[Guest Post] Swoon-Worthy Sundays: Buffy & Angel

I’m thrilled today to have Kathy of A Glass of Wine stop by for a Swoon-Worthy Sundays guest post!

I’d say slight spoiler warning, but this show’s been off the air for a while now so consider yourself warned!

Interested in guest posting for a future Swoon-Worthy Sundays? Let me know!

Epic romances in entertainment, for me, are the ones that challenge, and change the characters. Buffy and Angel were all of this, plus they had a forbidden quality to them. The taboo aspect of a vampire falling in love with a slayer was just the first of many obstacles that this star-crossed pair would face.

This relationship evolved from a typical meet cute. Fans will fondly recall Buffy’s “I really didn’t like him” quip when discussing him with Giles. Their relationship was the primary focus of season two. My favourite of ANY of the Buffy seasons, and arguably one of the best. Romance is always heightened when it hurts, and Buffy and Angel are the King and Queen of angst. This season presented us with a villain that could not only physically hurt Buffy but emotionally slay her as well. After a moment of true happiness Angel lost his soul, and became his true vampire self – Angelus. Angel gone bad made for a twisted romance that was both compelling, and still strangely sexy. It left me aching for their romantic early days, while captivated by their cat and mouse game. Most of the epic moments people remember from the show are a result of this coupling. Everyone can recall Buffy kissing Angel one last time and telling him to close his eyes as she literally sent him to hell.

Photo Credit: Warner Brothers

My favourite Buffy and Angel moment is one that actually happened on the spin off Angel. The episode presented us with a delicious “what if”. A day where Buffy and Angel could be a couple without the worry of Angel’s soul. Sadly, this vision proved to be disastrous. The haunting ending where Angel tells Buffy that this beautiful day will not haunt her as he’s arranged to her forget is heartbreaking. Buffy’s tear streaked face while she repeats“I’ll never forget” over and over left me sobbing.

Even after Angel left he was still Buffy’s true love. There were other relationships for both along the way., but they always came back to each other. When Buffy’s mom dies, it’s Angel she wants to comfort her. This episode gave one my favourite exchanges between the two

Angel: “I can stay in town as long as you want me.”
Buffy: “How’s forever? Does forever work for you?”

To me this sums up their relationship perfectly. They will always want forever together. A couple that literally defied everything to try to make it work. A couple that could make me swoon even when they were fighting. Their romance still makes me feel all the emotions I had the first time watching it develop, no matter how many times I see it unfold.

I’ll end this post with some of my favourite Buffy and Angel quotes:

Angel: This isn’t some fairy tale. When I kiss you, you don’t wake up from a deep sleep and live happily ever after.
Buffy: No. When you kiss me I wanna die.