(Did HTML eat part of your post? After the cut it looks a little incomplete, maybe?)
The B/A breakup was written in such a seriously halfhearted way. Some network exec decided that two shows were better than one, and decided to break up the chemistry that made that one show exciting.
I found the results to be telling. Buffy staggered somewhat, sure, (both the show and the character) but continued to be true to herself and kick ass. At the end of the day, while she missed him and was hurt by him leaving, she didn't need him at all.
Angel proved that obsessive, badwrong love is actually more harmful to the obsessed than the object of said obsession. For the breakup, he went drastically OOC, and hasn't had an IC moment since. Not being with Buffy meant being a different person. That's how strong Angel's original obsession was.
As for the reasons, I didn't buy it at all. It could be bad for Buffy? And they didn't know this from Day 1? Him going psychotic and killing her friends wasn't a CLUE? No, apparently it took Mommy to sit him down and explain it all properly. Because they've always listened to her.
I think Angel was (originally) so helpless in the face of his obsession that even if he knew it would lead to both of their deaths, he wouldn't be able to stop himself. "I'll never leave. Not even if you kill me." Not even if she kills him in self-defense. And even if some force did tear them apart, I don't think he could ever move on with his un-life, get friends, fight crime, be competent and aloof, and refer to Buffy as his "ex." That just isn't Angel. He was in alleyways sucking rats before he first saw her, and without her that's what he'd be reduced to, miserable, self-torturing, and missing her.
I haven't read Twilight, and have no interest in it, but I do agree that Angel's level of obsessive love requires a very strong girl as its focus, or else it gets a bit nauseating.
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Date: 2008-09-07 11:53 pm (UTC)The B/A breakup was written in such a seriously halfhearted way. Some network exec decided that two shows were better than one, and decided to break up the chemistry that made that one show exciting.
I found the results to be telling. Buffy staggered somewhat, sure, (both the show and the character) but continued to be true to herself and kick ass. At the end of the day, while she missed him and was hurt by him leaving, she didn't need him at all.
Angel proved that obsessive, badwrong love is actually more harmful to the obsessed than the object of said obsession. For the breakup, he went drastically OOC, and hasn't had an IC moment since. Not being with Buffy meant being a different person. That's how strong Angel's original obsession was.
As for the reasons, I didn't buy it at all. It could be bad for Buffy? And they didn't know this from Day 1? Him going psychotic and killing her friends wasn't a CLUE? No, apparently it took Mommy to sit him down and explain it all properly. Because they've always listened to her.
I think Angel was (originally) so helpless in the face of his obsession that even if he knew it would lead to both of their deaths, he wouldn't be able to stop himself. "I'll never leave. Not even if you kill me." Not even if she kills him in self-defense. And even if some force did tear them apart, I don't think he could ever move on with his un-life, get friends, fight crime, be competent and aloof, and refer to Buffy as his "ex." That just isn't Angel. He was in alleyways sucking rats before he first saw her, and without her that's what he'd be reduced to, miserable, self-torturing, and missing her.
I haven't read Twilight, and have no interest in it, but I do agree that Angel's level of obsessive love requires a very strong girl as its focus, or else it gets a bit nauseating.
Out of curiosity, have you seen Blood+?