From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   There have been plenty of romances central to the Buffyverse, but perhaps   
   none quit so epic as the one between Buffy and Angel. The original vampire   
   with a soul was the slayer’s first love and he left an indelible mark both   
   on the series and in the hearts of fans. In high school, everything feels   
   like the end of the world, but for Buffy Summers, it often almost was. We   
   all can remember the  dizzying highs and unbearably depressing lows of   
   falling in love for the first time. However, imagine if, on top of those   
   already intense emotions, the fate of the universe was hanging in the   
   balance. Buffy was so strong that it was sometimes difficult to remember   
   that she really was just a teenage girl with the weight of the entire world   
   placed firmly upon her tiny shoulders.   
      
   Whether you feel that Buffy and Angel belong together or not, there is no   
   denying that many of the show’s most heartbreaking or swoon-worthy moments   
   in the early seasons resulted from their unforgettable love story. It truly   
   was a romance for the ages. That being said, not everything about the poetic   
   relationship between vampire and slayer always added up. Like any genre   
   show - even one that transcends genre like Buffy the Vampire Slayer - a   
   certain suspension of disbelief is required to properly enjoy the story.   
   Point being, no matter how nonsensical certain elements of their   
   relationship may have been, most fans wouldn’t trade it.   
      
      
   20 WHY COULDN'T SHE SENSE HE WAS A VAMPIRE FROM THE START?   
      
   It was established in the pilot that Buffy was capable of sensing whether or   
   not someone was a vampire. So, how did she interact with Angel so many times   
   and still have no clue that he was one until he revealed himself to be?   
   Perhaps there is something different about him on account of his soul, but   
   that was never stated.   
      
   The most likely explanation is that the writers weren’t immediately sure   
   that Angel was going to be a vampire at all. It had been decided that he   
   would be Buffy’s love interest, but that was kind of it. There were even   
   thoughts of making him an actual angel. It seems crazy now, because Buffy   
   and Angel’s “rather poetic” love story became such a huge part of the   
   narrative during those early seasons.   
      
      
   19 THEIR AGE DIFFERENCE   
      
   If everyone’s being honest, the age difference between Buffy and Angel is   
   kind of troubling based on his human age alone. He was turned at twenty-six   
   and first met Buffy when she was sixteen. Ten years isn’t too big of a deal   
   once a person’s out of high school, but most parents wouldn’t want their   
   teenager dating someone who had a decade on them.   
      
   Making matters worse, Angel is actually two hundred twenty-four years older   
   than Buffy. So, whether we’re talking about his human or vampire status,   
   there is still quite a divide there. Buffy is obviously more mature than the   
   average high school student and much of Angel’s development was stunted on   
   account of living in sewers and eating rats for decades.   
      
   18 HE LOVED HER FROM THE MOMENT HE SAW HER   
      
   Speaking of the age gap between Buffy and Angel, it’s easy to swoon over the   
   idea that Angel loved her from the moment he laid eyes on her…until you   
   remember that she was fifteen. Even putting aside the Humbert vibe here   
   though, the love built up between Buffy and Angel over the course of the   
   series had real depth. So, the idea that this grown man fell head over heels   
   for a teenager immediately kind of mars that a bit.   
      
   If anything, Angel was just interested, considering he didn’t know Buffy   
   even a little bit. It probably kind of makes sense in terms of the fairy   
   tale quality of their relationship.   
      
      
   17 THEIR (LACK OF) A LOVE LIFE   
      
   Angel’s one true moment of happiness happened the first time that he and   
   Buffy were intimate and it cost him his soul. So, logic apparently dictated   
   that the two could never get physical again. Sure, this was a way to keep   
   them from falling into the trap of becoming a boring, happy couple. However,   
   it doesn’t make all that much sense.   
      
   Once Angel became aware of the cost of a truly happy moment, it seems   
   unlikely that the poor guy would ever be able to have another one.   
   Seriously, no matter how many sparks continued to fly between vampire and   
   slayer, how would his restored soul ever stop plaguing his thoughts again?   
   Thankfully, the thought that Angel needed to be celibate was eventually   
   abandoned, but the idea that he could find that bliss again with Buffy seems   
   impossible.   
      
      
   16 THE NETWORK RESTRICTIONS   
      
   This issue isn’t the fault of the writers, but rather the networks airing   
   Buffy and Angel. Once the vampire with a soul scored his own spinoff, he and   
   Buffy continued to share the small screen for special crossover events.   
   Whether it was the stars appearing on each other’s shows or side characters   
   made little difference to fans who were delighted by every new plot point of   
   this shared universe. However, after Buffy briefly left the mortal coil at   
   the end of season 5, BtVS left the WB and headed over to UPN.   
      
   That was the end of the crossover events for quite some time. Even the   
   meeting between Buffy and Angel after she was resurrected happened offscreen   
   and barely warranted a mention on either series.   
      
      
   15 THAT TIME THEY BIRTHED A NEW UNIVERSE   
      
   The canonical comic continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer saw the series   
   through seasons 8-12, only wrapping up last year. As a whole, the comics   
   were largely enjoyable, with amazing art and stories that the writers never   
   could’ve done on a TV budget. Although there are plenty of cool plotlines to   
   choose from, there are also some that make absolutely no sense at all.   
      
   In season 8, The villainous Twilight who’d been plaguing the Scoobies was   
   revealed to be Angel. He was acting on a primal instinct to help Buffy   
   ascend to a higher plane - or something. Buffy got Superman-esque powers and   
   the two were intimate on some kind of cosmic level, resulting in the birth   
   of a new universe. Did that make sense to you?   
      
      
      
   14 THEIR FAILED ATTEMPT AT FRIENDSHIP   
      
   We all know what it’s like to think that friendship with an ex is possible,   
   even if you were never friends, to begin with - sometimes it is. Denial runs   
   deep, and Buffy and Angel needed someone not so close to the situation to   
   point out the ridiculousness of their attempt at a platonic friendship.   
   Luckily, they had Spike to do just that. “Love isn't brains, children, it's   
   blood...blood screaming inside you to work its will.”   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)