Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Contents

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was full of amazing characters, but some didn’t get their due until they appeared on the spin-off series, Angel.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Here is every Buffy the Vampire Slayer character who was better on the spin-off series, Angel. Buffy’s groundbreaking run aired from 1997-2003, spawning a show that focused on Angel, the slayer’s former flame. Played by David Boreanaz, Angel was an integral part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning. After being cursed with a soul, the vampire was determined to spend the rest of his immortal life atoning for his multitude of past sins. He was both the slayer’s brooding beau and – thanks to a loophole in that curse – one of the show’s “Big Bads” as Angelus. Doing what he believed was best for Buffy, Angel left Sunnydale at the end of season 3 and headed to Los Angeles. Once there, he tried his hand at being a paranormal private investigator and formed a Scooby Gang of his own.

Though Angel never quite soared to the same heights as Buffy, it was still an excellent series in its own right. The show was darker than its predecessor and ran for five seasons from 1999-2004. Early on, Angel had several crossovers with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but once the shows were on different networks, the spin-off proved it didn’t need any lingering ties to its parent series to remain relevant. Though Angel appeared to be running out of gas in season 4, an immense paradigm shift in season 5 proved the show still had so much story left to tell. Fans were crushed by its abrupt cancellation, not only because Angel ended on a major cliffhanger, but also because the team clearly wasn’t finished.

All the core characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were well-developed and had their own specific arcs. However, several made the jump from Buffy over to Angel and the spin-off wound up being a far better home for them. Some were ancillary characters, while others had been series regulars. Even a show as amazing as Buffy the Vampire Slayer only has time to delve into so many stories. Without Angel, these characters would be remembered very differently, and wouldn’t have grown nearly as much.

Angel

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Angel might seem a controversial choice here, but the vampire with a soul didn’t really get his due until Boreanaz got his own show. The love story between Buffy and Angel was undeniably epic, but who was Angel outside of his relationship with the slayer? This question wasn’t fully answered until the character was explored further on Angel. On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel spent most of his time as a brooding, somewhat bland love interest who was far more intriguing as a villain. Although his romance with Buffy was one of the show’s most vital storylines early on, this had far more to do with the intense chemistry between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Boreanaz than with Angel as a character.

Angel spent five seasons expanding on its titular hero, whereas on Buffy, the character rarely got his own storylines. Not only was Angel’s heroism built upon in the spin-off series, but Boreanaz imbued the vampire with a surprising amount of humor. He was also quickly established as imperfect, still trying to find his way, and he didn’t always succeed. Angel took the opportunity to spend time delving into who Liam was before Darla made him an unrepentant monster.

The series added so many new layers to the character, looking beyond Angel as a love interest and instead focusing on who he was as a person, a friend, and later, as a father. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel often gave its characters more than they could handle. The vampire suffered torments, betrayals, and he was pushed to his breaking point more than once. One of the reasons Angel was able to truly stand on its own as a show was that Angel himself proved a much more interesting character when Buffy Summers was out of the picture.

See also  Marvel Comics Just Punched Out Hitler (Again)

Cordelia

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Angel struggled in its much-maligned fourth season as the writers scrambled to write in Charisma Carpenter’s pregnancy and the actress did her best with the story she was given. Cordelia Chase’s brief season 5 return really did redeem the character, even if it also signaled her end. Excluding Cordy’s terrible season 4 storyline, it’s easy to see that the former mean girl had a much more well-developed character arc on Angel. While Cordelia definitely showed growth across three seasons of Buffy, it was Angel that truly gave her the opportunity to evolve. While much of her time was spent on the fringes of Buffy’s Scooby Gang, Team Angel was a tight-knit group and Cordy proved integral in their never ending battle against the forces of evil.

The visions Cordelia received from Doyle ultimately served to add so much more depth to her character, particularly after she witnessed the true breadth of human suffering in the season 1 finale. Over the course of the next couple of seasons, Cordy developed many more layers, becoming a true hero. For the most part, she retained her trademark bluntness, but gained a great deal of empathy and was finally able to see beyond her own interests. Whether or not fans agree with the shoehorned romance between Cordelia and Angel that began in season 3, there is no denying they shared a nuanced and lovely friendship prior to that development. In fact, she nurtured close friendships with every member of the team. If Cordy’s journey had ended on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, fans would’ve been robbed of seeing her progress.

Wesley

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) had the best arc out of everyone on Angel and one of the finest in the Buffyverse in general. Over the course of several seasons of the spin-off series, Wesley went from one of Buffy’s more disliked characters to one of Angel’s most beloved. He was introduced as a new watcher on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ultimately was little more than a foil for Giles. Wesley brought occasional humor, but fans were never given any real reason to care about the stuffy Englishman. The actor had big shoes to fill when he joined Angel’s cast. His reintroduction to viewers occurred immediately following the death of Doyle, a fan-favorite character who perished a mere nine episodes into season 1. When Wesley showed up as a “rogue demon hunter”, it took both the characters and the audience a little while to warm up to him.

Although Wesley certainly evolved across Angel’s first two seasons, it was his season 3 betrayal and subsequent removal from Team Angel that really gave him a chance to grow. The heartbreaking storyline saw Wesley change in ways no one saw coming. Gone was the by-the-book former watcher, who was replaced with an unshaven, morally ambiguous fighter. Wes became one of the show’s most fascinating and unpredictable players, though his loyalty to Angel never wavered. His hard edges did begin to soften in season 5, at which point his long-brewing romance with Fred was finally realized. Their love story was one of the Buffyverse’s best, despite being tragically short-lived. The loss of Fred, in conjunction with Illyria’s arrival, added even more depth to Wesley, giving Denisof a multitude of emotions to play. His poignant death in the series finale remains one of the show’s most gut-wrenching moments.

Faith

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

It’s not that Faith (Eliza Dushku) didn’t have a good arc on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but her redemption largely took place on Angel. Serving as a dark reflection of Buffy herself, once the rogue slayer headed over to LA, her story began to change. Much of this stemmed from the repercussions of the slayers’ body swap on Buffy, but without Angel to understand exactly what Faith was going through, it’s doubtful she would’ve done anything other than completely destroy herself. Faith originally showed up in Los Angeles to wreak havoc, quickly accepting a contract from Wolfram & Hart to kill Angel. Faith tortured Wesley and had a knockdown, drag-out fight with Angel until he realized what she really wanted was for him to end her life. What followed was a brutal confrontation between Buffy and Faith, a heartbreaking argument between Buffy and Angel, and ultimately, Faith surrendering herself to the law. Angel even visited Faith in prison in the season 2 premiere.

See also  Frozen Secretly Explains Why Elsa REALLY Created Olaf

When Angelus was brought forth in season 4, Wesley visited Faith in prison looking for help, knowing she was the only one who would understand why this mission had to be capture, rather than kill. Her subsequent battle with Angelus, as well as her helping Angel to find his way back – with an awesome assist from Willow – was one of the standout plot points of an otherwise difficult season. It was Faith’s arc on Angel that paved the way for her to fully redeem herself in the final episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dushku always stole every scene she was in on Buffy, but it was Angel that enabled the actress to play something other than “the bad slayer”, creating a much more complex and fully-realized character in the process.

Darla

Every Buffy the Vampire Slayer Character Who Was Better on Angel

Despite being the first face (and the first vampire) anyone saw on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, without Angel, Darla (Julie Benz) would not have been a memorable character at all. She appeared in a handful of season 1 episodes and later a flashback or two, but any real development happened on the spin-off series. The show not only explored Darla’s relationship with both Angel and Angelus, but also her life before and after she became a vampire. There was even a whole episode devoted to her backstory. Interestingly, when Wolfram & Hart resurrected Darla, it was as a human, which was a completely different side for viewers to see. Angel’s feelings for his sire were also a major plot point, and the depths he sunk to when he couldn’t save her brought new layers to both characters.

Thanks to Drusilla, Darla did indeed become a vampire again, making her Angel’s enemy once more. However, the series had other plans for Darla, who, after an ill-advised one night stand with Angel, found herself pregnant. This development showed Darla in yet another light, as the soul of her unborn baby granted her some unexpected humanity. In the end, she sacrificed herself so that he could be born, something fans never would’ve expected to see.

Harmony

Love or hate Mercedes McNab’s character, Harmony Kendall, there is no denying she had a much better character arc on Angel than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In high school, she was not only a mean girl, but one without a mind of her own. After she was turned into a vampire, her abusive relationship with Spike was painful to witness for a myriad of reasons. Her first appearance on Angel during season 2 failed to alter fans’ opinions that Harmony was little more than a soulless monster who lacked intelligence. Much of that changed in Angel season 5.

Harmony was hired as Angel’s assistant when the team took over Wolfram & Hart. She remained her humor, and she certainly never got a soul, but McNab somehow managed to make Harmony likable. Ultimately, viewers had the chance to get to know her better, and most wound up fully embracing the character. Harmony even had her own season 5 episode, “Harm’s Way”, which showed a day in the vampire’s life. Never trustworthy and sometimes annoying, Harmony’s Angel arc was a marked improvement over her time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Even after Harmony’s final, inevitable betrayal, Angel was still kind enough to write her a letter of recommendation.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/buffy-vampire-slayer-angel-show-characters-better-improve/

Movies -