Xander definitely has his creep moments, but at least he does also have several moments where he, despite being a very mortal (and weak, physically speaking) human, does everything he can to protect his friends. So far, for me at least, it kinda balances out.
But Angel... WOW... He first falls in love with Buffy while watching her on her SCHOOL steps before/during the time when she's first called at fifteen???? And then there are moments later when even that seems to come in doubt. I honestly forget the exact wording, but there's something he says to Faith in Consequences that really makes me stop and wonder just how much he WAS in love with Buffy. And let's not forget that A LOT of his behavior remains selfish and he is ALWAYS quick to point fingers at others, especially Spike.
And he KNOWS. He may not understand what exactly will break the curse, but he KNOWS how YOUNG Buffy is -- and he does NOT stop himself. Even when we see him at times, like in the Bronze in season 3 when Buffy and Faith are dancing and he shows up and she bounces up on top of him, trying to obviously separate himself from Buffy -- he ACTUALLY doesn't. And as someone else pointed out the other day, Buffy breaks up with him, he pushes until he gets her back, and THEN he leaves her -- on HIS terms. Yeah, that sounds like a guy that would chase a fifteen year-old... :(
Even before the rewatch, though, I've always seen that Angel moaned and moaned about his soul, and then did little about it to stop the curse from being broken again, but SPIKE FOUGHT for his soul. Yeah, he went way overboard in Seeing Red especially, but he still didn't have a soul. He'd done all he'd done up until that point WITHOUT a soul, and that was the final straw that sent him to suffer through all kinds of trials until he could EARN his soul. I really wish we could have had at least ONE more season with Buffy and souled!Spike...
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But Angel... WOW... He first falls in love with Buffy while watching her on her SCHOOL steps before/during the time when she's first called at fifteen???? And then there are moments later when even that seems to come in doubt. I honestly forget the exact wording, but there's something he says to Faith in Consequences that really makes me stop and wonder just how much he WAS in love with Buffy. And let's not forget that A LOT of his behavior remains selfish and he is ALWAYS quick to point fingers at others, especially Spike.
And he KNOWS. He may not understand what exactly will break the curse, but he KNOWS how YOUNG Buffy is -- and he does NOT stop himself. Even when we see him at times, like in the Bronze in season 3 when Buffy and Faith are dancing and he shows up and she bounces up on top of him, trying to obviously separate himself from Buffy -- he ACTUALLY doesn't. And as someone else pointed out the other day, Buffy breaks up with him, he pushes until he gets her back, and THEN he leaves her -- on HIS terms. Yeah, that sounds like a guy that would chase a fifteen year-old... :(
Even before the rewatch, though, I've always seen that Angel moaned and moaned about his soul, and then did little about it to stop the curse from being broken again, but SPIKE FOUGHT for his soul. Yeah, he went way overboard in Seeing Red especially, but he still didn't have a soul. He'd done all he'd done up until that point WITHOUT a soul, and that was the final straw that sent him to suffer through all kinds of trials until he could EARN his soul. I really wish we could have had at least ONE more season with Buffy and souled!Spike...