When Angel first met Buffy in Welcome to the Hellmouth, he said that he thought she’d be taller, implying that he’d never seen her before. In Becoming (Part 1), we saw a flashback of Angel watching Buffy when she was chosen as a Slayer in LA. Angel later mentioned the sighting to Buffy in the episode Helpless. I’m not including this as a ‘goof’ as a lot of sites have, as the show had just started, and Joss hadn’t decided how Buffy and Angel’s relationship would turn out yet.
It’s possible that Angel’s comment was an in-joke directed at those who saw the movie, as Kristy Swanson, who played Buffy in the movie, is 5′7″ and Sarah Michelle Gellar is 5′3″.
December 22nd, 2005 at 10:58 pm
Well, Angel saw Buffy when she was called, and that night, but we don’t really know how much he saw of her after that.
During the time between when Buffy was called and when she came to Sunnydale, a lot had to happen, in both the characters’ lives. Buffy had to go through a whole thing. Disbelief, I’m sure; training; her stay at a mental clinic (reference in Normal Again); accepting her mission; fighting evil; and eventually burning down the gym.
Angel also had to go through a process. Getting stronger, healthy (as healthy as a vampire can be); learning from Whistler; coming to accept himself and his soul more; finding out where Buffy would go (he was in Sunnydale to meet her); finding a home (admittedly, not a long step, this one); collecting the somewhat-impressive library (referenced in Prophecy Girl and shown somewhere or other); and understanding his self-appointed job as guardian of the Slayer.
I don’t remember how long the movie spanned (spun?), but I would say at least a few months. And as far as I can remember (which is about as far as I can spit), Angel has never met a Slayer before. All he knows is that there’s this one girl, one girl in all the world, that all vampires fear. That he fears. So he’s probably thinking this girl’s gotta be pretty formidable. Then he sees Buffy. Cute, popular, cheerleader. Not too scary. So he leaves, goes wherever, goes through whatever, sees her a few months later. He’s expecting to see someone big, strong, guardian of the Hellmouth, fight back the forces of evil and all that. He’s thinking her whole process would’ve involved her getting “bigger muscles and all that”. But it’s still just little Buffy. Hence the comment.
And then again maybe I’m trying a little bit too hard to make it all fit together and be right. You know, just maybe.
March 10th, 2006 at 11:57 am
My take on this was that he said it to rile Buffy, and that his prickliness is kind of a defence mechanism for him. Human interaction is something he’s only taking up again after a century’s abstention; call it a grouchy hermit’s rusty people skills, or a stray dog’s snarl at a hand-proffered scrap. Add to all that the effect of prolonged chastity when faced with introducing yourself to the girl of your dreams - an awkward adolescent boy trying to assume an air of nonchalance? For the first few times they talk he’s elusive, and takes a while to warm up to the whole talking nicely thing.
He’s determined to watch over this girl and protect her, but maybe at first his better judgement tells him that his cautious instincts are right. To be stand-offish and not let her like him could be best for Buffy’s well-being, as is eventually proved the case.
Also, it could be a deliberate mis-lead on his part to imply that he was seeing her for the first time. It’s almost as if he’s embarrassed by the fact that he’s followed her across the state, scary stalker-style.