Like I just said to pocochina, I don't think we have to like Cordelia in this episode (at all) to notice that up until now we've been seeing Cordy pretty much the way she sees others -- i.e. as not real and as someone whose feelings don't matter.

That said, we'll probably run into differences because Cordelia does end up being one of my favorite characters. She falls and instead of getting bitter, she gets better. For now, it doesn't bother me that she's got zero empathy because she's never experienced any pain, and because she's been raised as the queen. It's that she doesn't let that initial molding define her that I appreciate. (Just the way that I appreciate that this episode invites us to not let the initial framing of Cordy as a caricature be the last word on us either).