Oh oh oh oh oh! Christmas came early this year
So, I have loads of feelings about Angel. Sometimes I love him, sometimes I am indifferent and sometimes I absolutely hate him. He is an integral part of the Buffyverse mythology, I love the Bangel story and he is in many ways one of the most inspiring characters in the 'verse. However, in no particular order, here is my list of reasons for hating Angel. The list may seem a bit chaotic and random. He is the character in the Buffyverse that appears in the most episodes and many of this points are quite personal.
1.
His I-know-what's-best-for-you break up with Buffy - I think this was what cemented the idea of Angel as the person who follows his mind rather than his heart (or tries to, at least). That did not endear me to him. I was really happy when Angel came back from Hell, but maybe he shouldn't have bothered. My biggest grievance her is that it should be Buffy's job to decide what's best for Buffy. If Angel does not want to be with Buffy, that is fine, but he should not be making decisions on her behalf.
2.
The way he treated Buffy in Sanctuary - Faith may be the single cruellest villain in the entire Buffyverse. I mean, she is right up there with Angelus. I like that Angel wants to help her, but he let Buffy leave LA thinking her ex-boyfriend cared nothing about all she had suffered.
3.
Having sex with Darla in Reprise - I have never hated Angel more than this scene and the scene that starts the next episode. It is very violent. He scares Darla by throwing her through a door, before picking her up and start kissing her again. He is deliberately attempting to remove his own soul.
However, the thing that bothers me the most has to do with my quite conservative views on sex. You don't have to love someone to boink them. You don't even have to know them very well. I once realised I had forgotten someone's name. However, at the very least, you should
like them and try your best to treat them well. When Angel wakes up and has his great epiphany, he appears gloating. Angel gets to go back to the good guys and be a hero. Darla does not have that option, and I don't see a shred of vampire-solidarity in Angel. Uncle Tom, indeed.
4.
His sometimes jarring lack of empathy and general concern for others - Angel can be a great guy, but quite often, he just isn't. There are few characters in the 'verse that irritates me as much as Angel the irritable, broody misanthrope. The quintessential appearance of this character is in
Harm's Way, though we see him quite often in early seasons of AtS.
5.
The way he is used as a foil to characters such as Spike and James - For those who don't know, a foil is a character that is presented as a contrast to another character. The purpose is to highlight the strengths and flaws of each. Whenever Angel is contrasted with someone else, he is usually shown as being cold and detached. The main example is when James's grief of losing his fellow vampire lover is contrasted with Angel being able to come to terms with Buffy's death.
Spike is clearly not a better person than Angel, but in episodes such as
Destiny, Spike is both more compelling and more relatable than Angel is.
6.
The speech in Helpless - The idea of Angel guarding Buffy's
innocence from the harsh realities of the world is such a major turn off for me. Buffy needs help. She needs her friends, a mentor and a boyfriend/life partner. What she does not need is some fatherly guardian to protect her inner child.
7.
His inconsistency - In the Buffyverse, Angel and Giles are the two main characters who stand for logic and reason, and I hate them both for their constant failure to live up to their own standards. Angel tells Buffy to find a nice normal guy she can have a life and babies with. Buffy does as she's told, and Angel shows up and beats the guy up. What gives?
Sometimes this inconsistency works, because Angel's struggle is to be better than anyone possibly could be. However, sometimes Angel is just so petty that he comes off as hypocritical rather than simply less-than-perfect.
@WillowFromBuffy said shortly ago in another thread, that there is not a single character, not a single epsiode, that she dosn`t love. It is the same for me
We're just bursting with love, we are
