Harmony arrives in LA trying to get over a bad break-up (with Spike) and decides to reunite with old friend Cordelia, who doesn't know her old associate is now a vampire.

It's curious that characters arriving in Angel after a stint on Buffy always seem to come across far better in LA. After Wesley, Faith and even, to an extent, Buffy on her visits, Harmony is merely the latest character to get a solid breakdown as she tries to mend her ways. Of course, this is also the first outing with the new set-up: Wesley is very much in charge, Cordelia doesn't yet trust or like Angel again, and Angel himself is following orders. It's a concept ripe for comedy, and this episode doesn't disappoint. Wesley is clearly loving every minute of ordering Angel about, and Angel's good-natured, cheery-faced helpfulness makes you love him all the more, while the others treat him like dirt. It all leads to a superb final scene where Angel makes his peace with Cordelia the only way we know will work.

It's very much Cordy's episode, and Charisma Carpenter gets some splendid material as she finds her old friend apparently coming on to her, then discovers she's a vampire, then has to work out how to help Harmony improve her lot in life. The second part is done in a beautifully written phone call with Willow, allowing Alyson Hannigan a scene-stealing cameo. And then there's Mercedes McNab. Away from Spike and a chance to be beaten by Buffy, her attempts to assist are superbly inept and brain-free, and her scenes with Cordelia are superb. Angel's irritation that a non-soul vampire is getting his good treatment makes for some laughs, her karaoke turn is wondrous and her final reversion to evil makes for a great final confrontation between two former friends.

The plot of the episode (a vampire leads others of his kind in a self-help group) is light but fun and a good antidote to the traumas of Buffy, and we get a four to 100-plus showdown that provides the requisite action. If anything Gunn gets a little frozen out, but it's not a major quibble in an episode that's constantly laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. Where next?

*****

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