|
|
![]() post Angel s1 Okay, so hardly a deep and meaningful question, but important nonetheless. We know Angel used money even back in the Buffy days. We saw him actually hand over cash for blood to a butcher in The Prom. He was always sharply dressed (albeit with a heavy emphasis on black and white) and he gave Buffy a variety of presents: a silver cross (Welcome To The Hellmouth), a leather jacket (Teacher's Pet), a claddagh ring (Surprise) and a book of poetry (Helpless). For one and a half seasons (until Angelus returned and he moved into the factory with Spike and Dru) he had an apartment which would have running costs associated with it (electricity, rent etc.). Later on he made the abandoned mansion in Crawford Street his home (after being unceremoniously dumped on the floor there after his ejection from Hell), which at least had an electricity supply to be paid for. In addition he always had books and various objets d'art in both of these homes. However, during all the time he was on Buffy we never saw him in paid employment. It is possible that he had an offscreen job but not likely. He was *always* available to help Buffy and the others out regardless of what time of the day or night it was (and of course a daytime job would be fraught with difficulties for him anyway). Both Buffy and Joyce paid unexpected visits to him during the daytime in Season 3 (Earshot and The Prom respectively) and he was at home. (I suppose it is possible he worked from home, but the most likely way of doing that would be using a computer and we never saw one). He was always seeing Buffy at the dead of night for slaying duty or to tell her about some wacky hijinks that the local vamp population had in store (see for example When She Was Bad). In Bad Eggs he specifically tells Buffy to go home to get some rest while he hunts the Gorch brothers "Not like I have an early day tomorrow". So where was he getting the money from? I cannot see the vampire with the tortured soul stealing off humans (okay so in Lovers Walk Buffy, Angel and Spike take what they need for the love spell from the New Age/Magic shop but that was an unusual situation and not the norm). While I would imagine he does not have the same qualms about taking money off those demons he kills, they probably do not carry a lot of cash on them - because they almost certainly do steal whatever they need. Besides which, vampires explode into dust, leaving nothing behind (though occasionally jewellery survives for plot device purposes see Never Kill A Boy On The First Date). His use of money is even more obvious with the move to Los Angeles. In City Of we join him some months after he left Sunnydale. He is driving a big, shiny, black car, has rented/bought a split level apartment and is acting as a kind of unpaid vigilante for the weak and the helpless. At Doyle's instigation, he sets up 'Angel Investigations' and the office is supplied with computers, phones, presumably a photocopier, a selection of medieval weaponry and various demonology texts - not cheap. He pays Cordelia (and possibly Doyle) a salary and happily signs checks (cheques for us Brits) so Cordelia can go and get magical artefacts they need (I've Got You Under My Skin). He also signs the checks Cordelia puts in front of him so she can take paid leave while Faith is around (Sanctuary). However, Cordelia has to bully him into charging clients (I Fall To Pieces). Even assuming that they manage to get enough fee-paying clients (and that is by no means a given - much of what they do appears to be pro bono), where did the money come from *before* Angel started charging? In the article Can Vampires Marry Legally? Vox has suggested that Angel may have a legal personality. I can't imagine how he could function without one once he became a 'soldier of light'. I imagine that banks and landlords in the US are the same as in the UK and require some sort of official ID before they will allow anyone to open a checking account or rent property. So how was this achieved? The most likely explanation is that Whistler, as an agent of TPTB (see Becoming I/II) set up a legal personality for him. Another possible explanation is that Angel pulled a Highlander and just kept assuming the identities of dead people. However, given that he appears to have given up and appeared close to death himself when Whistler found him in Manhattan, this seems doubtful. Whistler *probably* arranged a source of money for Angel as well. We can only speculate as to what this may be but I have for example, read suggestions on the web (sorry I can't remember where) that Angel is secretly the owner of the Bronze. This would make a sort of sense and would provide him with a regular income without him having to have too-high a profile. (It would also explain how come Buffy and co manage to break in and cause damage on a semi-regular basis without there being any comeback - that we know of). Alternatively, Angel is accessing a wodge of cash that Angelus amassed in his bad old days. Once his soul was restored, Angel would probably not want anything to do with it. However Whistler could well rationalise to him that once Angel stopped being a "useless rodent and became someone", it would be better for him to use it than just leave it to gather interest somewhere. The victims he took it off, and their immediate families, would be beyond caring and the only benefit gained would be by whichever bank it was in. Personally, I think this the less likely of the two possibilities.
Your opinion Or you can
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series are the property of the WB Network or perhaps Fox, maybe both. I'll leave them to work it out and contact me with the result. This web site, its operators and any content on this site relating to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not authorized by Fox. No copyright infringement intended. This site is for entertainment purposes only and does not profit in any way.
The picture was taken from The Slayer Show and is © the WB.
The Above the Law banner is an altered form of a screen-cap taken from the The Slayer Show, the original screen-cap is © the WB.
|