15 times we actively rooted against love
By Sundi Rose
Buffy and Angel — Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The might seem totally blasphemous to Buffy purists, but let’s face it, fans. These two should not have been together at all, much less drag us through a tortured and prolonged breakup. I think it’s a safe call to assume that if one half of the couple has an eternal soul at stake, maybe the best thing to do is to stay away from each other.
Yeah, yeah. Their love was a big, great love that moved mountains, changed the winds, turned the tides. I know what we’re supposed to believe about Angel and Buffy, but a lot of the time, we forget what we see.
Angel was incredibly withholding, and not just in the “’90s broody hunk” kind of way. He was downright cold to Buffy most of the time, and he justified it by claiming that he was protecting her. This is a pretty typical romantic archetype, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less sinister. Angel constantly presumed he knew better than she did.
As this all-knowing sage, he made decisions for her, instead of with her. This is probably the most ironic (and disturbing) part of their relationship because Buffy was literally The Chosen One. She saved Sunnydale, not to mention the world, countless times, yet wouldn’t hesitate to take orders from this vampire. He was a puffed up control freak, and being near Angel reduced Buffy into a doe-eyed ingenue that fell like she had to ask him “what are we going to do?”
This is so sad, because Buffy always knew what she had to do, without being told by her boyfriend.