I also think on the redemption arc - part of it really was focus oriented, the writers of Angel who playing around with whether it was possible to redeem someone like Angel. And well the genre, of course.
Angel was at the outset a much darker series than Buffy - with a nihilistic take on the world. Everyone who was redeemed on Buffy - fell back into the pit on Angel or was sorely tempted to. Even Faith to a degree.
And the series focused more on the dark side of the characters, their flaws. While Buffy focused more on the positives, in many ways. While Angel and Spike did horrible things on Buffy - on Angel - the horror of what they had done is shown in far darker overtones. I think that's one of the reasons various fans preferred Angel to Buffy, or vice versa.
On Buffy, Wes is more comic relief and he is shown as a bit of a buffoon. He is redeemed or rather in the end he decides to do the right thing - and works towards Giles approval as opposed to the Watchers. There's a little of that comic buffonery on Angel, but not much and it is much darker in aspect- he's shown as far more twisted. And what little redemption he receives - it gets sidelined by Home. Wes is understandably furious with Angel when he discovers what Angel did. He doomed them all to hell. Well not all - Gunn probably would have chosen WRH, but there was a strong indication that Wes and Fred were questioning it based partly on what had happened previously with Connor.
I think people often mistakenly think a nihilistic or darker take on a character or examination of a character or idea is more adult or better - when it is merely a different way of looking at it.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-10-12 01:35 pm (UTC)I also think on the redemption arc - part of it really was focus oriented, the writers of Angel who playing around with whether it was possible to redeem someone like Angel. And well the genre, of course.
Angel was at the outset a much darker series than Buffy - with a nihilistic take on the world. Everyone who was redeemed on Buffy - fell back into the pit on Angel or was sorely tempted to. Even Faith to a degree.
And the series focused more on the dark side of the characters, their flaws. While Buffy focused more on the positives, in many ways. While Angel and Spike did horrible things on Buffy - on Angel - the horror of what they had done is shown in far darker overtones. I think that's one of the reasons various fans preferred Angel to Buffy, or vice versa.
On Buffy, Wes is more comic relief and he is shown as a bit of a buffoon. He is redeemed or rather in the end he decides to do the right thing - and works towards Giles approval as opposed to the Watchers. There's a little of that comic buffonery on Angel, but not much and it is much darker in aspect- he's shown as far more twisted. And what little redemption he receives - it gets sidelined by Home. Wes is understandably furious with Angel when he discovers what Angel did. He doomed them all to hell. Well not all - Gunn probably would have chosen WRH, but there was a strong indication that Wes and Fred were questioning it based partly on what had happened previously with Connor.
I think people often mistakenly think a nihilistic or darker take on a character or examination of a character or idea is more adult or better - when it is merely a different way of looking at it.