between Soulless and Ensouled Spike. Soulless Spike had an external moral compass in Buffy. While he was capable of making selfless decisions like helping the scoobies patrol or looking after Dawn, he still had a sadistic streak left in him ex. perusal the demon gang raid houses, trying to feed off a human, etc. He loved Buffy as best as he could but he was still overall selfish, arrogant, possessive, and toxic. Ensouled Spike genuinely wanted to be a good man. He was more humble, laid back, selfless, and romantic. When he was under control of the first, he wanted to die if it meant sparing others. He loved Buffy enough to put her happiness ahead of his own.
Angel said in season one of buffy the vampire slayer that when a human is turn in to vampire a demon take’s over has the memories of that human it think’s and act’s like a twisted version of a human like Angelus is the twisted version of Angel when Angel got his soul back for the second time he didn’t immediately remember the action’s of Angelus but after about 100 year’s in a hell dimension he would have remembered i agree Spike having a soul for a few week’s like Angelus re-ensoulment for the first time and the soul doesn’t make a person Is automatically good the soul give’s a person a ability to feel remorse and empathy
Personally, I quite like the way Buffy explains in season 2 what being a vampire REALLY entails to a former friend desiring to be one. The person you were prior to becoming a vampire ceases to exist. Your body becomes a shell for a demon to fill whilst gaining your memories. This is why a vampire will instantly betray loved ones because the demon inside the person has no logical reason to care about anyone. Granted, Spike changes even without a soul to guide him due to his unhealthy obsession with Buffy. I have a few theories as to why Angelus is LEAGUES above Spike in terms of evil: 1. William was pitiable in life but Liam was straight up pathetic. William was lonely and had serious love for his mother whereas Liam was incredibly impulsive and cared for no one but himself. This probably made it easier for the demon to seize control. 2. Angelus was pretty consistently treated like an enemy (which he deserved) whereas Spike was thrown in enough situations where he was forced to bond with the Scooby gang. 3. Given the spectrum of demons we see in the Buffyverse, it is highly likely Liam just had poor luck of the draw and got the worst possible demon imaginable to steal his body. Just my opinion though.
I’d also argue that Angelus after Angel is different from Angelus after Angel in a few key ways, because he has all these memories of being Angel. It makes him so much more resentful of who he was which he takes out on Buffy by tormenting her in season 2. I don’t think Angelus before Angel would have tried to destroy the world, for example. He was just an evil party boy. Angelus after Angel was fighting a war against good.
Imagine if Drucilla got her soul. She’d be even more broken. Good God would she be broken. Though wouldn’t always make a difference with depending on the vampire. Like Zachary Kralik, he was like Norman Bates before he was turned. Although I guess you can argue that with the fact that Angel is not Liam. I don’t know if it was really clear if he had Liam’s soul, they’ve always just said he was cursed with A, soul
I think it has more to with the life they lived when they were human,liam was a massive disappointment to his father when he was alive physically beat him and probably had massive feelings of hate and resentment he bottled up that only amplified when he became a vampire with no moral compass to hold him back he murdered his mother and sister to hurt his father, before confessing to think someone so small and pathetic made him feel the way he did made him feel like he wasnt a man etc .. whilst spike was a mummys boy even tho he was an underachiever he still had his mummy. Angels other half is such a coin flip in comparison its probably this reason why he split off into dual personality.
There’s another consideration to take into account with whether Angel and Angelus are the same person, look at the template before becoming a vampire. Liam was a drunken whoring layabout, amoral, one hell of a candidate to become the Scourge of Europe. When he has his soul returned not only would he naturally be crushed by the guilt of his actions, things most any human would be horrified by, the gypsies driven by vengeance wouldn’t be past having the spell inflict such guilt to make him suffer. William was a sensitive poet before being turned and while as a vampire he relishes showmanship and being a dick he has his limits. Destroying the world, Tara’s family abuse, he doesn’t like that one bit. Drusilia, a pious girl driven insane then turned. As a vampire when she is more lucid she can go either way, delving into evil to the point of unleashing Acathla, hurt and upset that Spike had fallen for Buffy, or trying to get him (and Darla) back. Harmony, a selfish alpha girl who had no growth or development, and ended up being much the same as a vampire. In short yes Angel and Angelus are the same, down to Angel wanting to look cool as Liam did and in the comics setting up a mano a mano vampire fight to look cool like Liam would. Difference is Angel is Angelus, Liam, being forced to grow up, mature, or go under, as we get a example of from Reunion to Epiphany.
Yeah, I’m just going to think of it like a split-personality disorder. For me, Willow/Dark Willow is just like Angel/Angelus. Disassociating from themselves because it’s too painful and traumatic. It’s a mental disorder. Or am I supposed to believe Dark Willow is demonic possession too? ANYA: “Willow’s a demon?”
Maybe I’m not remembering the details correctly, but I always assumed it was a methods thing. For Angel it was a curse, so they could have shoved any soul in and it would do. For Spike, he went after and specifically got his soul. Not sure if the curse specifically got angel his soul, or if it just imbued him with a soul
This entirely makes sense, except Angel has memories of what he did as Angelus and spends all of that time ruminating over it. I wonder if it’s more like how trauma stops us from being able to grow mentally; maybe he was stunted and had to catch up. I have a number of theories around this exact subject but this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone make one so close to mine 💜💜💜
Wow this is super interesting I’ve always thought it was just Angel and Angelus but yeah it truly is 4 beings He was Liam from 1727 -1753 then Liam died became a vampire and Angelus was born and he was Angelus from 1753 to 1898 then he got his soul and became Angelus with a soul and I will argue he was Angelus with a soul from 1898 all the way to 1996, we don’t see Angel as we all know and love him until 1997 when he goes to Sunnydale and meets Buffy then truly when Angel is born, 1997
Angel and Angelus, in my opinion, are the same person. Angel might feel horrible about the things he does, while Angelus merely enjoys himself. Angelus first appears in the first few episodes of Buffy. He’s just a jerk who says things that he knows will frustrate Buffy. The only thing holding him back is his guilt over those things with a soul.
This great explanation, but i have to kindly disagree, For this fundamental reason, Spike chose to have a soul Angelus didn’t it forced upon him this created Angel to bare the guilt of all suffering so that Angelus didn’t have to. Spike pre-soul actual change because he still had humanity which enabled him learn and grow as an individual. Which allowed him to accept the responsibility of atrocities and burdens that comes with it. For example in the buffy comics spike soul was stolen and he didn’t noticed because besides being slightly apathetic, he barely changed. And what was the first thing he did when he figured it out he went and got it back. Because spike has humanity which allowed him to care; he cared about Joyce, he cared about Dawn, he even cared about Willow. Unlike Angelus who never made that change due to the lack of humanity therefore wasn’t prepared for the burden having a soul that it literally split him in two Angelus and Angel
The fact is that in later seasons the writers changed and thus the explanation of a vampire, a soul, and demon lore did too. When a person becomes a vampire, the soul leaves and a demon inhabits the body taking on the characteristics of the former person’s personality. If the soul is restored into the vampire, the demon is retrained and held as the back seat driver. The soul is now mainly in charge but with demonic influence.
I’m sorry, but I did not see the confusion that so many fans seem to have. Angel is clearly the soul, ie the original essence and consciousness the human had who died but was later restored, whereas angelus was the demon who usurped the deceased human’s body and who was referenced as a different entity in angel. why was this so hard to grasp?????
I think all this confusion comes from the first season where Giles tells Xander that Jesse isn’t actually Jesse anymore, but a demon that’s possessed him. I think this is just propaganda BS. I think the soul is nothing more than the ability to identify with a certain species. In the comics, Spike gives his soul to Drusilla, temporarily, she didn’t take on his memories, just became… different. I think the sad reality is that Vampires are 100% the people they originally were, but not being able to identify as the same species anymore is what makes ’em behave inhumanly. It’s been established that demons do have souls in the buffyverse, it’s just that most of them are evil souls. So it doesn’t make sense that something with its own soul would come in, forget everything about itself, and take on another person’s memories… then decided to be evil EVERY TIME…. I think Vampirism in the buffyverse is really just a bad case of Supernatural Rabies, nothing more. It’s not that a demon came in and took over, it’s that without the ability to identify as a human being anymore, a person becomes careless about how they treat other human beings. In one episode of Angel, we see a boy who was born without a soul… it’s so scary inside his shell, that even a real demon got freaked when it possessed him. Let’s take the following scenario into consideration, and pretend the Hindus got it right. Let’s say I was a cow in my previous life… then I died and got reincarnated into a human being. Then one day, a couple of angry gypsies come along and restore my COW soul.
I completely disagree. The show is clear. When tthe vampire is created the body is inhabited by a demon soul. When Angel gets his human soul then you have two souls inside the body. The demon soul has not left but not being the original owner of the body it can only take control in certain moments. Basically both Spike and Angelus with a soul have each two souls inside at the moment fighting for control. Depending on how strong the human soul is the demon can have more or less control. Also even amongst demons there are different personalities. I am guessing spike is a demon that is more afraid of returning to the void than anything so surviving in a body is more important than acting its desires unlike Angelus. It also mean it is much weaker
To elaborate further on the difference between Spike and Angel: Liam was already a “sinful” person, he was selfish and immature, so when turning into a vampire, it brought out his worst impulses which is why he is so sadistic. Being a vampire makes you your absolute worse self and Liam/Angelus was obsessive and passionate. Whereas William/Spike was a poet, he was civilized and restrained, so when becoming a vampire he did become sadistic but not nearly to the extent Liam/Angelus did because William was a softer and more refined person to begin with. In Spike’s lore as well you see he is relatively the same after becoming a vampire even turning his mother into a vampire to “save” her and ultimately experienced trauma by having to stake her after he realized he polluted the person she was. That trauma, I maintain, was instrumental in turning him into Spike, a being who abandoned refinement and poetry in exchange for violence and music. I think also, once the chip was implanted taking away his ability to harm, it effectively acted like a soul would, except instead of emotional pain for bad choices it was physical. This enabled him to indulge in his emotional side that was very much present after he became a vampire in the first place. At that point it makes total sense that he would not only fall in love with/not kill Buffy, but that after he realized his sadistic-vampire view of love was harmful to her (aka he tries to rape her to prove they are in love, which is something Spike would say do to Drusilla and it would absolutely work because, vampires) he gets his soul because he knows he needs that emotional pain/guilt to pilot his choices if he wants to be something positive to Buffy.
Well, you’re wrong, there are for too things that blatantly contradict what you’ve talked about, and I’m going to show it. First off, a soul is not a conscience; if being turned into a vampire demon just made you the person without a conscience, far too many other human desires and cares would still be around. You would fear the police, you would fear what your loved ones would think, etc.; instead, a human becomes a vampire, that vampire instantly becomes a murdering monster that cares absolutely nothing about any human trapping, with very few exceptions. Similarly, you claimed that when the gypsies put Liam’s soul back into Angelus, that that is just Angelus with a conscience. No, a conscience doesn’t make you a good person, or feel guilty over people you’ve hurt, that depends on what you were taught and what you taught yourself is good versus evil. If you think that torturing people is good, you will torture people and not only not feel a single moment of remorse, you feel good and heroic about torturing people. That’s where that old saying about rather having a standard tyrant than moral busy bodies running a tyranny, the standard tyrant is just tyrannical with no ulterior motives, he will have to sleep and rest, and he’ll probably have some sick days off, and if he doesn’t see you he’s probably going to care, but the moral busy bodies, they will produce a tyranny that will never sleep, never not be driven to find everyone who is too free, to not operating the way they want them operate, it will ben evil that will never rest, always driven to unleash more evil upon the world, because to not unleash the evil, would make them feel guilty.
I wish they explored the “humanity” thing more. One reason why I’ll always think Spike is better than Angel/Angelus is due to the fact that Angelus was detected to not have a ounce of humanity in him versus Dru and Spike did. That alone I think also says a lot about vampires/souls as well. Dru and Spike’s love and affection for each other gave them a little bit of humanity, where as Angelus had none. It’s one of the reasons why I pick Spike over Angel when it comes to the debate. Even when they were at the “same level” and both had no souls, even then Angelus was still worse than Spike. I feel a lot of fans think Spike is worse than Angelus, but I never understood why. I’m assuming due to the assault on Buffy and the fact he killed two slayers, but there is so much clearly Angelus has done to make him have absolutely “no humanity” in him compared to Spike. Also, unlike Angelus, Spike doesn’t stalk his lovers, murder everyone they know, and torture them into insanity.
You forgot the most important point. The question that looms over the fifth season and regards to the underlying themes of the duality between the main two characters. The study of primal force in comparison to the evolved stance of all mankind. The question whether it’s best to just go with it, independent, or to band together, even when there is so much more to lose that way. Whether there is selfishness in unity and selflessness in the lack of it. The threads that tie in one of the saddest moments of the season. The age old question that even left the entire fanbase divided. — — — — Who would win in a fight, cavemen or astronauts?
I love Angel almost as much as I love Buffy – I think I’d love it more if behind the scenes drama hadn’t led to the character assassination of Cordelia. I won’t be too spoiler-y but to this day it bothers me, and I agree with/ understand why people place Angel Season 5 so highly (Fred/Illyria centric episodes in particular are fantastic), but as someone who couldn’t stand Cordy on Buffy and then fell in love with her on Angel, that’s a betrayal from Joss I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Especially because of the way Charisma was treated. It’s all just a horrible situation, and I do feel that Season 5 suffered terribly without her. After perusal Buffy/Angel so many times, Cordy overtook Willow as my all-time favourite Buffyverse character and it does almost entirely ruin Angel for me. I don’t think it’s just a case of me going “waaaaaaaa look what they did to my favourite character” – it is legit shady what they did to both the character and the actress.
This is an underrated gem of a show. Seasons 1 & 2 were amazing, 3 was good, 4 was meh. But season 5 was brilliant especially with the addition of Spike. Angel’s & Spike’s scenes together made the season. Was gutted when it was cancelled… I wish they got a chance to end the show on their own terms.
Wesley has one of the best character arks I have ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. I am rewatching BTVS and Angel right now and from seeing Wesley in BTVS he was nerdy and very different to how he ended. He was head boy to rouge demon hunter to dark (because he was neglected) to depressed. And I could go on forever about many small and large things/events that you see that changed him as a person. Honestly, I’m glad they finished where they ended up to. Yes, it would have been exciting if they continued with the show but it ended on a nice ring to it. There is the comics, but I’m not the biggest fan of them. There should be more recognition on Angel and BTVS, they are both very interesting shows. I grew up on these shows and they will always be one of my favourite shows out there, also if you have seen sg1 watch SGU, because that is very interesting.
Thank you for bringing up some important things about Angel. First of all, it is this quote: “if nothing we do matters… then all that matters is what we do.” I think this may be one of the most important thoughts to make a home for in our brains. People need to sit with this and OWN it. Also….I have always been in awe of Wesley and Cordy. Weeping laughing hanging on tooth and nail step by step awe. It is a testament to the show and the character of Angel that he inspires and encourages others to fulfill more than just their imagined potential; they grow into beings that they never realized could exist, and their light(s) are joyfully blinding. It is their journeys that contribute to making this show ineffable. There is a beauty here that simply hurts. edit and SPOILER. Overlooked in every list of it’s kind: DARLA’S DEATHTH/CONNOR’S BIRTH. Nothing of it’s kind compares to this. NOTHING.
Usually, when one of the websites I’m subscribed to posts a new article and I get a notification about it, I think, “Oh, cool! I can watch that when I have some free time tomorrow.” When this website posts a new article, I go, “WHERE IS MY COMPUTER BECAUSE I NEED TO WATCH THIS RIGHT. NOW.” That said, this article didn’t disappoint. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go add Angel to my Netflix queue…
Wesleyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. It’s hard for my friends who I’ve only gotten through Buffy to understand my undying intense affection for his character. Like really you’re in love with the lame new watcher? And I’m just crying my bitter AtS fan tears. Seriously so many people get hung up on not perusal Angel because of Angel. Which I admit is kind of a hurdle and how well I like his character probably corresponds to what’s going on in the plot. At the end of the day though you are passing up an incredible ensemble show in the world of Buffy, because Angel was bland teen girl bait in Buffy. I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe he’d more interesting and dynamic on his own show. Also the show is so dark I joke you could play the sad drinking game in season 1. SPOILERS! Take a drink for every time a character in the shot is a character who is dead by the end of the series. It’s sort of mind boggling to think about when perusal earlier seasons.
I love that you included the bit about the woman in Russia. That story always stuck out to me as being very poignant. And the second you started talking about Season 5 I felt the waterworks approaching. AtS means the world to me and that finale is honestly my favorite episode of television, as much as it makes me cry.
I equally love both shows! Its like picking a favorite child. BTVS is the perky feel good but meaningful show while Angel is the more emo darker but also witty show. I binged Buffy on netflix and watched Angel at the same time (once i got to s4 so the crossover episodes would match up) I found myself being more excited to watch the next episode of Angel because s4 of Buffy was so stale. However looking back on it i rewatch Buffy more and recommend Buffy way more than Angel. So its like i go back and forth with it! But Angel is definitely a great show n worth the try and im excited for the upcoming episode guides!!
Angel was highly underrated and awesome. The title character was definitely better on his own show than Buffy, but still never what made the show great – the supporting ensemble cast was amazing, with so much depth, grit, and nuance. Dark gritty writing, with enough fantasy and humor to keep things interesting, this show really deserves more love. The characters were SO good. Especially Cordelia and Wesley – especially amazing considering how they both started.
This came up on my front page just now, and I literally did a little dance. It’s, like, 9 in the morning, so that’s a big deal for me!! I am waiting eagerly for the rest of your Buffy reviews, and the fact that you plan to do an Angel episode guide as well makes me super happy!! That being said, please hurry the eff up and get on season 3 of Buffy before I explode with anticipation.
That was wonderful. Angel was a very good show. I watched it when it came on TV and I literally sat awestruck through every commercial – of course I eventually yelled at my TV to hurry up, it never listens to me – just because Angel is such an interesting show. I enjoyed the article. I wish I could’ve watched it sooner. It’s officially one of my favs. I love your point of view and look. forward to more! As I always say “Someone finally understands!”
Excellent article! If any Angel fan wants to know what happens to Angel and the group after that final scene in the alley way in the last episode, then I highly suggest reading After the Fall. It’s one of the greatest comic book series I’ve ever read, and it continues the show (it’s basically season 6) as if it were written by the series’ best writers. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES! Having just finished rewatching this series, I just have to say – the cancellation of Angel at the end of season 5 was a far more terrible problem than I originally thought when I watched ‘Not Fade Away’, the finale. Not just because season 5 was the best and season 6 had the potential to be even better, and not just because the series ends on a cliffhanger (that cliffhanger is a completely fitting end, thematically), but because of a far more central issue – the characters’ arcs ended on the wrong place. At the end of ‘Not Fade Away’, team Angel wasn’t just facing impossible odds (which does make perfect sense as the end, thematically), it was also COMPLETELY MORALLY BANKRUPT. Well, not completely, but very, very immoral. Angel’s actions in that episode were not guided by “If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do”, they were guided by “Heroes don’t accept the world the way it is, they fight it”. Which, of course, was said by LINDSEY, of all people. AKA the bad guy. I’ll explain: In the finale, Angel consistently chooses to do things that go against the show’s philosophy – he executes Lindsey (what about redemption?) through Lorne’s hands (so much for saving people’s souls), he kills a good guy, Drogyn, so he can get to kill more bad guys (I thought all that matters is what we do?), he kills archduke Sebasis by poisoning and killing his innocent servant (collateral damage anyone?), he brainwashes an innocent politician into believing he’s a pedophile so he (Angel) can keep his undercover status, and of course, he risks the lives of his entire team (not to mention anyone getting in the crossfire) for the sake of a mission that he KNOWS is not necessary, and won’t change anything.
this ep is so great! i love your take on Angel. and yes, i love the finale. it is not a cliche like heros always win in the end. the end is open to interpretations while it also is pretty obvious. i love that quote before the big fight ” the powerful controls everything, except our will to choose. Heros don’t accept the way the world is.”
I wish I could watch Angel for the first time again!! I started perusal Buffy from the get go back in the day when you could only watch it at a certain time on normal TV, then this show Angel came on afterwards – I didn’t know they were doing a spin-off and from the first episode I was hooked!! And until the end of both shows that was my regaulr night perusal those back to back (except for season 5 naturally). I was and still am a bit heartbroken that the show finished early IMO, but man how good was Season 5 which is still to this day the greatest finish to any TV series.
Hey, Ian’s back at it! Hi Ian! So when you took your break I had not seen a single episode of Angel. I was saving it in a way, like an unopened box of candy. But after your break, at some point I decided to crack it open and I’ve seen the whole thing now. It’s so very difficult to put into words, just as you described. Buffy is undoubtedly funnier, the individual characters stand out more, the journey feels more personal. But I almost feel like, and most obviously by season 5, that the writers KNEW that and deliberately incorporated it into both the broader arc and the philosophy of the show, and I’ll try to explain why. With Buffy, everything revolves around her being the Slayer, her being so special. Everyone’s lives are affected by it, by how she does it or doesn’t do it, how they support her or don’t, and the role she plays in the greater scheme of things. The show contains some hard lessons, but it’s ultimately always got a strong element of wish fulfillment to it because of that. If Angel is a show about being an adult, one of the hardest things to accept about being an adult is the reality that you may not be as special as you thought you were, that you may not matter that much in the scheme of things. That you can do everything right and work your whole life at doing something good and still have it come out to nothing, because the essential nature of things is set against your attempts to make it better. It’s a horrible, tragic idea that most of us try not to think about in our daily lives, and it’s either implied or on several occasions explicitly stated to Angel and his friends through the entire show.
I loved Buffy, but never could get into Angel when it originally debuted. Because I enjoy your episode guides for Buffy so much, I decided to give Angel another shot. I was just about convinced that my first impression was correct when I reached the episode where Faith showed up in L.A. Now i’m curious enough to watch a few more…I particularly liked Angel essentially telling Buffy to grow up and accept that she’s not the center of his universe anymore.
Great analysis on Angel. Its a great show, people should watch it. It’s all set in the same universe. I think sometimes fans get too caught up in the Buffy vs Angel debate to the point where their selfish outlooks on the shows make them want to pretend they don’t exist in the same universe…except they do and continue to do so in novel/comic form. For fans who are fans of both shows, this isn’t a problem and its one of the Buffyverses greatest strengths. Buffy wouldn’t have been nearly as strong it was in the first 3 seasons without Angel being a part of it. Likewise Angel wouldn’t have been the show that it was had it not burrowed from the Buffyverse (Cordelia/Wesley/other verse characters) and tried to be its own thing. Buffy is a much more witty show that undergoes several changes throughout its 7 seasons. The first 3 seasons being campy with dark undertones, while Season 4 was a transitional season to what the show would eventually become with its much more darkened final 3 seasons when Buffy was forced into more real life crisis and being an adult herself. Yet the scope of good characters on Buffy were far better I’d say. I’d put Willow, Xander, Oz, Faith, Giles, hell even Riley, Dawn and Anya ahead of the Angel original characters. Angel was more about being an adult, and that theme was pretty prevalent throughout all 5 seasons on Angel. However its weakness isn’t its consistency, but its lack of compelling original characters. I don’t peg Cordy or Wes as original characters.
This article gave me goosebumps. I need to do an Angel re-watch…like NOW! It truly is a great show. Although I feel like a weirdo b/c S4 is by far my favorite. I love how serialized it is, where each episode begins where the previous left off. The whole season is like one long episode, and it’s a roller coaster ride! And S5 is actually my 2nd least fav after S1. Although there are some parts that are absolutely brilliant, there are other parts that are like an absolute trainwreck :\\ But anyhoo, great job! No one could have given a more convincing argument to watch Angel 🙂
Holy CRAP that news story! Mind = Blown! Great, great article, Ian, well worth the wait 🙂 It’s even better than your “Why You Should Watch Buffy” article, despite having a much tougher sell. And you had to twist the knife with those season 5 clips, didn’t ya? 😉 Also, just for the sake of nitpicking – Isn’t Xena considered to be the classic example of a good spin-off? ‘Cuz it was much more succesful than its parent-show? I mean, I haven’t watched it in years, but that’s what a lot of people say…
Something that touches me as I rewatch the series. Both the real life actors who portrayed memorable characters (Doyle and Lorne) passed away. Both Glenn Quinn and Andy Hallett performed magnificently in there roles and it’s their lasting impact as those characters than make this show even more memorable. Knowing that these were their last and best performances of their lives.
Great article!! although I have to disagree with the fact that Buffy’s themes are only related to Buffy herself. In Buffy most of the characters have amazing character arcs and develop crazy depth eg. Willow, Xander, Spike, Anya, Faith and even Andrew!! However, in Angel there are some characters such as Fred, Gunn and Lorne who are very underused. I obviously love both shows but it does make me mad that everyone keeps saying that Buffy is only about Buffy, while it is true that most themes revolve around her that doesnt mean that the other important characters in the show don’t get any development. Sorry for the rant but I had to put it out there. Love the article and the website thi
Excellent article! I admit I have a weird relationship with Angel. I really enjoyed it, but I’ll never love it as much as I loved Buffy. I think part of the problem was that I was perusal both series at the same time on Netflix, but because I was pre-invested in Buffy, I just kept “getting through” the Angel episodes to the next Buffy episode. It didn’t help that getting into the series was a bit hard, because I found season 1 to be kind of slow and without a strong character drive. That being said, season 5 was probably the most enjoyable to me (a great mix of light hearted silly with absolutely devastating tragedy), but season 3 has my favourite arc, and probably the best written season. I hated season 4. If you’re still doing the guide up til then (and it’s far away for sure), I can’t wait to see what you say about it. But in general, I can’t wait until you start doing Angel guides. In retrospect I love Angel more than when I watched it, and I’m sure your guide will solidify that.
Reading the comments I am glad I’m not alone in this, this website is so good, so good. Every time you post a article, it brightens my day. Plus, the list of spin-offs you posted as an example of unsuckyness seriously makes me think you are actually some sort of telepathic alien that has stolen my brain, and used it better than I’ve ever had.
such a great article …its definitely hard to explain Angel to people who haven’t even seen buffy but the series does a great job in bridging the gap in my opinion! Angel is in fact my FAVORITE TV show period…even to this day…. it’s life lessons that they highlight are relevant then as they are now and very memorable! keep up the good work!! +PassionoftheNerd
This is absolutely one of my favorite series. I’d say it’s even better than Buffy the vampire slayer. The character development and how it handles deeply emotional, complex issues is phenomenal, as well as the pure creativity. But probably what I like the most about Angel is that it shows such a nuanced view on good vs evil, which the Buffy show just didn’t quite manage.
Angel seasons 1, 2, and 3 made me laugh and kept me invested. Season 4 was absolute guttertrash and an insult towards all the actors Season 5 had all the makings of a show that should have been continued, but fucking networks, what can ya do. Smile Time was one of the best episodes ever, while ANY episode with Fred and later Illeria just completed messed me up =(
MAJOR SPOILERS Unpopular opinion here, but while the entire Cordy S4 storyline was problematic, I think it gives some useful insight into Cordelia’s character. If you notice during the conversations between her and Skip regarding her ascension, Skip kept flattering Cordelia. It was always “You have outgrown this mortal plane”, “You are important for the fight in the realms above” rather than actually saying how Cordy would actually help in the fight. Though Cordy has gone through extensive character growth, for just one moment Skip appealed to the vain Cordelia of high school, and this was her downfall. S4 was the consequence of Cordy’s error in judgement and was presumably her nightmare come to life for an entire year: Trapped in her own body with no agency, used as a vessel again after being threatened with demonic pregnancy three times, being forced to sacrifice a virgin girl after having expressed her opinion that virgin sacrifices are rooted in sexism in S2, and finally, her ultimate wish gone wrong: Being worshipped by the people of LA, but not as an actress, but as a comatose figure with no agency. Where S4 fails is to give Cordy agency in defeating Jasmine, but I think You’re Welcome goes some way towards fixing that. But essentially, I think her S4 storyline is an essential piece of her series wide arc if you view her entire story as a tragedy, whether intentional or not by the writers. It just needs some emotional distance and objectivity to bring some sense to the chaos.
You HAD to bring up Angel Season 5! That being said, the only thing I don’t like about Angel is, in fact, the title character. Everyone else gets boatloads of drama and character development. But Angel only develops by inches while everyone else gets MILES. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna cry in the corner here.
The Jasmine story-line is what made me almost stop perusal Angel I could handle Cordelia being the bad guy even the gross factor of her being with Connor I just couldn’t handle the last few episode of that season thank god for Spike popping up at the beginning of season 5 but did stop perusal for a few weeks after Fred died I needed to morn her dying.
I feel really bad about this one. The ‘don’t spinoffs usually suck’-segment. I kept thinking: either ‘haven’t seen it’ or ‘i disagree, that’s a great series’ (except Frazier, never really cared for it) It took till Korra, before i saw that was the point: i got ‘not necessarily no’, way too late. You sir, just ruined the very little bit of free time i had left. Time to rewatch the entire buffy-verse. Still disappointed there was no series attached to the racing pope.
Everything you said in this article just reminded me SO much of why I love Angel the tv series! I love Buffy too, but I’ve always preferred Angel slightly more. And Faith’s arcs on Angel I have always loved which many fans who solely watch Buffy often miss out on. Great article! Now I’m going to start a re-watch on Angel…
Ah yes I always get so frustrated when people refuse to watch Angel when they have watched Buffy. Angel, in my opinion, was way deeper than Buffy could ever be, and it touched me more than any other show out there, together with Buffy. But I loved it so much because of all the other characters, Lorne, Gunn, Fred and mostly the character arcs of Cordy, Wesley and Faith. They were really fleshed out on Angel, whereas on Buffy they stayed rather bland. Don’t get me wrong, I love both shows pretty equally, and when people ask my what my #1 show is I always say Buffy and Angel because they’re in the same universe, even though it’s mostly because I can’t choose, but it seems that the older I become the more I seem to understand Angel. Both shows are amazing, and if you watched Buffy, there’s really no excuse to not give Angel a try.
Thank you for coming back! I went on Youtube everyday for two weeks waiting for this. I love Angel. FOr me, it’s problem is that is takes itself a little too seriously. Buffy pretends to be fluffy, so when it becomes dark or beautiful, or intense, it becomes all the more effective. Angel on the other hand, has a much more dark and serious feeling, so when it is cheesy and silly, it feels a little off. That being said I love this show too.
I was stuck close to the end of season 3 for such a long time (I originally tried to watch it with Buffy on my very first watch, but I got way too sucked into BS5 to care about AS2, I then tried to watch it on its own and just sort of lost interest). After this article I finally decided to keep going. Halfway through season 4 right now and I’m really enjoying it more than I ever did. These articles are great man!
I bought the box sets of Buffy and Angel back in the nineties and have literally watched the last episode of the Angel episodes today, which were preceded by all seasons of Buffy. Still holds up for me and no doubt in a year or so I will watch them again. Josh Whedon is a master for creating “universes” as we’ve seen with the Avenger/Marvel movies. He’s pretty much the Spielberg of his time.
There’s so much I could say about Angel (and Buffy), but I just say this: I love. Love. LOVE! season 5. It was such a refreshing change of pace after the arc heavy season 4 (which I love also). Season 5 will always have a special place in my heart. The interplay between Spike and Angel is the best. Like someone already commented “a caveman or an astronaut?” Also Lorne having more screen time was a huge plus.
Hi there, i just wanted to say something. i love your articles. I love Angel and Buffy, and I discover these shows as a teenager years after they were over, and was so surprised back then by how deep and meaningful these shows were. MASTERPIECES. And I try to promote them to people who think they are dumb just because it’s true, some aspects look really foolish (but to be honest the writers play on it so it’s fun) and also because it’s true the first seasons of both shows were really not really good. Like S1 of Buff and S1 of Angel are barely watchable for someone nowdays. Because it has not aged well. The other seasons however, I find them so compelling and very moving and really SMART. The characters are so well-construsted, the struggles they face really (metaphorically or not) move me a lot. And some lines are just epic and philosophically so interesting. I remember for instance not wanting to watch Angel at first because I thought Angel’ character was SOOOO dull, and the Bangel relationship was so ridiculous (Buffy pretty much became epic when Angel became Angelus in Season 2, because then it became so intersting and their relationship had reached a whole new level of complexity… I mean Angel and Buffy love each other because they find each other cute basically, we don’t know WHY the hell they are attracted to each other besides that. Well I am a Spuffy fan anyway, I thought the relationship between Spike and Buffy was more mature and evolved in a very complex and moving way).
So I have watched and rewatched Buffy & Angel for the better part of 16 years and after 5 years have convinced my partner to join me for Buffy. He asked, not very enthusiastically, if he needed to watch Angel as well… so I just want to thank you for this article, because now I don’t have to convince him myself.
I love the character progression of Wesley. He is probably my favorite character in Angel, and he experiences a hell of a transformation from bumbling stuffy and strict Watcher, to a bad-ass Demon fighter. He goes through so much, especially from seasons 3-5, and at certain points in his progression, you can’t help but weep for him (Those who have watched, will know which 2 points i mean in particular!) I came across this article that for me, says it all: popmatters.com/feature/138257-wesley-wyndam-pryce-joss-whedons-true-tragic-hero/P0/ <--- Contains SPOILERS!!! Wesley Wyndom-Pryce, fatally flawed, totally human.