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Angel
Harm's Way
original air-date: 01-14-04
This episode
starts off with an hilarious Wolfram and Hart corporate training
film. The Fifties-esque narration points out, among other
things, important clients (the easily recognizable Newscorp
and the more subtle, but equally pleasing, Yoyodyne. "John
Shanshu" anybody?) as well as the opportunities for all
employees.
Well,
except perhaps one very blonde, unicorn fixated young secretary
slash reformed vampire that the audience knows and loves as
Harmony.
What follows
is a fun and generally satisfying glimpse into Harmony's life
at the firm. This includes both the routine --- office gossip,
microwave waits, and the vamp equivalent of drug testing ---
as well as the atypical, such as catering a sit-down between
some hyper-etiquette sensitive Hatfield and McCoys of the
demon world (this is the secondary throwaway plot).
Oh, and
not to mention waking up with a hangover to a dead, vamp-bitten
guy in your bed (a clear no-no in the revised W&H employee
guide).
Mercedes
McNab, who can give any Whedonette a run for the money for
looks, does a splendid job as Harmony. She is especially good
at executing sudden emotional shifts to comedic effect. Ms.
McNab also deserves kudos for her commitment to the role.
Harmony is really an absurd character, but her strong performance
has the audience believing in, if not rooting for, Harmony.
And as
with other episodes that show the inner workings of the firm,
there are lots of nice little touches, e.g., "non-human
resources." But despite the fun, the episode does have
a few flaws that might put off seasoned fans.
First,
the Fang Gang, especially Angel and excluding Fred, seem too
harsh. That generates some confusion as to whether or not
the audience is seeing how things actually happened or from
Harmony's point of view.
And where
did Gunn go? Enough of the all-too-convenient mind-implant-of-the-week.
Bring back some of his real personality instead.
Far worse
is Spike's explanation of why he's not seeking out Buffy.
Even though no explanation would probably work, the writers
could have done better.
Finally,
there is the overall question of the timing of this episode.
After enduring many weeks of reruns, most fans were probably
expecting some follow-up to the Lindsey-Eve zinger. Standalone
episodes can work well enough, but work even better when they
have some tie to story arcs and/or character development,
e.g., "The
Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco."
The preview
for next week's entry suggest an alternate reality storyline.
Such episodes are usually entertaining enough. But if not,
the teaser shot of a dorky Angel in a bad tie and short sleeves
should be enough to get skeptical fans to tune in.
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