Mark Watches ‘Angel’: S02E17 – Disharmony

In the seventeenth episode of the second season of Angel, an old friend from Sunnydale shows up in Cordelia’s life, and she soon begins to irritate everyone. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Angel.

Okay, before I actually get into this review, I had an extremely weird moment during this episode. Once the point of the robes is revealed and we meet Doug Sanders, I couldn’t stop laughing because I thought the guy playing Doug was Paul Brittain from SNL. Which is even stranger because he used to play a common character named Sex Ed Vincent, and Sex Ed Vincent looked EXACTLY LIKE DOUG SANDERS. Like, here, look at this shit. THEY ARE THE SAME CHARACTER. So I had this weird moment of dissonance because I couldn’t process the very idea.

Actually, wait, I had another weird moment during “Disharmony.” That lake in the beginning of the episode? That’s the MacArthur Park lake, not Lafayette Park, which is a couple blocks away. There’s a scene where Angel, Gunn, and Wesley run down the side of a hill to stop one of the hooded men from kidnapping a woman, and I USED TO LIVE IN THE BUILDING ACROSS FROM THE ONE THAT IS BEHIND THEM. I was so excited! Also, that is an accurate depiction of that park. It’s full of weirdos ALL THE TIME. I loved it, except on days when the lake smelled, which was about 90% of the time. Oh, and I swam in that lake? Twice.

Okay, now I’ve gone completely off track. Even if the episode title clearly references the appearance of Harmony (!!!!), I think it’s actually a commentary about Angel’s integration back into the group. Right from the bat, the show acknowledges that this is going to be an uncomfortable and awkward journey for Angel. As it should be! Beyond feeling that Angel needs to earn his place again, I don’t think it would make sense for Cordelia’s characterization. We know that she values loyalty more than anything, and Angel hit her particular button when he betrayed the whole team. So this creates a very obvious disharmony between everyone since Angel is no longer in charge. I do love that Wesley is taking a very authoritative role as the boss. He’s so serious and genuine! I love it!

And then Harmony shows up. HARMONY IS A FASCINATING VAMPIRE. Vampires are supposed to be these soulless demons, evil to the core, and vicious murderers, and Harmony is terrible at all of these things. It’s interesting to me that she was paired with Spike for so long because he’s not only a terrible vampire (due to the chip), but he’s desperate to be human, and he’s also terrible at that. Despite that Harmony has appeared as a vampire multiple times, I don’t think I ever once thought, “Wow, she’s really evil.” If anything, she was the most positive and polite soulless demon we’d ever met. Why was that? Why was she so much like her human counterpart? William the Bloody isn’t like Spike at all, and we’ve all seen Angelus. Even Darla as a human was quite different from Darla the vampire. So what gives with Harmony? She has barely changed since the days of Sunnydale.

In a way, that gives us a direct contrast to Cordelia. Sitting on that couch, talking about how much she enjoys the work she’s doing, I couldn’t deny just how much Cordelia has grown in the last five years. She might have been embarrassed by her air pockets metaphor, but I understood what she meant. It’s not a silly way of saying it! Cordelia found a way to care about the world, to not put herself first, and to do something good. And she enjoys it, despite that she doesn’t have the money, the popularity, or the line of boys waiting to date her. If she really wanted to, I bet Cordelia could leave this all behind and find something in Los Angeles to get those things back. Instead, she chooses this life, and I just love her for it until the end of time. Like, Cordelia Chase is slowly growing into one of my favorite characters of all time, and the beautiful depth with which she is written and portrayed is so amazing to me. Seriously, think back to her first season on Buffy! She’s not even remotely the same person. Well, she still has her beautiful sass. LET’S NOT FORGET THAT.

It was obvious that Harmony knew she had changed since high school, but not in a way that was as fulfilling as Cordelia had. My god, Mercedes McNab, how do you face? That moment of disappointment and sadness on her face when Cordelia switches the conversation to talk about Harmony is just heart-stopping. Here’s someone who doesn’t like being a vampire, who has barely attempted to embrace what she is. She spent so much time in Sunnydale largely ignoring who she was, going after clothes, material possessions, and a lovey-dovey romance with another vampire who didn’t care. She tried to build a human life! And I think that is what’s so significant about “Disharmony.” Harmony is absolutely confused about what she’s supposed to do with her life, and she is questioning her very identity. Her existential crisis brings her to Cordelia, the only real friend she ever had before. It’s in Cordelia’s house that Harmony struggles with her nature. She’s so hungry, and she’s never been one to just go out and murder people. So what does she do?

I really loved that this episode was so funny, too. Harmony isn’t the kind of character who fits well with a super serious study on identity. Mercedes McNab has such fantastic comic timing, and I admit that I just giggled wildly during the entire scene where Cordelia thought that Harmony was a lesbian. Oh my god, I can’t. And then OF COURSE, Cordelia calls Willow the next day. CORDELIA, YOU FOOL, WILLOW IS A LESBIAN, TOO. Oh lord, this show is so wonderful.

So, now Cordelia knows. What’s next? Well, of course, Harmony joins the team! Do you realize how excited I was by Harmony hanging out with everyone? She may be the one character who both irritates me and amuses me at the exact same time. She really doesn’t know what she’s doing, and her cheery positivity grates on everyone’s nerves. Again, her personality has barely changed since high school, and I kind of love that? But what’s her purpose here? Were the writers going to find a way to keep her around permanently?

It’s at this point that the two main forces that drive the plot to the resolution show up. First: Selective Slaughter: Turning a Blood Bath into a Blood Bank. A vampire pyramid scheme. I can’t. I laughed, and I laughed, and I laughed. It was too fucking perfect, and it exactly what happens in Los Angeles all the time. Oh my god, I knew so many people who fell for those cult-like groups, so all I could do was just laugh until I cried at the perfection of it. And then Harmony goes to sing karaoke for The Host, and my heart just bursts from how flawless this episode is. This is everything that I want all of the time forever. I’m so glad that the show makes the actual actors and actresses sing, too, because it makes this so much better.

So, given that The Host says that Cordelia will be the “guide” for Harmony, the truly uncomfortable nature of this dynamic is finally addressed. The irony of Angel telling Cordelia that Harmony can’t be trusted as a vampire was not lost on anyone, but I had to wonder if Angel was right. Just because she’s a soulless demon, does it mean she has to be evil? I still don’t know how certain or definite that idea is, even after Harmony betrays them all. I genuinely don’t think Harmony betrayed the group because she was evil. I think she did it because she felt like she could belong. The whole time, it was obvious she didn’t fit in with Cordelia and her friends!

Still, it’s a story that isn’t given a complete ending. Cordelia spares Harmony’s life (HOLY SHIT, THAT DOUBLE CROSSBOW SCENE IS INCREDIBLE), and Cordelia immediately stops Angel from saying, “I told you so!” I don’t think Harmony will be gone from this show or Buffy, but I don’t expect we’ll see her for a long time. The story then switches right back to Cordelia, though, and we find out there’s one part of her character that hasn’t changed all these years.

She loves clothes. Bless you, Angel. You found the way to her heart.

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