I just don't get it.

[luna]

There is only one thing in Buffy/Angel that I do not get. It has bugged me for years. When Buffy has flashes that she is in a looney ben and is getting a needle stuck into her (or a demons spike thing) is she really insane and made up the world of slaying/sunnydale? Or is that really just an illusion brought on by the demon stabbing her? Personally I always thought she really died in that ep. and was crazy. Judging by the end of it. The last shot is of her sitting dead in the corner.

[Enisy]

It's open to interpretation, but Joss said that he, personally, thought the Sunnydale world was real, not all in her head. (Although the latter theory is amusing on a metatextual level, since the story is all in someone's head: Joss's.

[BennyTheKey]

I really dont like this episode becuase its just confusing.

and when Buffy told her parents about vampires she was sent to a mental place..right? (sorry I havnt seen this episode in ages). So if that did happen why was Joyce so shocked in season 2 when Buffy told her again?. Thats whats so annoying! grr !

[Rachster]

Nov 30, 2008 8:50:59 GMT -5 BennyTheKey said:

I really dont like this episode becuase its just confusing.

and when Buffy told her parents about vampires she was sent to a mental place..right? (sorry I havnt seen this episode in ages). So if that did happen why was Joyce so shocked in season 2 when Buffy told her again?. Thats whats so annoying! grr !

Ditto to that, i usually avoid this episode when i can it's just sad and confusing AND always makes me doubt the buffyverse.

[henzINNIT]

It introduces an annoying retcon in that Buffy told her parents about vampires before and they had her put in the nut house lol, but it is possible that the backstory was part of the hallucination.

Meh take no notice of the end, it's supposed to shake you.

[XanderHarris]

If I recall the audio commentary of the episode correctly, Joss (or was it another writer?) stated that he is sorry the episode actually turned out that way, the theory of "It's all in Buffy's head" imposing on the watchers.

So, yeah, according to the episode it's all in B's head, but knowing the intention of Joss, it's not. Confusing, yeah.

[edge450]

I don't find the episode that confusing. I really like this episode.

I think her mom was so shocked when she found out in Season 2 simply because she thought she was crazy the first time Buffy told her about vampires. Then she finds out it really wasn't in Buffys head at all.

[wenxina]

Nov 30, 2008 8:35:48 GMT -5 @luna said:

The last shot is of her sitting dead in the corner.

I don't have the episode running in front of me right now, but I don't think that Buffy's dead in that shot, just catatonic. Meaning that the Sunnydale "Buffy" won.

[XanderHarris]

But the mental institution is located in LA, isn't it? The whole place "Sunnydale" is constructed in Buffy's head, so I'd say she was taken in medical care around the time she was called as a slayer.
Instead of becoming a superhero, her mom sent her to the institution.

[wenxina]

Exactly. Sunnydale was basically a construct in Buffy's mind, to allow her to fulfill her messiah complex delusions... well, at least that was the doctor's diagnosis. Also good to note, Hank and Joyce were not divorced, and there was no Dawn.

[BennyTheKey]

Nov 30, 2008 10:22:14 GMT -5 wenxina said:

Exactly. Sunnydale was basically a construct in Buffy's mind, to allow her to fulfill her messiah complex delusions... well, at least that was the doctor's diagnosis. Also good to note, Hank and Joyce were not divorced, and there was no Dawn.

Lol this is what I dont like about this stupid episode !

It makes the buffyverse just unreal...however saying that....Buffy couldnt imagine the Angelverse as well could she? so that semi proves that the real Buffy was never in a mental institute, and was under the influence of the demon...

If that makes sense to anyone else..I will give out Karma!

[edge450]

Nov 30, 2008 10:14:59 GMT -5 XanderHarris said:

But the mental institution is located in LA, isn't it? The whole place "Sunnydale" is constructed in Buffy's head, so I'd say she was taken in medical care around the time she was called as a slayer.
Instead of becoming a superhero, her mom sent her to the institution.

Yeah, that's what the demons whatsit poison was making her think.

[wenxina]

I wasn't suggesting that one reality is more "real" than the other, but that episode was interesting in that it took a premise that we had all taken for granted in the show (i.e. vampires, demons, and Slayers are real) and turned it on its head, giving a "what if?" scenario, in which Buffy was merely a delusional girl.
It is however, as Enisy pointed out, quite open-ended, in which it was up to you to decide which reality was indeed real.
But what made the episode quite necessary in this case was for Buffy to make a choice. She could either go back to being a regular girl, with two loving parents (Hank is pretty MIA in the Buffyverse), or she could choose to go on living in a world with Willow, Xander, Dawn, Giles, etc. That very world which post-heaven Buffy calls hell. And she makes that choice... to continue living in hell, doing the "hardest thing"; i.e. to live in that world.

That said, there are some interesting parallels to be drawn with Dana, the deranged Slayer in "Damaged" (S5, Angel).

[magicegidius]

I cannot add anything wenxina...you're totally, totally right.

[amuk]

Nov 30, 2008 10:03:23 GMT -5 wenxina said:

I don't think that Buffy's dead in that shot, just catatonic. Meaning that the Sunnydale "Buffy" won.

Precisely. wenxina's nailed it here. This is one of my favourite episodes of S6, in part because it does leave the answer open. It's not exactly a brand-spanking-new plot idea, but it's done brilliantly, not least because it serves a vital storytelling purpose: it finalizes the season-long subplot of

SPOILER: Click to show

Buffy not wanting to be back on Earth after being removed from heaven

when she consciously and knowingly chooses her duties and her friends over the (much more attractive) normal life the 'delusion' offers.

Leaving it ambiguous at the end is one of those little grace notes that, for me, separates Whedon work from lesser practicioners who aren't as gutsy about possibly making fans mad.

[kimtaro]

Normal Again is one of my favorite episodes, and I like to think that Buffy really is delusional in a sanitarium.

But you can really go either way with it. I can believe that after years, they finally found something that helped bring Buffy out of her comatose state and she had to struggle with what was real. It makes me sad that she chooses Sunnydale

I think that would have been a great episode to end the series with

[hitnrun017]

I enjoy the episode, the scene where Buffy goes after Dawn is one of my favorites of the series, but there is one moment when I just want to throw something at the television:

Buffy: "I stopped talking about it and they let me go. Eventually my parents just... forgot."

Absolutely ridiculous writing. Buffy mentions fighting vampires to Joyce in Witch and Bad Eggs, but most importantly, what parent would forget about about their daughter being in a mental institution?

[Hallow Thorn]

Like henz said "but it is possible that the backstory was part of the hallucination." Thats how I see it..

[luna]

I still think that she is in a made up world. I honestly think that Buffy was totally insane. I mean the episode kinda suggests it doesn't it.

[bitsy]

I hate this episode simply for that ending. There was just no need. I don't need the possibility that the whole show is Buffy's delusion. The thing is the ending does not seem ambiguous at all. It ends with Buffy in the mental institution!

...wtf...