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Date Posted: 15:28:41 02/05/04 Thu
Author: wwolfe
Author Host/IP: 161.149.63.110
Subject: The West Coast Review: Cordelia Chase: When I Liked Her and When I Didn't

I heartily enjoyed Cordelia in Seasons One and Two of "Buffy." She was a fresh depiction of a certain type, the spoiled rich kid, made specific to Southern California and the late Nineties in the writing, and given a fresh presence by Charisma Carpenter. She got the first great line in the show's history ("Willow - nice to see your mom's found the softer side of Sear's"), and remained a reliable source of the funny snark, the funnier oblivious self-involvement, and a surprising yet believable common sense (believable because it flowed from the same sense of unabashed, "the shortest distance between two points" bluntness that fed her Queen C self-love). This last was perhaps best illustrated at the climax of "Prophecy Girl," when she's told that she and her friends need to get from the parking lot to the school library and she replies, "The library - right," before flooring it and driving through the school doors and down the hallway to the library. That was Cordy, for good and bad, in a nutshell.

What kept the character as conceived from being too cold and brittle, and thus becoming tiresome over the long haul, was the vulnerability we could see in Charisma Carpenter's performance. I don't know if this was acting technique or simply her own persona coming through the camera lens, but in the world of film and TV acting, it doesn't really matter - this kind of ability to project emotion is worth more than any technique. It's this quality, I think, in combination with the wonderful tartness of the character's humor, that allowed Cordy to be such a fan favorite.

In the Third Season, the character was saddled with the task of treating another fan favorite, Xander, with a nearly unremitting hostility, post-split. Over the length of the second half of the season, this wore thin; it also deprived Charisma of the chance to reveal the occasional moments of warmth and vulnerability that made the character more well-rounded than is usual with this type. In the end, this mistake was more or less saved by her reaction to Xander's buying her the dress for Prom, allowing the character to end her run on "Buffy" as something very close to a total success, in both conception and execution.

For me, this continued through the first two seasons of "Angel." During this time, the writers even managed the always tricky job of allowing her to "grow as a person." (Just exactly WHY this is usually seen as a good thing is a question for another time: did any of us really want Groucho to "grow as a person," after all?) She was able to show an increased awareness of other people's problems, and also act as Angel's bullshit detector, while maintaining her essentially humorous self-involvement.

The problems for Cordelia as a character, and for me as a fan, started when it was decided that she should become Noble-With-a-Capitol-"N" at some point late in Season Two or early in Season Three. It could very well be that nobility is the single most tedious quality that can be projected by any actor. Exposure to this trait for any prolonged time fills one with the intense desire to hit the perpetrator in the kisser with a cream pie. Or at least to yell, "Oh, knock it off!" in a loud, passionate voice. In Cordelia's case, changing her into Miss Noble went beyond tedium to feeling like an act of betrayal: this wonderful comic character, whose very essence was a rejection of PC cant (her definitive line was, after all, "Tact is just not saying stuff that's true;" taken in combination with "What - I can't have layers?," her entire character can be understood), ought never, ever, ever to be forced to act noble.

Worse still was the contrived Great Love that sprung up out of nowhere between Cordelia and Angel. I say this not because I was a died-in-the-wool Buffy/Angel fan, but because these two went together like barbecue sauce on tapioca pudding. Beyond the complete lack of chemistry, it's difficult to think of another romance that struck me as so utterly contrived and out of character for both parties. It seemed to me then, and it still seems to me now, that Joss was acting on the lesson he'd learned from his near-death experience in Season One of "Buffy": "As God is my witness, my shows will never go without romance again." An understandable lesson to have learned, given his history, but badly misapplied to these characters.

Sadly, the botched Great Love wasn't the low point for Cordelia. That began with the last episode of Season Three. Speaking as one who has watched hundreds of thousands of hours of TV, much of it crapola of the most spectacular kind, I say with no exaggeration and complete sincerity: Cordy's Shaft O' Light was the single most jaw-dropping moment I've ever seen on TV.

HO-

LY-

CRAP.

And from there, things got really funky.

I don't know what went on behind the scenes between Joss and Charisma, and I really don't want to know. I do know what wound up on the screen, whatever the motive or reason, and I found it one of the saddest desecrations of a likable, interesting character that I've suffered through. At the end of something like that, the only sensible thing is to throw in the towel. Which is what happened, thankfully. (I don't know who was the towel and who was the thrower in this scenario, but it ultimately doesn't matter, so long as the effect was that Cordy and her fans need suffer no more.)

Which brings us to last night's episode. I'm glad they brought back Cordy - it would have been petty and crass to just leave her in the coma forever, given the circumstances of Charisma's exit. I was curious as to which of the various Cordelias we'd see, and it turned out that we got a quick tour of them all: Snarky Cordy (high point of the episode: her telling Eve she didn't remember speaking to her - yeah, baby!); Level-Headed, Mature, But Still Funny Cordy (some of the last scene with Angel); Noble Cordy (the remainder of that last scene, as well as unfortunate moments scattered through the episode); and at least a reference to FUBAR'd Cordy from last season. What was once good remained good, and what once blew, still blew.

The ending has inspired a split in reactions. Some found it poignant, others found it disrespectful. I fall in the former group. For me, the real farewell was her talk with Angel, and it was, for the most part, worthy of the character. Had Cordelia been wounded in the fight between Angel and Lindsey, and then said the same words to Angel as he cradled her wounded body in her arms before expiring with a sigh, it would have certainly been a much bigger, dramatic exit. But for me that would have been too dramatic - melodramatic, in fact - whereas the ending we saw was all the more effective for being understated. I found her silent disappearance to be very poetic, and lifelike: my best friend's dad lay down on the couch before dinner a week or two ago; when his wife came to get him, he'd died. No big drama, he was just gone, in much the same way that Cordelia left. In this case, a quiet ripple on the water's surface affected me more than a giant wave crashing on the shore would have.

I'm enjoying "Angel" this season for the first time in two years. Fred and Gunn still seem like vestigial organs, and Wes is being criminally underused, and Spike hasn't been given a purpose yet (give James his own show, for Pete's sake - it would be better for everyone). But despite these weaknesses, the show has a strong foundation this year in its examination of the questions of whether evil means can be used to do good and, if so, what effect does that have on the persons doing it. Unlike last year, when the effects of dropping LSD in the writers' water cooler appeared to be the central theme, these questions have already yielded some very rewarding work. The character of Cordelia (and, perhaps, the relationship between Charisma and Joss) being too badly damaged to salvage, it was wise to give her a graceful exit. I think this episode did, and for that I'm grateful.

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Replies:

[> when i actually see the episode... -- shk24, 15:52:42 02/05/04 Thu (208.17.34.25)

i will respond in more detail, but from what i have read so far, i am very encouraged about cordy's curtain call.

she was among my favorite characters from both the buffy and angel worlds. and while i was not nearly as offended with her relationship with angel, i do feel what they did to her in the end was criminal.

as for angel this year, i find it as strong as any season since buffy/season 1. i have no problem with fred and gunn as they both play a role but not too much of one. spike's role may not be totally defined yet but there is no question he will factor largely into the outcome at the end of this season. as for wes, i look at him like giles, he always delivers and they should probably use him a little more than they do. but if they used him too much, they run the risk of either him overshadowing the main character(same with james) or him just becoming annoying. similar to your thoughts on noble cordy...


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[> [> Re: when i actually see the episode... -- firechiLd, 20:21:10 02/05/04 Thu (203.48.107.226)

I'm sure you're hanging on to this review, and I will get it off you to read after I've seen the ep.

Thanks also for your thoughts regarding Xander. I thought he might be the character you focused on. I have not thought about the core Scoobies myself, because of the staggering number of choices, but the eps you chose were perfect.

And don't worry about the delay. We had a bad storm last Friday, which blew over a rather large tree that took out 2 power poles in our street leaving us without power for 36 hours, and without cable internet until the 21st of February. So I'm reduced to checking email's and the Net when I'm here at work, making delays inevitable.


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[> [> [> Re: when i actually see the episode... -- wwolfe, 23:15:35 02/05/04 Thu (216.244.2.213)

I've saved it to my Draft file. Just let me know when you're ready to see it and I'll send it to you.

I'm glad the damage from the store wasn't even more serious. Sounds pretty wild, as is.


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[> i wasn't disappointed... -- shk24, 08:52:26 02/10/04 Tue (208.17.34.25)

i thought overall they handled it with a lot of class and humor, with a healthy side of queen c thrown in for good measure...

i too have no idea what happened between joss & charisma and nor do i really care, the best thing for all involved was to have her leave this way. although, i couldn't help but think that as good as this season is, having the "old" cordy back might make it even better. but i also realize that there is way too much water under that bridge...

as to how she left, i found it entirely appropriate. a big, dramatic, die in your arms ending would have been way over the top and would have cheapened the good that came from this episode. while they had to mention the shaft of light debacle etc, it wasn't dwelled upon. i also like that when angel explained to cordy about connor, she just accepted it rather than making a judgement one way or another...

other tidbits: i loved the doyle stuff, i remember not being to sure about the choice of becky's husband(from roseanne) to play the character but i was completely wrong, so it was nice to be reminded; i hope eve is gone for good, there is nothing more she could bring to a storyline(not that she brought that much before); and i think we should see the end of lindsey too, not because i don't like the actor or character, i just don't think there is a purpose is bringing him back again either...

as i said, all in all i think it was really well done, this week's previews left me a little confused but we'll see how it plays out...


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[> [> Re: i wasn't disappointed... -- wwolfe, 14:24:04 02/10/04 Tue (161.149.63.100)

"i couldn't help but think that as good as this season is, having the "old" cordy back might make it even better. but i also realize that there is way too much water under that bridge..."

That's exactly how I felt, too.

I think this week's episode will either be fun, or totally nutty.


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[> [> [> Re: i wasn't disappointed... -- shk24, 17:35:28 02/10/04 Tue (208.17.34.25)

this week should be interesting if nothing else...one thing i have learned watching previews is that they rarely give you any true indication of what the episode is about.


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