Cordy and Angel's Absence

[VisionGuy]

I was just wondering,why is it that Cordelia doesn't appear in the episodes The Pack and I Robot You Jane and Angel doesn't appear in the episode Inca Mummy Girl even though they're regulars.They weren't even mentioned.I don't know if it's that there really wasn't room for them in the episodes or if the actors had something else to do.It would've been cool to see how Hyena Xander reacted to one of Cordy's insults.It would also have been nice to see Angel's reaction to Buffy having a male foreign exchange student living at her house with her.

 

[Jacklyn]

This actually happens quite often in the Buffyverse...in CWDP when Xander doesn't appear...Cordelia going on vacation in Season 3 of Angel....I think it has something to do with the episode being too full for those characters, or especially with Cordelia and Angel's shaky status as Scooby's at the time, perhaps they just weren't important to the plot.

 

[Cookie Dough]

Yea they weren't important to the plot yet. Although I wish he would have been in IMG too because you can never have to much of David Boreanaz.

 

[eponinethen]

Yeah I think it's a good thing they don't feel the need to have them in every episode just because they're regulars. If they're not needed they're not needed. It doesn't mean they're not important or interesting characters. But having them in an episode just because they're supposed to be in every single one is just pointless.

 

[Chosen 1]

The actor may not be able to appear in an episode sometimes if something important comes up e.g if a member of their family is taken ill or if they are ill themselves. That might be why they didn't apear in the episodes. Also, the character might not be needed in the episode.

 

[Slaying_Spuffy]

Wow, I didn't know Xander wasn't in an episode! Which episode was this?

 

[The Arcane]

Xander didn't appear in Conversations With Dead People, neither did Anya.

As for those early episodes in which Angel and Cordy didn't appear despite being in the opening titles, it was simply a matter of there not being any need for them in the script. In season one the main cast may have been Buffy, Willow, Giles, Xander and Cordy but because Cordy was still an outsider to the Scoobies it was often difficult to write her into the story without it seeming forced so on a couple of occasions they just didn't try.

It was the same for Angel in Inca Mummy Girl except that i believe this episode was actually written as a potential season one episode anyway, before Angel became a regular. When it was held over i guess they just decided to not try and rewrite it for the sake of shoehorning in an appearance from Angel.

 

[Angelic Slayer]

I agree with everyone in that they were probably just not needed for the plot in those episodes. The other thing that came to mind is quite often it seems, scenes in television shows do end up on the floor of the editing room, never to be seen by the audience. This is often (I'm guessing) for lack of time or what not, so maybe that could account for at least some of their absenses? I mean if they had an episode with a larger storyline (or even if they didn't I suppose) and were short on time, the scenes with the "shaky" or not nessesarily needed characters would be the first to be cut out.

Just some little babble for ya, although again, the plot itself probably has a lot to do with it.