I love it when spuffies try to downplay Buffy saying “I loved him more than I will ever love anything in this life.” As Buffy referring to having “loved” Angel, past tense. If that were true she would have followed it with “I loved him and I put a sword through his heart because I had to.” The End. That completes the past tense, feeling + action. BUT she didn’t. She followed it with “I loved him more than I will ever love anything in this life.” It’s literally past and present tense. Past, reflecting on what she felt when she was forced to kill him. Present, what she feels about him currently as the love of her life.
Do you know how insane that line is? If I were a hater (and failed English in school) I’d cling to “loved” too because Buffy literally confirms in a single scene that Angel is, and will always be, the love of her life. YEARS AFTER THEIR BREAKUP. After Riley. After Spike. It’s Angel. It’ll always be Angel.

