Picking up on last week’s SMALLVILLE and ANGEL, barely beating this week’s SMALLVILLE and ANGEL. Plus I mention a show you really should be watching.
SMALLVILLE: In an episode that surprisingly manages to make you feel as if the story is advancing and simultaneously rolls key elements back to status quo, Lex flies over the cuckoo’s nest while Clark finds himself assaulted by the Superboy Revenge Squad at (I think it was called) Belle Reve Hospital for Criminal Froot Loops (recalling my three years of French 1, I think “Belle Reve” means “Good sleep” or, more loosely translated, “Pleasant Dreams.” Which, let’s face it, qualifies higher on the irony meter than “Arkham Asylum.”) Lana meets a possible love interest who’s hesitant because he thinks there’s another guy (i.e., Clark) in her life (God, I hope not, because there’s only so many times one can do the will they/won’t they dance before that well comes up empty); Lex apparently have forgotten everything he learned about Clark…except you find yourself wondering if maybe, just maybe, he either might remember or still does remember and is just playing it closer to the vest; Lionel winds up kicking himself as his spy cameras reveal he may have cleansed Lex of key information he himself wanted (you can almost hear Nelson from “The Simpsons” saying, “HA-ha!”) And, oh, some black kid was in a scene who seems vaguely famil–wait! Oh my lord! IT WAS PETE ROSS! Heavens to Betsy! Yo, Pete! Nice to see you again, you wild man, you. And who knows, maybe in a future episode, you might even get…TWO scenes. Dare to dream, babe.
ANGEL: Lo and behold, an entire episode focusing on Harmony, which is one episode more than we’ve seen focusing on Pete Ross, and he’s a regular as opposed to a recurring character. And I gotta say, this was a beaut. From the dementedly hilarious ad for Wolfram and Hart (they’re connected to YOYODYNE?!? Man, and people claim *I* make in-jokes. I kept waiting for Angel to tell Harmony that, no matter where she goes, there she is) to the clicking-tongue demons that could have conversed with George Francisco to Harmony’s touchingly desperate attempts to fit in, this ep was a hoot. And frankly, I could understand Harmony’s position. Angel’s saying “You should have come to me” rang a bit false considering he spent most of the episode either not listening to her or treating her like dirt. If her concern was that she would go to him and wind up being beheaded, well…I can’t exactly say that was an off-base conclusion. On the other hand, what was a touch obvious was that they had to get Spike conveniently out of the episode because if he had been around, she would have gone straight to him and it would totally have changed the dynamics. But it was worth the contrivance to see Harm get her own fight scene and even actually display some smarts, considering she figured out all on her own that she’d been framed, drugged, and slipped human blood in her thermos.
A SHOW YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING: “Terry Jones’ Medieval Times” on the History Channel. Saturday nights, two episodes back to back from 7 to 8 PM EST. Jones knows his stuff and delights in telling it to you, popping the cultural stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding the days of chivalry (and there are many.) I almost wish I’d seen the series before I wrote the “Sir Apropos of Nothing” books because it would have shaped a number of aspects of that series. Definitely give it a look…unless, of course, you just want to wait for the inevitable trade…I’m sorry, DVD.
PAD
• 
Smallville:
Overall a good episode. Not having read many pre-crisis Superman or Superboy comcis, I wonder how often this “power transfer” bit was done since it was done numerous times in the old Lois & Clark series and now Twice in Smallville.
I did wonder though why Clark and Co. worried so much about Lex knowing his secret when there is a whole asylum full of *enemies* who already know his secret (and also know his weakness).
BTW, Did anyone catch that Wonder Woman reference on the Daily Planet newspaper being wheeled around by the FOTW?
Angel: Enjoyed this. I didn’t like the character of Harmony at first but this episoded warmed me up to her. The whole “demon summit” thing was a bit too Star Trekish for my taste (wasn’t here a TNG episode where Picard was trying to learn an alien language in time for an important “summit”)? Overall, very enjoyable.
PAD, if you like the Terry Jones series, also try and catch “Conquest” on the History Channel if they ever get around to repeating it. The hysterically charming Peter Woodward giving lectures and hands-on demonstrations in warfare tactics through the ages. His playful quips and looks of mildly restrained hellish glee as he tells his students how easily he could have bisected them with an axe make this a good entertaining history lesson as well.
Hmm…. Now that I think of it, Peter Woodward should have also been one of my choices for a possible “Dr. Who”.
I’m watching the History Channel show, taping it and hoping for the DVD- call it a trifecta. Another show I’d recommend is on opposite Charmed- Mythbusters.
First “Angel” I’ve watched all of in a season or two, and that was only because I’d heard about the Yoyodyne ref (Enterprise pulled out a BB ref that night, too). And it was nice to see Harmony again, even without minions.
Agreed on Conquest and Peter Woodward. Hope it comes back as repeats or better yet, new shows.
Belle Reve is also a DC universe location – the prison headquarters of the Suicide Squad.
This episode will also be known as the gay boy’s dream episode, as it featured Ian Somerhalder, Jesse Metcalfe, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Shawn (Bobby Drake) Ashmore. Ironically, I almost didn’t recognize Ashmore because of his glasses.
I also still think it’s great that naked Jonathan Taylor Thomas’ power is to become a SECOND naked Jonathan Taylor Thomas. (Hey, you got Duo Damsel…)
What happened to the doctor in this episode? It seemed like she was gung ho to do the electroshock, and then she changed her mind offscreen and was killed offscreen.
When are these folks going to realize that Pete Ross is the perfect way to offset the current repetitive love triangle? Not only is there precedent in the comics for Pete and Lana to date, but if the WB just looked at the Dawson’s Creek prescedent (which they usually seem completely obsessed with,) they would see that the friction between two best friends over one love interest leads to some great drama.
Yes, there are other, far more literate examples I could have cited. Deal.
“Belle Reve” was used for quite a while in the DCU as the name of a Louisiana based prison for super-villains. It was also the HQ for the title characters the first half of so of John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad run (hmm. Peter, have you ever written Amanda Waller? I think you’d do a very good job with her character).
And Yoyodyne was hardly the in-joke in that training film. The other two companies mentioned were from the Alien movies (and recall that Joss wrote one of them…but apparently was rewritten pretty severely) and “News Corp.”. News Corporation is Rupert Murdoch’s holding company, and so owns 20th Century Fox…Angel’s uber-production company.
One possible Jossverse problem with how Harmony was portrayed in this ep. She doesn’t have a soul. She’s not been chipped. So, why’s she trying so hard to be a good girl? Thing about it; she was completely sympathetic the entire episode in terms of vampiric qualities (there was still a bit of Cordette in her swiping the microwave and the like). Whereas in her first Angel appearance, she was unable to manage to keep up the “goodness”. If a vampire sans soul and chip can become “good”, this puts a few holes in Buffy’s MO.
Actually, as I expected, they’ve already set up some interesting stuff for Pete and then ignored it. Remember the ep where he and Chloe have their inhibitions removed? We learned (as did Clark and Lex) that Pete has the hots for Chloe and is very jealous of Clark’s friendship with Lex. Completely ignored since then though.
Whereas in her first Angel appearance, she was unable to manage to keep up the “goodness”. If a vampire sans soul and chip can become “good”, this puts a few holes in Buffy’s MO.
As far as I’m concerned, the whole gag to Harmony’s character is that she’s a follower and desperately tries to fit in with whomever she’s following. She was that way in High School, and she’s that way now. When she’s hanging with evil people, she acts evil. When she’s with the good guys, she strives for goodness. I don’t think Harmony “becomes” good or evil in terms of embracing those virtues in and of themselves. I think she just imitates them in hopes of fitting in and gaining approval. The pure morality is of no relevance to her at all.
PAD
Any history show Terry Jones is fantastic. When this one was advertised in TV Guide I cut out the ad to make sure I watched it.
If you can, watch the series he did on the crusades.
“Belle Reve”?
“Belle” = “Beautiful”
“R
I second the recommendation of Terry Jones’ “The Crusades.” It’s available on DVD, and it’s very well-done.
IIRC, Yoyodyne originated in Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, and its use in Buckaroo Bonzai was a reference to that book…
RE: Asylum(SMV)
Good episode.
Nice way to tidy up Lex’s knowledge of Clark’s secret, while further leading him down the path to his future role as a megalomaniacal villain.
After Ian and Eric killed Van, I thought this episode would be the creators’ way of cleaning out all the past villains who Clark has landed in the asylum. By the end of the episode, I wasn’t sure if this was the case, since Eric was still alive, and whether Ian was still alive was not made clear, but it was still a nice use of continuity to let the audience know that the creators hadn’t forgotten about these characters, and the dubiousness of having all of them lying around knowing Clark’s secret, even if they’re believed insane. Then, again, why do the authorities think they’re insane? All Ian has to do is allow his dupe to split out of his back in front of them, and thus prove that there are some people in Smallville with superhuman abilities, making it that much easier for him to argue that Clark is one of them.
It was also nice to see Pete emerge from the shadows of Secondary Character Limbo, and in a scene where he berates Clark for going to the wall so many times for Lex while he shoulders the burden of Clark’s secret.
In the scene where Adam first meets Lana in physical therapy, the way the scene and Adam’s mannerisms played out, it seemed really obvious that he was going to be a bad guy. Although he appears more sincere and friendly by the later scenes, I’m going to be really disappointed if in fact he turns out to be yet another bad guy that Lana falls four. Let’s hope that this is one love interest of Lana’s who doesn’t turn out to be a cardboard villain character that exists only to be vanquished by Clark.
True to his incompetent, non-thinking form, when Clark rips off Lex’s restraints at the end of Act 2, he THROWS IT against the wall, making a lot of noise, which could alert the guards. Then again, why weren’t the guards alerted? And how were Ian and Eric out and about, and not locked up?
Brandon, what’s a “FOTW,” and what was the Wonder Woman reference? (I assume the OTW is “of the week,” but I couldn’t figure out the “f.”)
The Smallville episode was the best one that I have seen to date. Angel was OK I have seen better and expect more especially since Buffy no longer airs.
But PAD I was wondering if you could explain the YOYODYNE in joke referrence to me. I don’t get it. Thanks.
Regards:
WSJ3
The “F” in FOTW is Freak.
As for the Wonder Woman reference, go back and look at the newspaper on the cart in Lex’s cell. It is conveniently standing upright and very visible for about 2 seconds near the end of the scene.
Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems is the company that serves as the front for Lord John Whorfin and the Red Lectroids in //The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension.// Don’t ask. Just go rent it.
Companies Wolfram & Hart represent:
Yoyodyne – the ‘Lectroid front company from BUCKAROO BANZAI
Weyland-Yutani – the “Company” from ALIENS
NewsCorp – owners of Fox News
Now, if they’d included OmniCorp, that would have been the perfect hat trick . . .
Maybe I’m in the minority, but my absolute and complete loathing of Harmony had me cringng the entire episode. I fail to see the funny. I see the painfully embarrassing.
Never before have I dreaded watching an episode of Angel. Until now, I had never willingly considered leaving in the middle to do something else.
God, I wish the last shot had been her being dusted… That would have been funny. “I matter!” (SLASH! DUST!)
And, technically, Pete DID have two scenes… And, thankfully, an entire focus episode coming up soon. But man, if I was the actor, I’d feel rather insulted right about now.
I haven’t checked into this, but isn’t it possible that Sam Jones is filiming movies and THAT’S why he hasn’t been appearing lately? Of course there’s nothing in the imdb…
Tom Galloway nails it: “Harm’s Way” is a great episode of ANGEL on its own terms, but its basic premises conflict with the basic premises of the Buffyverese as a whole. Since Harmony doesn’t have a soul, she’s beyond redemption, and is more than likely to try to kill again at some point. Since she’s got no skills that serve the Greater Good, there are no in-story reasons for keeping her out of the Dustbuster.
That said, the out-of-story reason for Harmony (and Mercedes McNab), comedy relief, is usually worth the contradiciton–and certainly was for this great episode. McNab’s always managed to make Harm a ditz you actually care about, and tha marks her as one of the best comic actors on series TV of the past few years. This was a wonderful pastiche of everything from “Ally McBeal” to “Working Girl” to “No Way Out” to, yeah, any number of “ST:TNG” episodes.
And, yes: Yoyodyne’s was Pynchon’s first, IIRC.
Aaron, If I were an actor, I be happy just to BE on a hit show…. But, that said, I wanna see more Pete Ross, too.
Oh, btw the Daily Planet headline read “Themiscyraean Queen Assination Attempt” ….. Interesting! Imagine CLark meeting a a mid-20’s Diana… 🙂
I thought that the “Themyscaran Queen” in question would be Hippolyta, not Diana.
Oh, btw the Daily Planet headline read “Themiscyraean Queen Assination Attempt” ….. Interesting! Imagine CLark meeting a a mid-20’s Diana… 🙂
I didn’t spot this but have read about it on various message boards. Everyone keeps assuming this queen is Diana and I can’t see why people don’t realize that it’s obviously Hypolita. Polly’s the Queen of the Amazons and Diana’s her daughter the Princess. If she ever shows up (in the Flying Pig episode), I expect that she’ll be about Clark’s age.
Angel: As to Harmony being beyond redemption, I agree in the metaphysical sense. She doesn’t have a soul so her soul has gone on to whereever vampire souls go unless they’re brought back by gypsy curses or myterious demonic figures. However, there is the well established example of Spike. He had no soul, but still became a willing force for good (mostly). I know people will say that it was the Chip that allowed him to be redeemed, but that’s not the whole story be a long shot. All the chip did was keep him from exercising his absolutely worst inclinations. In the end, he decided to try to be a good-guy instead of simply eeking out an existance as a bad-guy who couldn’t hurt humans.
Now, bear with me on this, Harmony is in much of the same situation. She has an overpowering force restricting her evil inclinations (“if you’re evil, we’ll chop your head off”), and she even has a powerful moral figure who she’s desparate to please. Given that it’s Harmony, I don’t think that she’d had the sheer will to pick a new moral ground and stick to it if the death-threat were removed. She’d lose a good deal of her value as comic-relief incompetent, too. Of course, Wesley started out as a comic relief incompetent…
Actually, I’m pretty sure the newspaper headline was “Themiscyran Queen Addresses Vatican.” Here’s a screen cap even tho one taken a frame or two later would’ve been beter.
http://www.kryptonsite.com/wwref.htm
And let’s not forget the whole speculation over who the new boy in Lana’s life *really* is.
Terry Jones also did a program (programme?) about the Roman Gladiators. Like the other 2 series, there was much trivia, many myths & stereotypes were broken, & all was done with great humor.
I think there was another show he did, but I can’t remember for sure.
Chris, Thanx for the cap — I think you’re correct. I was going from memory on my call & trying to fill-in-the-blanks. I realized that the Queen the headline referenced was Diana’s mother — the point was this shows that Wonder Woman exist in the Smallvilleverse, which is pretty cool …..
A new Angel last week? Arrgh, missed it….my wife’s gonna kick my ášš for forgetting to tape it.
And let’s not forget the whole speculation over who the new boy in Lana’s life *really* is.
Posted by Chris
See, I thought so too! You know… with his name being Adam (na-na-na-na-NA!…), his parents being killed, him being a no nonsense do-gooder who likes wearing a T-shirt with the number 27, tall, dark, blue eyes, etc.
Oh well, what do I know. I keep catching Marvel references, for no good reason, whenever there’s a villain/freak of the week episode. From Galactus to Spiderman, I see parallels all the time; so what do I know?
wolfe: You need Tivo.
Angel: A good episode, I only caught Weyland-Yutani, actually (being a huge AvP fan) — it’s been ages since I’ve seen Buckaroo Banzai.
Harmony’s episode was pretty funny all around, but I only started really laughing after she started piling the unconscious bodies of her co-workers in the supply closet. “I so owe you guys dinner.” That was priceless.
As for the inability for Harmony to make sense in the show without comic relief, I disagree. I think PAD’s assessment is pretty well right, and you have to take into account what is in a vampire’s head: The original personality of the host, and the half-demon soul (or whatever you want to call it). Think about it. If full fledged demons can be morally neutral or even good guys, why not vampires? Sure, they’d be a minority, but there’s no reason the demon inside a vampire can’t decide it wants to be a good guy, especially if the threat of death lingers overhead as the alternative.
I think PAD nailed Harmony’s personality perfectly, though; a consummate follower. When she first showed up in Angel, Angel, Inc. tried to help her stay on the good side, and it wasn’t until she met a larger group with a more persuasive ideology to follow that she fell off that. Now, working for Wolfram and Hart, she’s got the very easily followed dictum of “If you don’t kill, we won’t kill you.”
I think Harmony fits perfectly well into the series. The fact that she’s really funny is only icing on the cake, not the sole justification for her presence.
One possible Jossverse problem with how Harmony was portrayed in this ep. She doesn’t have a soul. She’s not been chipped. So, why’s she trying so hard to be a good girl? Thing about it; she was completely sympathetic the entire episode in terms of vampiric qualities (there was still a bit of Cordette in her swiping the microwave and the like). Whereas in her first Angel appearance, she was unable to manage to keep up the “goodness”. If a vampire sans soul and chip can become “good”, this puts a few holes in Buffy’s MO.
I also don’t think it was about her wanting to be good for good’s sake, but about her wanting to ACT good because she’d found that she’s not very good at being bad. Behaving well for her was a matter of self-interest (not getting dusted), not a quest for redemption (being a good person).
red-Ricky:
From all the press I’m seeing (don’t remember it from the episode itself), his last name is Knight.
I think Angel and his assortment of sharp metal objects constitute Harmony’s equivalent of a chip. She also has a much shorter trip to make from the dark side than Spike did – being only ineffectually bad – and Clem is probably a better Jossverse precedent than Spike is anyway.
Angel:
Just an odd comment. One of my favorite moments of the whole episode is when Harmony realizes that she didn’t kill the Victim(TM) because he was bitten on the right side of his neck and she always tore someone else’s throat on the other side! I’ve always found her combination of ditziness and evil to be hilarious. OTOH, I always found Mayor Wilkin’s combination of Ward Cleaver and the Anti-Christ to be really creepy.
If non-souled vampires like Harmony are capable of redemption (sorry, folks, I don’t count chipped Spike as a precedent, ’cause he was merely a vamp with a muzzle and an obsession), then Buffy Summers committed murder, morally speaking, every single time she went into the graveyard and staked a newly-risen vamp.
I’m pretty darn sure Joss and Co. don’t mean for us to think that was truly the case, whatever shades of grey they gleefully threw in via chips and curses and regained souls and whatnot. Harmony’s not being Good now, she’s being Comfortable (much like the vamps who allow humans to live in exchange for a cash and a safe steady blood supply). Her moral nature hasn’t changed, her circumstances have. Should then–when they–change again, she’ll kill again, or attempt to.
After all, her rival this very episode proved that a good job and a reliable blood supply in and of themselves aren’t enough to keep a vamp from being what it is: a killer, whether inept or not. Harmony’s flighty psyche alone (inherited from her human existence) should clue in Angel and Co. that she’s not likely to stay on the wagon for long, but even beyond that her essential nature shouldn’t let her.
Or, if you prefer, some non-souled vamps are capable of being Good, in which case Buffy’s a bit more of a monster and a bit less of a hero than we thought. I know which one I’ll be sticking with.
Really with the other vamp wasser name the question now becomes why is angel letting any vampire live? They are souless and technically evil. if his soul is punishment for all the evil he committed what about the people that Harmony has killed in the past or that other vamp girl.
Basically they just got amenesty for all past crimes so long as they don’t do it again? ‘m sure the justines of the world are happy to hear that.
btw no mention of Tru Calling?
I was wondering what PAD’s reaction was to the plot. Namely an innocent man who in trying to clear his name so he doesn’t go to jail for murder, essentially kills two people in the attempt.
I mean geez
I’m with George about the unsouled, chip-laden Spike not being a precident for vamps acting good without a soul.
They have always played fast a loose with this in the Buffyverse. Spike changed because of love for Buffy, not because he had the chip. Harm, sadly, seems like she is indeed just following along as Peter suggests. Hopefully, she won’t fall into the same trap that soulless Spike did (trying to rape Buffy). I loved the episode, and I hope McNab gets more work.
Smallville, frankly, I found really disappointing. While it was nice to see some of the old looseends tied up, the entire thing stretched credibility for me. The strange “electro-memory regression,” Clark zipping in and out of Belle Reeve, he and Chloe magically finding out that Lex is scheduled for the procedure. It was nice to see Pete again, and it’s a shame that the one confidant character Clark has is steadily fading away. I couldn’t be more bored with Lana’s new “love life.” It’s not a matter of will she/won’t she, it’s a matter when she breaks up with this guy, who seems destined to turn into a FOTW later on down the road.
But I’m glad to see them back, and it looks like we’ll be seeing a new superpower next week for Clark.
I agree with Jason, where’s the Tru Calling recap, I know you were not getting any comments on it, but it is a show that me and a few others enjoys. I’d still like to hear your views on it.
Let’s review what we know of vampires in the Buffyverse:
Vampires are human corpses who, through a ritual (drinking a vampire’s blood as they die from losing their own to a vamp), are inhabited by a demon.
What do we know about demons? There are many clans of demons. Some demons, at least, can mate with humans and produce half-breed offspring (Doyle, the half-demon from the first season). Humans can be transformed into “part-demons” by sufficiently powerful beings (as the PTB did to Cordelia in the third season). Demons come in a wide variety of types; it has not been precisely stated to the best of my knowledge, but it seems safe to state that each different type of demon is a different species (or at some point in the whole phylum/genus thingy). Some types of demons seem to hail from a specific alternate dimension (Lorne’s species has Pylea as their home dimension).
Now, to extrapolate: When I think of “demon” in the Whedonverse, I think of Robert Asprin’s take on “demons” in his ‘Myth’ series: “demon” is a bášŧárdìzëd, shortened version of “dimensional traveler”.
We have seen demons that are essentially innocuous (Clem being the perfect example). And Buffy is the Demon Slayer, she’s the Vampire Slayer. She often fought with various demons, but didn’t actively hunt them; usually, they had either come after the Scoobies, or made their malevolent intent obvious in some other way. Historically, Angel has fought demons when alerted to them by the PTB (through Doyle or Cordy), or the same way Buffy encountered them. Presumably their could be anywhere from dozens to millions of demons out there that aren’t actively malevolent, and thus that don’t come to our attention.
We haven’t seen many (if any) cases where demons of the same “species” vary significantly in temperment.
So, pulling this all together, vampires may dwell in a different dimension, and may only be able to leave it by inhabiting the ritually murdered corpse of another being (possibly it has to be a human, specifically). Like many demon species, these beings are malevolent as a species, although there are differing degrees of malevolence among them. They retain the memories of the human who originally inhabited the body, and (based in particular on Spike), those memories seem to have some power to affect the demon’s activities.
We have seen many vamps deal with old friends and family in nasty ways. In some cases, this can be attributed to hostility been the people even when they were still human (Angel is a perfect example); in other cases, a desire to better the lot of the other has been involved (Spike and his mum). I can’t recall the details of Gunn’s meeting with his sister after she was turned (back in Angel season one), but I think that could fit in this latter category. Also, knowledge of the disposition of people like Gunn, Buffy, and the Scoobies towards vampires could have an effect on the behavior of new vamps; it’s a matter of survival.
Now, let’s review Harmony’s after-life. She was sired by Spike, and was his lover, although she was primarily a matter of convenience to him at the time. She followed Spike at a time when he went fairly quickly from a player in the vampire world to a tame cur, who could attack no humans and had fallen in love with the Slayer. As this happened, she tried to strike out on her own, but found herself to be completely ineffectual. She went through a period where we had no contact with her, then ran into Cordy (and Angel). She was tempted to bite Cordy, but resisted, and was actually doing OK until (as someone else pointed out) she got into a peer group that pressured her to betray her new “friends”.
Again, a period of time where we have no info; then, she starts at Wolfram and Hart. She goes along with Angel’s “no human blood” policy (“clean for eight months,” she claimed in last week’s ep, when talking to herself). But we know that she has no strong bonds with the other Wolfram and Hart employees. She’s there because, as she has proven to herself, she simply can’t go it alone, and this was the easiest way to go. When Angel and Wesley show up, at least there’s someone she knew for a while before (not as well as she knew Cordy, but the mutual friendship helps her feel tied to these people). Chosen as a point of manipulation, in all likelihood, more than for her actual abilities, other W&H employees believe she got promoted to her current position through simple nepotism, and won’t have anything to do with her. She’s used to being someone who “matters” (she was one of the popular girls in high school). Thus, she’s bonded tightly (in her own mind, at least) to Angel’s little clique.
She has several incentives not to “misbehave” right now – her feelings of belonging w/ Angel and Co., the threat against her if she does stray, and her own seeming ambivalence to “typical” vampiric behavior.
As mentioned above, the human host seems to have some influence on the vampire’s behavior. Also, it seems possible that there is some variance in behavior amongst the demons who become vamps. If we combine a vamp-demon that is not particularly strongly motivated to attain a position of great personal power or to create chaos, and is not incredibly good at accomplishing either goal, with Harmony’s life experiences (I don’t have to do, I just get things because of who I am; I am a Big Fish (without a recognition of the small size of my pond); there’s no reason to change the status quo), it’s not hard to see her as a vamp, not with a soul (or even a heart, metaphorically speaking), but who’ll go along with the current situation out of habit, and without significant ambition.
All that said, the developments with Spike have shown us that a vampire can have a desire to change. However, this is severely atypical for vamps, and is a change that took a unique situation to bring about (the chip (and being in love with Buffy, I suppose)).
Spike and Harmony are truly exceptional “exceptions” to the rule. Harmony certainly has bitten humans (or else she wouldn’t know that she’s a “right-biter”), and would probably do so again if the circumstances didn’t make it both personally dangerous and socially unacceptable.
If you like Smallville/Angel type action soap operas and you like history programs that cover the middle ages then A SHOW YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING is The Age of Warriors It’s an historical, action soap opera.
What other show has a character called the “Archfiend” who isn’t a madeup supervillan, but an actual historical figure?
For us New Yorkers its on WMBC (which is channel 63 on my cable) at approx 9:15 PM on Saturday and Sunday.
Thacher E. Cleveland said: Harm, sadly, seems like she is indeed just following along as Peter suggests. Hopefully, she won’t fall into the same trap that soulless Spike did (trying to rape Buffy).
You have to admit, it would be a big ratings booster with a lot of the 18-35 male demographic tuning in to watch her try.
So I see the signifigance of Adam’s 27.
But what do the 6, 66, and the little nike swoosh signify?
Rich Fuchs: For us New Yorkers its on WMBC (which is channel 63 on my cable) at approx 9:15 PM on Saturday and Sunday.
Luigi Novi: Is that some kind of local access or public channel, or something? I live just across the river in Union City, NJ (right next to Hoboken), and I’ve never heard of that station. The program sounds interesting.
**I said: Harm, sadly, seems like she is indeed just following along as Peter suggests. Hopefully, she won’t fall into the same trap that soulless Spike did (trying to rape Buffy).
Don said: You have to admit, it would be a big ratings booster with a lot of the 18-35 male demographic tuning in to watch her try. **
Yer darn tootin…wow, I totally missed that little word-accident.
But part of me wonders if Harmony is going to be undone by some similarly heinous act because she just doesn’t understand how things should be, or is frustrated at how people treat her like a dolt.
But then again, she seems to be trying dámņ hard to keep to the straight and narrow, if only for self preservation.
Now, let’s review Harmony’s after-life. She was sired by Spike, and was his lover, although she was primarily a matter of convenience to him at the time.
Just a small correction. Harm wasn’t Sired by Spike. She was Sired by nameless vampire extra #17 in the final episode of Season 3, “Graduation Day”. How that vampire had time to complete the process during the Mayor’s Ascension…a mystery!
Now, if Wolfram & Hart can only start representing LexCrop and Cyberdine Systems…
Shazbat! LexCorp, I mean LexCorp!
During episode 1 of season 2 we were introduced to a demon, who even though his species was brutal killers he himself was a champion like Angel. This led to Angel killing him thinking he was dangerous, then having to champion a pregnant woman in the demon’s place.
The point is there is precedence that a demon can change, no matter how it’s species and genetic makeup say it should behave.
I’ve always looked at Spike and harmony as mean dogs that have been ‘trained’ (Spike with his zaps when he tried to be bad, and Harm with the threat of losing her head) into being good.
Speaking of souls, now that he has one back, shouldn’t Spike be writing his bloody awful poetry again?
Luigi Novi: Is that some kind of local access or public channel, or something? I live just across the river in Union City, NJ (right next to Hoboken)
WMBC is a New Jersey station. It will probably be channel 63 on your cable. The show is Korean, but it is translated into English.
The show has everything: martial arts, star-crossed lovers, corrupt politicians, murderous political reformers, honorable heroes, etc. It takes place after the military coup of 1170.