The Harsh Light of Day
On Spike's return with new Vampiress, Harmony
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: Of course, this episode featured the triumphant return of James Marsters as Spike. James has mentioned in interviews that he felt he was brought in to replace the Cordelia part of the group dynamic. Was that really the intention?
Doug Petrie: Well we knew that he would be ‘Clockwork Oranged’ fairly early on, that he would get the chip in his brain and become like Alex in Clockwork, which I've just re-read recently. I can't watch it again, though, because it's just too much. Stanley Kubrick is absolutely my favourite director but it's very hard to sit all the way through that movie, as much as I admire it. The book I read and enjoyed, and it made me think a lot about Spike.
We knew that he was going be tamed in this involuntary way and so we knew that we had very few chances early on to make him just as bad as bad could be. Hats off to Jane Espenson: he's really dangerous in The Harsh Light of Day, both physically and emotionally. He really goes straight to Buffy's heart and squeezes it.
As for being [like Cordelia]... my recollection is that we knew that he would become kind of a part of the Scooby gang, which just as an interesting side note Sarah Michelle Gellar will be starring in the Scooby Doo movie...
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: Is that confirmed?
Doug Petrie: Yes, it's actually happening, she's clearing out her schedule. We're working it out so we can share time with our star. So we can't use the the moniker ‘Scooby Gang’ any more because she's literally a part of the Scooby Gang, in what I'm sure will be a hit motion picture. We're screwed with that! We really like that one, although personally I was getting a little, "all right let's find something new..."
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: As well as Spike, you of course brought Harmony back as well. Was this the original intention or was she kind of a fallback plan for Juliet Landau?
Doug Petrie: Yes, it was the latter, very much so. It was a brainstorm borne of necessity. I've got nothing but great things to say about Juliet Landau. I love the actress and I love the character. Her work speaks for itself. I just think very highly of her and I'm delighted that she's back because I came in on season three and missed the chance to write for Drusilla. Now I've gotten that chance and it's a joy. We couldn't get her at the time and I'm not clear on the details, but she was busy doing something else as successful actors are wont to be.
Fortunately Mercedes McNab was available and I think it was Joss who said "Hey, you know what? Harmony..." We said, "Well, we were going to do Spike and Drusilla and then couldn't," so we said, "Well, it will just be Spike" and he said, 'Harmony was turned into a vampire at the end of season three. Let's give Spike a new girlfriend."
Some really nice things happened that we weren't' prepared for. Jane is a very, very funny writer and she got a lot of comedy out of it and then the comedy is fairly built-in. David Fury also does wonderful stuff with Harmony, and a teaser for season five is that David Fury's Harmony stuff is just hysterical.
What Mercedes does that I'm very impressed with is she plays the comedy, but she also plays the pathos and you get these two layers where she's always emotionally hurt by Spike. We're kind of playing it as a joke, but it's clear she's hurt and it really is heart wrenching. She's just taking that ball and running with it about as far as you can. I'm very impressed with her, so its much more in the arena of a happy accident that worked out beautifully and has had a long happy life here.
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