Best TV Couple #3: Buffy Summers & Angel

Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz) were ultimate forbidden love

When Buffy Summers was warned about The Harvest by a wisecracking cryptic man, who knew that it would ignite the pinnacle of star crossed romances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Throughout season one campiness, tension rose between The Chosen One and the man who turned out to be a sworn enemy-- a vampire with a soul cursed by a gypsy clan. For the first few episodes, he was always stopping by at The Bronze (the only popular nightclub for teens) to let her know danger lurked. Though, he could have taken things under control, he seemed to believe her capable of anything despite her "spryness."

Blond haired, stylish Buffy wanted to be a normal sixteen-year-old girl. The vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness stood in the way. Buffy also decides that she doesn't want to hang with Cordelia's crew (a reflection of her old vain shallowness aka Spordelia). Instead, Buffy chooses to be among the misfits-- Xander and intelligent, computer nerd, Wiccan-in-training, Willow. Giles, her new Watcher, is also Sunnydale High School's librarian. He also had that teenage rebellion for destiny in common with Buffy-- the reluctant vampire slayer-- as he didn't want to be a Watcher(disclosed in season two's "The Dark Ages").

Buffy's tall, dark, and attractive stranger gave her his name and a silver cross in episode one's "The Harvest." He is impressed that she defeats the Hellmouth danger. In episode four's "Teacher's Pet," he tells her to keep his borrowed jacket. In episode five's "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," Buffy makes Angel jealous with Emily Dickinson loving Owen. Buffy then realizes that she needs a man that could accept her spooky nightlife without being in peril.

"You're in danger, Girl."

In episode seven's "Angel," the mystery of Buffy's nighttime friend is a surprising reveal. They first have a wild night with Angel saving her from The Three (three giant vampires sent by The Master), running to her place for cover, Buffy bandaging up his wound, and Angel meeting Joyce, Buffy's mother. He then spends the remainder of the night in Buffy's room, lying on the floor next to Buffy's bed-- the ideal gentleman. When she returns home from school and believes that he read her journal, carelessly revealing her infatuation with him, he confesses his own agonizing desires. The kiss turns into a heavy makeout session. As it deepens, Angel vamps out and Buffy screams. Buffy tells Giles and company of Angel's vampire status and read all about Angelus. Of course, Xander is gleeful that Buffy has to kill him. Darla wants Angel back into the fold (despite his soul?) and sabotages Buffy's trust in him. Buffy throws Angel out of her house (with great pitching strength). She plots to kill the one with an angelic face, ready to use the crossbow. Angel and Buffy battle it out and then come to a stunning conclusion-- Buffy is willing to have Angel feed on her (he will in the future). Before he can speak, Darla interrupts their charged moment, guns blazing. Buffy learns that Darla bit her mother and that Darla was the one who made Angel. He plummets a stake into his sire's heart, shares a look with Buffy, and walks away. Later, at the Bronze, they mutually decide to not become anything. Still, they share a hot goodbye kiss. Buffy leaves first. Angel watches her retreating form, the silver cross (that he had given her) having left a scorched mark on his collarbone.

Angel saves Buffy's friends without her knowledge in episode eleven's "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" and that begins his honorary addition to the Scooby gang. He was originally helping Giles retrieve a rare codex that contains the prophecy about Buffy and The Master. Buffy is happy to see Angel in "Prophecy Girl," but is crushed to learn that she will die at The Master's hand. She rips off his necklace and rushes out of the library, terrified of dying young. Eventually, she has a change of heart, knocking Giles out in the process, donning her necklace, and allowing The Anointed One, a child, to lead her down to Fruit Punch Mouth. She dies for a few minutes. Xander is able to revive her with Angel looking on. Buffy defeats The Master, the Hellmouth closes, and they all party. Angel is the last person to compliment Buffy on her gorgeous dress.

Angel tries to keep Buffy at a distance, but the heart wants what it wants-- unbeating or not.

With a few misfires, Buffy and Angel's forbidden relationship takes off in the second season. In episode one's "When She Was Bad," Buffy returns from Los Angeles in a sunken place, mean to everyone. Angel visits her bedroom and is struck by her callous behavior, but admits that he missed her. Later, she falls apart in Angel's arms. Buffy and Angel argue in "Some Assembly Required," but they mend fences and she walks him home. In episode five's "Reptile Boy," Angel is hesitant to pursue more than fighting demons side by side. Buffy takes her hurt out on a joined date with Cordelia to a shady fraternity house. There, she dances with a college boy and drinks alcohol for the first time. Angel and the Scooby gang save the day and Angel asks Buffy out on a date. The next episode, "Halloween," Buffy doesn't feel adequate compared to Cordelia or other women of Angel's past. She and Willow take a peek at The Watcher Diaries. Buffy finds a pink period dress at a new costume shop, but once the Janus statue turns everyone into their respective costumes, Buffy is a clingy, damsel in distress. In "Lie To Me," Angel tells Buffy about how he tortured Drusilla before turning her into a vampire. This honesty is a reminder to Buffy that Angel's past is stained with not only countless death and destruction, but Angelus's special form of torment to his victims. Great foreshadowing as well.

In episode nine's "What's My Line: Part 1," Angel plans a date with Buffy at the skating rink that's closed on Tuesdays. For a while, Buffy is skating around the rink, free of duty. An Order of Taraka assassin suddenly battles her on the ice. Angel joins the fray. Buffy manages to kill the warrior with the sliver blade of her skate. Angel then realizes that she is in grave danger. Buffy sees that Angel is hurt. He is ashamed that she touches him in his game face visage. She kisses him-- fangs and all. With the combination of Angel's fear and Giles' anxiety, Buffy comes to Angel's apartment (he's not available) and sleeps metaphorically wrapped in the ghost of his presence. This illustrates that Angel represented safety and comfort to Buffy.

In "What's My Line" Part II, Angel is kidnapped by Spike in order to heal a sick Drusilla and Buffy is introduced to Kendra the Vampire Slayer-- called after Buffy died for a second.  Together, the girls save Angel from Spike and Drusilla and the Order of Taraka assassins are no longer a threat.

Buffy and Angel profess their love for each other. But the consequences are severe.

"Surprise" begins Buffy's birthday disasters. Buffy has a trip hoppy dream that Drusilla kills Angel. She comes to his apartment before classes and informs him. Things get hot and heavy between them-- lots of kisses and touches and heavy breathing. They cannot break away enough for air. Desire is strong and boiling hotly. Jenny Calendar, Giles' on/off high school computer tech girlfriend, drives Buffy to her surprise party. They get caught up with sneaky vampire henchmen. Buffy crashes through the location and stakes a vampire. Her friends watch stunned. She has managed to retrieve a giant box. When she opens it, a hand reaches out and chokes her. Angel is able to pull the arm back inside the box. They learn that it is a part of The Judge-- a bringer of Armageddon. Jenny volunteers Angel to take it far away from Sunnydale. He agrees. Buffy is morose at the thought of him leaving her on her birthday. To travel by ship is his only option, for airplane offers no guaranteed protection against the sunlight.

At the docks, Buffy and Angel are saying goodbye. He gives her a Claddagh ring-- an Irish symbol of love, loyalty and friendship.

"Wear it with your heart facing toward you. It means you belong to someone." 

They are ambushed. Angel has to choose between chasing the vampires with the stolen arm or diving into the murky waters to retrieve Buffy. He chooses the latter. The two sneak into Spike and Dru's warehouse and are shocked to see that The Judge has been assembled. Spike and the crew order to have them executed. Buffy manages to kick the big blue monster. She and Angel flee into the sewers and back into his apartment. She sits on his bed, cold and shivering. He offers her a change of clothes. When she hisses, he sits beside her and inspects the wound. These two valiant heroes are completely vulnerable, having almost lost each other several times in a course of one day. It makes perfect sense that they bare their hearts and souls, taking the leap into the euphoric pleasures of love-- or in Angel's delicate case, a moment of true happiness. In that moment of true happiness, he learns love, tenderness, and worth, temporarily forgetting that he is burdened with a pricy cursed. In the end, Angel cannot have an afterglow with Buffy. He loses his soul instead.

Episode fourteen's "Innocence" is considered a magnificent triumph despite Buffy's tremulous early entry into adulthood. Buffy discovers Angel is Angelus in a most damaging emotional/mental scene. The man she had trusted and relied on, now gone, Buffy's world is rocked asunder and will never be the same again. The Scooby gang find out Jenny Calendar is a descendent of the tribe that cursed Angel. Her lack of disclosing the truth will ultimately cause her death.

"Close your eyes."

For the remainder of second season, The Big Bad is Angelus. Buffy struggles with attending high school and keeping her friends safe from his wrath. At the same time, he is psychologically testing her, playing on her love for his human side to drive her as insane as Drusilla. In complex and devastating "Passion," episode nineteen, Angelus puts a twisted plan in motion, starting off by planting drawings of Buffy in her bedroom and leaving dead animals to Willow. When he gets wind of Jenny finding the Orb of Thesulah, he kills her after a most vicious cat and mouse game. To further complicate matters, he arranges Giles' house to romantic proportions and leaves Jenny's dead body for Giles to find. She's lying down, void and vacant on his bed. An enraged Giles goes after Angelus and Buffy saves him, but she cannot kill Angelus. The gang revokes his invitation into their homes and cars.

The two part season finale, "Becoming," entails Angel's beginning. He was Liam-- an Irish lay about with nothing to offer the world. No dreams. No ambition. Until he meets Darla. He is changed into a vampire and feeds on anything in sight. In the present, Angelus has set up a trap for Buffy in order for his goons to kidnap her friends. He wants to open Acathla, a demonic portal that swallows the world into hell. After losing Kendra, being expelled from Sunnydale High School, and kicked out of her mother's house, Buffy and Xander go to Crawford Mansion to rescue Giles. Xander, knowing that Willow is attempting to restore Angel's soul, doesn't tell Buffy. Thus, Buffy and Angelus have an epic one on one swordfight. Buffy loses her sword. Just as Angelus is set to slay her, she majestically cups the blade and resumes the fight. Suddenly, right about to best him, Angel is back. First confused, then overjoyed, Buffy is gracious to see him. Her birthday is the last thing he remembers. As they reunite, Acathla opens and Buffy has to make a heartbreaking sacrifice.

Angel shows up for Buffy's prom to give her a special night.

Season three, Buffy has dreams and nightmares about Angel. By episode three, she tries to close the chapter, laying her Claddagh ring on the ground of Crawford Mansion. She leaves. He returns stark naked, her Claddagh ring likely trapped below in his place. In "Beauty and the Beasts," Buffy is astonished that he is alive and quite untamed. She chains him up in the mansion and visits him in between classes. He doesn't recognize her. Yet at the end, he saves her life and finally utters her name. While he troubly sleeps on the mansion floor, she watches over him, narrating a passage of Jack London's "Call of the Wild."

Buffy and Angel resume a relationship that struggles at the seams. Despite many breaks, they have solid moments. In episode seven's "Revelations," Buffy and Angel are practicing tai chi together and later kiss passionately. Xander's disgust ruins the rest of the episode. In episode eight's "Lover's Walk," they end things. Yet in episode ten's "Amends (aka "A Buffy Christmas")," Angel is tormented by The First Evil. They want him to kill Buffy and manipulate his and Buffy's shared dreams as gratifying temptation. On the cliff, Angel vows to wait for sunrise and Buffy pleads with him to stay and fight. Their conversation is raw and necessary, a spilling of hurt, anguish, and love. Angel is rescued by supernatural snowfall. "Helpless," episode twelve, begins a gloomy Buffy birthday. The episode begins with Angel and Buffy's training session, Buffy besting Angel with a humorously strategic French loaf. They can't even talk about "satisfaction" without extreme awkwardness. As Buffy is slowly losing her strength (thanks to The Watchers Council having Giles inject a hormone, a Slayer's 18th birthday tradition), she shares her fears. He gifts her a wispy wrapped book of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnets From the Portuguese" and admits that he watched her Slayer calling. He believes that her heart is the largest resource of her strength. They hug. Then, she sadly loses her poetry book whilst being chased down by a mentally ill vampire.  It is the second consecutive Angel birthday gift that Buffy loses. In episode seventeen's "Enemies," Buffy and Angel see a sensuous foreign film and kiss outside on the street. The nice PDA is interrupted by Faith-- the rogue slayer turned to the dark side, having not come to real terms with killing a man in earlier episode fourteen and fifteen's "Bad Girls" and "Consequences." Buffy cannot deal with Angel feigning pretend evil and tries to use her insecurity in episode eighteen's "Earshot"-- when she kills a demon and inherits its powers to read minds. Yet like a mirror, Angel has no reflection-- no thoughts. Still, he only loves Buffy. He kills the demon, races to Buffy's house in the morning, wrapped under a blanket, and feeds her the antidote.

Episode twenty's "The Prom" breaks the heart. Through dreams of Buffy in a Vera Wang wedding gown and his impeccable Hugo Boss suit bursting into flames and a visit from Joyce Summers, Angel decides to dump Buffy in the sewer. He wants her to be able to have children, dally in the sunlight, be loved without reservations. Although they rarely discussed the clause, much less finding an antidote, Angel likely also believes that "true happiness" no longer extends to sexual experience, but that anything could trigger a soulless return. Remembering what he did as Angelus to Buffy, Angel doesn't want that repeated. Buffy is crushed though, breaking down in Willow's arms, broken beyond belief. However, she doesn't let a break up deter her from saving her fellow classmates from demon dogs. She is rewarded a new honor-- Class Protector. Angel enters and dances with her to The Sundays' "Wild Horses," giving her that one perfect night.

On "Graduation Day Part I," Angel is struck with a poisoned arrow. The cure is to drain the blood of a Slayer. Buffy makes no hesitation about delivering Faith to Angel. In their great big showdown, Buffy and Faith fight-- evenly matched. Buffy plunges Faith's own dagger into Faith's stomach, but Faith manages to escape. In the second part, Buffy forces Angel to drink her. The scene is so erotic, Angel likely had another "moment of happiness" right then and there. Buffy manages to have enough strength to hit Angel on the head. Angel's bite would be the only scar that doesn't heal on Buffy.

After they defeat the mayor snake, Angel shares one look at Buffy through the smoky abyss and leaves to save lost souls in Los Angeles-- the very place he first met her.

After Buffy and Angel have tea and crackers, they also enjoy each other on the kitchen table as well.

Angel secretly comes to Buffy and her team's aide in season four's crossover event, "Pangs."
However, Angel's episode, "I Will Remember You," closes the real chapter on Buffy and Angel's relationship. Sure, Buffy will never know the truth. Angel carries the burden of spending a whole day as a human being. From their encounter in Angel's office to the sewer talk to the scorching symbolic kiss on the pier in the sunlight to the full blown intimacy in Angel's apartment (so similar to the old one), Buffy and Angel were enjoying the base part of Angel's human status after the Mohra demon's blood mixed with his. However, the Mohra demon hadn't died. Angel thinks he could take him on, but he can't as a flesh and blood mortal. Buffy saves his life. Angel goes behind her back to talk to The Powers That Be, offering to exchange the only single drop of happiness he has ever known in order for Buffy to live. When he tells Buffy, she is completely heartbroken. They kiss and cry together as time quickly runs out. Sadly enough, Buffy's outfit (the white shirt and grey pants) is the same one she wears in "The Gift." The Powers That Be referenced the foretelling of her death.

Buffy makes her final appearance on Angel's "Sanctuary"-- a very uncomfortable episode. Angel returns to Sunnydale in season four's "The Yoko Factor" (to apologize), season five's "Forever" (he comes to pay his respects to Joyce and shares affectionate words and kisses with Buffy), and season seven's series finale, "Chosen" (they fight side by side for the last time and kiss).

With their strong, magnetic force of a love story, Buffy and Angel went through hell and back to become a couple. Time was not on the side of an unorthodox pairing of a vampire slayer and a vampire with a soul. They spent nights staking vampires and other demons, holding hands, kissing, staring into each other's souls, training, and other romantic activities, the hourglass always filtering down its sand for them.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz were insatiably good together. They played two flawed heroes, fighting on the side of good whilst desperately holding onto the throes of an utterly poetic first love. When they came together, it was a splendid rush of longing, affection, and tenderness. Gellar and Boreanaz had the incredible depth to demonstrate why Buffy and Angel needed each other and why they had to be kept apart. Buffy and Angel's tragic tale of woe wouldn't have been possible if not for the chemistry between these two phenomenal actors.