Episode Summary

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8.4
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Buffy and Dawn clear the house of magick items and supplies to help Willow, and Buffy has a surprise visit from a social worker checking on Dawn's home life. The meeting doesn't go well and in a fit of rage afterwards, Buffy cuts off her hair. Meanwhile, the Geek Trio have built an invisibility ray and accidentally hit Buffy with it.moreless
  • Now you see her

    7.0
    "Good"
    GONE

    The Good;
    Love all the Invisible Buffy stuff it's just great. Also like Nancy Drew Willow and Buffy's new hair. Love Joanthon standing up to Warren too.

    The Bad;
    You rather think that Buffy's Slayer healing would take care of whatever the Geeks have done to her, it never seems that much of a threat "She's pudding"?

    Best line;
    Buffy (as the social worker looks at the bag of grass) "It's not what you think, it's magic weed"

    Women good/men bad;
    The Geeks again being their sleazy selves. Amazingly it's Spike who kicks Buffy out because she's using him. The girls seem mightily fascinated with Buffy's new hairstyle.

    Jeez!;
    Naked Spike under the sheets

    Kinky dinky;
    The Geeks plan to turn themselves invisible and sneak into a beauty parlour to watch women get bikini waxes (which hardly seems very erotic to me). Buffy and Spike at it again, especially love the 'Hey that's cheating gag!'. Dawn loves her mother's African fetility statue Kokopelli (jeepers!) and is sorry to throw him out. Buffy appears to have an errogenous zone in her left jean pocket to judge from her reaction when Spike retrieves his lighter. Xander appears to accidentally grab invisible Buffy's breasts in the Magic Shop. She is pretty damn aggressive when she goes to his crypt, almost Angel/Darla style.

    Captain Subtext;
    Jonathon refers to Warren as 'You penis'. Xander thinks Spike should get a girlfriend. The social worker observes that Buffy lives with another woman but Buffy denies it's a 'gay' thing. Andrew remarks on the Geeks' plans 'Naked women and... all the naked women'.

    Apocalypses; 6

    Scoobies in bondage:
    Buffy: 8
    Giles: 4
    Cordy: 5
    Will: 3
    Jenny: 1
    Angel: 4
    Oz: 1
    Faith: 3
    Joyce: 1
    Wes: 1
    Xander; 1
    Dawn; 3

    Scoobies knocked out: Willow knocked out by Warren at the arcade.
    Buffy: 17
    Giles: 12
    Cordy: 6
    Xander: 11
    Will: 8
    Jenny: 2
    Angel: 6
    Oz: 3
    Faith: 1
    Joyce: 3
    Wes: 1
    Anya;3
    Dawn; 2

    Kills:
    Buffy: 103 vamps, 41 demons, 6 monsters, 3 humans, 1 werewolf, 1 spirit warrior & a robot
    Giles: 8 vamps, 2 demon, 1 human, 1 god.
    Cordy: 3 vamps, a demon
    Will: 6 vamps + 2 demons +1 fawn.
    Angel: 3 vamps, 1 demon, 1 human
    Oz: 3 vamps, 1 zombie
    Faith: 16 vamps, 5 demons, 3 humans
    Xander: 6 vamps, 2 zombies, 1 a demon,
    Anya: 1 vamp and 1 a demon
    Riley; 18 vamps + 7 demons
    Spike; 8 vamps and 2 demon
    Buffybot; 2 vamps
    Tara; 1 demon
    Dawn; 1 vamp

    Scoobies go evil:
    Giles: 1
    Cordy: 1
    Will: 2
    Jenny: 1
    Angel: 1
    Oz: 1
    Joyce: 1
    Xander: 4
    Anya; 1
    Dawn; 1

    Alternate scoobies:
    Buffy: 7
    Giles: 4
    Cordy: 1
    Will: 3
    Jenny: 2
    Angel: 3
    Oz: 2
    Joyce: 2
    Xander: 4
    Tara; 1
    Dawn;1
    Spike; 1

    Recurring characters killed: 10
    Jesse, Flutie, Jenny, Kendra, Larry, Snyder, Professor Walsh, Forrest, McNamara, Joyce

    Sunnydale deaths;
    93

    Total number of scoobies:
    Xander, Willow, Buffy, Anya, Spike,

    Xander demon magnet: 5(6?)
    Preying Mantis Lady, Inca Mummy Girl, Drusilla, VampWillow, Anya (arguably Buffy & Faith with their demon essences?), Dracula?

    Scoobies shot:
    Giles: 2
    Angel: 3
    Oz: 4
    Riley; 1

    Notches on Scooby bedpost:
    Giles: 2; Joyce & Olivia, possibly Jenny and 3xDraccy babes?
    Cordy: 1?
    Buffy: 4 confirmed; Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike. 1 possible, Dracula(?)
    Angel: 1;Buffy
    Joyce: 1;Giles, 2 possible, Ted and Dracula(?)
    Oz: 3; Groupie, Willow & Verucca
    Faith:2 ;Xander, Riley
    Xander: 2; Faith, Anya
    Willow: 2;Oz and Tara
    Riley; 3; Buffy, Sandy and unnamed vampwhore
    Spike; 1 Buffy

    Spike; good or bad?
    Spike does try to support Buffy's interview with the social services but really comes across as the worst boyfriend ever.
    Spike goes to help Dawn and Willow.

    Dawn in peril; 8

    Dawn the bashful virgin; 6

    What the fanficcers thought;
    Invisible Xander is a common theme

    Questions and observations;
    Why is Buffy so broke when she has this great big diamond in her possession? Surely she can return it for the reward? What happens to the Invisible Ray? I know in fanfic it's often stashed in the Summers' house cellar in order to save the day in a future episode. Xander and Buffy recall Invisible Marcie from season 1 (whatever happened to her?) Love Buffy's puma t-shirt, her spirit guide? Whilst we often observe that Warren is prepared to sacrifice the other Geeks here he suddenly turns around to find that they've deserted him and taken the Invisible Ray with them. A lot of people find fault with inivisible Buffy's hijinks but she's had such a hard time lately I think she deserves some carefree fun.
    Buffy taking on the invisible geeks must make her thankful for Giles' blindfolded training.
    Marks out of 10; 7/10, no masterpiece but enjoyable enough
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  • Much Ado About Nothing Good

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    Gone-Buffy and Dawn clear the house of magick items and supplies to help Willow, and Buffy has a surprise visit from a social worker checking on Dawn's home life. The meeting doesn't go well and in a fit of rage afterwards, Buffy cuts off her hair. Meanwhile, the Geek Trio have built an invisibility ray and accidentally hit Buffy with it.
    "Gone" is one of those rare Buffy episodes like "Wrecked" that fails in what it's trying to say. What's starts out as another episode where Buffy is dealing with real issues turns into something that plays for laughs but than just gets silly. The Trio is at it again and once again, their latestplanis little more than a gimmick! Buffy's OOC behavior when she becomes invisible doesn't help either. Sure, it's cool that we get a Marcy reference, but the story just feels over the top for the most part. I understand that Buffy becoming invisible is a temporary escape for her, from all the problems that have been plaguing her since her revival. But what should be some seriously development for her, is treated with such light fluff and her going around playing pranks on people is just beyond childlish, even if that social worker was kind of a b!tch. I also find it a bit jarring how last episode Buffy was begging Spike to get out her life, yet this episode she's all too eager to jump his bones! That sexually charged confrontation at Spike'scryptwas just wrong on so many levels! Though, Xander walking in on Spike having sex with...himself was priceless. But I got to admit the sexual jokes were pretty extreme! Wow, this really isn't the Buffy we once knew as Spike kicks Buffy out, he looks down and tells her "that's cheating".....wow, that wasn't subtle at all!
    I did enjoy Willow's struggle to not do make, it's really the little moments that continue to make this arc of hers succeed. It isn't easy but Willow pulls through, which honestly shows how strong she's trying to be. Alyson really excels here! I did love Dawn's reaction to Buffy's lack of concern over her situation as well as when she hears the message of her possible death. But I also can't stand that this is the third episode in a row that features little to no involvement with Xander and Anya continuing to reach nothing! You know there has to be problems in the writing when characters are reduce to almost nothing for a couple of episodes back-to-back. Anyway, the conclusion of the episode isdefinitelythe only real highlight. The whole invisible fight was so ridiculous, it kinda worked. At least Buffy finally knows whose been behind her recent annoying attempts at threatening her life. Gotta love Jonathan failing to mask his voice, Warren's "archnemesis..ses" and Buffy and Willow completely lost as to who Andrew is. The episode ends with some nice reflection, but it's a bit late. It's nice to know Buffy "wants" to live a life now but it's a shame the rest of the episode couldn't be that insightful. "Gone" is pretty bad stuff, with OOC characterization and lagging plot.
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  • "I'm free, free of rules and reports: free of life" - Buffy

    9.2
    "Superb"
    So Buffy is getting rid of all of Willow's magic/drugs paraphernalia whilst, yet again, relating Willow's problems to her own. "Any reminder could make her give into temptation," she says as she tosses Spike's lighter into the bin. Buffy blames herself for Willow's demise, she was too wrapped up in her own problems, but nobody notices Buffy's affair with Spike, even when he's, um, pleasuring her in the kitchen or in his crypt. Xander reminds us why Buffy can't tell her friends about the dalliance, saying that only a "nutsack" or a "loser" would sleep with Spike. Even the social worker notices the relationship between Buffy and her vampire lover, but Spike is the epitome of the bad boyfriend, unemployed and leather clad, yet he attempts to stick up for Buffy with Doris even if he does get it wrong. His need for his blanket when leaving the house shows his connection to Buffy neither can fit into this normal world of guardianship and social services and bureaucracy. She takes out her frustration about this on him, showing once again that she is merely using him, disrespecting his feelings, but when he's gone she turns her anger onto herself, her hair cutting is like self harm and, when she goes to the hairdresser, she pleads: "Make me different."

    Meanwhile, we finally find out what the diamond as big as the Ritz was for: "We've got an invisibility ray and that makes us pretty much unstoppable". The trio's evil plan is to go into a women's spa, without paying! When their squabbles ruin the scheme, they worry about Buffy finding them, spying on them: "An invisible slayer means a whole world of trouble" forgetting that she does not yet know that the boys are her "arch nemesises", and she is more interested in Bruce Almighty antics, including terrorising Doris the Social Worker. This time, invisibility isn't a metaphor for being ignored, it's analogous to being a teenager again. Buffy, as an adult, is expected to live in an adult's world, reporting to authority and providing parenting to her little sis. Instead, she's stealing traffic carts and partaking in afternoon delight with her secret sex-buddy. Dawn and Spike want Buffy to be a grown up, she wants to be a kid, hidden to the world of adults. Spike, as ever, sees the crux of her delight in her invisibility: "This vanishing act's right liberating for you. Go anywhere you want. Do anything you want. Or anyone". Buffy thinks being imperceptible is "perfect", she can have her cake and eat it: have sex with Spike with nobody knowing or judging her. Spike understands all of this: "The only reason you're here is because you're not here."

    Xander is concerned about Willow, thinking that she was the one who caused Buffy's invisibility, but her magic inclinations are toward speed, rather than entertainment. She, who doesn't want to be the old Willow, is the go-get girl in this ep, using her ingenuity to find the troika lair, her science acumen to figure out the ray-gun, and good old fashioned detective skills in locating the spot where Buffy disappeared; all the while the Slayer is harassing strangers and tweaking Spike's ear. It's only when the gang discover that Buffy could turn into "pudding" that she can't be a teenager forever, that she becomes worried about her state. We saw in S2 that when Buffy's unsolicited chosen calling was threatened by Kendra, it motivated Buffy into accepting her role, and here we see the life she doesn't want become precious to her when it's almost taken away from her. Fortunately, the boys have carried out the traditional, indeed, classic Willow-kidnapping (they are crime lords after all), for their next evil plan: re-visibling Buffy. We're starting to see the gap between Jonathan and Andrew, who, like Buffy, just want to have some fun, and Warren, who takes it so much more seriously and sees no harm in killing Buffy. "We're villains! When are you gonna get that through your thick skulls!?" At the arcade, Warren re-sets the ray gun to increase the invisibility/molecular deterioration, whilst Jonathan and Andrew are distracted by the computer games. After the very silly invisible fight, the boys can't even get out the door to escape. Yet Buffy, their arch-adversary, is as lost and confused as they are. She understands that she can't take a vacation from her life. Again, relating to Willow, she realises that she has to do things the hard way. They both sit, knowing that they're merely dealing with life, rather than enjoying it. With adorable hair.moreless
  • Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Spike Thankyou Lord for nude scenes!moreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    Spike's abs! Spike's side of his a$$! ha he hi ho hu! that's me going crazy! I spent two weeks trying to clean my drool from the carpet, spike is gorgeous! This is a hilarious episode with The Trio in it. They have designed a weapon to turn themselves invisible to go watch chicks getting a bikini wax (!) and while are fighting over the Invisible ray gun, Buffy accidently gets shot with it, becoming invisible. What she gets up to is just hilarious! The greatest part has got to be when she goes to Spike's. God, he looks hot when he thinks Buffy is a ghost a turns his head around...! Of course they have a little fun, the only way they know how! Oh, and Buffy gets a haircut! Gr8 ep, if u havent seen it, go and watch it right now!moreless
  • It starts really good but goes downhill. the scenes with Spike were gross! and this episode was just a big dissapointment and weakest of the season.

    7.2
    "Good"
    Gone

    This episode has some beautiful moments. I loved the episode up until Buffy goes invincible. I loved the Buffy making the woman crazy scene and the end scene where Buffy realised that she doesn't want to die. but everything else really bored me and was pretty lame. specially the geeks were for the first time really lame and I hated Warren.

    cut to the house and they are gonna take all the magic stuff and Dawn is upset. Buffy says that everything that reminds Willow of magic has to go and she sees something of Spike and does it away too. cut to the trio's and they have a new machine that can make stuff invincible and then back.

    the credits start

    cut to Buffy in the kitchen and Dawn is mad at her and Spike comes and he tries to seduce her but then Xander comes. Buffy tells Spike to go and Xander brings Dawn to school and a woman from school comes to interview Buffy and Spike isn't gone yet and makes Buffy look bad and takes his blanket. then the things keep on going and the woman needs to go and she saw enough and goes away and Spike is still there and makes her mad and he grabs his light and leaves and Buffy goes crying in her room and looks at herself in the mirror and cuts off her hair cause Spike liked it.

    cut to the geeks and they see Buffy walking outside and they want to make each other invincible but make Buffy invincible and some things close to her. cut to Buffy coming in the magic shop and Xander and Anya see she's invincible but don't get why anyone made her cause she's more strong now. she's playing around and says that it fits her day and then goes away again. Xander and Anya then suspect Willow. Xander goes to her and he thinks she did it but she says she didn't and is mad at him now and then leaves the room and leaves Xander alone.

    cut to Buffy making some jokes and then she goes to the woman and makes her crazy with her mud and tells her to kill and her co-workers think she's crazy. cut to Xander finding Willow and she's at the place where Buffy disappeared. a van crushes to something invincible and they have clues now and are gonna investigate everything. cut to Spike crip and Buffy goes there and starts to kiss him and do him. cut to Xander and Anya finally realise that what makes them invincible makes them pudding after a while. cut to the geeks and they want to help Buffy except for Warren. he becomes more dark every time and he wants Buffy to die.

    cut to Spike in bed and Xander sees him and he asks for Buffy but he says he hasn't seen her. Xander says Spike needs a girlfriend. cut to Spike getting upset with Buffy but she's finally happy cause now she can do whatever she wants and she chats and sucks Spike. cut to Buffy coming home and makes fun but Dawn is freaked out and goes away and then Buffy hears the message about her fading away and she isn't really impressed. cut to Willow going to the van's house and she sees all those stuff and the Gunn and then the geeks make her their hostage.

    cut to Buffy coming home and they call her and make her come over to save Willow. she finds her and Warren tries to kill her but Willow discovers and they fight and Willow then reveals them. Jonathan, Warren and Andrew. they say they're Buffy's arch namelessness and they are so dumb but escape anyway. when Willow and Buffy go out Buffy tells Willow that when she heard what was gonna happen she actually got scared and that was new for her. she doesn't wanna die. Willow say that they made their first steps. yay.

    Black Out
    ----------
    Best episode quotes:

    Jonathan: You penis!
    Warren: Oh, cheer up, Frodo. Because thanks to my brains, and our mystical gem, we got ourselves an invisibility ray. And I'd say that makes us pretty much unstoppable.

    Doris: Oh, good morning. You must be Dawn.
    Buffy: Can I help you?
    Doris: I'm Doris Kroger, from Social Services. We had an appointment?
    Buffy: Oh, for Wednesday.
    Doris: This is Wednesday.
    Buffy: Right! Well ... Dawn, you better... And, and Xander, you'll drive safely?
    Xander: Yes ma'am.
    Doris: Little bit on the tardy side, isn't she?
    Buffy: Yeah, well, uh, it's been one of those mornings, you know. Hey, come on in. Sorry about the mess, you know, doing a little house-cleaning.
    Spike: So, we gonna chat this out, or what?
    Buffy: Uh ... now's really not a-a good time. Um, I have company.
    Spike: No worries. I'll wait.
    Doris: Um, Miss Summers, if you and your boyfriend would like to-
    Buffy: He is NOT- Not my, my boyfriend, he's, um, just ... a... Spike ... this nice woman is, uh, from Social Services?
    Spike: Oh, right! Uh ... hey! Buffy's a great mom. She takes good care of her little sis. Like, um, when Dawn was hanging out too much in my crypt, Buffy put a right stop to it.
    Doris: I'm sorry, did you say-
    Buffy: Crib! He said crib. You know kids today and their buggin' street slang. Uh, Spike, didn't you have to go now, you know, because of that thing?
    Spike: Uh, thing, yeah. Uh, my blanket.
    Doris: He sleeps here?
    Buffy: What? No! No. Oh, uh, the, the, the blanket. That's, um, uh, it's a security thing, you know. He ... has issues. Nope, just me and Dawn living here.
    Willow: Buffy, I'm not feeling hot, so uh, I'm gonna take a quick nap, okay?
    Buffy: Okay, Will! That's Willow. She, uh, she kind of lives here too, actually.
    Doris: Oh, so you live with another woman.
    Buffy: Oh! Oh, it's not a, a gay thing, you know, I mean, well... she's gay, but, but we don't ... gay. Not that there's anything - Oh! Wrong with... You know, I know what that looks like, but I, I swear, it's not ... what it looks like. It's magic weed. It's not mine.
    Doris: I think I've seen enough.
    Buffy: No, a-actually, I really don't think that you have. It's just ... i-it's been kind of, kind of a, a bad time.
    Doris: It's been a bad time now for a while, hasn't it, Ms. Summers? Your sister's grades have fallen sharply in the last year, due in large part to her frequent absences and lateness.
    Buffy: But there-there are good reasons.
    Doris: Oh, I'm sure there are. But my interest is in Dawn's welfare. And the stability of her home life, something I'm just not convinced that an unemployed young woman like yourself can provide.
    Buffy: I can. I, I do!
    Doris: Well, we'll just have to see about that then, won't we? Oh, and I'm, uh, going to recommend immediate probation in my report.
    Buffy: What does that mean?
    Doris: It means that I'll be monitoring you very closely, Ms. Summers. And if I don't see that things are improving, well, I'll be forced to recommend that you be stripped of your sister's guardianship.
    Buffy: You can't do that.
    Doris: I do what is in Dawn's best interest ... as should you. Have a nice day.

    Xander: Willow, we need to talk.
    Willow: We ... are talking. Well, I'm talking and you're looking at me funny.

    Jonathan: Hey, we got a lot bigger problems here, bonehead. The Slayer's invisible now?
    Andrew: He's right. She could be anywhere. Even here, right now. Watching. Listening to every word we say. For all we know, she could be one of us!

    Buffy: I am the ghost of fashion victims past. Studded caps? Not a good idea.

    Doris: What - Where's my... Losing my mind. Okay, who's the-
    Buffy: Kill, kill, kill!
    Doris: What?
    Co. Worker: I didn't say anything.
    Doris: Not you! The mug, it's- But I ... I heard something.
    Buffy: Kill, Doris. Kill everybody. You know you want to.
    Doris: Shut up, shut up, just shut up!
    Buffy: Okay ... no ... no... Yahtzee!
    Boss: Uh, Doris! I've, uh, got a few, so if you wanna discuss that case file now...
    Doris: What? Oh! Oh yes, the, um, Summers file, it's, uh, it's right over here. Uh, it's a fifteen-year-old girl, living under her older sister's guardianship. The house is a complete-
    Boss: What is this? 'All work and no play make Doris a dull girl'?
    Doris: What?
    Boss: 'All work and no play make Doris' - the pages are filled with it.
    Doris: I ... I... I, I, I didn't do this, I It was the voice.
    Boss: Excuse me?
    Doris: There was a voice, before. It made my coffee dance. It told me to-
    Boss: To ... what?
    Doris: Nothing.
    Boss: Doris ... take the rest of the day off. See your doctor.

    Jonathan: What do you mean she's gonna fade away?
    Warren: The Slayer got slammed with a big-ass dose of radiation when the gun overloaded. Her cells are mutating at an accelerated rate. Eventually her molecular makeup will start losing its integrity and then ... pfft.
    Andrew:: But, wouldn't that kill her?
    Warren: Well, lemme think. Yeah!
    Jonathan: Wait a minute! We're not killing anybody. Especially not Buffy!
    Warren: You guys are so immature! We're villains! When are you gonna get that through your thick skulls?
    Jonathan: We're not killers, we're crime lords!
    Andrew: Yeah! Like, like Lex Luthor. He's always trying to take over Metropolis, but he doesn't kill Superman!
    Warren: Because it's Superman's book, you moron!
    Andrew: But Lex doesn't kill him, does he?!

    Buffy:: Come on. He had no idea I was here. This is perfect.
    Spike: Perfect for you.
    Buffy: Well, picture me confused. I thought this was what you wanted.
    Spike: What I want... This vanishing act's right liberating for you, innit? Go anywhere you want. Do anything you want. Or anyone.
    Buffy: What are you talking ab-
    Spike: The only reason you're here, is that you're not here.
    Buffy: Right. Of course, as usual there's something wrong with Buffy. She came back all wrong. You know, I didn't ask for this to happen to me.
    Spike: Not too put off by it though, are you?
    Buffy: No! Maybe because for the first time since ... I'm free. Free of rules and reports ... free of this life.
    Spike: Free of life? Got another name for that. Dead.

    Xander: Buffy, it's Xander. Where are you? Listen ... we got a new problem here.
    Anya: Tell her!
    Xander: I'm trying to. Anya and I think whatever made you invisible is slowly killing you.
    Anya: Tell her about the pudding!
    Xander: Anya! Buff, if we don't ... if this isn't reversed, you're gonna ... well, dissolve, or ... fade ... into nothing.
    Buffy: Wow.

    Buffy: So you three have, what, banded together to be pains in my ass?
    Warren: We're your arch-nemesises ... ses.

    Buffy: Pretty neat, you finding the van. So ... how did you manage to ... do it exactly? I mean, to locate it?
    Willow: The hard way. The spell-free way. The oh-my-god-my-head's-gonna-fall-off, my-feet-are-killing-me way. I don't know how I got through this day.
    Buffy: Well, the important thing is that you did. It's a ... good first step.
    Willow: How are you doing, post-invisibleness?
    Buffy: Okay. I still have to do some damage control from my giddy-fest. Dawn was pretty freaked out. The whole taking-a-vacation-from-me thing didn't work out so well.
    Willow: Tell me about it.
    Buffy: Except ... when I got Xander's message ... you know, that I was ... fading away ... I actually got scared.
    Willow: Well, yeah. Who wouldn't?
    Buffy: Me. I wouldn't. Not too long ago I probably would have welcomed it. But I realized ... I'm not saying that I'm doing back-flips about my life, but... I didn't ... I don't ... wanna die. That's something, right?
    Willow: It's something. So I guess we both made good first steps.
    Buffy: I guess.
    Willow: Yay for us.
    Buffy: Yay.

    ----------
    Story: 7
    Acting: 8
    Writing: 7
    Picture: 8
    Gripping: 6
    My Rank: 7
    ----------
    Total: 7.2
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (17)

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    • When invisible Buffy is moving the coffee mug at the social worker's office the first time, one can see the shadow of the arm placing the mug outside the screen and than retreating.

    • When invisible Buffy is going through the files at the social worker's office, one can briefly see her fingers grabbing her sister's file.

    • Spike's bedroom is in a cave under his crypt. Yet when Xander walks away from Spike's bedside and leaves the crypt the crypt door can be heard closing almost immediately. To do this Xander would have had to walk several feet, go up a ladder, then walk nearly the length of the crypt to reach the door. Xander would have to be impossibly fast to do this, as there is no door between Spike's bed and the main crypt entrance.

    • The keys on Doris' typewriter are being pushed at random, some keys simultaneously. The printout the supervisor reads should have had nothing but gibberish on it.

    • Every time that the invisible trio grabs or holds Willow the sleeves of her sweater are smooth. The fabric should still crease or rumple, invisible hands or not.

    • When Buffy is cutting her hair the bra strap on her right shoulder keeps moving back and forth.

    • Invisible Warren is knocked into the tub filled with colored balls yet you still can't tell he's there until he becomes visible again. He still has a body that takes up space,invisible or not, so there should have been a hole or gap in the balls.

    • Xander is looking down at the sidewalk when he bumps into the invisible fire hydrant. Even though the hydrant itself is invisible, the hole in the sidewalk and the water pipe under the hydrant should still be visible.

    • In the scene with Willow and Xander on the street the tire track from the van has a perfect mark of the tire tread in the middle. The entire track should be streaked as a tire spinning on pavement would obliterate any tread mark.

    • The sign in the window of the store the Trio are about to enter says "Bikini Wax Wednesdays" which is the day that this episode takes place.

    • Willow is trying desperately to quit magic in this episode, and we see her straining not to use it to move a book or to speed up a computer search. But when she sneaks into the Trio's lair and gets taken hostage she makes no attempt to use it at all. I know it's a plot point that the Trio has Willow at the arcade, but it seems highly unlikely that a powerful and magic-addicted witch like Willow would not try to use her power to defend herself.

    • After Buffy throws the second air hockey mallet at Warren another mallet can be seen still on the table near where Buffy was standing, but when we see the table again during the fight it's disappeared.

    • When Buffy types on Doris' keyboard you can clearly see the wires used to pull the keys down if you look to the left of the keyboard.

    • In the scene where Anya and Xander discover that the pylon is turning into a 'pudding' like substance, what looks like the edge of a light reflector can be seen on the right hand side of the screen.

    • In the beginning of this episode, Buffy throws Spike's lighter in the box with Willow's magic accessories. Later on, Spike reaches into Buffy's pocket and pulls the lighter out... how did it get there?

    • When Buffy goes gets the pizza box, she places it on the counter. In the next cut, you don't see it on the counter anymore.

    • When Spike and Buffy are talking in the kitchen there are rays of sunlight in there. It looks like its beaming not only on Buffy, but Spike too.

  • QUOTES (3)

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  • NOTES (6)

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    • At the end of the episode, with Buffy and Willow sitting on the curb talking, the music playing softly in the background is Trespassers William song "I Know". The song begins "I know I'll never see you..." which can refer to the invisibility theme and to Buffy's love life.

    • This is David Fury's directorial debut in which he also wrote, as it must be fitting that he actually directed his wife Elin Hampton in one scene at the Social Services Office. He and Elin co-wrote Season 2's "Go Fish" together as well.

    • When Invisible Buffy is leaving the social services center she whistles a few bars of Going Through The Motions, her "theme" music from the musical episode Once More, With Feeling.

    • This is the first episode without Amber Benson (Tara) since last season's 'Into The Woods'. In fact, this marks only the sixth episode without the character since she was introduced in season 4's 'Hush'.

    • Xander asks Invisible Buffy if she has been ignored lately, referring to the causes of Marcie's invisibility in season 1's 'Out of Mind, Out of Sight'.

    • It took nearly a month to wrap up this episode, due to the ongoing aspects of Invisibility.

  • ALLUSIONS (7)

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    • Invisible Buffy (at the Social Services office): Yahtzee! Yahtzee is a popular dice game where players roll 5 dice and get points for different combinations. The highest roll (50 points) is called a "Yahtzee" and players shout it when they roll that combination.

    • Invisible Buffy (to Xander, in the Magic Box): S'Alright Reference to the tag line of Senor Wences, a Spanish ventriloquist popular in the US during the 1950s and 60s.

    • Dawn: Kokopelli?! No! I love him! And he was Mom's. Why do we have to get rid of so many things I like? Kokopelli is found in a number of Native American cultures, being especially prominent in the Anasazi culture of the "Four Corners" area. The figure represents a mischievous trickster or the Minstrel, spirit of music. Kokopelli is distinguished by his dancing pose, a hunchback and flute.

    • Warren: Oh, cheer up, Frodo.
      Frodo Baggins is the hero of the epic fantasy novel, Lord of the Rings. Frodo is a Hobbit, which are known for being short, like Jonathan (they are called Halflings by most of Middle-Earth). Frodo is somewhere around 3 feet tall, reminiscent of Buffy's comment in 'Earshot': "He's like, three feet tall!".

    • Andrew: I pictured something cooler. More ILM, less Ed Wood.
      ILM stands for Industrial Light and Magic, a division of George Lucas' production company LucasArts. The company is arguably the most prestigious visual effects company in the world. Its current incarnation dates back to work on The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, although the group that worked on the original Star Wars used the name as well.

      Ed Wood (Edward D. Wood Jr. 1924-1978) was a sci-fi writer/director/actor from the 1950's and 60's who cluelessly made some remarkably bad films, including 1958's Plan 9 from Outer Space, often called the worst movie ever made. The making of the movie was immortalized in the 1994 film Ed Wood, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film also features Juliet Landau, who plays Drusilla on Buffy, in a small role, and won her father, Martin Landau, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

    • Buffy: Xander and Anya are working on it.. 'Mulder-ing' out what happened.
      Fox Mulder is one of the main characters on the FOX sci-fi drama show The X-Files who, if you don't know, solves cases involving paranormal phenomena.

    • Visual: "All work and no play makes Doris a dull girl".
      The way Invisible Buffy messes with the social worker is reminiscent of the Stephen King novel and Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. Jack Torrance writes the words "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" when he starts to go crazy from cabin fever; and the ghosts of the hotel encourage him to "Kill. Kill. You know you want to".

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