Angel's return

Chosen Enemy

Chosen Enemy

Losing my soul
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After Angel returns, Buffy hides him and the fact that he's back. But then Xander finds out about it and tells everybody. They do an intervention to her, clearly very mad. Some are more understanding (Willow) and some have hot peppers coming out of their ears (Xander).

Was Xander right in yelling at Buffy? After all, her ex-boyfriend that's back tried to kill them. On the other hand, he has a soul now. On third hand, this all can happen again and why risk it?

Was Buffy right hiding Angel's return from them? It seems like she didn't care that her friends would be at risk (clearly she does care, but she makes it seem like she doesn't). She acted out of love, from her heart instead of her brain.

What should she have done after Angel returned? And were Xander's words justified?
 
I'm not sure if I can say about right and wrong here. But I understand why buffy did. I think, she was just really thrown by it and needed time to digest and to decide what to do.

I also think giles made a valid and heartwrenching point when he confronted her at the end of that ep.
 
I just watched this episode on LOGO (or maybe it was Chiller) the other night. I always love that scene; it's so well written!

I side with the Scoobies on this one. When Angel came back, Buffy had no way of knowing what was going to happen. She should have immediately confided in at least Giles, even if she didn't tell the others right away. However, she still should have told them before Xander found out for himself and let the others in on it.
I totally understand their anger and hurt over Buffy not telling them. As Cordelia pointed out, the last time they had all seen Angel he was more interested in hurting the people closest to Buffy rather than Buffy herself. I think they had every right to be upset with her that she kept that from them, Giles especially.
 
I actually can't remember exactly what was said, but I recall thinking that I didn't see how she was suppose to act different. It's not like it would be easy to tell them, but making out with him, when not knowing exactly how the curse worked, was a bad idea. But considering that she a) wanted to protect Angel and b)wanted to avoid Xander's bitching and c)didn't want to see Giles hurt, I see why she had a hard time with it.

We can say what's right all we want, that she should have told them, but just because something's right doesn't make it easy.

I also think Xander, Mr. I'm-soon-going-to-date-someone-that-probably-killed-more-people-than-Spike-and-Angel-combined, should have shut up. I definitly think he was one of the mayor factors Buffy didn't feel she could tell anyone.
 
When it comes to right and wrong, Buffy always listens to what others say, then does what she was going to do all along. Whether that can be attributed to self assuredness, some sort of Slayer endowment like her prophetic dreams, or just sheer pig headed stubbornness, might be argued, but it's just how she works. What amazes me is, even in the later seasons, like with her belief in and forgiveness of Spike in Season 7, the rest of the gang STILL question that judgement/instinct/stubbornness. They just never learn.
 
Gum Gnome33
Gum Gnome33
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Skytteflickan88 said:
I actually can't remember exactly what was said, but I recall thinking that I didn't see how she was suppose to act different. It's not like it would be easy to tell them, but making out with him, when not knowing exactly how the curse worked, was a bad idea. But considering that she a) wanted to protect Angel and b)wanted to avoid Xander's bitching and c)didn't want to see Giles hurt, I see why she had a hard time with it.

We can say what's right all we want, that she should have told them, but just because something's right doesn't make it easy.

I also think Xander, Mr. I'm-soon-going-to-date-someone-that-probably-killed-more-people-than-Spike-and-Angel-combined, should have shut up. I definitly think he was one of the mayor factors Buffy didn't feel she could tell anyone.
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I totally agree. Also, I think part of her hiding it was becuase she felt like she couldn't confinde in them about Angel. She wasn't able to talk to them after she killed Angel and upon returning she had difficulty opening up to them about Angel. Plus, at one point Xander chalked the whole killing Angel thing up tp "boy problems".
 
I can see why Buffy didn't tell her friends, but on the opposing hand I feel she should have told Giles at least even if just to find out why he's back. I suppose though when you're young and in love you do the most stupid things without realising.
 
I'm completely with Willow in this. Her reaction, her concerns, her support--all of it.

It's so easy to sympathize with Buffy; to understand why she did what she did. And, furthermore, to trust her instincts--after all, she is their leader.

But of course there are very real concerns regarding the safety of the scoobies. They had every right to feel threatened or, at the very least, on edge. And as Giles pointed out, Buffy's silence does show a lack of respect for all of them, given what they'd just been through.

So yeah, Willow.

ETA: As for Xander--yes, he was being hypocritical in the context of his entire journey, but at this point he hadn't even met Anya and I think it's unfair to judge his reaction here against the choices he will make in the future. At this point in the story, he had the same right to be put off by Buffy's relationship with a vampire as did any of the other characters, should they choose to feel that way.
 
I think Buffy was right in hiding Angel. If he had been evil, she would have had an advantage over him (With Angel still being weak at the point when the rest of the gang found out.) Also, she had just gone through a complete guilt trip over killing him, and you could tell she was pretty emotionally scared by it. So i imagine that when she found him, her mind was confused on which course of action to take.

Xander, on the other hand, reacted completely out of hand. I mean, i understand why he was upset. Because the last time he had seen Angel/Angelus, he had been hell-bent on causing harm to anyone close to Buffy. I also imagine that after everything Buffy & Angel had went through, he couldn't believe that she still loved him.

Willow, i can completely agree with her. She was only worried about her friend, and after how much Buffy had been hurt by the entire Angelus affair, Willow simply didn't want to see her friend get hurt any further.
 
I think she was definitely justified. There was no telling how they would have reacted. Sure they reacted badly because she lied, but would it have been that different if she'd told them the truth?

Would it have been better for Giles to know that soon that Angel was back? Just months after he tortured him?

Would Xander really have been any more forgiving?

Honestly, I don't think so for any of these. In her mind, she was just avoiding an inevitable battle and trying to keep everyone happy.
 
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