I didn't understand why so many people disliked Riley so much, other than they only wanted Buffy with a vampire. ~eyeroll
I always thought it was revealing that Xander liked him and wasn't jealous of him or anything. He didn't like Angel or Spike, mostly because they were vampires (yeah, in the beginning, partly because he was jealous, but as he grew up, it was all about the "hey, evil!"). And considering Buffy's general taste in men, I can see good reasons for mistrust! Riley was the only truly strong, decent human guy she went out with, and who treated her well. He just wanted to be treated as an equal, not disregarded like she did. She'd have treated even just a friend better, imo.
Heck, Xander had a screwed-up romantic history, but that was in part because he went for strong, smart, capable, ~complicated women. He never went the easy route for anybody. He might have messed up sometimes, but it was never because he was incapable of caring, or because he picked trivial people (even Cordy, back in her Queen C days).
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I always thought it was revealing that Xander liked him and wasn't jealous of him or anything. He didn't like Angel or Spike, mostly because they were vampires (yeah, in the beginning, partly because he was jealous, but as he grew up, it was all about the "hey, evil!"). And considering Buffy's general taste in men, I can see good reasons for mistrust! Riley was the only truly strong, decent human guy she went out with, and who treated her well. He just wanted to be treated as an equal, not disregarded like she did. She'd have treated even just a friend better, imo.
Heck, Xander had a screwed-up romantic history, but that was in part because he went for strong, smart, capable, ~complicated women. He never went the easy route for anybody. He might have messed up sometimes, but it was never because he was incapable of caring, or because he picked trivial people (even Cordy, back in her Queen C days).