A bad day at the office for Harmony.
Written by: Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
Directed by: Vern Gillum
Harmony's having the day from hell at work - no one will talk to her, and Angel's just gone ballistic after finding a camel in the lobby. He won't even listen to her explanation that it's the catering for the next day's demon peace conference.
So, she does what any girl would do, drowns her sorrows in a few cocktails and a little girlie talk with Fred after work. When Fred encourages her to chat up a guy at the bar, it seems her luck has changed. Until she wakes up next to his blood-drained corpse, with no memory of the night before.
To make things worse, he's the one man vital to the success of the demon peace talks, and both sides are baying for vengeance. Knowing her number's up if Angel finds out, Harmony tries to cover her tracks, with little success until the real criminal appears - envious former colleage, and fellow vampire, Tamika.
Harmony gets the upper hand after a close fight, and dusts Tamika on the boardroom table - much to the satisfaction of the demon clans. Even Angel has to grudgingly conceed she's done a good job.
- ten quick questions.
Trivia:
Horny: Eagle-eyed viewers may notice the unicorns on Harmony's desk. Buffy fans may recall the working vamp's penchant for unicorn ornaments, as seen in the season five episode Real Me and others.
Name that tune: The perky ditty that's playing as Harmony prepares herself for work is Hey Sailor by The Detroit Cobras, from the album Life, Love And Leaving. The Cobras apparently have a reputation in America for being a truly great covers band, performing a cool mix of Motown, soul and 50's rock & roll.
The morning after: Tamika tells Harmony the reason she can't remember a thing about her night because her drink was spiked with a "roofie" - the slang name for the drug Rohypnol. Sometimes known as the date rape drug, Rohypnol causes sleepiness and memory loss, and is tasteless so can't be detected in a spiked drink. For advice on keeping safe whilst out drinking, see the Radio
OneLife site.
Cult credits: Danielle Nicolet, here playing Tamika, has previously appeared on cult shows Stargate SG-1 and Third Rock from the Sun.
Review:
After the apocalyptic angst and family dram of recent episodes, it's good to get back to a little comedy - especially if it centres around the delightfully airheaded Harmony. Mercedes McNab is a real scene-stealer this season, filling the awkward hole left by Charisma Carpenter with aplomb. No wonder she had her Angel contact extended from six to 17 episodes.
That said, Harm's Way is rather one-note - perhaps introducing a little peril would have helped to produce a more satifying episode. It's hard to care about Harmony's predicament if nobody is taking things seriously at all.
Loved the Wolfram and Hart corporate video, though. I'm not saying I'd want to work there, but it's tempting...
