I think my point here is just that a lot of people seem to blame Angel, holding him accountable for not somehow instinctively knowing that Buffy needed his help and coming to the rescue to prevent her death. If Buffy didn't reach out to him, if the PTB didn't send another vision to let him know she needed help, then in my mind he's off the hook for not preventing her death.
I agree with you that their relationship is pretty distant at that point, and it's a serious fanwank to try to say they still love each other the way they did in S1-3. But I also don't think that Buffy's death is somehow Angel's failure just because he made the choice in IWRY to prevent her death.
OTOH, they're in touch enough for Angel to know about Joyce's death. So who knows?
Well, it's interesting to me that it's Willow who contacts Angel, both to let him know Buffy died and that she's alive again. (Okay, obviously Buffy's not going to let him know she's dead, but she could've let him know she was alive again.) So maybe Willow's also the one who told him about Joyce.
And I don't think I've ever thought about it before, but that is an interesting parallel between Buffy in S6 and Spike in AtS S5. Buffy comes back from the dead and doesn't contact Angel. He finds out through an intermediary and then reaches out to her. Likewise, Spike comes back from the dead and doesn't contact Buffy. He later assumes she found out through an intermediary (Andrew) and didn't bother to get in touch with him, except to pass on the "move on" message.
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I agree with you that their relationship is pretty distant at that point, and it's a serious fanwank to try to say they still love each other the way they did in S1-3. But I also don't think that Buffy's death is somehow Angel's failure just because he made the choice in IWRY to prevent her death.
OTOH, they're in touch enough for Angel to know about Joyce's death. So who knows?
Well, it's interesting to me that it's Willow who contacts Angel, both to let him know Buffy died and that she's alive again. (Okay, obviously Buffy's not going to let him know she's dead, but she could've let him know she was alive again.) So maybe Willow's also the one who told him about Joyce.
And I don't think I've ever thought about it before, but that is an interesting parallel between Buffy in S6 and Spike in AtS S5. Buffy comes back from the dead and doesn't contact Angel. He finds out through an intermediary and then reaches out to her. Likewise, Spike comes back from the dead and doesn't contact Buffy. He later assumes she found out through an intermediary (Andrew) and didn't bother to get in touch with him, except to pass on the "move on" message.