Normal Again

POSTED BY: Gorramreavers
UPDATED: Monday, May 9, 2005 21:40
VIEWED: 10435
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GRRARRG

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 6:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
Wasn't this partially addressed in a Season 5 Angel episode where someone asks:
"Who would come back from(or leave, I can't remember) heaven?"

"Well, there was this one Slayer..."

I can't remember the episode, and I can't remember who said this, but my understanding of Normal Again, and this statement was that Buffy was having some kind of strange hallucination regarding where she had been, and what was going on with her now...But, since we know that other Slayers exist in the Buffyverse independent of "Buffy" then I think that the episode represents a hallucination, and not the truth.

It was established earlier in Buffy S6 that Buffy had gone to heaven after she died in S5, and then she was pulled back. I'm sure that's what they were refering to in Angel.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Joss (or one of the writers) officially said that Sunnydale was Buffy's actual reality, and the hospital was the fake one created by the effects of the demon. But who knows.

I think Buffy wasn't quite sure which was which, but she had to make a decision. Think about what would happen in the reality that she left behind. If she chose to accept the hospital reality and was wrong, then real people whom she really loved in the real Sunnydale would die. If she chose to accept the Sunnydale reality and was wrong, then her real parents would still have a crazy daughter, but at least no one would die.

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KRYSTLE

Saturday, May 7, 2005 10:02 PM

I liked it but as a fanof Charmed as well, i found that they had the same kind of story before Buffy (i think it was i season before). That was kind of funny. But the overall storyline was very good!

NO POWER IN THE 'VERS CAN STOP ME!

SHMIGGET

Monday, May 9, 2005 9:40 PM

Spoiler warning for those who haven't watched S6

Great question, Gorramreavers, because this episode was not only disturbing but raised serious questions about the nature of "reality" for the show. It stuck with me like gristle in the throat for a while, but I think I've finally figured it out.

As a whole, S6 showed the Scoobies trying to make it as young adults sans parents, and in large part failing, and "Normal Again" was a metaphor for that. Consider that in her slayer-interrupted reality, Buffy's parents are alive, well, and still married. It's an idealized image of her childhood, one free from memories of her dad leaving, of her mother dying, of paying bills, working a crappy job, trying to connect with someone romantically, and all of those other nasties of grown-up living. But Buffy finally eats the adult enchilada, gristle and all, by realizing that she has to be strong and by trusting her friends.

I also loved this season, with the exception of Xander leaving Anya at the alter as I thought there wasn't enough set up for that major an event (I expected them to get divorced some time later instead).

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