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No Harm Done

© Ellen Ross

After all these weeks without new episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," the viewers were as hungry as a blood-deprived Harmony for something fresh. Despite a few continuity glitches, the "Buffy"/"Angel" team did not disappoint.

"Forever," written and directed by Marti Noxon, was a worthy followup to "The Body." Sarah Michelle Gellar's performance continues to overwhelm us with her perfectly nuanced depiction of Buffy's grief. Buffy and Angel relationshippers also received a rare treat with the guest appearance of David Boreanaz. Those who have faithfully believed in the continuing love between Buffy and Angel, despite everything, were rewarded at last.

Although it worked beautifully within the context of the "BtVS" episode, Angel's brief appearance in Sunnydale seems completely disconnected from the current "Angel" continuity. Similarly, the guest appearance of Alyson Hannigan as Willow on the "Angel" episode which immediately followed seemed to be peculiarly isolated from the current "Buffy" story arc. As Cordelia points out, Sunnydale is not all that far from Los Angeles. Based on "Forever" and "Disharmony," they might as well be operating in alternate universes. However, the viewers will forgive the continuity problems when the overall quality of the writing and the performances remains as high as it is now.

After the heart-wrenching finale of "Forever," a lighter "Angel" was in order, and David Fury obliged with the comedic episode "Disharmony." It has been a year and a half since the Sunnydale High graduation. Cordelia has spoken on the phone with Aura at least once (in the first-season episode "Rm w/a Vu"), spent an evening out with Oz (in the first-season episode "Into the Dark") and has talked with Willow on the phone several times. Yet, somehow, we are asked to believe that Cordelia has never been told that Harmony was killed at graduation and became a vampire.

Yeah. Right.

Despite the stretching of credibility like taffy to set up this premise, the episode itself was worth the stretch. Cordelia's ignorance where Harmony was concerned was played out to the hilt, but Charisma Carpenter made it work. Her Cordelia ran the gamut of emotion several times, from hurt and betrayal to the joy of friendship and back again, and she made us believe every word and every feeling. We finally got to see Cordelia dressed sensibly for fighting, and holding her own in a physical battle without help from the guys .... although judging by the end of the episode, we won't be seeing her in action gear again for a long time. Cordelia is still Cordelia, but the scene where Cordelia reminisces with Harmony reminded long-time viewers powerfully of how very far Cordelia has already traveled on her personal journey.

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