Angel: Leader by example?

[fridginators]

So in the wake of his untimely death, there has been a great deal of discussion as to the role of Angel, and if he was ever going to become a leader. While he obviously considered himself the righteous leader in the beginning of the show, that quickly dissipated as it was quickly realised that Michael was obviously much more suited to such a role, and nobody really respected Angel (see the conversations between him and Saul in Chapter 3). He evolved into a strong lieutenant, one who was a relatively good shot (at least better than Saul) and not afraid to head out on many of the missions, most of which were life-threatening: The Water Works, The Arena, saving the tower on the fire engine, honouring his promise with Pegs by returning Latch's body, recovering the MRE's with Kalani and killing the big one, The Hospital, and then leading a valiant defence of the Tower from Scratch, heroically saving both Riley, Hope and even honouring Kalani's last wishes by saving his journal, before tragically perishing as a result of his valiant and chivalrous deeds. And let us not forget that on his deathbed he still managed to defy Scratch.

Now, it is evident that Angel was not the leader Michael was. He possessed not the the charisma nor perhaps Michael's patience to actually serve as a figurehead: he would definitely lose in a Presidential election. However, there are several different kinds of leading. While Angel was never the commander-in-chief, he was definitely the Tower's pre-eminent soldier. Burt may be a better shot (or at least, in light of recent events, may have been), but he was also a lot less stable, and simply not the man who went out on all these near-suicidal missions. It is interesting to note that Burt's and Angel's fates were hinted at by their near death experience at the Hospital. Perhaps that was KC reflecting the often cruel and unfair nature of the world, or simply saying that everyone's luck runs out eventually.

Regardless, I believe it is clear that Angel was never meant to become leader in the vein of either Michael, Burt, CJ, Marcus or Durai. Ironically, this officer became the man on the front line, the first person to head into trouble, to defend the tower at any cost. Sadly, like Sean, such characters seem to meet unfortunate ends.

So instead of seeing Angel as a noble failure, or a loss of talent, we should view him as a tragic hero. In spite of his criminal family, his presumably troubled youth and transformation into a preppy, arrogant officer, he became a soldier par excellence, and died serving his people. He was one of my favourite characters, and while I mourn his death I am proud of the way he lived.

[yarri]

This is the best written piece I've read to date honoring Angel.

[riskbreaker23]

So in the wake of his untimely death, there has been a great deal of discussion as to the role of Angel, and if he was ever going to become a leader. While he obviously considered himself the righteous leader in the beginning of the show, that quickly dissipated as it was quickly realised that Michael was obviously much more suited to such a role, and nobody really respected Angel (see the conversations between him and Saul in Chapter 3). He evolved into a strong lieutenant, one who was a relatively good shot (at least better than Saul) and not afraid to head out on many of the missions, most of which were life-threatening: The Water Works, The Arena, saving the tower on the fire engine, honouring his promise with Pegs by returning Latch's body, recovering the MRE's with Kalani and killing the big one, The Hospital, and then leading a valiant defence of the Tower from Scratch, heroically saving both Riley, Hope and even honouring Kalani's last wishes by saving his journal, before tragically perishing as a result of his valiant and chivalrous deeds. And let us not forget that on his deathbed he still managed to defy Scratch.

Now, it is evident that Angel was not the leader Michael was. He possessed not the the charisma nor perhaps Michael's patience to actually serve as a figurehead: he would definitely lose in a Presidential election. However, there are several different kinds of leading. While Angel was never the commander-in-chief, he was definitely the Tower's pre-eminent soldier. Burt may be a better shot (or at least, in light of recent events, may have been), but he was also a lot less stable, and simply not the man who went out on all these near-suicidal missions. It is interesting to note that Burt's and Angel's fates were hinted at by their near death experience at the Hospital. Perhaps that was KC reflecting the often cruel and unfair nature of the world, or simply saying that everyone's luck runs out eventually.

Regardless, I believe it is clear that Angel was never meant to become leader in the vein of either Michael, Burt, CJ, Marcus or Durai. Ironically, this officer became the man on the front line, the first person to head into trouble, to defend the tower at any cost. Sadly, like Sean, such characters seem to meet unfortunate ends.

So instead of seeing Angel as a noble failure, or a loss of talent, we should view him as a tragic hero. In spite of his criminal family, his presumably troubled youth and transformation into a preppy, arrogant officer, he became a soldier par excellence, and died serving his people. He was one of my favourite characters, and while I mourn his death I am proud of the way he lived.

I'm an Angel fan but not in the same way Ra1th was/is. I never cared for leadership to be passed to Angel. For one thing, I didn't want the story focusing on who was in charge of the tower at the time. Michael only gave it up because he had to learn something, and the people following had to learn something. Angel was made an officer and was a candidate for leadership based on that. But I liked it most when him and Michael sort of acted like co-leaders of the tower. Angel actually thrived in this world without resorting to losing his humanity. One thing the walking dead centered on in season 2 was that it's every man for himself. People are drowing, you need to be the one dunking them below so you can float. The greatest thing about Angel is he never resorts to that type of thinking. Everyone can make it out if we stick together. Even in the end, he was pretty selfless.

What I never understood was Angel hate. Kelly, I get hating her (up until recently). Angel though, he was only a dick in the first chapter. By chapter 2 or 3 he gets better. By 6-12 he's one of the best members of the tower. One great angel moment that was relatively early was in chapter 8 or 9 I think, when they just left the water works. Riley and Datu are talking about how it's late and they should just head back. Angel tells them he'll go alone if he has to, but he's going to finish the mission. By that point, he was one of my favorite characters.

/sigh...

Sometimes I wish I could go back through the We're Alive chapters as if they were new again. I love this podcast!

[Osiris]

This is the best written piece I've read to date honoring Angel.

I have yet to eulogize him. It's in the works though.

[facebook.com/alexinks]

Yeah I think I grew to really like ANGEL and was missing his character,
he was the one out of the big three (mike, saul, angel) to have the most
obvious character arc as in how he was sort of a prissy upstart to a soldier
who didn't think only about himself. Although Saul might be my favorite character
closely tied with Burt of course. They are the more traditionally fun characters,
angel was a complicated one that people grew to appreciate.

[LiamKerrington]

Hi there,

this is hard to grab. I never became warm with Angel, although he did so many things in favor of the people of The Tower. I felt like it was OK that he was some sort of an antagonist within the group, spreading doubts, having his own mind, kind of behaving still in line of what Michael told him to do.
I felt very sad already when he tragically missed the helicopter and was buried alive in the collapsing tower. And somehow I was happy that he was found by the Mallers, because the first thing that crossed my mind was like: "He was found by the Mallers, he will be treated and tortured like there was no other hell available, but he will do it ...Yeah!"

And then this ...

Really; He deserves a special medal of honor posthumously, Facing death, facing the one person havin' given and his friends and him a really hard time, and even maybe realizing the tiny chance of survival by trading information he did not reveal anything ... The people of The Tower did not have any clue, what an honor it was to have him between them. And yes, that makes him a very tragic hero.

All the best!
Liam