At this point in the story, we aren't really delving into Angel as Buffy views him. Outside of Becoming, we aren't in Angel's pov, and even in that episode - the pov is odd and highly romanticized.
It's not until, as you note above, that Angel is spun-off into his own series that the character is REALLY given a chance to develop, as are Cordelia and Wesley for that matter.
That said, there is an episode in S3, which I haven't re-watched yet, so am trying to avoid commenting on, that does develop Angel.
What limits Angel is his romance with Buffy. Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying they shouldn't be in love or that their love was necessarily wrong in of itself - what I see, and this is hard to articulate well - is a critique of the TWILIGHT style romance or MOONLIGHT romance - where the girl's love inspires and saves the guy. And being lost in one another, forgetting the world around them is of the good. It's the getting lost in one another that is destructive. And that is what happens to Buffy and Angel. No one else can be in their circle. She can't be with her friends and be with Angel. Angel can't be a hero and be with Buffy. They inspire each other, they will always care about each other, but when they are together - they fall into the abyss, the world falls away and does not matter. It's the quote above - it is okay to be lost in love, but if you stay lost - you become love's dog.
Apart Buffy and Angel are far stronger than they are together. It is no surprise that they don't really have friends in common with the possible exception of Willow, Faith and Spike. Their closest friends can't abide them - Cordy hates Buffy, and Xander hates Angel. And in a way Buffy is far better suited to Xander, as is Angel far better suited to Cordelia...
But, I'm trying not to comment too much on Angel until I get to the episodes. I'm literally watching all the episodes in order to see, partly out curiousity, how they hold up next to each other - now that I'm no longer emotionally invested in the outcome or in a particular character. I'm not really. I love all the characters at this point, more or less equally. Although I will admit that Willow is starting to grate on my nerves. ;-)
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It's not until, as you note above, that Angel is spun-off into his own series that the character is REALLY given a chance to develop, as are Cordelia and Wesley for that matter.
That said, there is an episode in S3, which I haven't re-watched yet, so am trying to avoid commenting on, that does develop Angel.
What limits Angel is his romance with Buffy. Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying they shouldn't be in love or that their love was necessarily wrong in of itself - what I see, and this is hard to articulate well - is a critique of the TWILIGHT style romance or
MOONLIGHT romance - where the girl's love inspires and saves the guy. And being lost in one another, forgetting the world around them is of the good. It's the getting lost in one another that is destructive.
And that is what happens to Buffy and Angel. No one else can be in their circle. She can't be with her friends and be with Angel. Angel can't be a hero and be with Buffy. They inspire each other, they will always care about each other, but when they are together - they fall into the abyss, the world falls away and does not matter. It's the quote above - it is okay to be lost in love, but if you stay lost - you become love's dog.
Apart Buffy and Angel are far stronger than they are together. It is no surprise that they don't really have friends in common with the possible exception of Willow, Faith and Spike. Their closest friends can't abide them - Cordy hates Buffy, and Xander hates Angel.
And in a way Buffy is far better suited to Xander, as is Angel far better suited to Cordelia...
But, I'm trying not to comment too much on Angel until I get to the episodes. I'm literally watching all the episodes in order to see, partly out curiousity, how they hold up next to each other - now that I'm no longer emotionally invested in the outcome or in a particular character. I'm not really. I love all the characters at this point, more or less equally. Although I will admit that Willow is starting to grate on my nerves. ;-)