Well worth a viewing, if only for the
wonderful opening credits for "Cordy!" I liked how barely-in-shot her
costars were on that show.
Watching this episode again and specifically watching for what the visions are
meant to tell Cordy, I'm thinking this is another instance of highjacking.
Wes knows about the beast rising in Reseda through an entirely different set of
prophecies, so the Powers aren't required for this one.
Rather, this entire episode actually doesn't happen. Skip -- using, presumably,
a different entree into Cordy's mind than did Fez in "That Vision
Thing" -- starts uploading code.
He uses Cordy's own points of reference -- playing on her greatest fears (that
the visions are killing her) -- illustrated by Tammy in the mall -- and her
fondest dream (American royalty as an impossibly popular sitcom star) to get
her to agree to become part demon.
I do not argue that what she gains is the presence of Jasmine. Rather, Cordy's
acceptance of demon essence is a loophole -- one she opens unwittingly by
"accepting her destiny" and "ascending to a higher plane of
existence" (getting trapped in floaty glowy world).
But I do not say it is not Jasmine. Observe: Evil Cordy always expresses
herself using her patented quips and phrases, and is never identifiably
possessed. Jasmine is clever and mercurial. If that demon essense is Jasmine,
she is housed in a mortal frame and can't play her hand too freely.
Cordy after this episode is a bit hard to read. She doesn't want to give up the
visions (because, perhaps, Jasmine has some manipulation to effect in bringing
about her final form), but she's really intent on comshuckery (Angel, Groo,
Connor -- it becomes a strong element in her storytelling). Jazz is looking to
manifest.
But I don't believe this is the case. I think Cordy was infused with demon
essence because the Powers wanted her to be. I think Skip telling her
that the Powers don't care about her is a lie -- one of several.
In Skip talking to her, gaining her trust and her confidence -- while showing
her deeply misleading things (exactly that bit of Angel's conversation with the
Powers) -- all leading up to her accepting demon essence -- he seems to be
working his own agenda too. And again, Skip's working to incarcerate a black
hat does not, in and of itself, make him a white hat.
It's hard to understand -- Charisma's pregnancy forced some story-arcing that
was probably going to be handled brilliantly, and who knows what the ultimate
outcome of this infusion of demon-essence would be. Jasmine doesn't care about
saving the world from demon slugs -- unless she's worried about their depleting
her food supply -- but that glowy thing she did in "The Price" didn't
seem to be an act of volition by Cordy.
'Tis a puzzlement.
Also -- I loved seeing Phantom Dennis (however briefly) and I loved how it
doesn't occur to a team of detectives to look under the bed. It did, of course,
give Phantom Dennis a way to contribute, and it upheld the suggestion that being
alive is better than being dead.
Angel's conversation with the Powers was sloppy -- Angel doesn't believe these
things about Cordy that he's saying. He's telling them demonstrably untrue
things that have nothing anymore to do with the Cordy we've watched grow up
from "Welcome to the Hellmouth." That was synthetic artifice and
unconvincing as storytelling.
Fortunately it was brief and passed quickly.
And ... probably didn't really happen (although some of Angel's rant took place
exterior to her perception -- so it well might have.)
The parallels to "It's a Wonderful Life" hardly bear mentioning.
And really, without all of this analysis, "Birthday" is a wild
episode with a lot of action, a lot of storytelling, and huge implications for
subsequent seasons. If only ...
... but then again: Ambiguity can be fun.