Could Brian and Angela ever hit it off as a couple?

[majesty]

I definitely think they would have made a great couple!

Keep in mind, I feel that their relationship wouldn't have fully blossomed for several episodes. But I think the beginning stages of a great teenage romance (or, who knows, a marriage!) were set in the final episode.

How are Angela and Brian like brother and sister? I don't think so. They are friends, but they aren't that close, like best friends. They argue a lot, but they also share their feelings with one another, and Angela relies on him quite a bit.

I think many of the people who say they couldn't have hit it off are thinking about the way they interacted throughout most of the series. It's hard to imagine them as they were then as a couple. But Angela didn't know about his secret admiration for her, the reasoning behind all of his sacrifices, or the fact that he was capable of creating something passionate which could stir up so many emotions for her. The letter changed all of that. All of the sudden, he wasn't the same old annoying neighbor-friend she'd grown up with. He had a whole side to him previously unknown to her, a side that was dedicated to her and a side which, as he put it, placed making her happy at the forefront of its existence.

I simply cannot imagine Angela not being moved by this and acting towards him the same way she had been throughout the series. She nearly cried at the end of the last episode, for goodness' sake. I would have loved to see them taking long walks at night like they did in the first episode, only this time, with the knowledge of how he really feels about her. There'd be sweetness and tenderness (glimpses of which we'd seen even before she knew about his feelings, like in "Strangers in the House" when she says Brian has ways about him) that would make for a good relationship. And the passion of that letter certainly indicates he could stir up some sexual longing in Angela.

[411314]

Given the slightly hurt look on her face when she sees Brian and Delia in the science lab, it seems like subconciously, she feels at least some infatuation with him. I definitely got the impression that she was moved by the letter, felt very sorry for Brian after that, and may never think of him the same way again (that doesn't necessarily mean she'll think of him romantically, but at least she'll probably think of him much more kindly in the future). It's pretty clear she'd never dump Jordan for Brian, but I don't see why she and Brian couldn't at least try a romance after she breaks up with Jordan for some other reason (she apparently would have broken up with Jordan in any case, since Winnie Holzman has referred to Angella and Jordan's romance as "doomed"). As to weather such an attempt would be sucessful, I don't know.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, I'm not sure why earlier posters on this thread have said that Brian and Angella are friends or like siblings. From the way she usually talks to him ("get out of here Krakow", "Brian Krakow, the reason for all pain", her sarcastic thanks for the return of the oak tree poem, etc.) I got the impression that untill the final episode, she usually has utter contempt for him and hates the fact that he exists.

[stburr91]

I completely agree that Angela feels something subconsciously for Brian, and was indeed moved by the letter.

People always say that Jordan and Angela had great chemistry, but that just isn't true. The two of them could barely even hold a conversation together. On the other hand, it was her and Brian that would talk together all the time, and she would always turn to him when she needed help.

I just can't watch the finial episode's ending scene and not think the way Angela was looking at Brian, that there wasn't something there, even if only subconsciously.

[RCBS]

Corn.

[BuffaloLawnmower]

...an intellectual equal for Angela...

Ok, I could be wrong, but I never really considerded Angela to be that intellectual. Introspective, yes, but intellectual? [...] I think Brian and Angela are on 2 different levels intellectually. Angela's very introspective and analytical, which I suppose could be seen as a different kind of intellect, but it's completely different from the kind of intellect we see in Brian. If they ever did get together, I think sooner or later Brian would realize that the version of Angela he had up on a pedestal didn't exist, and he'd eventually get tired of her.

I agree.

I think that Brian and Angela would probably not succeed as a couple, but I really could see them becoming real friends. I don't just mean that they would be casual buddies or hang out together: what I mean is that they could have a really close, open, honest, and deep friendship. I remember the scene in "Pressure" when they are talking about boys (when Angela says that it's sad that boys just want to get girls into bed and Brian tells her that not all boys are like that; in return, Brian learns from Angela that girls think about sex too, not just boys). I could see them building on that. I do think that maybe they could come to know each other, each one seeing the other in his/her 'true form', and that they could come to love each other, but just not romantically or sexually.

I could see a few scenarios happening if they tried to go out. One would be like the the one that Mia described: they would go out, Brian would see Angela as she really is and not how he wants to see her, and would break up with her. Another possibility would be that he might realize this as gets to know her as a friend and, when she finally did ask him out or express feelings, he might turn her down and never take it to that level (though they could remain friends). I also think that he might turn her down if she asked him out shortly after the last scene in the show because he might not want to take advantage of her even if he does have feelings for her still; I could also see him turning her down if he felt that she loved the letter itself but not the person who wrote it. I could see him being frustrated that she still chose Jordan over him, but whether or not he would continue to be at her beck and call remains to be seen: would that be the thing that finally pushed him into getting over her and moving on? I honestly don't know.

At the end, I think that Angela is torn. She has to know somewhere that Jordan isn't really good boyfriend material at this point (not that he is a bad person per se, just that at this stage in his life, I don't think that he's reached a point of being able to be a committed partner, though he may be trying to get there). The way that she looks at Brian--the emotion in her eyes--suggests to me that she has started to look at Brian differently, though I don't think that "differently" means that she's suddenly interested in him. I think maybe she realizes that, though she's been acquainted with him since childhood, maybe she really doesn't know him at all.

[Mutajon]

Perfectly stated BuffaloLawnmower. I completely agree, you've nailed the essence of their would be relationship just right.

And welcome to the forum

[BuffaloLawnmower]

thank you, Mutajon!