by Sam Devera

Created on: January 15, 2010

Joss Whedon’s television series “Angel” is better than his series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” because Angel has one continuous story arc while Buffy has separate story lines each season.  Buffy is a coming of age story about her growth as a person. Angel is a story about the inner turmoil of good and evil. When you look at both shows all the way through, Angel has a grace and order to it that Buffy doesn’t possess.

    
Angel is moved by five elements, and all five elements are what power the series and weave it all together. The five things that entwine to construct Angel’s story are: the Powers that Be, Wolfram & Hart, Angelus, Wesley, and Angel’s love interests.
    
Joss never explains the Powers that Be, or as abbreviated, the PTB. It is unknown whether the PTB refers to God, fate, angels, or a group of wizards. During the entire series you never know for what reason they do the things they do, but they give Cordelia the visions, they took Angelus out of hell, and they give Angel the purpose and mission to help people. The PTB lead the series and connect it. Without them Angel might never have taken the paths he did and the series would not fit together. The PTB is like intelligent design. Angel is making his own choices but the PTB just help lead him along in the direction that follows their plan.

Buffy also has the PTB yet doesn’t have a direct link to them and doesn‘t call it by that name. The PTB chose Buffy to be a slayer out of all of the other potential slayers. Buffy has no PTB, instead she has high school. The show is structured around the contrast between her normal life as a teenager, and the life she lives fighting evil. Angel is a vampire and his existence involves seeking repentance. Through the story line of the series he discovers he has friends and something to exist for. The absence of life is what makes Angel all Super Heroey and gives him the need to help the helpless.

The second force that weaves each season of Angel together is Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm. With Buffy you had your big bad enemies per season: the Master, the First, Spike, Angelus, Glory, Adam, the Mayor, Faith, Jonathan, Warren, Andrew, and Caleb. The villian is always set up in a single season and defeated or pacified before the next season starts. Wolfram & Hart is the evil that lasts through every season of Angel. Wolfram & Hart represent the evil of the

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