I always thought Holtz was misused and was never that big a threat, to be considered a "big bad." His sole purpose on the show seemed to be a way to introduce Teenager Connor. I just never got the feeling of dread and evil from Holtz, and in the end, he just was not a very good villain.

As for my pick for Angel's big bad, I would have to say Jasmine. She may have only have been in a handful of episodes, but her appearance was hinted at long before. Plus, Gina Torres pulled the character off brilliantly by playing her as the answer to all that was bad with a hint of sinister. Also, without Jasmine and the dilemma she set up, we would not have had the genius fifth season.

Sure, Holtz's actions were critical for plot developments during that season, but I still do not think he was the best villain the show has seen, and I have trouble calling him a big bad, with the exception of the Jasmine threat, Angel did not really deal with villains the same way Buffy did.

With BtVS, each season's arc culminated in a face-off with a recurring villain of that season. Angel did not really do the same thing, keeping the villains for shorter arcs. while Holtz was important to the mythology of the show, I don't think he ever made much of an impact in the way that most big bads showed. Plus, his death was rather weak, and once again only occurred to move the plot forward by getting Connor angry. His arc failed to set him up as a major big bad.

As for Jasmine, I think the build up to her worked perfectly, so when she arrived, we knew she was a big deal. Her episodes, I felt were fascinating in how they set up a situation unlike anything I have seen on television before and since. She was a huge threat and was characterized as being that season's big bad. Jasmine definitely had more impact as a major villain that Holtz ever did.

I felt no attachment to Holtz, and found myself rather bored by him. I actually found Justine to be a more fascinating character than Holtz himself. She had an interesting arc to her character, unlike Holtz who was rather flat and mainly existed to move the plot further along.

The Beast and Evil Cordelia stories in my opinion, are part of the Jasmine arc. Those are the stories that build up to the reveal of the tangible Jasmine and set her up to be the huge threat that she is. Jasmine was far more interesting than Holtz ever was, and she was the character (through her demise) that ultimately brought Angel's gang back together, and got them working for Wolfram and Hart.

While, I won't discount Holtz's importance in the mythology of Angel, I think that he was not the show's greatest big bad. Jasmine was a stronger villain, as were Wolfram + Hart, the show's ultimate big bad which pretty much haunted Angel throughout the entire series.