Buffy Season Six...better than I remembered.

[RoJoHen]

"Normal Again" isn't a terrible episode, but I think it would have made a lot more sense in one of the earlier seasons, especially before "Angel" started. The existence of "Angel" definitely ruins the "what if" moment at the end.

The really good stuff is returning soon, so yay!

 

[Skywalker]

Pfft, everyone knows that Angel doesn't count and Buffy is the only one of the two shows that actually matters.

 

[cultcross]

"Normal Again" isn't a terrible episode, but I think it would have made a lot more sense in one of the earlier seasons, especially before "Angel" started. The existence of "Angel" definitely ruins the "what if" moment at the end.

I agree, it would have been well-placed in season 3, I always felt.

 

[RoJoHen]

"Normal Again" isn't a terrible episode, but I think it would have made a lot more sense in one of the earlier seasons, especially before "Angel" started. The existence of "Angel" definitely ruins the "what if" moment at the end.

I agree, it would have been well-placed in season 3, I always felt.

That said, it does fit in better with the general gloominess of Season 6.

 

[Ethros]

I suppose it's a similar thing with DS9: Far Beyond The Stars, where at the end Sisko wonders if they're all just part of Benny Russell's dream.
I guess he also dreams of TOS, TNG, VOY and ENT too then

 

[Hermiod]

I suppose it's a similar thing with DS9: Far Beyond The Stars, where at the end Sisko wonders if they're all just part of Benny Russell's dream.
I guess he also dreams of TOS, TNG, VOY and ENT too then

Tommy Westphall. All of it.

 

[DS9Continuing]

I like how they hinted that Buffy being in the institution may in fact be reality at the end.

But they didn't. They didn't hint that at all. And yet everyone seems to think they did.

Or at least, it wasn't their intention to. The last scene in the asylum is placed after they decide to give her the antidote, but before they actually administer it. So that means it is still the same delusion caused by the Gurgle Wurgle Monster. I read something where the creators said they didn't expect or intend it to be interpreted the way everybody seems to have done so.

Still, I understand that art is in the space between the creator and viewer, so just because it wasn't intended that way doesn't mean it can't be seen that way. But still, it was not the creators' intention to suggest that all of Buffy and all of Angel are inside a crazy girl's head.

 

[RoJoHen]

The last scene in the asylum is placed after they decide to give her the antidote, but before they actually administer it.

The antidote...which also exists in Crazy Buffy's head. Really, it could go either way.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I like how they hinted that Buffy being in the institution may in fact be reality at the end.

But they didn't. They didn't hint that at all. And yet everyone seems to think they did.

Or at least, it wasn't their intention to.

I base my statement partially on the fact that I read somewhere Joss Whedon said (half-jokingly, of course) that the end in fact is reality and the whole series is in fact Buffy's fantasy as a basket case. Apparently people actually believed him and were freaking about that for a period (to his amusement).

I like the opinion I'm seeing that this episode seemed like it was part of or could have fit in an earlier season. I think that's part of why I like it so much...even though it is the nerds who set up the conflict, to me it feels very much separate from the rest of the season, and since I don't like most of the continuity of the season, that's a plus in my view.

 

[RoJoHen]

This bothered me the first time I saw the episode, and now it's bothering me again...when the hell did Buffy and Xander develop telepathy? I know the Willow had used it before, but that was when she was being all witchy. But all of a sudden the 3 of them can just telepathically talk to each other?

 

[CorporalClegg]

The whole telepathy thing was a plot card they only played when they had to. It was really random and inconsistent. I guess they didn't want it to become a crutch.

Supposedly whole "bond" was created during Primeval so Xander was included.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Buffy and Xander aren't telepathic - just Willow is able to magically effect telepathy, and she made the connection between the three of them. I thought that was perfectly clear, since she had done exactly the same thing in "The Gift," "Bargaining" and "Showtime." The Primeval spell had nothing to do with it, because she used it with Spike and Tara aswell.

 

[RoJoHen]

Buffy and Xander aren't telepathic - just Willow is able to magically effect telepathy, and she made the connection between the three of them. I thought that was perfectly clear, since she had done exactly the same thing in "The Gift," "Bargaining" and "Showtime." The Primeval spell had nothing to do with it, because she used it with Spike and Tara aswell.

The reason I thought it was weird in this particular episode is because Buffy is the one who makes the initial connection, not Willow.

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Yeah. And the whole Primeval reference was per Marti Noxon.

 

[DS9Continuing]

Buffy and Xander aren't telepathic - just Willow is able to magically effect telepathy, and she made the connection between the three of them. I thought that was perfectly clear, since she had done exactly the same thing in "The Gift," "Bargaining" and "Showtime." The Primeval spell had nothing to do with it, because she used it with Spike and Tara aswell.

The reason I thought it was weird in this particular episode is because Buffy is the one who makes the initial connection, not Willow.

Well, okay... maybe Buffy just "thought" at Willow really really hard and hoped that Willow would pick it up with her special psychic powers.

 

[AJBryant]

Tommy Westphall. All of it.

 

[CaptMurdock]

Me too. It's actually my favourite season because it is dark and deals with issues that everyone can relate to but doesn't want to

Hey, it's got "Once More With Feeling," it's got "Spuffy," it's got the effective suggestion that Buffy's entire absurd "reality" is just a delusion - what's not to like?

Well, for one thing..."Spuffy." Wrong on more levels than I really care to enumerate right now. Even several Spike fans say it was wrong. And that whole reveal at the very end -- "I make you what you once were...I give you back your soul" -- does that make a bit of sense? That Spike would go on a quest to get his soul back?

I could live with Willow going mad with power (although the magic-as-crack metaphor was the definition of "ham-handed") but killing Tara to tip her over the edge was inexcusable. And c'mon, a stray bullet through the window? On Buffy? That's akin to someone on Star Trek getting killed during a bank robbery!

 

[Kelthaz]

I could live with Willow going mad with power (although the magic-as-crack metaphor was the definition of "ham-handed") but killing Tara to tip her over the edge was inexcusable. And c'mon, a stray bullet through the window? On Buffy? That's akin to someone on Star Trek getting killed during a bank robbery!

It's even worse when you consider the angle. The bullet hitting Tara wasn't unlikely -- it was impossible. I know Joss likes to hurt fan favourites, but if you have to defy the laws of physics to do so you're going too far.

 

[Lindley]

does that make a bit of sense? That Spike would go on a quest to get his soul back?

Actually, yes. His logic in doing so is a bit twisted, but he was in a rather twisted place at the time. As he said, he's caught halfway between being a monster and a man....unable to really fit in either world. He'd been trying for a long time to go the monster route, but after hitting rock bottom with Buffy, he realized he also had the option of trying the other direction.

The writers hid the twist well, but it all adds up if you know what's what going in.

And c'mon, a stray bullet through the window? On Buffy? That's akin to someone on Star Trek getting killed during a bank robbery!

I think that was the entire point of doing it that way.

 

[Ethros]

It's even worse when you consider the angle. The bullet hitting Tara wasn't unlikely -- it was impossible. I know Joss likes to hurt fan favourites, but if you have to defy the laws of physics to do so you're going too far.

A second gunman?
The grassy knoll???