The Weekly Ascension
- Big Bad Series: Angelus, Spike, and Drusilla
by Jonathan Riggins -10.27.03
[ jriggins@blkswan.com ]

Friends. What in the world would we do in this world without them? I don’t know about the rest of you, but as for me just thinking about all the favors I wouldn’t be obligated to fulfill and all the hours I wouldn’t have to spend listening to their problems over the phone....Damn, life would be good without friends. But we do keep them around us despite all of that, don’t we? Even though they have the potential to annoy the living hell out of us from time to time, friends can still have an important role in each of our lives. For instance, friends do, after all, fulfill that little something in each of us that we clearly could never get from any other location or individual in this life...and that little something just happens to be an alibi for when we’re in court.

Of course, not everyone has friends. Those of us who are cursed (or blessed) with these amazing figure heads should perhaps then feel priveledged and honored to be among them...and other such nonsense. But even if you don’t have any friends of your own, you can still stock up on your supply of cats for the household. Cats are great at filling in voids as well...though they seem to create more stress than they relieve in the long run. And who really wants to pay for all of those damned vet bills, anyway? Don’t even get me started on maintenance and having to feed, bathe, and nourish those little gremlins. And in some states you can’t even list them as pets anymore. Nope. You have to call them your “companions.” That’s right. We’re one Planet of the Apes movie away from giving equal rights to all our fur-sprouting neighbors across the land. But getting back to the point...whatever the hell my point was...

Maintaining old friendships seemed to be a huge focal point of all things villainy during season two of Buffy...and the idea of holding true to past ties was concentrated upon very heavily over the course of the season. How many of us here have ever had friends in the past who we later meet in life again only to realize that they’ve completely changed from who we once knew them as? Yeah, me neither. Or perhaps we’re the ones who have changed and therefore no longer hold ourselves on good terms with what our former friends represent...or what we once represented ourselves.

Regardless of reasoning, Angel and Spike were a lot like this scenario. While these two seemed to hate one another from the get-go on into oblivion, they never actually killed one another despite their high tensions. In fact, there was a particular respect between the two that seemed very obvious...especially when Spike and Angel confronted one another for the very first time on screen during that year. Spike’s buddy-buddy attitude with his former sire gave us the first hint that these two weren’t exactly completely enemies...and it also makes us wonder if the original conception of the two was far more deep in admiration than what we got out of Season Five.

For instance, looking at the episode Fool for Love which aired during the fifth season, we see a Spike and Angelus relationship that seemed very reminiscent of the hate/love bond they held near the end of season two. During that second year, Spike and Angel appeared friendly at first...but things soon turned sour after Angelus began making moves on Spike’s girl. And thus, the two stopped their buddy antics and quickly moved on into full combat mode. Their relationship never recovered since.

And even throughout the tension, there was still that underlying respect that existed between Angelus and Spike. But more importantly...the bond between Drusilla and these characters is far more compelling an investigation. Drusilla was likely viewed as Angelus’s property in her sire’s eyes...him being her sire after showcasing this demented and sickly girl to his own sire. He viewed her as an artist views a painting, in other words. Angelus had worked hard to create tension within this young girl’s life...and after so much work how could he possibly allow her to fall in allegiance with anyone other than himself?

Meanwhile, Spike was simply obsessed with the girl. She was his sire (which was somewhat comedic when you consider how her own death came into being), and therefore she had been the one to bring him into an entirely new world. Drusilla viewed Spike as hers...and no one elses. It makes sense why she would continue to poke and prod at Spike’s mind until the very end, trying desperately to bring back the fiend who had adored her like none other. And it likewise makes sense of why Spike was so intrigued by her for so long a time frame.

So Drusilla was at the heart of the tension between these two vampires...and as such proved to be the catalyst for what later became their ongoing temper tantrum disputes. Angelus and Spike had a relationship that was very sibling-oriented in that the two vamps always wanted each others toys, always wanted to be the leader over the other, and always wanted whatever the other envied most at any given time.

These new ideas were such a change from the prior year, where everything had been so heavily pounded in as tradition and prophecy. It was a revolution of sorts, moving on from one year to the next. In fact, the transition from Season One of Buffy into Season Two reminded me a lot of the presidential transition that took place back in 1992 in the United States, back when Bush gave way to Clinton. After all, the differences between Bush and Clinton were very similar to those between the big bads of the series. By getting rid of an old, wrinkly, self-righteous vampire and letting in a more youthful, pop-culture shaker...we experienced a transition like none other.

So we left an elderly, intraverted villain and gave way to two extremely extraverted and charismatic individuals. Spike and Dru’s relationship was far more interesting than the short-lived plot that was Angelus rising from the ashes of a lost soul. They were villains who were fun to watch, and for the first time in the series it was safe to say that there were finally fans who were rooting for the bad guys to win. Had Angelus never joined them, in fact, that sentiment might have survived much longer.

Angelus was far more trigger-happy...though not quite as bragging as his bleeched buddy. Spike’s youthful sense of always having to bring out the elongated story in every tale made him seem almost reminiscent of Andrew in many ways. He played up to an audience at all times, in other words. Just watch Fool for Love or his introductory scenes where he gives the story of how he killed Nikki Wood. He gives contradictory stories at both times, making it seem very obvious that his bragging nature often takes the best of him.

Meanwhile, Angelus is far more reserved from bragging of his attacks. Rather, he goes for more precise hits. Everything he does is done with a very calm and cool behavior. This perhaps makes him more dangerous...but also makes him less careful. By killing Jenny Calendar, for instance, Angelus might as well have driven a stake through his own heart. He recognized that killing loved ones brings out the pain in people...but what he obviously neglected to remember was that it also brings out the fury in people. And furious rage can be a dangerous enemy.

So we had Angelus, the Jenny-killing devil. He may very well be one of the best villains to analyze out of the entire series due to his complex and artistic personality...which is very much borderline on Jeckyll and Hyde, by the way...but I refuse to give any more space in my article series for the Calendar-murdering bastard. So, moving on...

Spike and Drusilla.

Their love was truly immortal...or so we were led to believe. It’s a very interesting twist that stories can often have, hindering us away from something very intense and plundering us into more safe, yet shallow, waters. When Spike and Drusilla’s bonding moments turned sour, so also did their likeability levels diminish. Basically, in lamest terminology (which we use far too often here in this article series), they were great together...but not so great apart. For is it truly believeable that Spike would get over this woman he’d been pining over since first becoming sired to ultimately devote himself to the first ditzy blonde who came strolling down his way across the sidewalk? Wait...we ARE talking about Spike here. Nevermind. Question withdrawn, your honor.

Romantic vampirism was making its way inside of the Buffyverse...a chance to see the early romantic views that came with such stories as Dracula breaking into the Buffyverse with the installation of these two characters into the series. And that was that.

Spike got his presence out very early in the series, not making it too hard to tell there would be a smooth transition between the years. His first scene, for instance, clarified his youthful yet wicked personality by having him break a Hellmouth sign before stepping out of his car. His style consisted of a black, leather duster and bleeched blonde hair...both of which would be maintained throughout the series on until his death. Drusilla, in the meantime, was established fairly early as a psychopath. So there were no real bumpy roads to cross concerning the establishment of who these villains were and why they were so bad-ass.

So, final score...these three take the cake for kicking The Master’s ass. We replaced a fairly worthless big bad with three youthful and culturally-adept foes. The show began to improve at all angles...and villainry just happened to be one of those many points. Angelus may have been great...but Spike and Drusilla were the perfect villains. They were hip, young, and suave...maintaining a mysterious yet romantic presence at all times. And aside from that, all three of them are still around today. So how’s that for hard to keep down?

And there you have it...the original trio. All three can still be seen on Angel...so watch it. And that’s that. We now have a spin-off where two of these villains star and the other one makes frequent guest appearances. So, who won in Season Two again? I sometimes forget after looking at those results.