When I say that people take things out of context, and that they also don't give time to understanding Angel(us) as a character and spend more time trying to justify why xyz is better (usually Spike, usually because of shipping reasons) this is the kind of thing I mean.
And I want to be clear here- I don't give a shit what you ship. I am not pro one over the other, in fact I kind of hate the fact that the shipping in this fandom trumps actual storytelling and interesting dynamics. I love Buffy, I want her character to not be eternally suffering for sure, but I also don't care if something is a little toxic or unhealthy ESPECIALLY in my show about horror and vampires and shit.
Anyway, on to what I wanted to say. The stuff outlining Angel in this post is like so:
Angel after losing his soul - Breaks Buffy's heart in the most humiliating way possible - Treats even those whom he is close to like dirt under his fingernails - Acts like a maniac - Can only be fixed by spells - Almost starts apocalypse - An ancient evil guy literally says "nothing good in this guy. Absolutely hopeless case. Pure evil" - Tries to kill Buffy Scoobies: - "He's nice but lost! Sure, breaking Buffy's heart and torturing Giles wasn't nice, but we will quickly forgive him and call him to hang out with us" Spike who had no soul from the very beginning (and wasn't even trying to hide that!!) : - speaks what he thinks without lying (which helps Scoobies most of the time) - Acts like not the best, but still pretty decent man - Grows as a person - Helped to stop monsters countless times - Genuinely grieved over Joyce when she died - Protected Dawn just because he made a promise Scoobies: -"He is an immoral person, who DARED to fall in love with Buffy! He should be hated for all eternity. We should've killed him a long time ago. Whatever good he does is just for gaining points in Buffy's eyes"
Okay so I will note here: I do not agree with or enjoy how Spike is treated or framed by people on the show. But can we also be clear that BUFFY HERSELF does this to him too for a very long ass period of time? And that it is EVERYONE doing weird framing shit around souls versus no souls? It's very much the attitude by the writers and team behind Buffy just as much as the characters on the show... and it affects literally every vampire character. It's one of my biggest gripes, that the vampire lore in this show is both inconsistent and illogical.
But okay, on to the context and the framing.
Angel(us) and the Buffy situation.
There's around three major things at play regarding Buffy and Angel's revert to Angelus that I think are important to consider in the context of these scenes.
The first is that when considering Spike and Angelus and their status of who they are as vampires it is important to consider the very likely notion that who they were before being changed is part of that core of who they are. Liam did not experience love or know what love was prior to being turned, and this didn't really change when you consider the ways in which Darla acted and treated him. Depending on what you ship his first brush of a somewhat loving relationship is either Spike himself, or Buffy. Liam also flung himself into meaningless dalliances (he considers himself worthless) and cruel relationships (he doesn't believe in love). He holds himself far away from anything actually real and vulnerable, likely because of the abusive nature of the only real relationships he had in his life (his family). To be vulnerable is to be weak. To be weak is to be caused pain. This is very evident in how he acts as Angelus also - he does not allow Darla to have one over him, he does not allow himself to be left vulnerable even if it ends their relationship, he does not allow space for them to be more than sadistic companions, he does not give up anything for her, he'd rather forcefully make Drusilla be with him than give space to convince her to do so, he would rather demonstrate power and heirarchy over William/Spike when he joins and chooses Darla over him. Is this good? No. Is it healthy? No. But it is INTERESTING.
The second contextual piece of this first argument is the 'losing his soul' bit. Guys... that's not a normal soul. It has never been a normal soul. We also know that vampires without 'souls' are not incapable of feeling or of caring or any other number of things. The only things souls provide in the Buffyverse is, seemingly, a deeper conscience and inhibition. E.g. Angel is concerned with Catholic rhetoric and also more internalised homophobia. Angelus is not. Spike without a soul finds it easy to commit murder and crime, and when he does question it is not so much a remorse per se, it's more of a this no longer feels as entertaining or fun because I can now link it back to morals and ethics within my thought process. This doesn't really fully develop to guilt and remorse in such an earth shattering way UNTIL he regains a soul.
But Angel's soul is not meant to be a soul. Spike gets his soul and spends a little bit of time being tormented, but he is also fully capable of a wild spectrum of human emotions (some of which were also present as a vampire, vampires can feel love and happiness and enjoyment). Angel cannot. He not only can't just feel normal human spectrum of emotions, he can't feel vampire spectrum. Even if he does get a flicker the rest of his life is laden with overwhelming guilt, pain and depression. Which is meant to. Angel's soul is a torment. It's a torture device. He can't even breathe without emotional turmoil and pain for just existing. And that's the point! Enjoyment and happiness being the methods for ending the curse is partly also to torture him because he won't allow himself happiness because this would lead to him being the thing he now despises and cannot stand or bear. It is also a torment because Angelus had a family. When you see any of the scenes of Angelus, Darla, Drusilla and Spike it is clear that while they were a dysfunctional, and unhealthy, family/polycule they cared about one another. Spike's absolute crashout when he sees Angel again and Angel is no longer Angelus and Angelus abandoned him is because he loved and cared for Angelus. His reframing of everything very clearly feels like someone who was hurt, and abandoned, and carried that for over a century and is then further rejected by that person!
If Angel's soul then is torture, and he loved someone while being tormented for everything he's done, all his worth, all he does do, and the small sliver of allowing himself that love even though he does not deserve it... it sounds like he was hurting himself actively by being with Buffy. Loving Buffy was a form of self-harm, but one he couldn't help and didn't want to give up.
Buffy is also the first person he's allowed himself emotional intimacy with since the family that he lost (and if we include some of the later flashback scenes we know that when he returned to Darla with a soul she tried to immediately kill him leading to him not even seeing Drusilla or Spike before fleeing. We also know from flashback scenes that every time he tried to return to being a vampire, in order to once again have some sense of intimacy, belonging, community and emotional spectrum, he was unable to go through with it and his actions disgusted those around him. Still do in the early seasons of Buffy.)
So when he is returned to Angelus after a century of continuous torture, and in which the recent history contains self-harm via Buffy it's really not a wonder that he turns on her so harshly. There's this quote that I think a lot of people pass by, they're so focused on Angelus' actions and cruelty there is little actual consideration as to why he's acting as he does and why it's so intensely focused. Angelus doesn't care that Buffy is the slayer. Angelus cares that Buffy is Buffy and that he loved Buffy and that that love hurt him and made him vulnerable. Liam/Angelus does not do vulnerability, or weakness, or anything that could hurt him and leave him without control.
Here's the line: "She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kinda thing you just forgive."
Whether Angel(us) was good or healthy when they were dating, or whether he is psycho now, is not the point here. The point is why he goes out of his way to humiliate Buffy. He does it because she made him actually love, and actually care, and that hurt him continuously while it was happening, and it made him vulnerable, and it is still affecting him. He is not in control. And he spends the rest of the time proving that, that he's not in control and that both his time as Angel with a soul, and his relationship with Buffy, has fundamentally changed him (more on that later). And he can't have that. Especially when this can only go one of two ways: Buffy will return him to a life of endless torment and pain but they're in love, or Buffy will kill him.
Next point: Treats even those whom he is close to like dirt under his fingernails.
I'm unsure what this point is referring to. Is it referring to the Scoobies? In which case I would argue he's not really all that close to them. He doesn't mind them, for sure. And he's not going to hurt them or not save them. But Angel's actual friendship and core relationship was always Buffy, and possibly (minor) Giles. Which is also probably why he lashes out at Giles post killing Jenny. Killing Jenny was a means to an end. The brutal aftermath seems a way to punish Giles for his role in Angel feeling human while suffering.
If this actually a reference to Drusilla and Spike in season 2 then I find this read very interesting. Angelus' first port of call once he loses his soul is not to go to Buffy and torment her, it's not to set into motion plans of revenge or evil doing, and it's not to commit mass murders (though he does feed, boys' gotta eat after all). It's to go to Drusilla and Spike, the only semblance of family he knows (after all, Darla is already dead too... at his soul filled hands). And when he gets there they are genuinely delighted to have him, even Spike. Again, I truly don't believe Spike's consistent claim that he hates Angel and Angel(us) is the most shitty waste of space ever, when both times he thought he was getting Angelus back in his life he is IMMEDIATELY ECSTATIC ABOUT IT.
Now, several things go wrong at this juncture:
Angelus now is not the Angelus they knew then. Why? Because he spent 100 years being tortured! Humanity isn't a fun place to dick around when it reminds you of countless years of abject suffering and torment. No, revenge for your pain on the entire population is clearly the best response to such a thing, can they not get that? Of course, this is WILDLY different from the Angelus they knew (and miss) and while Drusilla is able to go with the flow on this, Spike isn't. It's also probably because Spike is carrying around a whole bunch of his own baggage, because Spike directly modelled his own persona off of Angelus' old one. Angelus was the epitome of vampire when Spike was learning to be a vampire. Now Angelus isn't Angelus... so what does that say about Spike?
Spike is used to being the leader, the one in control, and calling the shots. He's a mastermind! His worth is in his mind and his caretaking. Both of which Angelus keeps trying to do. On one hand, we know Angelus can't stand not being in control. It's like one of his number one flaws. Hell, he often still has this same flaw when he's Angel, it's just expressed differently. But on the other hand, Angelus and Angel both seem to like a role as a provider/mentor/caretaker of some kind. Angelus' expression of this is radically different than Angel's, but overall both like to provide the structure of some sort of familial unit, go out and protect or provide for them, and look out for them and their needs. What comes along with that, however, is some sense of control/leadership for Angel(us) and his chiming in on thoughts and opinions about the other. Spike was open to this 100 years ago, but since then he's had a turn at being in charge and running things and he also has sort of evolved in terms of his expressions of care. He doesn't like Angelus trying to revert things to how they were (especially when Angelus himself is different!) and also disregarding the ways in which Spike has changed and grown and how he knows more. Spike wants more input and the ability to express his thoughts and ideas. The issue with this? Angelus does try to give that to him. But Angelus hates being fucking vulnerable, remember? If you watch these scenes closely there are a number of times that a) Angelus leaves an opening for Spike to chime in, add something, or banter with him but Spike is too butthurt to join or judging Angelus for being different. b) there are moments where Angelus actively tries to coax Spike into being his number one guy but Spike is too jealous over Drusilla stuff to bite into it and c) Angelus has active trauma responses that Spike doesn't recognise and won't consider before hand. The biggest issues at play with the Angelus and Spike reunion is that Spike is unable to understand or conceptualise that Angelus has been through actively traumatising events for 100 years (something Spike actually never comes to grips with, or that his soul was a cursed thing, or that Angel also goes on to have MORE trauma when he's in Hell) and that this has led to not just differences but an active CPTSD case on his hands. Meanwhile Angelus is unwilling to unpack or explain anything, be vulnerable or straight up admit he's processing everything by lashing out and blaming Buffy while simultaneously trying to rebuild the only time in his entire (undead) life he's ever been happy and fulfilled (and reconstructing his tender and actually beloved family).
Spike's focus on what he believes are slights, his inability to reconcile this Angelus with what he once knew, and his jealousy and displacement (and sense of worth) ultimately lead to him betraying Angelus and sacrificing him. Something he does not apologise for, feel regret over, or ever examine. Normally this would not be significant, if it were any other character I would not mention it, but I want to note it for reasons I will get into later.
All of Angelus' decisions are impulsive and kneejerk here. This actually doesn't align with other depictions and representations of Angelus. The man can be cruel, and vicious, but he is also known to wait, calculate, build up to a crescendo. While there are instances where he has clearly plotted or manipulated, they're short term and not seeing a bigger picture. Again, this lends itself to both Spike's discontent, and Angelus' CPTSD.
Angelus' feelings and concepts of Drusilla and Spike versus Spike's feelings and concepts of Drusilla and Angelus. I've already mentioned that SPIKE IS NOT HAPPY ABOUT HOW ANGELUS HAS CHANGED. In fact, he takes this as almost a heartwrenching betrayal, something he seemingly never gets over. This point is the point at which Spike solidifies his 'I hate Angel/Angelus' stance. Prior to this the concept and introduction of Angelus has him in complete excited giddy happiness. After this? It's all insults, rage, scoffing, needling, betrayal, anger, etc. Spike is also devoting and in love with Drusilla, and can't seem to separate love and carnal desire when it comes to her. Angelus... is not in love with Drusilla. It does not mean he does not love her or is in some way affectionate and responsible for her (this is another whole goddamn discussion), this is made clear by his actions and desire to be around her. Angelus does not do things he does not want to do. He would not expend time and effort on this two unless he wanted to. The fact that his interactions with Drusilla cause Spike to bite and engage with him delights him because he considers this a playful back and forth of two comrades/friends. Fucking Drusilla is just a little bit of fun. Sharing is normal. Spike will come back to it and the way things were. Spike sees Angelus as doing this to spite him, through his weight around, power play, hurt him, humiliate him. If Angelus wanted to do that it's made clear that there is a lot more he would be doing. His intention is clearly not that. This is his most intimate set of relationships, where he's longed to be, where he's missed for decades, and where he wants to be. And it's interesting to note that prior to the events of Angelus in season 2, Angel just sort of chalked Spike up to the normal feelings around vampires- bad and disgusting behaviour that he can't stomach. After season 2, Angel is outright snippy and targets Spike's character incessantly. Why? Because he's fucking hurt. Again, I'll get back to more ramifications of these things later.
I'm assuming this isn't referring to the Angel series because while Angel has a lot of inconsistencies and weirdness, especially post the introduction of he who will not be named shithead baby, Angel's usual characterization is ADORING his teammates there.
- Acts like a maniac
That's kind of the point? Heck, earlier Spike also acts like a maniac (yknow, when he has his persona he built on Angelus?). Angelus is written specifically as the trope of the monster, the one that does monstrous things and manipulates and hurts and so on. It is what challenges the notions that the Scoobies have been slinging around for 2 seasons, and will need to continue to grapple with. It is what asks the question of what we do, why we do it, and why it matters. It is asking can we ever grow, and can we ever redeem ourselves. It is engaging with the concept are we all stuck in who we are or can we change?
Again, Angelus in season 2 is not the Angelus he was. And Angelus in later appearances is different again, as is Angel as he goes through later arcs. Angelus in season 2 is a reflection of 100 years of torture and torment specifically at the hands of humanity and because of humanity. Angelus in earlier iterations (flashbacks) demonstrates a love for humanity, and revels in 'mucking around in the filth' because it is enjoyable and it is fun. Hanging out in vampire lairs and plotting world ending evil is not something he wants. Is he good in this iteration? No. Is he different? Yes. Angelus also needs to be this at this point in time for any cohesive narrative to make sense. Establishing a bad monster who is trying to be good and is fighting against evil needs thematically for said monster inside to make an appearance. A monster who does not kill, hurt, or cause pain is not a monster that the hero must overcome and sacrifice something in destroying.
Spike's arc and inherent themes are supposed to be different. This is not only established at every step of the way, especially after they bring him in full time, but also in that his and Angel's human concepts are very, very different. Spike's thematic consistency is about overcoming his self-loathing and self-worth issues, and learning how to be comfortable being the core person that he is without shame or concealment. Angel's is always about breaking the cycle of violence he knew and learning what love is, how to love, and how to be vulnerable and in the process what doing good for the sake of doing good is. These are extremely different themes and each have their own purpose. It's why shrinking them down into shipping wars does disservices to both of them and Buffy. Because at the end of the day her own narrative and arc and themes are also separate, and rolling in these boys and their issues as if her life needs to accommodate those narrative arcs is not serving her.
- Can only be fixed by spells
I'm really not sure what this is meant to accomplish. Are we talking about the fact that everyone decides the best way to 'fix' Angelus is to give his 'soul' back via the same curse? Because I would argue that a) that was an extremely stupid move to begin with, b) shows a misunderstanding by the characters involved (and in the writing) about what they were doing and what the curse was and that the soul is not in fact a normal soul, c) shows a lack of understanding also about why Angelus acted as he did, as demonstrated above and d) it's established that this is not the way to actually give a soul to a vampire.
On top of which, Angel later proves that he is more than capable of acting like a person, using a normal soul, and going through trials similar to Spike in order to get life (just in his case he went through the trials in order to ensure Darla would live... which also demonstrates even in the case of someone who abused him and hurt him there was enough decency and affection there to try and save her and illustrates some more of Angel's complicated character).
So really... this isn't actually a true statement? This just happens to be what everyone decided was the move... every single time Angelus makes an appearance. Rather than searching for something that would actually give Angel a life in which he is not in a constant state of suffering. Angelus can't actually make a decision at that time because he's not given a chance to.
I know, you're going to say 'Spike made the decision while soulless!'. Yes, he did. But as demonstrated, Spike is a completely different character, with a different background and themes. He also spent significant time coming into that character choice and full character arc achieving it. No one actually lets Angelus have time to grow into that, they all stuff him back inside the Angel hardcase as soon as possible. There is no attempt at a character arc, change, or motivations. No build up. No discovering what love is and how he can sit in it and be vulnerable and not be swallowed up by abuse. Like?? Did we forget about character arcs? Of course Angelus, fresh out of the torture soul factory, is going to say 'I don't want a fucking soul!!!'. Are you kidding? And in order to get one like Spike he has to earn it. And in order to do that he has to get to a point in his character to want it. And in order for that to happen he has to be left soulless and grow. And in order for that to happen people have to stop trying to fucking curse him with the Torment Soul.
- Almost starts apocalypse
Multiple characters also do this? Spike and Drusilla are the ones to even start this scheme in the first place? Angelus also rejects an Apocalypse plan in flashbacks? I dunno what this point is meant to achieve here. Like I said, Season 2 Angelus is CPTSD Angelus central.
- An ancient evil guy literally says "nothing good in this guy. Absolutely hopeless case. Pure evil"
He also says that both Drusilla and Spike reek of humanity. He says this because, in this scene, Spike and Drusilla do not act like 'normal' vampires (aka the vampires we've come to know and expect, as viewers we come to realise vampire expectations are a load of bs). They are affectionate, vulnerable with each other, caring, loving, considerate, devoted, loyal, self-sacrificing and do not hurt and manipulate each other.
Angelus actually does a number of these things, only he does them towards Drusilla and Spike, and has historically done them for the entire polycule. But at this stage he is overcome by a need to exact pain, revenge and humiliation on the person he feels hurt him the most: Buffy. He is channeling his entire sense of self into blaming her, and is caught up in how to best process this through hurting her as thoroughly as possible before killing her. Perhaps he even believes that doing this will rid him of everything bad he's felt and been through for the last 100 years, and really allow him a fresh start with Drusilla and Spike. Hell, he might also blame Buffy and her presence and their love for his murder of Darla, one of his longest companions (even with their complicated relationship and history).
The 'ancient evil guy' therefore reading Angelus in this moment as 'nothing good in this guy, absolutely hopeless case, pure evil' is probably much more to do with what is in his head and heart in this moment rather than a read on him in general.
Why do I believe that? Well, for whatever arguments you wanna make about Spike, murder, etc, and the degrees of evil in this show or their characters, we know for a fact that Drusilla has eaten small children. People sometimes point to Angelus having done this as one of the demonstrations of his 'evil' nature. Drusilla having done this also would make the argument, I think, that she should not be read as 'reeking of humanity'. But in this moment, in this scene, Drusilla is acting like someone with humanity. And Angelus is stewing in feelings that are downright horrific.
Alternatively, it's just one of the many inconsistencies in this show and how it is written and how vampires are expressed and conceptualised. Cue the shrug.
- Tries to kill Buffy
Yep. He does. I've already pointed out a lot of my arguments when it comes to this. But you know who else tried to kill Buffy? Spike. A few times. Many times. He has also abused Harmony, threatened Willow a few times, tried to kill Willow, threatened Xander, tried to kill Drusilla, stalked Buffy, threatened Joyce, threatened Buffy, threatened Giles, would have killed Giles/let Giles be killed if not for an agreement, and was party to killing Kendra. Angelus, at this point, is trying to kill Buffy because loving her is perceived by him as something that will only ever cause him pain and has caused him pain. And he is a being who has never, not even as a human, had any relationship to love or being loved or what love is. Controlling, stifling, removing are the only ways he knows how to handle even the barest emotional intimacy.
And this is without mentioning that scene because I am of the personal opinion that it's too much of a debate to centre in this argument.
The point, again, is not what they have done and haven't done because if we keep pulling out every instance and tallying them up they will always come out as bad, shitty people. Which they are. It's a horror show. They are vampires/monsters. It's part of the gig.
-> Spike who had no soul from the very beginning (and wasn't even trying to hide that!!)
Angelus hiding his soul after losing it for loving Buffy/being happy was part of a bigger plan and a manipulation tactic. Spike has done similar plans and manipulation tactics, there is just no use in trying to obscure whether he has a soul because... why wouldn't he be soulless? Angel having a soul is an outlier, and we see from the very beginning he didn't expect Angel to have a soul. He expected Angelus. If Spike had had this sort of upper hand at any point in his machinations and plotting days of trying to kill Buffy then he surely would have used it. He was completely on board with Angelus doing so to Buffy when Angelus lays out this plan. Until he gets bored and wants it over with, Buffy dead, so he and Angelus and Drusilla can move on to more 'fun' plans.
- speaks what he thinks without lying (which helps Scoobies most of the time)
I'm guessing this is from when he is already chipped? In which case what would he gain by lying? He does actually obscure things or leave things out early on in his chipped days because he wants to make a deal to get the chip out? I feel like this is partially revisionist history. Why are we making Spike so one note?
- Acts like not the best, but still pretty decent man
Again, this is dependent upon the season, upon where he is in his character journey, and upon the definition. Again, this is also a horror show. A man that has committed countless murders, has tried to manipulate and coerce, has kidnapped, has stalked, has betrayed, etc... your mileage of 'pretty decent man' varies. The greatest feat of Spike is a) that in his character journey you as a viewer come to not only understand him but care about him, and b) you root for his growth and his discovery of self and becoming a better person and trying to be deserving of second chances and love
- Grows as a person
He does. He's also given the opportunity to grow, both in the fact that the characters around him don't force him to change (and that allows us as the viewer to see it as self-determining and genuine) and the writing gives him the arc and motivations to.
- Helped to stop monsters countless times
Yes. But again, this is dependent on where in the series you're tuning into. At which point in his character arc? This is true regarding his motivations and willingness. He's also helped monsters, made deals with them, killed other vampires but for self gain, sent out assassins, gotten in bed with a mad scientist/torturer, etc.
- Genuinely grieved over Joyce when she died - Protected Dawn just because he made a promise
These are ones that I think are provided more to point to the way the Scoobies react to both Angel(us) and Spike and how absurd it is. But it's also ones that I find hard to judge in terms of pitting Spike and Angel(us) against each other because Joyce and Angel were famously not close even before Angelus joined the party, with good reason. Angel rings alarm bells for any mother regardless of the monster of it all. And Angel is literally never seen with Dawn, both as Angel and Angelus. What I think would be more interesting would be to compare William and Liam and their families post turning, but in true Buffyverse fashion we can't, really. Angelus post turning has only one true scene of him and his family and it is solely him and his abusive father. Everything else we know is second hand OR in a very incoherent episode that makes no sense in multiple ways and contradicts other things.
And while I don't think you have to watch Angel the series I do think when you're trying to argue about Angel specifically it helps to know his full story because otherwise you're comparing like two chapters of one character to the whole fully fledged (or almost complete, season 5 of Angel has more Spike stuff) book of another.
I also want to note, to back up that Angel and Spike's relationship is both complex and that their feelings deep down for each other is not the posturing hate they try to convey, that out of everyone Angel does not kill Spike. And he does not try to. Not once. He kills Darla. He is willing to kill Drusilla if he has to. But he does not try to kill Spike, and he even later takes a stake for him not knowing if it would kill him. He also never tries to get revenge OR even discuss with Spike the THREE times Spike has tried to murder him (in the last few years!!), and all of the pain and trauma that has caused him. Spike never acknowledges it, what he's done or what he's put Angel through. But for Angel, who can clearly hold grudges and be petty and would absolutely hold it against other people, he doesn't do that with Spike. It's not even really mentioned. Spike in season 5 of Angel finally seems to come to terms with the fact that what he's carrying around in regards to Angel is actually pain and hurt and anger, rather than hatred and dislike itself. By the end of the show he willingly goes to face the apocalypse at Angel's side and has been fighting as his right hand for a while now. He also chooses not to return to Buffy and rather stay with Angel.
Also I don't think the Buffyverse lore and timeline could find it's way out of a fully lit and constructed tent with the zipper already undone. The vampire stuff alone is enough to make me incredibly and unreasonably angry on the regular because it is so wildly inconsistent and poorly constructed and what were the writers even doing.
My point here, by the way, is not that Angel is better than Spike. Or that Spike is undeserving of being your fave. Or that Angel has no flaws/we should handwave away his flaws. My point is that they both have flaws, that their flaws and characters are interesting, that reducing them down to such one note characterisations greatly undermines them AND your points AND are uncharitable misconstructions. And I really don't think it's necessary. You can just like what you like.
I love Spike. I love Angel. I love Buffy. Can we just please actually analyse the work we're looking at.
