Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy has a sister. What?!
Dawn, Buffy's sister, is causing a few problems for the Slayer as she needs taking care of, seemingly full time given her habit of getting into mischief. When the gang head to the Magic Shop for supplies, Willow quite literally falls over the dead body of the owner. It's a vamp attack, announcing a new squad in town who are researching the Slayer and have a fondness for ceramic unicorns. Yes, Harmony's back in town and she wants a showdown with Buffy, but is thwarted when the Slayer happens to be on a date when Harmony calls for her. Dawn, being Dawn, inadvertently invites her in and the vamp returns later to kidnap the sister and lure Buffy into a trap.
So, Dawn's arrived. I'm going to get the negative stuff out of the way first because, Dawn aside, this episode is a joy. The new little sister? Not so much. God, Dawn's narration is horrible. Just gratingly irritating. And I think it jars so much because, at this stage, it feels like such a caricature of how a teen girl speaks, which is something the show has never done. The teenage characters of Buffy, Willow and Xander never fell into that trap of feeling cliched or sketched. Even Cordelia had layers. Real Me is not the best first impression of the character we could have had, though I know it's the sibling relationship that they clearly needed to set up. It just feels clumsy given how much of a mystery Dawn still is.
Which brings me nicely on to the positive aspect about Dawn; the writers have just dropped her in there. She got a few seconds in the last episode and now everyone in the show is acting like she's always been there. It's a clever, brave move and instantly gets the audience speculating about where this annoying, diary-writing teen has come from. There's not much of a hint to what she is here, just that she will become something, but the encounter with the mad, homeless man offers up a neat callback to Faith's prophecy of Dawn's arrival back in Graduation Day. He calls her "Curds and whey," referencing "Little Miss Muffet, counting down from 7-3-0."
Positives for the rest of the episode are numerous and mainly revolve around how hilarious it is. From Giles' brand new, shiny red penis car to Buffy's reaction to finding out that Harmony has minions. And then there's Harmony herself. I love that Harmony's plans seem to be taken from the ideas whiteboard of a crappy Bond villain, that she's got the management skills of Michael Scott and the villainous presence of a poodle. Mercedes McNab's comic timing is spectacular here and her sparring with Sarah Michelle Gellar ranks amongst the funniest of Buffy's exchanges with villains.
We also have the second big plot development of the fifth season as Giles decides to buy the Magic Shop, despite Buffy's understandable concern that Magic Shop owners have a very limited shelf life. The fourth season did suffer from having a particular location that the Scoobies could be based out of; Giles' place is lovely, but I always got the impression that everything was a bit cramped in there. Now, we'll have the Magic Shop, a nice training room for Buffy and plenty of magical items for hijinks.
Thankfully, there is enough about Real Me to love in the face of the annoyingly whiny teenager plonked into the middle of it. I understand why they drop Dawn into the midst of everything so equally, and why they do make her so irritating, but boy is it a culture shock.
Quote of the Week:
Harmony: So Slayer! At last we meet.
Buffy: We've met, Harmony, you halfwit.
Inventive Kill: Buffy slays Mort with a unicorn horn. Cabin in the Woods, eat your heart out. Um, not literally.
Let's Get Trivial: Michelle Trachtenberg's updated status from her first appearance in the show to series regular is the fastest in the series' history, appearing in just one episode before promotion. The show will now set the record for highest number of main cast members (8) until Riley leaves in Into The Woods.
Sunnydale Who's Who: Tom Lenk, who plays a Harmony minion, will return next season to play Tucker's brother... I mean, Andrew.
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Buffy vs. Dracula, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles magically combined to take down Adam and the Initiative, invoking the power of the First Slayer to do so.
Usually this is the point of the review where I give you all a little plot breakdown to remind you of what goes on in the episode. It might not be all the details, but just enough to jog your memory. For Restless, there's not really a whole lot of plot to sum up; Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles settle in for a night of movies after they take down the Initiative, still feeling wired. Alas, they upset the First Slayer with their spell and she tries to kill them in their dreams. That's pretty much it, but the meat of Restless does not lie within its plot, but rather in everything else.
It would be absolutely impossible for me to talk about all the things I love or that are of note in Restless because it's so densely packed with thematic content, character exploration and that all important Buffy hallmark of foreshadowing. Dreams in this world have always functioned as a form of prophecy, particularly for Buffy herself, so it's fitting that we have one such narrative entirely constructed around what has been and what is coming takes place within a dreamscape. It's an episode that only gets richer on repeat viewings as a result, something which many instalments can boast, but not to quite the same levels. Later watches tend to be reference spotting, but my first watch was mainly revelling in how surreal and comical everything felt. A prime example is Buffy offering Xander popcorn:
"Butter flavour?"
"New car smell."
It's also an episode that gets a lot funnier when you've seen Death of a Salesman. Many dream sequences in television often feel a little too well crafted to really embody the random twists and turns dreams can take. Restless manages to keep that sense of unpredictability for the most part; it's tautly wound chaos, capable of spinning off in different directions as required. Whilst it's very amusing to hear these exchanges and to witness the kind of bonkers delights Whedon comes up with, there's also a lot of deeper work going on when it comes to exploring the characters and their relationships with the world around them.
Willow's dream is positively brimming over with her various neuroses, but also foreshadowing for the character. There's even a nod back to her disastrous performance in Madame Butterfly from the first season episode, Nightmares. The big theme across her dream is the idea of her true self and people (including a cameo-ing Oz) make references to others finding out who she really is. The end of her dream indicates she still feels like the high school geek that everyone makes fun of behind her back. However, in hindsight, it's easy to see those comments as nods towards her future as a powerful, and briefly evil, witch and her addiction to magic that she works hard to keep hidden from everyone. Tara also notes that we don't know everything about her yet, something which will crop up again in the episode Family.
The erotic element to Xander's dream speaks a lot to how he's always treated the women around him, mainly that they're sex objects, even, perhaps disturbingly, Buffy's mom. Additionally, it also demonstrates his own feeling of inadequacy in the face of them, how he feels stuck in his basement and that he's of no help to his friends. The military aspect of his dream builds out from the history of the character as well as becoming another system in which he feels trapped. As if to really make the point that his journey is dark and aimless, there's Snyder at the end of it to confirm how pointless he is in the scheme of things. But he's the 'comfortador', a role that will become increasingly important in the show's later seasons.
Giles' dream is perhaps the clearest, simply because his role in the show is relatively straight-forward. He's the father figure for Buffy and their fairground night out in the cemetery reiterates that for everyone. Even his antagonistic relationships have an element of the paternal in them, such as his scene with Spike on the swings (Spike's wearing the suit he'd later wear in Tabula Rasa as well as Giles commenting that he's like a son to him). His big moment of the episode though is the classic Exposition Song (look out for composer Christophe Beck on the piano - also a quick shout-out to his awesome score), possibly Giles' greatest scene not involving a sombrero. He does his usual role of getting the audience up to speed on the episode bad guy and giving out instructions to the others, but via the medium of song (see Quote of the Week for some lyrics, obviously).
"Come on, put your back into it. A Watcher scoffs at gravity!"
Buffy's dream is the most important one when it comes to foreshadowing and as such, definitely didn't make very much sense upon first viewing. Her conversations with Tara, representing herself and the First Slayer, hint to Buffy's path for the fifth season. She's referred to as 'killer' several times by Riley, who goes on to leave her on her own. A lot of the fourth season has been exploring the successes and weaknesses inherent in being a Slayer with friends. Despite the magical joining spell that saw them all make up and take down evil last week, the message here is that Buffy, at the end, will be on her own. Tara cryptically states: "You think you know... What's to come... What you are. You haven't even begun" hinting towards Buffy's exploration of her Slayer heritage in the coming season.
The source of Buffy's power will become increasingly important now as the seasons develop and of course, there's a new character on the horizon: "Be back before Dawn..." Not only that, but we also have another nod to Buffy's impending demise, something which might not be apparent to any first time viewers of the episode. The focus on the incorrect clock in Buffy's room is a deliberate reference to her death. Back in her Graduation Day dream, Faith warns of something "counting down to 7-3-0." Buffy would die approximately 730 days after that initial warning. When Tara states that the clock is wrong, she is indicating that Buffy no longer has 730 days.
Hush was probably the moment when Buffy the Vampire Slayer truly started to embrace the more experimental aspect, but it's Restless that really runs with it, producing a season finale that is both wholly unconventional and entirely fantastic. It's a bold move to put something like this as a finale and it's a complete oddball of an episode, but it's an experiment that pays dividends for fans returning to the show. And so we come to the end of this season, which is the most consistently inconsistent of Buffy's entire run. When the story has focused on the Initiative, the interest waned, but episodes like Hush, Something Blue and Pangs keep the show going and Restless is the surrealist icing on the cake.
So after saying it would be impossible to talk about everything in this episode, I managed to give it a damn good go. It's hard to do it justice really, so layered is it as a piece of work. But what's this? I didn't mention the Cheese Man. He wears the cheese. It does not wear him.
Quote of the Week:
Giles: "I've got to warn Buffy / there's every chance she might be next / And Xander and Willow / Try not to bleed on my couch / I've just had it steam-cleaned..."
Let's Get Trivial: This is the show's only episode to begin straight away with the opening titles and not with a cold open.
Demonology 101: This is only the first appearance of the First Slayer. She will return later when Buffy embarks on her vision quest to learn more about her origins.
Sunnydale Who's Who: Originally this episode was to feature far more cameos than it eventually ended up with (just Oz, Olivia, Harmony and Snyder). Those supposed to appear were Jenny Calendar, Larry, Faith and Amy, with Angel and Cordelia having been written into the episode only to be taken out again once scheduling with Angel became too difficult.
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Primeval, here.
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Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy and the gang have been running into mysterious commando types around campus who seem to have a yen for kidnapping vampires, including Harmony's very own Blondie Bear, Spike.
Spike wakes up from his kidnapping in a sterile, white kind of cage with electrified glass and is one of several in a row. It turns out he's being held captive at what appears to be a demon-hunting and experimentation facility. When he manages to escape, he starts a manhunt across campus that also involves one disgruntled Buffy. She's been at a party trying to cheer up Willow and dealing with goofy attempts at flirting from Riley, who has figured out he has a crush on everyone's favourite slayer. He doesn't know her secret, but nor does she know his; Riley just happens to be one of those commando types and is also on the hunt for Spike.
The Initiative is mostly a filler episode, designed to fill in some gaps in audience knowledge and advance the narrative for the season. Relationships start with Riley and Buffy, Willow starts to get her mojo back a little and Giles and Xander still feel a little out of sorts, given everyone else is college-based. The big reveal is, of course, Riley and Maggie Walsh's involvement in The Initiative and it's very existence beneath the university, though the series wisely keeps the majority of information around it hidden for now. On repeated viewings, it's easy to see those mechanics at work, like watching a chess master move their pieces across the board without ever really making an aggressive move.
However, I do have a real soft spot for this episode because it's more character work than anything else. Riley steps into the spotlight for a start and, though I know he's a character near-universally reviled, but I love him in Season 4. He's a kind of all-American goofball that the series doesn't use very often, precisely because he's one of the popular, bright kids who never seems to struggle.
Whedon's focus is rarely on those people because he's much more interested in those on the fringes. Riley's scenes with Willow's carry an adorable teen comedy's innocence to them and it's always nice when the show steps back a gear like that. Alyson Hannigan makes the most of her lines and her delivery is pitch perfect, especially the line where she threatens Riley with beating him to death with a shovel if he hurts Buffy, followed by a cheery "now go have fun!"
Riley also brings a traditional idea of masculinity in line with the show's ongoing critical undercutting of gender roles and presentations; he's tall, strong and gentlemanly, though there's hints already that he's not one for understanding women who can take care of themselves. When Buffy questions him on it, his immediate response is to say that women should be protected. Naturally, it doesn't go down very well and Sarah Michelle Gellar's reactive expression is gold.
Elsewhere in the episode, ideas of masculine virility become associated with Spike's ability to bite people. His scene with Willow, in which we discover he can no longer bite people without an intense headache, is one of those on the nose metaphor scenes that the show can often do so well, but sometimes get a little wrong. Here, Spike's lack of bite is played as an erectile dysfunction metaphor, after his attempt to bite Willow is played like an attempted rape. It makes the moments after where everything is played for laughs quite disturbing. The jokes are too awkward to land properly and despite the best efforts of Hannigan and Marsters, it doesn't work at all.
The episode does redeem itself though by having one of the most epic subversions of its own conventions take place during the story. Fight scenes have quite a specific build-up in Buffy; insults are exchanged, one liners fired out, the score swells to a dramatic crescendo and the fights are choreographed to look pretty spectacular despite the lack of budget. All of this takes place as Xander and Harmony meet. Well, everything apart from the martial arts. If you ever wondered what a fight between a vampire and a human without any kind of fighting skills would look like, this scene is for you. It's hair-pulling, face-hitting, shin-kickingly hilarious, especially when it takes place in slo-mo.
Though I still love it, The Initiative functions as a microcosm of how the fourth season eventually plays out itself. There's some great high points in the there, but there are also moments that really kinda suck. Also, I should probably prepare you for more Riley Finn defences as the season goes on. Sorry.
Quote of the Week (for Anthony Head's perfect line delivery):
Xander: Every man faces this moment. Here. Now. Watching, waiting for an unseen enemy that has no face. Nerve endings screaming in silence. Never knowing which thought might be your last...
Giles: Oh, shut up!
Let's Get Trivial: This is the first time that the main credits cast has changed during the mid-season; Seth Green is removed after Oz's departure whilst James Marsters is promoted to a regular, where he'll stay for the rest of the series.
Demonology 101: One of the demons spied in the Initiative bunker is the same one which Buffy kills at the start of The Wish with a "knurf"
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at previous episode, Wild at Heart, here.
Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy and Willow are now roommates after Buffy's former roommate, Kathy, turned out to be a transdimensional demon. Giles remains unemployed and Xander is back living in his parents' basement. Angel is now in LA and Buffy has caught the eye of Parker Abrams, another student of UC Sunnydale.
After his drunken shenanigans in Lover's Walk, Spike returns to Sunnydale with the newly-vamped Harmony. She promptly attacks Willow and reveals herself to the gang. Spike is searching for something underneath Sunnydale and is trying to keep a low profile, but Harmony's demanding ways soon give him away. Meanwhile, Buffy's relationship with Parker develops and sadly, she doesn't realise he's a complete sleazeball before she sleeps with him. Anya also returns to renew her relationship with Xander and takes a little further than he was expecting.
After the first couple of bedding in episodes, The Harsh Light of Day is where the fourth season starts to move forward, re-introducing fan favourite Spike to the proceedings as he'll go on to become increasingly important. His arrival back in Sunnydale is not quite as beer happy as his previous one, but he has once again dispensed with Dru and is on the search for the Gem of Amarra, a ring which would render him impervious to any kind of harm. His relationship with Harmony is easily the funniest part of the episode as she regularly foils her Blondie Bear's plans. That is until he starts verbally abusing her and it gets a nasty streak fast.
Likewise, Anya's relationship with Xander takes on a similar twist as the pair have sex, instigated by Anya, allowing for a premature juice carton spurt joke. It's not on quite the same intensity level as the treatment that both Harmony and Buffy receive, but it's certainly on the same spectrum. She offers herself freely to Xander emotionally and he takes her words at face value. Xander's always been a bit of a pig when it comes to women anyway, so it's hardly surprising that he doesn't realise rejecting Anya in such a fashion is actually pretty hurtful to her.
Now, if you will allow me to get up on my soapbox for a minute, I've often seen this episode cited as an example of how Buffy is usually punished after she has sex/all sex is bad in Buffy. It has cropped up again in the recent post-Black Widow Joss Whedon backlash that claims, in a very brief summary, that the man can't write women and has been eviscerated once again for his feminism. It would be remiss of me not to engage in these topics during this rewatch and I think I'd have treated this episode differently had I watched it before the Black Widow criticisms dragged this all up again.
First of all, everyone using this episode conveniently forgets it was written by Jane Espenson, amazing woman and a personal hero of mine. Secondly, I think the one sole detail of Parker rejecting Buffy after they have had sex is the only thing that ever gets remembered about the episode, which is cherrypicking of the highest order. The entire episode revolves around women being mistreated and abused in some way.
It does not punish Buffy for having sex. Nor does it punish Anya or Harmony. What it does do is show how these women are mistreated and objectified by the men around them in a world where female sexuality is still treated as something to be mocked and shunned. And men like Parker sadly exist and exist in great numbers, especially on a university campus. The show depicting sexism is not the same as the show being sexist itself and this is something that needs to be remembered. Buffy, Anya and Harmony are used and put down again, their loneliness and neuroses taken advantage of in service of a man's needs. To paraphrase Willow in this episode, men are poopheads.
This episode is entirely a criticism of how men treat women (just as it was with sleeping with Angel) and depicts how women internalise this; the Willow and Buffy scene at the end is entirely crucial to that and again, is often gets forgotten amidst the criticisms. It is not Buffy in the wrong here and it's amazing that she can be so emotionally vulnerable as well as being physically strong. She's always been a character that wears her emotions on her sleeve and doing so here is entirely in keeping with that. It also results in a heartrending little scene as the three women wander across campus, entirely alone in their pain. It's one of the show's most relatable moments and for that, it should be remembered.
Of course, a lot of its good work with Buffy is undone again in Beer Bad, but we shall get to that shortly.
This is also the first episode to lead into a crossover proper as The Harsh Light of Day feeds into the Angel episode, Into the Dark, as Oz prepares to take the Gem of Amarra to Angel to decide what to do with at Buffy's request. Even the synergy of the names show how well planned out these crossovers are and it's going to be fun to watch the Angel episode in light of this one straight before (pun intended).
Having grown up watching Buffy and eagerly anticipated Angel's arrival in the UK, it all went a bit wrong when Channel 4 got the rights to it, didn't show the episodes at the right times to work with the crossovers with Buffy on BBC2 and then moved it to a late night slot so I couldn't watch it anymore (I was still very much under parental rule at this point). All of this means that these rewatches are the first time I'm actually watching these episodes in the order intended and I'm hoping it's going to be a much more fruitful experience than scrabbling between channels or watching DVDs many years later.
Quote of the Week:
Xander: I don't get your crazy system.
Giles: System? It's called the alphabet.
Let's Get Trivial: Sarah Michelle Gellar disagreed with Buffy sleeping with Parker, arguing that it was too soon after Angel. This has been mentioned by Joss Whedon in several interviews, but he replied to her with "you go to college, you do stupid things."
- Becky
You can read Becky's look at Living Conditions here.
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