Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ I'll Remember You by Sophie Zelmani

Episode 7 of Season One - called "Angel" - revolves around the growing love between Buffy and Angelus and they have their first kiss! But then Angel turns into a Vamp and has to jump out the window. Truly a classic Beauty and the Beast moment.



Later Buffy thinks that Angel has bitten her mother, Joyce, when really he was saving her from the evil Darla, his sire, who has been helping The Master. This leads to a dilemma as Buffy vacilates between loving Angel and wanting to stake him. In the end, he explains that the Romany Gypsies have cursed him with a soul and while he wants to continue biting people and drinking their blood, he is so full of remorse that he never does.



The song "I'll remember you" by Sophie Zelmani, plays at the Bronze as Buffy and Angel say goodbye - but of course this is only the beginning of their long complicated relationship.

Sophie Zelmani Official Site

Priceless Quote about Darla the Vampire

via captainoftheteas.tumblr.com


From Buzzfeed: 27 Reasons Darla is the Best Vampire in the Buffyverse

Like, check this out. She was dying of syphilis, sired by the Master, staked by Angel, resurrected by Wolfram and Hart, turned again by Drusilla, and impregnated by Angel. Then she staked herself to save her son.
. . . And she did it all with perfect hair.

via accidentaltheme.tumblr.com

Spike or Angel? Who is more Heroic?

Here's an excerpt from a great essay comparing the characters of Spike (William the Bloody) and Angel (Angelus).

Spike Versus Angel by Eleanor Kuhns

Transformed to a vampire, (Spike) becomes part of Angel’s coven, and for the first time, he becomes part of something. He has his own little family and is too scary to be mocked. Recalling his experiences with Angel and Drusilla during the Russian Revolution, Spike tells Buffy that it was the best time of his life. His wistful regret for a happy time that has passed really resonated with me. He is never really happy again.

Angel, on the other hand, never worries about fitting in. Why should he? He is always the leader. As a vampire, he has a rep as the baddest of the bad, with no pity or remorse. But when he reforms, he reforms all the way, becoming, to my way of thinking, a little self-righteous. He strides through the episodes like Cotton Mather in a leather coat. Yet, when he loses his soul, he becomes über evil. There are no gray areas with Angel.



Spike is a mosaic of gray. He certainly never achieves Angel’s almost arrogant level of self-confidence. In fact Spike remains always insecure, a feeling he covers with a flippant swagger. He wants someone to love him, first Drusilla and then Buffy, but never succeeds in attaining the relationship he wants. He wants to fit in but he just can’t manage it. Not and stay who he is. He wants to be good but only sometimes and not yet. Totally understandable.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a multi-layered show with many strands that explain its popularity and its following even now. And Spike is certainly a big part of it. He is villain, hero, and antihero all at once. In the final episode, Angel expects to save the world by sacrificing his life. After all, he is the hero and the good vampire. But it is Spike, the very flawed character whose journey we have shared, who is chosen. And that feels right.

My own feeling is that Spike becomes a true hero - the "champion" at the end of the series - not just because he is more complex, but because he makes a conscious choice to "be a better man" and get back his soul. Angel, of course, has a soul at the beginning of the series, but only through the gypsy curse - he never sought it out. Both characters suffer terribly and struggle with right and wrong - with backsliding, and even murder - but I agree with the essayist that Whedon got it exactly right in the end ~ Spike's journey is more noble for it being more unlikely.