From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   *****Didn't make any comments when I posted this, but now I will.*****   
      
      
   "David"  wrote in message news:ntt8ke$k50$1@dont-email.me...   
      
   http://whatculture.com/tv/10-reasons-angel-is-better-than-buffy   
      
   Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: Buffy the Vampire Slayer was   
   an incredible, groundbreaking TV series and may have been the first time   
   when a TV adaptation of a movie actually surpassed the original film. Joss   
   Whedon's series of a teenage girl who is chosen to be the principle warrior   
   against the forces of darkness managed to wow viewers week after week with   
   incredible characters, great storytelling, and some of the best dialogue on   
   TV at the time.   
      
   From the beginning of the series, one character really captured viewers'   
   imaginations - Angel, the vampire who had been cursed with a soul to suffer   
   for his violent actions. The tragic romance between Buffy and Angel has   
   become legendary in the world of television. And following the third season,   
   Whedon made the decision to break the couple up and give Angel his own   
   spin-off.   
      
   Whenever a TV show spins off one of its popular characters, it's a risky   
   move and it doesn't always go well. Even the best spin-offs never really   
   reach the heights of the original series.   
      
   But Angel was the exception to the rule. While Buffy tended to flounder a   
   bit after the third season and never really seemed to find its footing after   
   leaving behind Sunnydale High School, Angel managed to be an amazing mix of   
   drama, horror, characterization, and humor.   
      
   Angel was never the most dynamic character when he was on Buffy. If anything   
   he could be a bit one-note: a stoic, dark, brooding love interest. And that   
   was fine when he was a supporting character. But once the decision was made   
   to give him his own show, it was clear some changes had to be made.   
      
   Whedon has said that Angel was the hardest character to write, which is   
   probably why there was more depth added to him when his solo series began.   
   The writers introduced some more personality for him. The premiere episode   
   shows an Angel who was increasingly disconnected from the humanity he was   
   supposed to save.   
      
      
       10. A Better Lead   
   Over the course of five seasons, Angel developed in interesting - and   
   sometimes surprising - ways. In many ways, this is thanks to the great   
   performance of David Boreanaz. He was able to inject a sense of humor into   
   the brooding vampire and even gave him a sense of self-consciousness.   
      
   While Angel became more dynamic and interesting in his show, as Buffy's   
   series went on, she seemed to go in the opposite direction. Buffy became a   
   more rigid character, even bordering on annoyance in the later seasons.   
   Towards the end of BTVS, Buffy was actually one of the least interesting   
   characters.   
      
   ***** But there was Anya (originally to take Cordy's place) who made the   
   show more interesting.*****   
      
      
       9. Angel At Its Worst Is Better Than Buffy At Its Worst   
   Neither Buffy nor Angel were without low moments. When both shows were at   
   the top of their game, it was some of the best TV ever. But when they were   
   bad...oooh boy, were they bad.   
      
   For Buffy, this trend really began in the fourth season. The college setting   
   didn't seem like a good fit, which may be why the writers more or less   
   abandoned it in the fifth season. Except they never really found a   
   replacement that worked as well as the Sunnydale High library. And the fifth   
   season found a really big albatross in the form of Buffy's teenage sister,   
   Dawn.   
      
       ****II t took a few episodes, but eventually I started liking Dawn, and   
   I think she added another dimension to the overall flavor of the show.****   
      
   For Angel, it was the fourth season when the show went off the rails. Not   
   only was there far too much focus on Angel's irritating teenage son, Connor,   
   but the direction the writers took Cordelia in pretty much ruined her   
   character.   
      
   ***HATED Connor "with a fiery passion".  Watching Faith kick his ass was   
   Emmy material as far as I'm concerned.***   
      
   However, despite the low points of season four, it also had some things that   
   kept it from completely jumping the shark. One of these was the character   
   growth of Wesley (more on this later). Another was the return of Angelus,   
   Angel's soulless dark side. And the decision to bring in both Willow and   
   Faith to help contain him.   
      
   But Buffy increasingly seemed to feel directionless, with storylines that   
   felt like the writers were running short on ideas.   
      
      
       8. Death Means Something   
   Joss Whedon is always accused of killing off your favorite characters, but   
   some of that is pretty exaggerated. In Buffy, most of the character deaths   
   were actually fairly safe. In fact, with the exception of Buffy's mother,   
   Joyce, none of the deaths in Buffy felt like they happened to beloved   
   characters (sorry, Tara fans, she always annoyed me). They were supporting   
   characters whose deaths were mostly to spur other characters to action.   
      
   True, Whedon did kill Buffy, Angel, and Spike, but he also reversed those   
   deaths as soon as he could.   
      
   But Angel handled the deaths of major characters with far more significance.   
   About midway into the first season of Angel, Doyle heroically sacrifices   
   himself to save Angel and innocent half-demons. The ramifications of that   
   death were felt throughout the series, particularly in regards to Cordelia.   
      
   And that wasn't the only significant death in Angel. Cordelia, Fred, and   
   Wesley all faced Whedon's wrath in Angel's final season, and each one was an   
   emotional gut-punch. Even the deaths of recurring villains like Darla and   
   Lilah were handled exceptionally well.   
      
   Also, of all the characters Whedon should have killed in Buffy, the fact   
   that Dawn never ended up on the chopping block was a grave sin.   
      
       **Again, I have to disagree.**   
      
      
        7. Never Stop Fighting   
   One of the central aspects of Angel has always been the idea that redemption   
   isn't something you can ever stop fighting for. Even despite the   
   introduction of the Shanshu Prophecy at the end of the first season, which   
   states Angel will become human after fulfilling his destiny, the theme of   
   redemption as ongoing always remained prominent.   
      
   Every single member of the Fang Gang had something they wanted redemption   
   for. Wasn't always on the same level as "being a murderous vampire for a   
   century or so," but redemption is the one thing that bonded this ragtag   
   group together.   
      
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)