I agree they're trying to distinuguish the two characters, but so far I've seen it as being a duality of surface and substance.
Spike is rude, crude, and occasionally lewd, but faced with a moral choice, Spike has unvaryingly done the right thing this season, from the big stuff like refusing to betray Angel or Fred to save his own skin, to the little stuff like being nice (or as nice as Spike gets) to Harmony once he actually gets it through his thick skull that he's hurt her--and he doesn't even like Harmony.
Angel is polite and cultured and respectful, but he's running an evil law firm and wracked by doubt and apathy. Angel has done many morally questionable things this season, killing humans, arranging for the eternal torture of an enemy, etc. And he has not, on the whole, done them in the pursuit of a greater good, as Wes and Gunn are doing' Angel does them because hurting an enemy makes him feel better for a moment.
Angel's dreams in 5.10 reveal, I think, that he knows darn well that whatever he may accuse Spike of, Spike is NOT just out for himself, and hasn't been for quite some time. Angel wants a destiny. Spike wants a purpose.
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Date: 2004-01-23 01:37 am (UTC)Spike is rude, crude, and occasionally lewd, but faced with a moral choice, Spike has unvaryingly done the right thing this season, from the big stuff like refusing to betray Angel or Fred to save his own skin, to the little stuff like being nice (or as nice as Spike gets) to Harmony once he actually gets it through his thick skull that he's hurt her--and he doesn't even like Harmony.
Angel is polite and cultured and respectful, but he's running an evil law firm and wracked by doubt and apathy. Angel has done many morally questionable things this season, killing humans, arranging for the eternal torture of an enemy, etc. And he has not, on the whole, done them in the pursuit of a greater good, as Wes and Gunn are doing' Angel does them because hurting an enemy makes him feel better for a moment.
Angel's dreams in 5.10 reveal, I think, that he knows darn well that whatever he may accuse Spike of, Spike is NOT just out for himself, and hasn't been for quite some time. Angel wants a destiny. Spike wants a purpose.