Inspired by this community, I've been rewatching S2 this weekend, and hey, did everyone else notice what a dick Angel is? I guess I've noticed this before? But it struck me all fresh and new while I was watching this time:
* In "Some Assembly Required" he infers that Buffy's a "kid" by calling Xander a kid, which just re-enforces the feeling that he's a skeevy old perv. Then when she comes into the library after gravedigging with the Scoobies and finds him there with Cordelia, they have this exchange:
Angel: I thought you were taking the night off.
Buffy: I was, but something came up.
Angel: Cordelia told me the truth.
Oh, because Buffy was lying to him?? Because she doesn't have a job where sometimes things "come up" and her plans change? Whatever, Angel.
* In "School Hard" he's no help at all, leaving before he can actually impart any information about Spike.
* In "Reptile Boy", he turns weirdly condescending when Buffy starts to suggest they might go on a date, saying "I knew this was going to happen" like she's suggesting something wildly inappropriate when he's the one who follows her around the graveyard every night.
* "Lie to Me" is obviously probably the most egregious example of dickishness, what with Angel manipulating Buffy into saying "I love you" before he tells her what he did to Drusilla.
* "What's My Line" has him again not telling Buffy something important that she needs to know when he recognizes the Order of Taraka ring and tells her to go into hiding instead of just letting her know that assassins are after her.
The great thing about S2 is that looking back on all that, it's possible to think that the writers were just giving us glimpses of Angel's true personality, the one that comes to the surface after "Surprise". None of this behavior is out-of-character for him. What's frustrating is how the first half of S2 gets romanticized by so many viewers into this B/A 4-eva! wonderland, as if they're the perfect star-crossed lovers, some kind of ideal that's only destroyed by the pesky curse. When I watch them, I see this really disturbing relationship, one that Buffy will inevitably grow out of as she becomes older and wiser.
The other thing I've noticed while watching this weekend is that I just adore Cordelia. She's as tactless and funny as I remembered, but also a little sweeter than I remembered. I get sad sometimes when she has a line like "I'm gonna need therapy 'til I'm 30!", because it reminds me that she won't live to see 30. Poor Cordy.
* In "Some Assembly Required" he infers that Buffy's a "kid" by calling Xander a kid, which just re-enforces the feeling that he's a skeevy old perv. Then when she comes into the library after gravedigging with the Scoobies and finds him there with Cordelia, they have this exchange:
Angel: I thought you were taking the night off.
Buffy: I was, but something came up.
Angel: Cordelia told me the truth.
Oh, because Buffy was lying to him?? Because she doesn't have a job where sometimes things "come up" and her plans change? Whatever, Angel.
* In "School Hard" he's no help at all, leaving before he can actually impart any information about Spike.
* In "Reptile Boy", he turns weirdly condescending when Buffy starts to suggest they might go on a date, saying "I knew this was going to happen" like she's suggesting something wildly inappropriate when he's the one who follows her around the graveyard every night.
* "Lie to Me" is obviously probably the most egregious example of dickishness, what with Angel manipulating Buffy into saying "I love you" before he tells her what he did to Drusilla.
* "What's My Line" has him again not telling Buffy something important that she needs to know when he recognizes the Order of Taraka ring and tells her to go into hiding instead of just letting her know that assassins are after her.
The great thing about S2 is that looking back on all that, it's possible to think that the writers were just giving us glimpses of Angel's true personality, the one that comes to the surface after "Surprise". None of this behavior is out-of-character for him. What's frustrating is how the first half of S2 gets romanticized by so many viewers into this B/A 4-eva! wonderland, as if they're the perfect star-crossed lovers, some kind of ideal that's only destroyed by the pesky curse. When I watch them, I see this really disturbing relationship, one that Buffy will inevitably grow out of as she becomes older and wiser.
The other thing I've noticed while watching this weekend is that I just adore Cordelia. She's as tactless and funny as I remembered, but also a little sweeter than I remembered. I get sad sometimes when she has a line like "I'm gonna need therapy 'til I'm 30!", because it reminds me that she won't live to see 30. Poor Cordy.