In the flashback scene of Spike dying in "Chosen" why did they remove Buffy's "I Love You" to Spike?

[Joshua]

In the first episode Spike fully appears on Angel season 5 they show the flashback scene from Chosen of Buffy being with Spike before he dies, but they removed Buffy's "I Love You" to Spike. Why?

 

[Ethan Reigns]

A number of people watched Angel because they were devout Bangels. Having Buffy tell Spike she loved him on Angel's own show would have undermined their position. If I had been the showrunner at that point, I would have made the same decision. At this point, the fandom was definitely in control of the narrative.

 

[Cohen]

To further @Ethan Reigns point, Spike's story arc on Angel didn't really necessitate any mention of the Spuffy romance. He was there to be a foil to Angel. While it was important to establish he had "died" a hero due to the amulet, it was not important in that moment to show Buffy saying "I love you". To include that bit of dialogue would be to confuse the point that the flashback was trying to establish--which was Spike's heroic demise by wearing the amulet. While one could argue this point moot because of the brief hand hold, I think that this actually works to establish that Buffy and Spike had formed some type of close connection prior to this sacrifice, because she knew that Spike was essentially killing himself and that she had grown close to him--which further establishes Spike as Angel's foil, as his death to save the world was because he had caused the potential apocalypse--but it also doesn't muddy the Bangel/Spuffy relationships by having her say "I love you" to spike in that moment. In summary, it just wasn't necessary to the plot of the story on Angel.

 

[KaitKat]

Also to add on to the previous comments, which I agree with, this show wasn’t the platform to debate the legitimacy of Buffy’s “I love you” “no you don’t” and including that would have brought the topic to the table. It’s the same reason why Angel was ignorant of the AR, they would have had to spend time doing a deep dive into what that means for different characters.

 

[Stake fodder]

I agree with all that is said above, and yet it's a continuing minor plot point that Spike has feelings for Buffy and wants to go to her in Italy. I actually can't remember how it is clarified on Angel that Spike is in love with Buffy (probably because I already knew it from Buffy), but showing her saying, "I love you," would have been a quick way to establish that.

 

[Cohen]

I agree with all that is said above, and yet it's a continuing minor plot point that Spike has feelings for Buffy and wants to go to her in Italy. I actually can't remember how it is clarified on Angel that Spike is in love with Buffy (probably because I already knew it from Buffy), but showing her saying, "I love you," would have been a quick way to establish that.

The look they give each other is enough to establish Spike’s feelings for her. I just rewatched the scene yesterday before posting and it’s fairly obvious there are feelings there. But to add the “I love you” from her would be to muddy what that love is, and there’s no way to get an answer when Sarah is not a part of the story.

 

[TamsinValencia]

Typical Bangel fan showrunners

 

[RachM]

Typical Bangel fan showrunners

Only fair, given how the Spuffy Fan Showrunners ran BtVS 😅

 

[thetopher]

Because they would also then have to include Spike's 'No, you don't, but thanks for saying it.' which would undermine a lot of what Spike says in early S5 and would only reinforce Angel's attitude.

 

[Sinmerina]

Because it’s not relevant to Angel and I guess it’s for Bangel fans. I think they didn’t want to bring in some sort of “love triangle” even though “Girl in Question” still kinda does that.

As a Spuffy fan, I used to hate not seeing her say that, but then as I got older and re-watched the shows multiple times, I’m happy that they did not include it. Spuffy has nothing to do with Angel and you can still clearly see the love they have for each other by just how they look at each other. That should say enough. “Pictures says a thousand words.”

Let’s also not forget the famous fight scene in “Destiny” either.

 

[hoponlilmama]

The "I love you" was irrelevant to the overall story. They were just quickly establishing how Spike got there. Almost like a 'previously, on BTVS..'.

Most fans now watching AtS would know Spike's feelings for Buff, and if they didn't, his concern right away asking about her would establish that for other viewers.