Faith is kickass, hands down. I loved any episode with her in it too.
Joyce's death tears me up just thinking about it. Seriously. :/
And even though I didn't watch the entire Angel series, I did watch the last episode and I totally agree with you. I totally understand the allure of the cliff hanger but damn it I want to know what happend! It's the same thing with The Sopranos ... just tell me if Tony / Angel died or not!!