Giles And Xander On Angel

[Ethan Reigns]

The meeting where Xander went to get Angel in "School Hard 2x03", Angel offered Xander to Spike as a snack. This was a ruse Angel was playing to help Buffy followed by:

XANDER
So when you were giving him my neck
to chew on, how come you didn't clock
him before he clocked you?
ANGEL
I told you, I couldn't make the first move.
I had to see if he was buying it or not.
XANDER
And if he bit me, then what?
ANGEL
(can't resist)
We would have known he bought it.


The meeting in "Enemies 3ABB17" went like this:

XANDER (cont'd)
Man, where've you been? You gotta
find Buffy - she's going to her place
and stocking up on...
CRACK! Without looking or breaking stride, Angel lashes out a mean right hand and cracks Xander across the jaw. Xander crumples to a heap, unconscious before he even hits the ground.
Angel and Faith just keep walking, out of frame.
ANGEL
(deadpan)
That guy just bugs me.
They keep going...

I don't think Xander wants any part of Angel's world and Angel doesn't think much of Xander. Both of these events were ruses, but Xander knew Angel thought he was expendable.

 

[Francis Doyle]

Giles would have suited A Hole in the World brilliantly. However, I don't think I can picture Xander in Angel. I'd still prefer an arc with Xander and Cordelia in Season 2/3 rather than Pylea/Groo, though.

 

[Wesley Pryce]

Yeah, if we had to revisit it and have a cordy and xander "reunion", than I would have preferred the writers and Joss to have contrived a way for Cordy to show up onto Buffy for an episode. I'll say again thought that the idea seems backwards looking to me though (xander/cordelia revisit), especially if we are talking S3. I prefer forward looking ideas.

I'm personally glad we didn't have large arcs crossing over between shows. The identities and sensibilities of both shows are too different imo. Besides, the Angel cast was large enough as it was; constant large crossover stories would have deprived us all of the precious time we were given exploring the characters on the Angel cast.

Angel has a history with a lot of the cast from Buffy, not just Xander.



My impression was that the tension was more on Xander's side than it ever was on Angel's. True, Angel(us) did things to Buffy and Xander that didn't allow Xander to trust him easily, but it also had a lot to do with Xander's adolescent insecurites. What would the nature of the tension be by the time of S3 of Angel? If it were the lack of trust issue, I think that would be so old and uninteresting and also nonsensical. A lot of time has passed and Xander is aware (should be aware) of what Angel is doing in LA by that time. True, there is the constant fear of Angel turning into Angelus, but just Angel himself? He should be passed it. That angle would be uninteresting and backwards looking again. And as for the adolescent insecurities (i.e. Buffy preferring Angel and the host of issues that directly evolved from that initial problem of Xander's), recycling that would just be pathetic. At some point Xander largely gets passed all of that I think (his Buffy and relationship insecurity problems in general and also specifically with regard to Angel), but then again, you could argue he is insecure about his relationship partners right down to the end of S7 Buffy.

I really don't think Angel, for his part, feels anything but indifference toward Xander on this topic of their former one-sided 'tension'. Angel for the most part just shrugged him off back in the high school years. And just the idea of Angel having to explain himself again (in BtVS high-school-year terms) to Xander on his own show years later in either way I described above, or to even have to endure another round of it from Xander, makes me cringe. 
then again, if they had gone ahead with that idea it could have been funny for Angel to pause during the tension and ask Xander straight up, "okay, what's your problem" and stand and listen to Xander's confused and incoherent explanation for a minute and then roll his eyes and walk off before he finished. Exactly, that just sounds like your problem. Again. That's how I'd have had Angel handle that situation.

I love it, now I want the cross over ep..you convinced me 😛

 

[omnimercurial]

Road Trip Xander turning up in Angel Season 1 latter half or Angel Season 2 maybe would work.

Xanders lack of Growth and Character development felt less an inbuilt trait and more of a Script Writer Choice to me really.

Xander had multiple points in Buffy that showed Growth but then the Scriptwriters pressed rewind on him again afterwards.
I always found that frustrating.

I could also maybe see an Ep of Angel where Xander following the Wedding that wasnt took his self destructive drinking binge to LA forcing Angel and Co to keep finding him in dangerous situations either by self destructive choice or bad luck.

Is he starting fights or just not aware or caring of the Danger as he mopes/broods.

Xander always had low self preservation when other people needed help so exploring that could be interesting.
Is it selflessness or self destructive impulses?

That could be a wake up call for him to get his shit together before returning to Sunnyhell.

 

[bespangeled]

What aren't you following? YES, it was important to the story arc. That can't even be denied. Wesley would never have betrayed Angel if Cordy would've been there, and he would've told Fred and Gunn if they were still on good terms. Wesley's betrayal leads to Conner being taken to Kortoth (forgive me if I spelled this wrong lol) which leads to the showdown between Angel and Sajahn and Conners return and Holtz return etc etc. To change the love triangles would alter the entire course of the whole series from there on in my opinion. That was my basic point.

I completely disagree. Why tell Gunn and Fred? It would have simply put them in greater danger. Wesley was convinced Angelus was on his way out. If Gun and Fred had talked to Angel - and Wes had been right - they would have warned him and put all their lives in danger. Wesley took Connor to save his life - he was damn certain that Angel was a real threat. yes, had he been able to reach Cordy, and bring her to LA, he probably would have confided in her. It's Groo that's problematical there.

Wesley was wrong in what he did - but he did it with plenty of research and forethought.

 

[Anointed One]

I don't really understand this, since all the crossover episodes were of a distinctly high quality- 'In The Dark', 'IWRY' 'Five By Five/Sactuary', 'Darla'- in fact Drusilla on Angel is great, 'Orpheus', even 'Damage' in S5 was pretty darn good.

Look at who were on those episodes: Faith and Darla. Their characters were perfect for Angel. In fact they were probably better on Angel. I thought Faith should've been on more episodes, though not too many.

What many characters on Angel have in common is that they all killed someone. Angel killed as Angelus and locked W&H in the Wine Cellar to die, Wesley killed Knox, Lorne killed Lindsey, Gunn & Fred killed her professor, and Connor killed the virgin for Evil Cordy. Faith blended in perfectly with them, she wasn't singled out for being a murderer like she was on Buffy and had to cope with it like how Fred, Gunn, and Angel copped with their murders.

While not seeking forgiveness for killing as a vamp, Darla did feel remorse as you can see when she finds out Holtz is after them in S3.

Angel: I would've mentioned it before, but it wasn't the right time.

Darla: No, it's the perfect time.

My God, what we did to him.​

Angel: I know.

Darla: That's why this is happening.

His family, his children.
What that must have been like for him.​

 

[Cordy_Chase]

Now that I've seen 'Damaged', I disagree with the few suggestions here that Xander would have fit in Andrew's role. As a watcher-in-training Andrew was the best candidate other than Giles or Buffy themselves to come collect a new slayer.

I do however believe that Andrew wasn't the strongest character to deliver the message that Buffy no longer trusted Angel, but nor would Xander have been. My vote goes to Willow for that task who has been the most vital player in both their lives. She not only re-ensouled Angel twice, but it has always been she who was Angel's informant regarding Buffy's well being. Willow was the deliverer of the news that Buffy had both died and been resurrected and it can also be assumed (though it's never actually explained) that it had been she who'd told Angel about Joyce's death thus his crossover for her funeral. So it's only right that it should have been she who'd ultimately cut their connection in that way.