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5.9 Harms Way Harmony: "Ah ha! The smoking thermos!" This one was all about Harmony's point of view, like "Storyteller" was about Andrew's and "The Zeppo" was about Xander's. (Some of the music even reminded me of "The Zeppo.") One of the longest running fringe Buffyverse characters, Harmony hasn't changed much in eight years, even after becoming undead. She's still remarkably shallow and self-centered, as well as being a few tacos short of a combination plate. She still wants to be popular, as well as Angel's indispensable girl Friday. Instead, she's a glorified gopher, nobody in the office really likes her, and Angel is a constant grumpypuss around her. The only reason she's on the inside instead of the secretarial pool is because she went to high school with the Slayer, and because she's a known quantity as far as Angel is concerned. The episode as a whole was cute and quite funny, and Mercedes McNab did her usual excellent job. I kept feeling sorry for Harmony, although by the time we were nearing the end, I also sort of wanted her to shut up, calm down, and stop hitting people over the head. This episode doesn't quite compare to season two's "Disharmony," which was much better. I suspect Harmony is more fun in smaller doses. The Wolfram & Hart recruiting commercial with the zero tolerance policy was my favorite part ("If you don't kill, we won't kill you.") I also adored the chopsticks fight scene in the employee lounge. But I was mildly disappointed by the way the Buffy situation was handled. Spike gave up his quest very easily, and that's out of character for the Spike who fought so hard for his soul and sacrificed his life for love. Don't get me wrong -- I certainly prefer Spike on "Angel" instead of off-camera somewhere in Europe -- but I wish they'd come up with something that worked better for me. Harmony trying to bond with Fred seemed unworkable, too. The two of them are night and day, literally. It was interesting that Harmony was "passing" for human, and that she referred to non-vamps as "straight." The fact that there was a guy (perhaps from Non-Human Resources?) checking vamps for human blood consumption implied that there are many other vamp employees working there -- not just Angel, Spike, Harmony and the late, unlamented Tamika. If soulless vamps are just regular guys with long teeth that hold down jobs and drink pig's blood, they're sort of not monsters any more, are they? (As Gunn said in "Disharmony," "Don't we kill them any more?") Bits and pieces: -- As a lifelong sci-fi fan, I recognized two of the evil corporations in the recruiting video: Yoyodyne is from "Buckaroo Banzai," and Weiland Yutani is from "Alien." I couldn't place Newscorp, but according to my Google search, it's Fox's news division. :) -- Spike: "Any message for Buffy?" Angel: "Tell her you're a moron." -- Spike started to thank Fred for believing in him, but stopped before it got out of his mouth. We all know what that was in reference to. -- Angel and Spike showed cuts and bruises from their climactic fight in "Destiny." Reminds me of Buffy and Faith. -- Gunn: "Hardest part of the job, terminating an employee." -- "Sambuca!" "Tamika!" "Right!" -- Harmony's apartment is pink and yellow. How apt. -- Harmony's to do list: "Big demon summit; remind security of summit; arrange transportation; return camel; confirm catering." Two out of four stakes, Billie |
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