Unlike so many, I did not start watching Angel because of Angel. The reasons why I continued to watch were simple: Charisma Carpenter, Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker.  I started out liking Angel, but then I grew really tired of the brood fest real quick among other things. Let’s hit a few of those things: His self-absorbed ‘me’ nature. It is all about me! I think I hit real disgusted when he found out about the prophecy and they all kept score of how many people Angel saved. Best examples of self-absorbed lie in many cases, but here are a few. Billy: Cousin tells that dark hair lady was by and said some melodramatic guy would be by. First words out of his mouth were about the melodramatic and then changed to the realization that Cordelia was after Billy.  Or how about more recently when Spike attacked Cordelia and Angel was like ‘Did you just call me a tit?’ The list can go on and on. Which, it will.

Another example of this is when changes happen in his friend’s lives. The coupling of Gunn and Fred and then later, Wes and Fred, Angel was the last to know simply because he did not pay attention. He was too focused on his problems and his life. He didn’t notice the DRASTIC change of Cordelia’s beautiful long hair to that hideous dark bob. I mean, please, how could you miss it? Not to mention the season 4 memory wipe of Connor from everyone’s minds, hey which I think of it now, that would have included Willow. Oh and if we are discussing memory wipes, how about that season 1 Buffy mind wipe of the entire day. Not as big of a deal as Connor’s but it still was looking out for what he wanted at the cost of his friends’ memories. Needless to say he didn’t ask them.

Which leads me to another gripe, I got upset at him making so many decisions for others. He screws over his friends, yet time and time again, he is making decisions for them or at least trying too. If they don’t agree with it, then he just does it anyways. Ummm, okay. Yea, that is the type friend I want to have. What surprised me was in ‘Power Play’ he actually let people vote on whether they wanted in or not. I was picking my jaw from the floor that night. Shocked as hell.

Another point, the amulet. Think back to the episode ‘Home’.  Lilah gives Angel the envelope with the amulet in it. Angel tosses it back on the table and says that Buffy can take care of herself? What the hell? Did anyone else want to grab him and beat the crap out of him? I know I did. If it had been Spike, he would have taken the envelope and ran all the way to Sunnydale. However, Angel declines it, and then only takes it after making the deal and then making a pit stop at Connor’s new home. Between Connor’s house and Sunnydale, he spruces up in time to play the brooding hero once more who gets jealous because his grandchild slept with his ex. Oh give me a break, when you turned down the amulet the first time, which cut off any right you had at bitching.

Angel is not mature. It is seen so many times over the years. He skipped town on Buffy because he was not mature enough to deal with it like an adult. He comes across as the moody, drama ridden, adolescent teen that loves all the angst because it gives him a reason to be depressed and pissed off. It keeps people from getting close. That way, they cannot see what kind of person he really is.

It didn’t stop Cordelia though. While as a higher being, she witnessed everything about his past. All the rights and all the wrongs… everything that made him the vampire he is today, including life as the bastard, Liam. Yes, Liam was a bastard. He was a womanizing abuser that later was magnified as Angelus. Liam is still within Angel as William is still within Spike. Cordelia was able to see his past and his present, she was able to love him unconditionally and accept him for who he was. In the end, it was her that got him back on track. He couldn’t do it without her; needless to say, he sucked at doing it without her. In the end, she was with him. Being able to tell him that she knew he could do it was very eloquent in the end. She was his rock, his tie to the world, in a way no one else could be or ever be.

Let’s not get me started on how he knowingly contributed to Wesley’s death. I think Illyria needs to kill him next.

Ok, good things. I loved him with Darla. Darla and Angel were a strong love story that had fire and chemistry. I have reviewed this before, but I would rather have Darla and Angel or Cordelia and Angel pairings. They just make sense to me. Ok, changing subjects away from shipper discussions. I will say this: the only person to have a baby on the shows was a vampire without a soul. Know what that meant? Darla rocks.

Let’s see, I was talking about good things. Oh yes, how he saved Cordelia from W&H’s vision assault that hospitalized her. His caring and worrying about Cordelia always touched me. He was willing to sacrifice the world to save Fred. His love for Connor was beautiful. Him turning his back on his friends, yea, I hated that too… but it sprang to mind.  His constant banter fests with Spike were nice as well, as was them working together. His stalking Buffy, both in Sunnydale and in Rome, yea I know, again, just came to mind. Illyria throwing him out of W&H that was nice. Rescuing Fred. Oh, his going through the trails for Darla and being a Champion for the pregnant woman.

He did have his moments and a damn good television show.

beth: um ok. everybody has a right to post their opinion. but i think angel had a reason to brood, his life was definitly not an easy one, i can't imagine how i would act if i was in his shoes so we can't really judge. and i further disagree with how you praise cordelia so much. she wasn't that great, she was lucky. i think she happend to be at the right places at the right times and thats how she ended up who she was. i really don't want to offend anybody. i love all angel fans!
(23.07.2005, 15:50)

my_angel: i watch ats for ANGEL. of course i like the other characters, but it's the story of angel and his redemption. everybody makes mistakes, buffy did... angel rocks
(21.07.2005, 07:11)

Pete: And finally, I want to agree with you that Angel is very immature. But your point of him sending Wesley to die... Wesley knew the score. He knew that any of the AI team could have died, and he did what heroes do, he chose to fight. Plain and simple. It might have been Angel giving the orders, but it was Wesley who made the choice. So that's my rant. E-mail me with comments.
(13.05.2005, 03:40)

Pete: Secondly, the Connor memory wipe was done, a) as a part of the deal for him to take over W&H and b) so that Connor could lead a normal life! He might have been making the decision for his friends but in light of the events of season 4, I think it was a good choice. Can you say, "For the good of others?"
(13.05.2005, 03:39)

Pete: On the subject of "memory wipes", first of all, the Buffy thing was not a memory wipe but a time reversal... BIG DIF! And he did that because as a mortal he couldn't fight like he could as a vamp.
(13.05.2005, 03:37)

Pete: Aeryn, nice musings but I have a few points for you to ponder. Angel rejected the amulet that Lilah gave him cause it was a "gift" from W&H and his instinct (rightly so) is to distrust them.
(13.05.2005, 03:36)

Angel's Amazon: I totally love Angel/Angelus. But, you are totally spot on with your asessment of Angel's character. I'm sure I could find ways to defend his "blindness", but there's really no point. LOL I loved Cordy pre-season 4. I loved the OLD Cordy, the just say whatever she thinks Cordy. when she came back, eeeeewww and that just got worse as the season wore on. Wes and Fred totally rocked and I was always hoping for them to work out a 'ship. Lorne was a God! You go, Aeryn!
(21.03.2005, 04:20)

DaddyCatALSO: Spot on, Myth; normally in TVLand, unless the main char. is specifically depicted as a bumbler, they're the show's defintion of virtue. But in Jossland Buffy's a bitch and Angel's a self-obsessed bore. Tru e quality. - Err Fogey Liam was at elast 26 maybe 28 so physically he is mature.
(30.07.2004, 11:05)

Myth: The last character I watched ATS for was Angel. I started to like ATS S7 and look what happens!!! I always found Angel self absorbed and pompous. He did have some good moments. Nice musings Aeryn...and sooooo brave of you!!
(30.07.2004, 08:57)

fanofangel: I watched because I found his character so interesting. Yes, he was self involved, immature and sometimes just plain stupid. I liked that it made him more human than demon, I thought that's what Whedon was doing. Hell, I think he did ok considering what his life must have been like. But I do agree on paying attention to things around him, clueless, like most men. Always loved Darla with Angelus, but not Angel, I consider them 2 diff people,er,demon..........
(29.07.2004, 22:37)

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