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| Writer: | Joss Whedon, Ashley Gable, and Thomas A. Swyden |
| Director: | Reza Badiyi |
| - | Quick Links |
| - | Review |
The highlight of this episode is the character development of Cordelia. The primary plot is another extremely lame one: an invisible girl causing mischief around campus. This Marci girl comes out of nowhere and I, once again, can't bring myself to care about what happens to her. This, I suppose, makes the final scene with the military guys that much more entertaining. It's almost as if the writers knew that no one cared. Anyway, Cordelia goes from being the school's resident bitch to being a slightly kinder version of resident bitch, with an aptitude for schoolwork and some impressive insights into loneliness. Her conversation with Buffy about being alone even though she has people all around her really helps add some depth and multi-dimensionality to her character.
I also enjoyed the set up for the next episode, "Prophecy Girl" (1x12), which comes in the form of dialog between Angel and Giles. In order to convince Giles that he's trustworthy, aside from Buffy's opinion, Angel offers (and succeeds) to retrieve a long lost codex on Slayer prophecies. I loved the acting from Anthony Stewart Head in this scene. He goes from tepid to cautiously excited at the prospect of getting a thought-to-be long lost text.
The big scene towards the end when Marci is starting to cut up Cordelia's face is handled ok, but since what Marci is saying to defend herself is meaningless to me, the only satisfaction I get from this is Buffy telling Cordelia to shut up and Cordelia just says, "ok." When Buffy punches Marci in the face I thought a loud "thank god." Still a decent episode though, just nothing spectacular.
| - | Minor Pros/Cons (+/-) |
| Pros: | |
| + | Willow's giggling is really cute. |
| + | I love Cordelia's selfish and snide remarks. |
| + | Principal Snyder continues to impress and amuse. "Don't sue." |
| + | Buffy looking in on Cordelia getting all dressed up, missing her old life a bit. |
| + | Cordelia comes to the Scooby's for help! |
| Cons: | |
| - | This is yet another really slow and boring episode plot-wise. |
| - | Foreshadowing |
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| - | Quotes |
| CORDELIA: | My eyes are hazel, Helen Keller. |
| GILES: | Uh, I'm, uh, it's a bit of a puzzle, really. Um, I've never actually heard of anyone attacked by a lone baseball bat before. |
| XANDER: | Maybe it's a vampire bat. (no response from the others) I'm alone with that one, huh? |
| BUFFY: | I think I speak for everyone here when I say, huh? |
| - | Score |
| 70/100 | C+ |
The main plot is likely problematic and/or hokey, but sharp humor and/or character development and relevance keep it afloat. A couple moments may be over-the-top in a bad way.
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| - | Screencaps |
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| - | Comments (14) |
| 1. | TranquillityApr 22, 2007 (Sun) | |
| The 'Men in Black' and the ending (with the invisible class learning about espionage) foreshadows the idea that the government know of things supernatural so lays the ground work for the Initative in season 4 and the army activity in season 8. |
| 2. | AliyaJun 26, 2007 (Tue) | |
| For me, your reviews include a little too much "[Insert actress/character name here] is cute." I'd prefer some more in depth analysis into the metaphors presented by the writers. |
| 3. | mikejerJun 26, 2007 (Tue) | |
| Aliya, I recommend you start reading my reviews post-S1 if you're looking for more. There's a disclaimer on the reviews page under the Season 1 banner that says I'm not very happy with my S1 reviews and they will be rewritten after I finish S7. As I've reviewed the seasons, my reviews have gotten more and more in-depth. At the time I wrote these early reviews I didn't have a firm idea of just how detailed I wanted them to be. So, in essence, I agree with you! :) |
| 4. | XenophonAug 2, 2007 (Thu) | |
| I don't know if I'm having a blonde moment, but when i watched this episode last night I think I saw the following. When Buffy comes free from her chair she goes over to release Cordelia, however she does not finish this because of being attacked again. Just before she is attacked however, you see the rope around Cordelia's left arm being loose (I still wondered why doesn't she just pull her hand out?) then when the big fight is over the ropes are tight again. Anybody else pick this up? |
| 5. | SchabouAug 21, 2007 (Tue) | |
| To Xenophon: Yes, I saw that too. I think it is just a goof. To mikejer: I enjoy reading your site. |
| 6. | buffyholicOct 5, 2007 (Fri) | |
| I can relate to Marci, so I like this plot alot. The scene where she disappears in class amazes me everytime. She just wanted some friends but nobody noticed her, nobody cared. I also like the insight on Cordelia. She´s still very selfish but we see that she´s more than the usual shallow girl. I liked her speech on being lonely. It´s amazing how the characters change in a few episodes. |
| 7. | BillFeb 9, 2008 (Sat) | |
| The FBI ending really, really annoyed me. I am willing to suspend my disbelief to no end, but I can not for a second buy that ending. There is no way that the FBI would waltz in, extricate the invisible girl, have two other students clearly in sight, have one of those students acknowledge that she knows what is going on, and then just leave those two students be. That just wouldn't happen, no matter what, and is incredibly stupid. In the real world and in fantasy, Buffy and Cordy would both either be dead or quickly moved somewhere where they could eb controlled. For all his strengths, this, and the Initiative just show that Whedon and company have no idea about how to write the military or the national government in the Buffyverse. |
| 8. | TonyApr 14, 2008 (Mon) | |
| Greatest line ever. Giles: You know Cordelia, I believe I never seen you here in the library before. Cordelia: Oh no.. I have a life. |
| 9. | BarrySep 18, 2008 (Thu) | |
| I LOL'd at the "vampire bat" comment. Love the writing, love the show! |
| 10. | AnonDKSep 2, 2009 (Wed) | |
| I just watched the episode, there. Besides it being a rather excellent insight on Cordelia, and having Buffy relate to her, it's not all that great. Marcie goes from kind of sympathetic to REALLY unsympathetic really quickly (also I kept wanting to tell her 'WHY is she trying to get along with the popular kids?'). I do feel for her plight, she just takes it way too far. Also the FBI coming in and sweeping everything under the rug was both anti-climactic and dumb (as mentioned above, Whedon and co. have no grasp on the government or how they function). Despite this, it is one of the better written episodes of the series. Cordelia is just a highlight, and this really starts her on her most excellent development in the series. The foreshadowing to Prophecy Girl was well handled and fun to see Angel interact with someone outside of Buffy (and not the last time), and while it's pretty slow, it's not as painfully bad as other season 1 episodes, so it passes (really, most season 1 eps are slow because they have no plot to speak of). I really love your reviews, Mike-they're spot on and really insightful. But mostly after season 1, as per your own admission :P |
| 11. | SunburnSep 12, 2009 (Sat) | |
| Re Bill's comment about the unconvincing FBI scenes: It's one of the things I like best about Buffy that it mostly ignores and occasionally mocks the US military-industrial complex. There are thousands of shows, both fictional and supposedly factual (Fox News, anyone?) where you can go and see a collective wank over guns and spies and special agents and Full Spectrum Dominance and all the other boys' toys and wet dreams. There are a million blogs slavering over weapons and procedure and all that ultra-macho muscle-flexing. Thank god at least one show doesn't take it so seriously. I can understand that it's annoying when you know about something and it's not properly represented, but for me, the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek way the Buffyverse deals with the tedious dominance of power and might in real life make it even more of a joy to watch. (None of the above was intended as rudeness towards Bill, by the way! Just MHO about the true need for accurate representation of government matters.) |
| 12. | IzzyJan 29, 2010 (Fri) @ 11:19pm | |
| What I don't get is that if the FBI was watching wouldn't they have noticed Buffy also. The invisible girl would be great but how about a young girl with the powers that Buffy had. The government would be crazy not to want to take her in for testing and to control her. She would make the perfect soldier, or at least what they would want to have in them. |
| 13. | SpinachFeb 10, 2010 (Wed) @ 2:10am | |
| I always hated the FBI bit at the end. When I first saw it I was expecting Marci to become visible during the fight because people were paying attention to her at last - and therefore she would lose her element of surprise attack over Buffy. I would've preferred that as an ending better... |
| 14. | GuidoFeb 10, 2010 (Wed) @ 12:30pm | |
| @Spinach, yes, that would have been a much more logical ending. It's interesting to witness Joss' wheels spinning in all the hits and misses of this season. Maybe this was a glimpse into his thinking on The Initiative. However, I was as disappointed with that season-long plot distraction as I was with this FBI ending. |
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