Angel V Buffy

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Angel Vs. Buffy Contrast Essay

Four years ago, “Angel” was spun off from the television series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. Both feature a small band of people trying to save the world, but the characters in “Angel” always seem to be more conflicted in their emotions and choices, allowing it to delve deeper into philosophical issues presented in the show than its predecessor. The characters and plots are very detailed, giving them more nuance and feeling than any other show on television. This allows “Angel” to achieve an intellectual and emotional depth that “Buffy” strives for but just can’t reach.

While no character on either show is completely good or evil, on “Angel” the entire cast takes this duality to a new level. It doesn’t matter whether the characters are nominally heroes or villains; they’re people first and, therefore, fundamentally unpredictable. When someone surprises us, it’s never because they acted in a manner that is out of character for them, but that their character is complex enough to keep us guessing. “Buffy” follows a formula which each hero has an obstacle that they have to work through and overcome in while trying to defeat the big villain of the season. This villain is clearly evil and invariably slain in the very last episode of the season. “Angel” isn’t limited to this.

For example, in a plot arc spanning half of season three and most of season four on “Angel”, a villain named Jasmine was intent on bringing peace to the world by having everyone worship her as a goddess. The problem was that people were losing their sense of self in throwing themselves into her cult. They literally submerged their will under hers, allowing her to see through their eyes and direct their actions. On top of that, Jasmine also ate about a dozen people a day. On the other hand, she did end hunger and war in the world, before she herself was defeated and everyone was plunged abruptly into confusion, for better or for worse. Perhaps it sounds cheesy, but it makes for great debate, and even greater television, because the creators behind “Angel” did it right, allowing the outcome enough moral ambiguity to make the victory something of a loss as well.

Contrast this with the villain from season three of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, arguably the best season of the series and filled with more than its share of heart-wrenching moments drenched in good drama. Mayor Wilkins’ hunger for power drove him to consort with demons and dark magic to extend his life and rule the town. His final plan was to metamorphose into a giant demonic snake, gaining immortality and brute strength. Did he still have some humanity left in him? Some would argue that his father/daughter relationship with Faith left him with a healthy dose of human kindness. But in the end, all he wanted to do was eat people and control them through fear. When he was killed, there wasn’t the same sort of uncertainty and second thoughts that came with ridding the world of Jasmine.

An important supporting character on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is Willow. At the end of season six, her lover was casually murdered and she took it hard. A powerful witch, she turned to the dark side of her craft to gain the power she needed to revenge herself. Executing the murderer didn’t stop the pain, so she decided to kill herself and take the world with her. This was a horrible act, but it was born of emotional upheaval, of rage and despair. In legal terms, she acted under diminished capacity, not with premeditation or malice. She didn’t really want to harm anyone, just end her suffering, which is why she allowed herself to be talked down from killing everyone by her closest friend and then set about straightening herself out so that she wouldn’t be a threat to anyone else.

Fred, a character on “Angel”, was marooned in a hell dimension, Pylea, for five years, initially enslaved by demons until she escaped only to live as a deranged hermit in the mountains. This horrible experience scarred her for life and left her a wreck even after she was rescued. Two years later, she had become a valued member of Angel’s heroic team and largely returned to normalcy. However, when she found out that her physics professor had been the one who sent her to Pylea, she deliberately and methodically planned out his murder. Her boyfriend, Gunn, urged her to take down the professor without excessive force but she calmly continued with her original plan and even allowed the boyfriend to commit the actual murder himself, thus entangling an otherwise innocent man in her scheme. Her actions were premeditated, and she had no remorse. For these reasons, despite all the good she’s done on other occasions, Fred’s character is more deeply rooted in evil than Willow’s, though both are mixed. She is more complex and ambiguous, and therefore more interesting.

At the heart of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” lies Buffy Summers. Buffy was chosen by ancient mystical powers to be the one woman in all the world who has the super-human strength to fight vampires and various other demons. At first, she seems like a character with a lot of conflict going on inside, since she never wanted this heroic life and was quite content as an air-headed cheerleader. On the other hand, she is deeply motivated by a sense of duty that almost always overrides her other inclinations. While she has occasionally gone against the wishes of the people sent to watch over Slayers such as herself, her motive was still to do her duty by saving the world. Is there evil inside of her? Not really. Does she make choices? Sure, but they always have to fall within her duty as the Slayer. After seven years on the show, fans are left with the distinct impression that she would not choose to be the way that she is, but can’t think of a way out of it.

In the final episode, she as much as admits this, saying, “I hate this. I hate being here. […] I hate that there's evil, and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish, a whole lot of the time, that I hadn't been. […] But this isn't about wishes.” Buffy is stoic and dutiful, but not committed to doing good for reasons that are personal to her. One can easily imagine her just as dutifully batting for the other team.

Duty is an interesting thing because it’s such a compelling force. We are born with expectations. These come from our parents, teachers, friends, employers, clergy, and anyone else who has a claim on us. The expectations that we accept as valid –and some people are quite accepting – become our duty. In a way, for Buffy, being chosen as the Slayer and raised by a Watcher, from the Council that trains them, is the religion she was born into. She’s never had the strength or wisdom to question it. In this sense, Buffy will always be a slave to duty.

Angel, on the other hand, is a willing servant of redemption. For over a hundred years, he wandered the Earth as a vampire with a voracious appetite for blood and torture. After all that time, he was cursed with a soul, which gave him a conscience so he could feel remorse for the havoc he had wreaked upon his victims. Angel didn’t know how to deal with this new-found sense of guilt. No matter what he did, he always seemed to feel bad about his actions and himself. Finally, he hit rock bottom until he found a way to massage the guilt that wouldn’t leave his soul. He chose to dedicate his life to helping people who couldn’t help themselves.

Explaining his choice to his son, Angel says, “Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh and cruel. That's why there's us, champions. Doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done, suffered, or even if we make a difference; we live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be.”

While there is a definitive, almost masochistic, selflessness to Buffy’s actions, at first glance Angel’s actions have a selfish vein to them, in that he seeks redemption for his own sins. But it’s not quite that simple. Angel had to go through several life-changing experiences to become the hero he is today and the old him is by no means gone. Underneath the surface lurks the same evil vampire trying desperately to get out. Every day, he chooses to keep that part of himself in check, even though it would easier to free the beast. In his way, Angel, found a new religion that saves and redeems him through his choices, not through his duty.

Both “Angel” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” are quality television shows that are worth watching. Both are quite capable of making you think long and hard about moral issues. But “Angel” has refined its sense of characterization and plot to the point that it is a level above its predecessor.

by Amanda Evans

Date: 08/06/03