Personal preferences aside (I admittedly preferred Wes in Angel, his comic buffoonery in Buffy made me cringe), I think from even a Watsonian perspective - Wes was redeemed in Buffy. But also from Watsonian? (My mind tends to do both simultaneously). We are in Buffy's pov in that series. Everything is filtered through her eyes. While in Angel it is through his. Buffy sees Wes as a buffoon, a potentially dangerous one, also Buffy has major issues with "authority figures" particularly "patriarchial" ones. Note - her father took off and isn't a presence. Giles in Buffy's perspective tends to get knocked out a lot and doesn't help that much except with the books. The Principals are either obstacles or get eaten. The Mayor is a villain. So she blatantly ignores Wes - until he takes Faith hostage and screws up her plan to save her.
Angel is the opposite - Angel likes the patriarchial order, and wants its approval. He's the kid who rebels to get his parents attention but wants approval, while Buffy isn't really rebelling, so much as questioning the authority and deciding, okay, this doesn't work - I'm doing this instead. The different perspectives on authority are rather important I think in how the story arcs play out. Angel like Wes doesn't really dismiss it out of hand. And he struggles to play by its rules, even if he resides outside them. From Angel's perspective, Wes is similar to Giles...an information resource and someone to trust. And Angel, unlike Buffy, sympathizes with Wes on a deep level - both have father issues. Both want/need their father's approval. Both desire power and either don't have it or have it by unsavory means. And both want redemption - for past wrongs or failings. Buffy may have father issues but not quite on the same level as Angel and Wes.
Because of the perspective, the supporting characters come across differently. Angel was far more interesting in his own series than on Buffy for example. And even Spike - we see a different Spike on Angel, he's coarser in some ways, and rougher. Even Buffy herself is different on Angel than on Buffy, because of whose pov we are in.
Angel doesn't believe in redemption, but Buffy clearly does - that comes across in the tone and focus of both series. On Angel - Spike's soul is questioned and whether a vampire can be good without one (of course not - from Angel's perception). But on Buffy, Spike gets his soul and it's not really questioned. Angel has to question it - or admit to his own failing. Buffy doesn't quite have that problem, she does question it to an extent, but she is able to shrug the Angel conundrum off a bit - while Angel obviously can't. Also Spike could rest the shanshu from him, take away Angel's destiny, which has kept him going for the past five years...that means Angel has to worry about Spike. He's going to view him differently and emphasize his faults. Unlike Buffy - he's in competition with Spike. Buffy, on the other hand, questions Faith, because unlike Angel - she's in competition with Faith. Faith is a threat. But less of one than Spike is to Angel. So Faith will always be viewed slightly differently in Buffy's pov - less capable, not trust-worthy. While in Angel's she is.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-10-12 10:00 pm (UTC)Angel is the opposite - Angel likes the patriarchial order, and wants its approval. He's the kid who rebels to get his parents attention but wants approval, while Buffy isn't really rebelling, so much as questioning the authority and deciding, okay, this doesn't work - I'm doing this instead. The different perspectives on authority are rather important I think in how the story arcs play out. Angel like Wes doesn't really dismiss it out of hand. And he struggles to play by its rules, even if he resides outside them. From Angel's perspective, Wes is similar to Giles...an information resource and someone to trust. And Angel, unlike Buffy, sympathizes with Wes on a deep level - both have father issues. Both want/need their father's approval. Both desire power and either don't have it or have it by unsavory means. And both want redemption - for past wrongs or failings. Buffy may have father issues but not quite on the same level as Angel and Wes.
Because of the perspective, the supporting characters come across differently.
Angel was far more interesting in his own series than on Buffy for example.
And even Spike - we see a different Spike on Angel, he's coarser in some ways,
and rougher. Even Buffy herself is different on Angel than on Buffy, because of whose pov we are in.
Angel doesn't believe in redemption, but Buffy clearly does - that comes across in the tone and focus of both series. On Angel - Spike's soul is questioned and whether a vampire can be good without one (of course not - from Angel's perception). But on Buffy, Spike gets his soul and it's not really questioned. Angel has to question it - or admit to his own failing.
Buffy doesn't quite have that problem, she does question it to an extent, but she is able to shrug the Angel conundrum off a bit - while Angel obviously can't. Also Spike could rest the shanshu from him, take away Angel's destiny, which has kept him going for the past five years...that means Angel has to worry about Spike. He's going to view him differently and emphasize his faults. Unlike Buffy - he's in competition with Spike. Buffy, on the other hand, questions Faith, because unlike Angel - she's in competition with Faith.
Faith is a threat. But less of one than Spike is to Angel. So Faith will always be viewed slightly differently in Buffy's pov - less capable, not trust-worthy. While in Angel's she is.