by Cathy Miller

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: March 27, 2011

Which series was better? Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel? Both Joss Whedon shows, a man who, in my opinion, can create and write circles around anyone in the entertainment world. Being a huge, huge fan of not only the shows but the actors as well, makes this a very difficult decision for me. Add to the fact that I feel very disloyal to Nick and Aly (Xander and Willow), my two very favorite characters, it makes it hard for me to cast my vote for Angel. But I have and these are the reasons why.

1) The main characters. While Buffy loved her friends and would listen to their suggestions, 99% of the time it was her way or no way. And even if her way was wrong, or Buffy hurt her friends' feelings to accomplish her goals, or she rushed into a situation headlong and got a friend hurt, somehow the writers made every thing work out so that the viewers would hopefully feel sympathetic towards Buffy instead of the injured party. Whereas on Angel, even though he was the leader, he listened to everyone's contributions. And when he made the huge mistake of firing his friends because they were his only ties to doing the right thing, it was Angel that was proven wrong. It was his friends we felt sorry for. It was Angel who had an epiphany. It was Angel who went to his friends and apologized for being such a jerk. It was Angel who put Wesley in charge so everyone would learn to trust him again, even knowing that he would have to take orders from a mere human. Not an easy thing for a vampire to do.

2) The supporting characters. The characters on Angel were allowed to mature and grow while staying true to character. Wesley, the bumbling ex-watcher, became a wise, hardened, yet compassionate man after going through more than one trial. But through all of this he still retained his lack of self-esteem due to the harsh upbringing of his father. Cordelia, the spoiled little cheerleader from Sunnydale who hated being involved with the Scoobies or the fight against demons, transitioned into a woman who accepted the visions given to her and fought tooth and nail for justice, while still showing glimpses of her "Queen C" attitude.

Gunn, the streetwise character we knew and loved did become a lawyer in Season 5, but he still admitted that he wanted to hit the streets and kill the bad guys and in the end, that's exactly what he did.

Fred, the shy, scared little girl from Texas who ended up in Pylea, became a fierce fighter who could hold her own, yet still let her brains lead her. Change

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