Harm's Way

[indri]

What a great opening! They got through all that exposition for new viewers in an entertaining way. That's a trick I should remember.

Then we switch to the morning routine of this week's vampire protagonist, complete with energetic go-girl music. (Anyone know what the song was? I've had it stuck in my head ever since.) Comedic contrast between quotidian grooming and the peculiarities of the vampire life. I particularly enjoyed the bit where she picks up the entire tallboy with one hand to get at her shoe.

She seems to be aiming for "Legally Blonde with cleavage" as her personal style. She also has an extensive range of Drew Barrymore expressions. Heh, she'd make a fun Charlie's Angel.

Then we move from her upbeat preparations for the day to the unenchanting reality: snobby co-workers, microwave queuing squabbles and the obliviousness of the boss to your every effort. Also note the careful placement in the tea-room of the woman who turns out to be Harm's worst enemy. We also further the plot, such as it is, with mentions of the demon clans' meeting, and the beheading of what's-his-name sets up Harm's (reasonable) paranoia for the rest of the show. All very well-crafted.

I find Harmony amusing always, but with a worrying undercurrent. Her every opinion and thought is immediately discounted because she's, well, Harmony. Her comment about the poodles would have been found amusing rather than irritating if anyone else had said it. In most of the scenes here we see a gender division of labour, the tea-room underlings are mostly women and the bosses are mostly male. All those sharp suits when she enters Angel's office in time for the beheading! I can't help but wonder whether Harmony's over-the-top femininity is one of the reasons people find it so easy to dismiss her. (I was once in a physics class with a woman who, unlike all the other female students, always wore summer dresses to class; she was generally treated as a sweet little thing to be humoured, despite her fine grades and passion for astrophysics.)

I am not surprised by the office gossip about Wesley. And am I the only viewer who finds Wes creepy? If I were Fred I wouldn't go near him.

So Lorne's on Atkins. Colour me unsurprised. But why would he think that a diet designed for humans would suit his demon physiology?

I do like the scenes in which Fred and Harmony nearly bond. I agree with onetwomany, Amy Acker seems to have much more chemistry with her female co-stars. Not that I can easily imagine Fred/Harm, simply because Harm's world-view is curiously normative in many respects. But can I also say that I just love the sight of a female scientist on telly getting all gossipy and girly? (Dammit, I'm a human being too!) And yet here we have flashes of the old Cordette Harmony too.

How does Harmony see herself, I wonder? Is she the plucky Girl Friday, someday to be recognised for her hard work and team spirit? How does she cope with the difference between her aspirations and the reality? She keeps trying to act as if she's still in the popular in-crowd, but she knows it's not true. And she tries so hard, the poor dear, she tries to learn. She threw Spike out (twice), tried to teach herself emotional resilience through self-help books, made a stab at being a proper villain and now she's trying to be the indispensable and responsible personal assistant. But she keeps coming smack into her limitations (whereas Spike is usually allowed to exceed his after a time).

Let's ignore the question of what a demon negotiator does or why he's picking up vampire women in a bar the night before a make-or-break meeting. Let's skip straight to the great visual joke of Harmony lugging his body to the disposal chute, her pink mug in her other hand. Fantastic.

So, put a little bit of human blood in her thermos and she starts going all Meg Ryan. Doesn't this mean Angel and Spike should stay well away from the good stuff too? No snacking! This is the vampire-as-recovering-addict metaphor, I suppose, which is not one of my favourites.

"Harmonica"? What, not even Lorne gets her name right? How appalling, that sort of thing is his job.

More comedic genius with the baleful eyes of the people in the supply closet. Heh.

Then we get to the chick-fight, Harm in high heels and the other woman in more sensible fighting shoes. Personally, I have no problem with the improvement in Harm''s fighting style, she is capable of learning, after all.

A fun and amusing episode all told, nicely put-together. No deep meaning here but I'm hard pressed to care when watching something this well-executed. The only off-note was the first Spike scene, partly because it wasn't so well integrated with the rest of the episode; it was clearly Arc rather than Ep. Some of the final scene also felt forced in this way, not least because Spike's excuses were feeble. I can believe he's having second thoughts for scores of reasons but, "it might muck-up my grand exit" shouldn't be one of them. And yet, the final joke, in which he reassures Harmony of her worth by reminding her of her enemies----that was a good note to end on.

I'm two minds now about Spike as an AtS regular. I might not have started to watch regularly if he weren't there, but often now I find myself enjoying an ep, getting carried along, until he shows up and then everything seems to grind to a halt. It's like the way you feel when a crush turns up at a party---suddenly you can't properly enjoy yourself because The Crush is in the room and must absorb all your attention and probably embarrass you to boot. All in all, I wish Spike had just been slated for just a few eps, not the whole series as the writers would have had much more freedom that way. ME is doing its best to turn necessity into a virtue through compare-and-contrast storylines, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It reminds me of Season 3 BtVS, with Buffy and Faith. I don't care for all of the ramifications of Faith's S3 storyline, but I still regard S3 as the best-constructed of all BtVS seasons. (It's not the most engaging or passionate of seasons, but I have to admire its craft.)

Wow, that was so much longer than I thought it would be. No chance now of writing up "Soul Purpose" before I have to go to bed :( I want to do that before I watch "Damage".

Comments

[binsoup.livejournal.com]

This is one the best reviews of Harm's Way I've read. The episode is really much richer if one views it with a gendered lense. I share your worry about the undercurrent with the way Harmony is written as a comic relief. I remember thinking at one point that Buffy could have been Harmony, if the former had not been chosen. Blonde, funny way of talking, ditzy/sparkly veneer. But if Buffy is the tongue in cheek critique of the dumb blonde stereotype, what is Harmony supposed to be?

[indri]

remember thinking at one point that Buffy could have been Harmony

Yes! Buffy can seem such a ditz too. But they avoid all interrogation of the stereotype by making Harm dumb (or at least, not as scintillatingly intelligent as the rest of the regular characters). It's disappointing and yet, knowing all that, I still find her funny.

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

I'd never really thought about the gendered aspects of the episode, but I agree with binsoup, it does make the episode to cast a more feminine eye over it. And I have to admit, while I can wear from pretty inappropriate clothing to work, I would never wear frilly, girly stuff. I suspect I really wouldn't be taken seriously if I did. Which probably says a lot about society, and my acceptance of current norms, that I don't really want to think about too deeply.

I get the impression that Harmony's tendency to crash rather than crash through is a lingering punishment for who she was as a human. We can laugh at her, because we remember she was such a shallow, spoilt character. Had Harmony been Willow, or someone who had a tough time of it in 'life', I can't imagine it would be quite so funny to see her fail so miserably at being a vamp, too. That said, I rather adore Harmony, and it's nice to see her growing up a bit – ironic that it takes undeath to do it, given it's always seemed vamps were stuck in a vaguely juvenile kind of state.

And am I the only viewer who finds Wes creepy? If I were Fred I wouldn't go near him.
You're not the only one. He's very sexy, but if I were Fred I would run far and fast, especially after the father incident. She needs to go back to Knox, who is very probably evil, but also possibly sane.

Amazing review - shall pimp it :)

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[binsoup.livejournal.com]

On Harmony viz. Willow.

I teared up during that scene where Harmony tells Angel and crew how she has to try harder since she does not have a soul. Whereas, that crayon scene between Willow and Xander did not move me. Sad, but true.

[caille.livejournal.com]

Great review. About the "Harmonica" thing - I think it is a genuinely affectionate term, because in a previous ep, Lorne greets her with "Harmonica!" and she responds "Lorneytunes!"

Wasn't Angel mean? If I were Harmony I'd replace the splash of otter blood with with pureed stink-beetle.

[indri]

Lorne greets her with "Harmonica!" and she responds "Lorneytunes!"

I feel much better now, knowing that. It just seemed so unlike the Lorne we all know and love.

Wasn't Angel mean?

I'd suggest he go to management training, but Lord knows what W&H would put in a course...

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[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

I teared up during that scene where Harmony tells Angel and crew how she has to try harder since she does not have a soul.

The one that got me was her tearful "I did everything right - this is what they eat!" I've been that working stiff - getting punished because I didn't read the boss' mind and actually showed a bit of initiative.

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

Great review. :)

I am not surprised by the office gossip about Wesley. And am I the only viewer who finds Wes creepy? If I were Fred I wouldn't go near him.

Exactly. Knox may be evil (though my bet is for "charmingly amoral"), but he's not toting the matched set of emotional baggage that Wesley is.

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[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Yes! I totally agree; she'd been anything BUT the stereotypical ditzy secretary but actually put effort and intelligence into this. What a foolish, short-sighted dismissal.

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[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

My fingers were hovering over the keyboard to say exactly what you said, Caille. *g*

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Fabulous thoughts; glad onetwomany told us to run, not walk, to your review.

Your analysis of the discomfort with Spike on Angel is spot-on (although I would've watched Angel in any case, come hell or high water...or both). In any case, it's an undeniable fact that the dynamics are changed and the balance has shifted. Which, of course, isn't something we can blame on Spike alone: taking Cordelia out of the equation has had an impact more powerful than you can imagine at this point of Season Five, and even apart from the whole W&H hook/line/sinker affair, Angel's foray into warping reality had to effect fundamental changes.

I, too, adore Season Three, not only for its structure but also its consistency: There are almost no misses and quite a few hits, not to mention that it was the season where they had really found their high school groove and ended this arc on a high note. Plus, all the Faith your heart desires. & ;-)

Anyway, a hooray for a keen review that really allowed me to really see the hidden gender issues and office hierarchies-- thanks!

[indri]

Fabulous thoughts

Thanks!

taking Cordelia out of the equation has had an impact more powerful than you can imagine

Very probably; I now wish I'd watched earlier seasons as reading transcripts just isn't the same.