YES! Connor's birth was some of the finest television ever. And if they'd left it as Connor was lost in another dimension, I'd have continued loving it as epic tragedy that only Joss seems capable of writing. Darla is one of my favorite characters.

I disliked what they did with Cordelia from the time they "ascended her" to a PTB. To have her come back and sleep with the son of her love interest and then go into a coma after giving birth to Yet Another Magical Baby...blergh. Even though I enjoyed seeing Gina Torres it was just odd.

I might be oversensitive about the way that shows often seem to have the hero, the sidekick, the bright researcher/scientist/exposition, and the female. For a while it looked like Fred was just another new character but unless there was back stage problems with the actress that I don't know about, the Cordy storylines just make no sense to me. The weirdness I don't like started before Charisma got pregnant.

Knowing Joss's other writing, I tend to think there was something else going on because he isn't the sort to have the one "girl" character. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt but the result of whatever it appears indistinguishable from other shows where there's only room for one 'girl' at a time.

ETA: Sorry for the edits. I always have to edit to get my thoughts clear. Writing is hard for me.