Angel saved Lindsey from the Hell of Being Happily Married

You have a novel definition of "happily married".

Hence the Hell. But the family life was all seemingly schmoopy and upbeat - the torment came from the big demony guy in the basement. Mrs. McDonald didn't crack out the tommygun until they grabbed the necklace.

Personally I think it would have been more entertaining to have Lindsey regain his memories and then plead with them to take him away from the horror of endless sunny picnics and PTA meetings.

I can't choose! I think my heart will always be with Buffy, but S5 of Angel was, for me, so spectacular that it will be hard to ever say it wasn't as good as Buffy.

I DID feel that Faith was as much a part of ANGEL as she was a part of BUFFY

By the end, I felt more like Faith was an Angel character. She did more on Buffy, but I feel the real revelations into her character all happened in L.A. I knew more about her after one ep of Angel that I did after a whole season on Buffy.

Yeah, talking about it makes me miss it all again.

I saw it as being like "The Zeppo" -- the narrator(s) are unrelliable, so the characterization is tilted.

This would be my primary rationalization, which would completely take care of the Buffy objectification (and Andrew's repudiation thereof). As for ita's objection, I just thought the flashbacks were from one of the narrator's unreliable points of view. Clarifying whether it was one or the other, I do admit, would have helped immensely. Because I can totally see Spike as remembering Angelus the way he acted in that episode. Since it was from him that we got the lovely "Ciao!" moment, I'll go with it. But, admitedly, show not called SPIKE.

Oh, and if it's best ME show overall? I have to go with FIREFLY.

But it's not fair given it barely got a tenth of the airtime that ANGEL did. I certainly think it was the strongest ME show out of the box. Whether that would have lasted is a question we'll never know the answer to (unless the movie is HUGE).

I certainly think it was the strongest ME show out of the box.

It definitely has the highest batting average of any ME show. But that seems (in part) because they felt the axe hovering and tried to shove all their best stories in as quickly as they could.

Eh. I'd say the Surprise-to-Becoming arc and the AYNOHYEB-to-Reunion arc were better, but if we compare seasons or show runs as a whole you may be right. Every full season of Buffy and Angel had a handful of clunkers, but Firefly only had time for "The Train Job" and "Safe" to air.

It definitely has the highest batting average of any ME show. But that seems (in part) because they felt the axe hovering and tried to shove all their best stories in as quickly as they could.

Considering the unfilmed ep I read the script of (it was pretty readily available), I'd say some of the ones they decided against were still pretty friggin' good.

but Firefly only had time for "The Train Job" and "Safe" to air

Hmm. I'll make LARGE allowances for "The Rush Job", and rather liked "Safe" quite a bit.

Admittedly the quality lapse is understandable. But I'm talking about what made it to the screen, not why.