It's almost impossible not to compare the two. I'd started to, in fact, then deleted the whole paragraph, because some of it gets into how things were handled not only for the rest of S6 but well into S7, including the AfterElton.com article that really looks at how both character deaths were handled both with regard to the other characters on-screen and with regard to the fan reaction off-screen.

One thing I couldn't help but think in the wake of CoE, though, was, "Dude, how can you be such a Whedon fan and not know this was exactly how the fans would react?"