10 Best Performances In Angel

Although he got a lot more time to shine on Buffy, James Marsters' transition to Angel was nonetheless a brilliant, seamless decision, and a stroke of genius given how popular he had become on Buffy.

After his death at the end of Buffy's final season, Spike finds himself revived, as a ghost, within the walls of Wolfram and Hart. This makes the final entry in Angel a season full of fantastically funny - "Smile Time", "The Girl in Question" - and downright dramatic - "Destiny", "A Hole in a World" - interactions between Angel and Spike, whose generations-long feud forms the bedrock of the season.

Unlike the final couple seasons of Buffy, Marsters allows Spike to go back to his bad boy roots; he's sarcastic, witty, and a nice slice of comic relief to the core gang. Yet he's also still the Spike we all know and love - a strong fighter, loyal friend (even to Angel, in parts), and a straight-up hero.

He may only appear as a main character in one season (with a brief guest spot here and there), but Marsters proves once again how fantastic a character Spike is. Since he doesn't get much time to shine other than that one season, though, he can't rank any higher than the rest of the list's entries.