Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Out of sight, out of mind;

The Good;
One of the best allegories yet for High School as hell. Real sense of menace to the knife floating behind Buffy although from what we've seen since it probably didn't pose a real threat to her. Cordelia starts to come more and more into her own here and some funny stuff from Snyder

The Bad;
Not much, very strong episode

Best line;
Cordelia; Oh my god, is she really wearing Laura Ashely?

Worst line;
Willow; Mitch was attacked by a floating bat?
Xander; Maybe it was a vampire bat? (GGRRRoooaaannn!)

Questions and observations:
So, the goverment know what's going on in Sunnydale and are exploiting it to their own ends? We see the beginnings of the Initiative here. A sign of the times that Marcie at the end is training to assasinate cult leaders as this was just after Waco. Nowadays of course she'd be after Osama and co. Interesting that the class are doing The Merchant of Venice, Marcie easily resembles the figure of Shylock.
If you've ever watched the DVD commentary for The Grudge SMG remembers the guy who played Ford in 'Lie to Me' appearing on Buffy but not Clea Duvall. Rewatching the ep you realise that she never has any scenes with visible Marcie so they probably never met. Harmony again, named for the first time. Cordy has passed her driving test to judge by her story of running the girl on the bike over. The scene where the teacher is nearly smothered by the plastic bag is HORRIBLE. First meeting between Giles and Angel. Cordy, Buffy, Willlow and Xander are all knocked out, the start of a grand scooby tradition. Ironically Giles who is so notorious for it stays conscious. Cordy and Buffy are also tied up, another Buffy cliche that will see much use. How exactly does Marcie get Cordy and Buffy to the Bronze? I gotta say, if faced with the choice of being gassed or risking an explosion I'd take explosion every time
If you'll pardon the pun it would have been lovely to 'see' Marcie again, maybe in season 7 Buffy could have been chained up and helpless only for her bonds to miraculously unravel? But if at her new school she's got friends etc won't she become visible again?
I don't know if it's deliberate but the title reminds me of the story where Soviet premier Breshnev is meeting the US President Nixon and during the chitchat he asks where the vice-president Spiro Agnew is? (some form of demon according to Angel and Fred's dad). Agnew was keeping a low profile at the time as he was under investigation for corruption so Nixon replied, "Oh, you know, out of sight, out of mind'. Breshnev looks at Nixon oddly then hurriedly walked away whereupon Nixon's translator tells him that Breshnev's translator interpreted 'out of sight, out of mind' as 'Invisible maniac'
Good ep, 4/5

Espeacilly when your invisible.



ok so I'm guessing this episode is a metafore for being ignored at school.



So if you go to school in america and no one talks to you and you get ignored then you will turn invisible. I wish someone told me about that when I went to school I wouldn't have made so much of an effort.



I guess if anything else people can take a lesson from this one and make an effort to get out their and be noticed. it's all about confidence. So in this one a girl lives in the school and is invisble. Probably had to be a girl. because if it was a guy he wouldn't be going around bashing people with baseball bats and kicking people down stairs.



also we get to see a different side of Cordelia and see the non bimbo side. Talk about character depth.



Not to bad episode. They should do a spin off show from this one and just have invisible people as the stars. That way they wouldn't have to pay the actors.

This review contains spoilers.



"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (sometimes known as "Invisible Girl") is an incredible first season BtVS episode. Every since I first saw it, way back when on BBC Two here in the U.K. in the late 1990s, this one really stuck in my mind as what the series was capable of.



After being a secondary character for much of the season, and even being totally absent for several episodes, Cordelia finally gets her chance to shine. And she is in all her b*tchy glory here. Charisma Carpenter plays the role perfectly, and it is interesting to witness Cordelia's first real involvement with Buffy and the gang (I don't use the word "Scoobies"... that word irritates me for some reason... never been sure why! Anyway...). We also get our first glimpse at Cordy's softer, more vulnerable side, in a scene which is played out really well.



The episode has a really intriguing plot. The whole notion of how the girl, Marcie, actually turned invisible (to do with the powers of the Hellmouth!) is slightly brushed over, but amazingly, they not only got away with it, but not make it really matter.

Many 'Buffy' episodes are metaphors about problems growing up and being outcasts (one fellow reviewer nails it by saying it's a "show about misfits"), and the idea of Marcie turning invisible after literally being ignored for so long, is really quite sharp.



Compared with some of the more sometimes outlandish "monster of the week" stories of the first (and even second and third) seasons, this episode plays as more of a mystery, almost more "down to earth" in a way, and I really liked that.

But even more than the interesting plot, it is the dialogue that really makes this episode. So many hilarious episodes (mostly coming from Cordelia), and also some more dramatic moments... the writers were really on form with this one.



Angel suddenly arriving to save Giles, Willow and Xander from being gassed near the peak of the episode, does seem a little too convenient (even though he had promised to deliver a book to Giles earlier in the story), but such an otherwise strong episode, I could easily forgive this.

The climax is exciting (and one of the show's more genuinely menacing), and I like the final scene, with Marcie taken away by the Feds to the secret assassin school full of invisible pupils, is really good. I disagree with some who complain that this was never followed up on; I think part of the fun of the series is that you never knew who was going to come back and who wasn't; sometimes it was good to have a nice teaser that didn't necessarily mean there was going to be some kind of follow-up.



Personally, I would say that "Out of Mind..." is a strong candidate for the best episode of the season (the only rival for me personally, is 'Witch'); I'm a little surprised that such a sharp episode only holds a (still respectable) 8.5 rating (as for April 2011). Personally, I think it is one of the best episodes from the early seasons, and give it a solid 10/10.

Okay, I love this episode. I'm not even kidding when I'd say it's one of my favorites of season 1. Which I know makes me a total idiot and subject to flaming beyond human imagination, but hear me out.



This episode is not really about invisible people. It's about being seen. It goes back to that question, "If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound?"



If you aren't noticed, are you really there? Since Angel can't see his own reflection, does he exist? All of this may sound stupid. "Of course he exists! He's standing right there!"



Except he can't see it. It's been hundreds of years since the man was able to look at himself. (One wonders how in the world he does his hair, but that's another question)



The girl in school thought no one else could see her. Cordelia was being seen, but what everyone was looking at wasn't her. Yes, the explanation for the invisibility was a bit easy. And the ending, which suggested a longer plot was going to develop, was never returned to. But that's not the point of the episode. The point is to show how other's perception (and our own), can change ourselves.

Wow. This show has been awesome in its first season so far. All that's left is the season finale. First off, let me just say, Mitch was freakin' hot! Dang! And it's just a little weird that everybody in that school dies. Marcy Ross, a girl that nobody paid attention to, has become invisible. I liked seeing Cordelia in need of help and when she said she never saw Marcy in her life. LMAO. And I liked when she said it sucks to be that lonely and Buffy asked, "So you read about the feeling?" LOL. I felt sympathy for Cordelia in this episode, even though she was still her normal, conceited self despite everything. Good episode.

This was one of my least favorite Buffy episodes. The one good thing about it was the reappearance of Angel who had been missing for 3 or 4 episodes. His appearance was necessary for a moment later in the episode, but most importantly to set something up for the season finale the following week. Other than that, not much else happened in this episode. I am sure the dialog was good once again, but I am having trouble recalling any good exchanges between the characters. It always seems silly when Buffy has to fight an invisible foe, and I only recall that happening once again in a later episode.

Okay, ever since The Pack, this show has been a non-stop excitement train thing, and this episode furthers that lame analogy. Cordelia finally does something interesting, which is joining the Scooby Gang. The concept of a girl turning invisible because she was ignored is innovative. Buffy always manages to put a twist on a comon plot. The realization of this girl having no friends by looking in her year book autographs was priceless. "Have a good summer." Also, we get to see Angel again as he delivers a book to Giles, which will set the stage for the finale (wow, that's the next episode). Cordelia, its good to see you with the Scooby Gang.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind-An invisible force is attacking the students and teachers at Sunnydale High. Buffy and the gang must find a way to stop this unseen menace, and determine why it seems to be centering its attacks on Cordelia.



An episode that works well by creating vunerable antagonist and putting Cordelia, who has pretty much been a minor character at this point, into the spotlight. Marcy is a unique villain because she doesn't want to be a villain, she was just a normal girl who became invisible thanks to everyone ignoring her. I like how the flashbacks are shot in a bright black and white footage which show how depressing it was for Marcy. I also liked the creepy scenes with Marcy attacks people like Mitch in the locker room and pushing Harmony down the stairs. Just the way her descent into insanity is handled well and is believeable for any teenager. Charisma Carpentar gets to shine for the first time in this episode and gives a great performance. I loved her speech to Buffy about how she could feel lonely even when surrounded by all her friends. It's just good to finally get some insight on Cordelia as a character and this little revelation of her brings some good development. The rest of the episode play out well like the scene of Giles, Willow and Xander gettting trapped in the basement by Marcy to Marcy torturing Cordelia with Buffy saving the day. The only downside are the FBI guys which seems kinda thrown into the situation with the ending being kinda weird. Why would there be other invisible kids like Marcy? Could this be a forshadowing of the other Hellmouths in the world? Anyway, all and all, a great episode with good development for Cordelia, creepy scenes and convincing monster of the week.

The invisible bad guy thing...it been done. However, the reason for the villians invisibility has never been approached in this way. The idea that because Marcy Ross was ignored and percieved as invisible, actually makes her invisible is--in my mind--nothing short of brilliant. This marks the first time Cordelia is placed in real danger. At this point, early in the show, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted Buffy to saved her. Let's face it, Cordelia's nature is near insufferable. I'm glad she did not die though. She becomes a big part of Buffy in seasons to come and undergoes some fascinateing and indeering character changes on Angel. It took four years, three season of Buffy and one of Angel, but I actually grew to really like Cordelia.

This episode is much better than I remembered as are most of the season one episodes. Though the weakest Buffy season in my opinion, the show is still very fun and enjoyable early on. This episode really showcases how much the CGI improved over the course of the series. At first the budget for the show was extremely low and when they have the floating baseball in the opening teaser, that become evident. It is quite funny, actually. Also, it is interesting to see how Cordelia acted back then. She was a character most fans hated because she was so selfish, but later into her stay in Buffyverse she becomes the exact opposite and a fan favorite. The “monster of the week” in this installment is not actually a monster, just a girl who became invisible because nobody noticed her. That is a really horrible thing and I think everyone can relate to feeling invisible at times. This episode just takes that feeling to the max. The end still creeps me out. When the invisible girl is taken away by the government to an institution and there are a bunch of other kids who turned invisible. If an occurrence like this happened in real life I would not put it past the government to use them as assassin. I like how every season one episode seemed to have an ending where they did not tie up all of the strings, yet they left a window open to potentially bring back the villains. (Some examples of this are in the end of “The Witch” where you see the eyes of the witch in the trophy, or in “Teacher’s Pet” where you see the eggs of the giant praying mantis.) It would be interesting if they actually used these windows to bring characters back, ut they never really did. This is the second last episode of the season and no really progress was made towards the seasonal arc which was disappointing, but as a sand alone episode this is pretty decent.

Best Scene: Its not a scene as such but the clues being left at each scene for the scooby gang to work out. Look, Listen and finally Learn. This episode is a bit more about solving clues which I like.



Worst Scene:

I'm not very kean on the scene where Mitch gets beaten up in the locker room. I'm just not very good with intentional violence.



Funniest Moment:

Umm, not really a funny episode I guess because not one comes to mind and I have watched all of these episodes 100 times!!



Best Quote:

I couldn't decide which of Giles's quotes to use for this as he has quite a lot of good ones.

Giles: How exactly do you propose to hunt someone you can't see? You may have to work on listening to people.

Buffy: Very funny!

Giles: I thought so.



Worst Quote:

This whole conversation between Buffy and Cordelia, obviously going for some female bonding here I just don't hink that it reallt works. Cordelia: So, are you saying she's invisible because she's so unpopular?

Buffy:That about sums it up.

Cordelia: Bummer for her. It's awful to feel that lonely.

Buffy: Hmm. So you've read something about the feeling?

Cordelia: Hey! You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone. It's not like any of them really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time. People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say.

Buffy: Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?

Cordelia: Well, it beats being alone all by yourself



9th out of Twelve.

The concept of someone becoming invisible if they are ignored for long enough is brilliant. The writers really went to town on this episode. An enemy that Buffy can't see and someone that Cordelia doesn't understand.



The scene where Marcie is playing surgeon is well written, the fact that she wants to give her a face that no one will forget just protrays how the loneliness has cost Marcie her mind.



The Codex that Angel finds for Giles is bound to pop up again as a key part to the story. No doubt it will bring a prophecy that no one particularly wants to hear.



The marvellous twist at the end of the government acknowledging these odd occurences is great, and the fact that they train the invisible children as assasins is so ver typical and illustrative.

So there seems to be some invisible force in school that is attacking people. It is close to the spring dance and Cordelia’s boyfriend gets attacked by a bat, just a bat. Next Harmony gets pushed down the stairs but no one saw her pushed her. Buffy thinks that she hears a girls voice laughing and maybe music but can’t see who is making the noise. Willow gets together a list of all the students that have gone missing at Sunnydale thinking that it could be one of them. There is a girl on their list that fits the description, when Buffy asks fellow classmates about her, no one can remember her. Giles theory is that this girl felt invisible so with the help of the Hellmouth she actually became invisible. Her target is also Cordelia. She locks the gang up and takes Buffy and Cordelia to the Bronze – she wants to destroy Cordilia’s face. Buffy frees herself and knocks Marcie out, Angel rescues the gang.

So yeah it's all about Cordelia. Cordelia's boyfriend her best friend and Buffy's gotta save her.



The invisible thing was very different and original in my opinion. It was something that was easy to relate to in a high school setting. Everyone does feel invisible at one point or another for many reasons and this episode brought that to life.



Buffy and Cordelia having a sort of bond was kind interesting. Just to see that they both had similar feeling about things yet theyare so different. Cordy's speech about hoping Buffy was in a gang was good too. We got to see Buffy learn more about the things she needs to do to be a slayer and that just added to the superbness of this episode.



I really loved this one and it was easy to relate too.

We finally get to see some depth to Cordelia's character, and it's definitely a good thing. An invisible girl has been tormenting people around the school, and all of them have links to Cordelia. When Buffy and the gang realize this, it's of course up to them to help Cordy out. I love watching Cordelia in this episode. She shows more good qualities in this episode, and in my opinion, becomes much more likeable. It also establishes a better relationship between the Scooby gang and her, setting up for later episodes, and the season finale. All around, I thought this episode was really good, one of my favourite season one episodes!

Popularity: the quality of being widely admired, or accepted, or sought after. Every school in the world has it's popular crowd. Whether you bully your way into it, are in it because of your beauty or your connections; being popular is a high school status that many seek.



Cordelia is the obvious choice to represent the popular girl. She is beautiful, mean to anyone she considers to be uncool, has an army of b!tchy and shallow followers and is to be crowned this years May Queen. Marcie Ross is the girl at school that no one will remember in years to come. Her year book is full of the "kiss of death" messages , "Have a nice Summer" and even fellow geeks (Willow) can only contribute with variative, yet equally harsh, "have a GREAT summer". Thus the ever aware Hellmouth will infect poor Marcie with it's supernatural, mystical energy: the girl that feels invisable will become invisable.



Marcie doesn't use her "gift" to steal studded baseball caps, like Buffy will, instead she chooses to terrify and harm members of the popular circle, and anyone who could be considered an ally of it. Yes, poor Ms Miller gets it as well. Although she escapes the teacher fatality list, she is still the victim of a nasty sandwich-bag style, suffocation attempt. Those teachers should really start hanging out in pairs. At all times. Maybe invest in some panic alarms.



Mitch, the sports star gets violently beaten by a Marcie-held baseball bat (quite shocking actually, and my favourite film is Goodfellas), and Harmony gets pushed down the Beverly Hill's 91210 staircase. Snyder, as always, is excellent in this episode. As quick cuts in the editing see him finish a students sentence of, "Mitch got whaled on, I think his..." with the amusing and blunt "DEAD! Ofcourse not, what are you, ghouls?". Snyder's campaign to stop the trend of students being killed in his school is on-going and always hilarious, as is his hatred and suspicion of Buffy. She might be *our* hero, but Snyder hates her! "Where do you think you're going?" he rightly asks her as she plays detective. The "comb" explanation is unconvincing as Snyder, again rightly, tells Buffy, "I don't think Mitch needs his comb right now. I think Mitch needs medical attention" (although I bet Mitch had a comb someone about his person).



Invisable girl is definately getting noticed now (ironic enough for ya?). The unseen presence is not yet known, Scoobie specualtion suggests that it could be a ghost, telekinesis, or a "vampire (baseball)bat". The latter Xander-suggestion of course meets no response. After Buffy bumps into invis-Marcie, Willow hacks into the missing student files (she should just start collecting milk-cartons) and Buffy discovers a year book and a nest, the Scoobs are now clued-up on who is responsible for the popular-kid bashings. Giles amusingly gets angry at his own failure to not work out the invisi-cause more quickly, hitting is fist on the table Tim Henman style.



Ms Miller (before her sandwich bag attact) had conveniently been discussing themes from the Merchant of Venice; the anger of the outcast in society(Marcie much?). Maybe teachers at SunnyD are receiving bonuses in their pay-check's, funded by the "Powers that Be". It could be an attempt to give Buffy the upperhand in understanding her weekly-monster situations. This might explain why there's never a lot of creature-feature action in the school holidays. And why Buff lost her way slightly in season six; there were no teachers around! No school teachers, college lecturers, Dawn teachers or English Librarians! Anyway, Buffy is also feeling like an outcast. Not only do Cordy and her gang view her as a freak (where in Hemery High they would have welcomed her) but she also feels left out of her own gang, as Willow and Xander disuss Buffy-free 6th grade days, and get Mr and Mrs Harris to make their "famous call to the Chinese Place". Indeed, this phone call wouldn't be famous for Buffy, she hasn't witnessed it many times, like Willow has. But being the sometimes subtle superhero that she is, Buffy just smiles and is happy for them. She's got an invisible girl to see(ha ha, I'm so very funny).



Some pivotal Cordy-related things happen in this episode. The Queen b!tch of SunnyD is, firstly shown to be even meaner; Helen Kellar-insults, Buffy bashing, flash-back bullying and insensativety; more worried about Mitch's appearance than his injuries. This catalogue of Cordyisms will lead up to the revelational "I can be surrounded by people and feel completely alone" speech, unwittingly setting her up for her "Angel" transformation. Buffy is taken in by this confession, and she can strongly relate to it even if she feels like this, despite having great friends. It is part of being a slayer.



Angel opens his non-beating heart out to Giles, sort of, as he sticks to the episode theme by telling him that "looking in the mirror everyday and seeing nothing there, it's an overrated pleasure". Yes, especially when you are as hot as Mr. Boreanaz! Ummmmm. I love any Giles/Angel scenes, especially their later ones that are full of tension and drama as Gile's looks out for his daughter figure and Angel seeks acceptance from his father-in-law figure. Not to mention the tension caused by the fact that Angel murdered the possible love-of-Giles'-life. This, however is an early Gangle (sorry, couldn't resist) scene and it's main purpose is to set-up the series finale. Angel and Giles discuss the Codex: a book that contains the most complete prophecies about the slayer's role in the end years. Interesting. Did it mention that Angel would turn to Angelus in a years time? Perhapos it did and he tore those pages out. Did it also mention that Buffy would get a sister, or maybe Kendra and Faith? The fact that Giles says, "The end years" suggests that this was quite an accurate foreshadowing of the change to the slayer line in "Chosen". Buffy is kind of the last slayer really.



On with the Marcie tale, and I would like to say that showing young Miss Ross through flash-backs was a very good idea. It interplays nicely with b!tchy Cordy and obviously gives us an essential and more indepth look at the character we are following. The year book element is a good way to make the audience sympathise with Marcie, however the fact that she is hurting people, ignoring Buffy's offer of help and will attempt to brutally mutilate Cordelia doesn't do much for her likability. Is this really sending out a good message to all of those kids who are victims of bullying? I think Marcie's violent vendetta against her enemies is enough to show her as a "bad guy" who probably shouldn't receive pitty. Yes, she was treated unfairly, but it is still wrong to to hurt people in an act of revenge. No, it is Buffy herself that carries the message for this story. She feels hard done by at times. She wants to be May Queen and go for chinese take-away at her life-long friends house, but she has to make sacrifices. She thinks of others. She helps Cordy when she is in danger, even though she is mean to her and her friends. Buffy shows us that even superhero's feel lonely. But Buffy doesn't channel her feelings into acts of revenge and spite, she deals with them, she rises above it and searches for ways to overcome them. And in the end, it is Cordy that is seeking *her* out, thanking her for saving her life, pretty much the nicest thing you can do for someone. Okay, Cordy then reverts to b!tch-mode in fear of tarnishing her reputation, "I was just being charitable, helping them with their fashion problems". But the cracks in her facade have already started to show and Buffy knows it. At least Buffy is acting herself when she is alone (until Season six Spike-sex, but that gets resolved too). Buffy shows us the right way to behave when you feel like Marcie Ross.



Really great Cordy ep, dealing with a common high school theme, that is nicely referenced in season seven. Another great installment.

As the season winds down, the writers finally decide to shed some light on Cordelia, the least developed of the lead cast. Her function so far has been to personify what is keeping the gorgeous Buffy from being one of the most popular kids in school. This episode fleshes out her character, while giving her a reason to become a member, albeit reluctant, of the soon to be dubbed Scooby Gang (a title perhaps hinted with Willow's shirt).



Like the previous episode, this episode touches upon Buffy's past. Before her calling, Buffy wasn't that different from Cordelia. Had she moved earlier, she would've likely been among the Cordettes like Harmony. This episode is much like a bookend to Buffy and Cordelia's initial meeting in the pilot, addressing some elements that haven't been mentioned much since they occurred.



Cordelia wouldn't be one to forget Buffy accidentally attacking her, and that is the incident that would've put Buffy on Cordelia's bad side for a long time otherwise. However, this episode shows her that there is a lot more to this town than she ever realized, which places what Buffy did in a different context. Of course, Buffy saving her from being mutilated appeals to her sense of vanity.



It's remarkable to see these early episodes of vain Cordelia, knowing what is in store for her in future episodes. Her maturity is one of the more rewarding character arcs, and this episode is the first step in that. While she is beautiful and popular, she is lonely because her friends don't offer anything substantial for her or care for anything besides what their status will become by hanging out with her. She only maintains this role out of fear of being alone.



While "Buffy" is a show about social misfits, Marcie is in another league as far as alienation goes. It’s never specific why she is such an outcast. Perhaps because Clea DuVall (of Carnivale fame), doesn't resemble a supermodel. Being a band geek isn't going to help her much either. It still doesn't explain why she is more reclusive than Xander or Willow. Then again, they're friends, whereas Marcie manages to live in the crawlspace (that manages to support three teenage girls) for months without anyone noticing. Maybe she was mentally unstable before her change.



Whatever the reason, we knew, so to speak, someone like that from high school. Invisibility is a perfect to the point of cliché metaphor for the person who feels like no one notices them. This concept can be corny if it isn't delivered properly, which is common when the villain is invisible. It can be hard for them not to make it look like someone is clearly not there. They pull it off rather well, not focusing too heavily on special effects.



One of the underdeveloped elements from this episode comes from Buffy trying to focus her powers so that she doesn't need to see her opponents to attack them. This could've been a good point to feature more prominently, as it makes a big point in the climactic showdown. However, the climax was well done anyway, using the slow motion rather well.



Of course, Marcie as a secret assassin is as odd as it is a cute epilogue for the story. It doesn't appear to help that her textbook is nothing more than Beatles lyrics with the title phrase changed (OK, that was an Easter egg). Like many of the early episodes, this one is another sampler piece, likely to appeal to fans of "The X-Files", the most popular sci-fi show on when "Buffy" came on. Beside that, it makes sense that the government would want to learn about supernatural occurrences in hopes of using it for their objectives, but we wouldn't see much of that until later.



Angel's appearance in this episode may be a bit detached from the main plot, but it does offer hints to what will come in the finale. The Prophecy plays a crucial role, and in this episode, we learn a bit more about vampire mythology, like that they don't have to breathe and they can't cast a reflection. The first one plays a big part in him rescuing Giles, Willow and Xander and a major part of a pivotal scene in the finale. One thing of notice is that they lie to Buffy about Angel, partially in hopes of keeping them apart, but it later they don't take such measures and just let it happen.



This episode is another piece of theme episodes that feature throughout the first season, before they started the overarching stories of future seasons. It is the start of Cordelia's main arc, as well as bringing in elements from The Master arc into fruition for the finale.

Buffy season one really has great stand-alone episodes and Out of Mind out of Sight is no exception to that statement. Out of Mind is an episode about a girl who turned invisible because nobody noticed her, whenever she tried to get attention she was invisible to the people so of course thanks to the Hellmouth she actually became that.



But the 6 months and probably the loneliness before she turned invisible made Marcie a little bit crazy, so she starts terrorizing the school.



Out of Mind is an example how an episode should be, at first you can relate to Marcie, nobody paid any attention to her, she must have felt pretty lonesome, I can’t imagine how that would be all the time you’re in school.



But during the episode she starts getting worse and worse until the point you see she’s just become a lunatic.



This episode finally pays some attention to the character of Cordelia and it became about time they did that. Cordelia is a great character and she deserved some development.



The FBI getting her was a fun idea, to bad we never hear from the invisible assassination squad in the rest of the series.

When strange things begin to happen to everyone around Cordelia she rushes to the gang for help. "Me, me, me... it's all about me!"



Usually just a normal Cordelia thing to say, but in this case she turns out to be right. In a way though, Cordy has it coming to her as shown in flashbacks. Marcie wasn't treated any better by the Cordettes than Willow was in the Welcome to the Hellmouth episode.



What makes the episode more special than it would otherwise have been however, was in recognizing that even the popular kids have problems. Cordelia is allowed to shed a little light on her basic humanity in this episode when she tells Buffy that she knows people are so busy trying to be near her popularity, that they don't even know who she is. It's a quiet moment when Buffy realizes that despite being surrounded by the 'popular crowd', Cordy can be just as lonely as Buffy herself is.



Marcie's plan for Cordelia is also delightfully gruesome. If the episode suffers for anything, it's that it was positioned between the powerhouse episodes 'Nightmares' and 'Prophecy Girl'.

A subtle take on the anger of the outcast, Out of Mind, Out of Sight is a perfect high school episode of Buffy, featuring some strong writing, an intriguing core dilemma for the Scoobies to investigate and a sympathetic nemesis.



This one of the best examples of Buffy using the supernatural as metaphor for realistic situations. Marcie Ross is every bit like that awkward student you're sat near in class, who has no friends and just sails through their education but is ignored in almost every other way, by students and teachers alike. Neither overdone in her loneliness or in her madness, Marcie is written as a character you should really hate, due to her blatant psychotic tendencies, but who is given both a personality and a motive which makes you almost warm to her, in a "even-though-you're-a-complete-wackjob-you're-also-really-nice" kind of way.



As well as the excellent characterization of Marcie, this episode also evolves on Cordelia, who goes from high school witch (and, dare I say, slightly pointless character) to a caring, trapped individual who feels just as lonely as Marcie ever did, despite being surrounded by people who adore her popularity. Whilst the Cordelia seen previously on the show seemingly could have been played by any actress due to her standard "evil popular girl" personality, Charisma Carpenter brings sadness and pathos to the role during this episode, making Cordelia all the more interesting and much more likeable.



Unlike many other guest stars at this point in the show's duration, Clea DuVall brings a genuine quality to the role of Marcie and the writing by Ashley Gable and Thomas A Swyden is also near-perfect. The only minor complaint is the out-of-place conclusion to the story, which takes Buffy into unneeded X-Files territory, with Marcie being taken away and trained to be some kind of invisible assassin. Like several other episodes in season one, the story ends with a cliffhanger that is never followed up on, leaving the storyline feeling almost half-done and in desperate need of a part two, something which just never materialized.



Director: Reza Badiyi

Teleplay: Ashley Gable, Thomas A Swyden

Story: Joss Whedon

Rating: A-

“Out of Mind, Out of Sight” is an episode that tackles the issues of not being popular. We see Cordelia campaign to be crowned “May Queen”. Lots of things happen that try to stop her from becoming this an she is eventually kidnapped. It all turns out to be some invisible girl, who turned invisible because she had no friends. Queue some nice fight scenes and you get an ok episode. The episode ends when we see a class full of invisible kids- showing that lots of people are on their own. Giles and Angel meet for the first time, and Cordelia ask the gang for help for the first time. This is not favourite storyline of mine, but again it manages to be an ok episode.

Quite an ordinary episode with a lot of Cordelia whish is wonderful. But with no demons or vampires it is just like an episode right out of the X-files.

Yet again the show deals with problems that you have growing up and being a teenager. This time the show deals with a very common problem, that I think that everybody has felt. The problem of not being heard or seen, to the point were you feel like you are invisible. To be true to the show the girl really becomes invisible.

This is a really a good Cordelia episode, you also get to see our favourite vamp to come, Harmony. Cordelia makes her first step to be Scooby, when she seeks Buffy out, for Buffy to help her. This is the first time that you get to see some vulnerability from Cordy, when she tells Buffy that is lonely even when she is around her so called friends. But still at the same time she has the time to insult Buffy.

This was yet another great episode of Buffy. It is really well written, It is about a girl who was ignored so much in school that she became invisible and then eventually went crazy and started attacking people. I think it was really good to see an episode centered around Cordelia, and the story is believable, I mean I\\\'m sure there are alot of people like Marcie. I mean but you can see both sides, like you can fel bad fopr Marcie because nobody wanted talk to her and just ignored her, but you also have to feel bad for Cordelia and the people being attacked since just being ignored and turning invisible doesn\\\'t give you a right to hurt people. This episode was really well done and had a bunch of great twists, like why she was invisible and the oh so great ending to this episode. There was also the one scene with Angel and Giles that would set up the story for the next episode. Overall another amazing episode of Buffy.

In this episode a series of what seem like random attacks are committed by a "presence" that cannot be seen - are these attacks focused around Cordelia, and why can't we see the culprit?



This is a fantastic episode that is mainly used to develop Cordelia's character - we start to learn about her views on life and also get a glimpse of her feelings for the Scoobies, as well as her cravings for being popular amongst fellow students.



The episode is very cleverly writen, and highlights in a very subtle style, exactly how it feels to be unpopular at high school. As with alot of Buffy episodes, this one demonstartes that you do not always have to kill vampires to make a great show, but using concepts and themes that an average viewer would understand (and has perhaps been through in their own life) you are able to highlight the point just as well. A good episode all round.

Aside from the fact that this is the episode where the gang starts hanging out more with Cordelia, this is a great episode. The ending was totally awesome. I knew when there were FBI agents showing up it was gonna be x-filesish, and I was not disappointed in the least. The only thing that could have made it better is if, say Mr. X (from x-files) was one 0f the FBI agents! This episode had everything I love about Buffy in it:humor, drama, excitement. Not to mention Cordelia getting pushed down a flight of stairs by an invisible former classmate. Oh darn, did I say that out loud? Yes as you may have guessed I don't like Cordelia much either.

Once again, the school lesson illustrates the theme of the episode. The English class are studying The Merchant of Venice with its anti-hero Shylock who exacts vengeance on his abusive enemies, rightly or wrongly. Cordelia is not in agreement with the Merchant, considering him a whiner, but by the end of the story (Buffy’s not Shakespeare’s), she may have changed her mind. A little.



We carry on from where we left off in Nightmares with the topic of unacknowledged people doing drastic things in order to be heard – or in this case, seen. Marcie is ignored by her classmates, most particularly by May Queen Cordelia and her Cordettes and, fanned by the hellmouth’s, erm, flames, becomes invisible. She then wreaks havoc and retribution on those around her and especially around Cordelia, even if Cordy is more concerned about how her beaten boyfriend Mitch will look in the prom photos. In the meantime, Buffy is too feeling overlooked. As a slayer she needs to be invisible but this means she can never be Prom Queen or have a normal life. Popular at her last school, she is now one of the weirdos; Cordelia is not even interested in Buffy’s explanation as to why there are weapons in her bag. But despite Willow and Xander’s silly in-jokes, Buffy still has her network. Marcie, determined to be in with the in-crowd, has no such support and ends up alone. The flaws of being Popular are exposed further as Cordelia expresses her dissatisfaction with her friends whom she thinks don’t really like or listen to her – they just want to be in the Popular Zone.



This reveals a little about Joss Whedon’s fixation with power. Cordy has to work hard at being popular, she has to do all she can to maintain it. But she doesn’t use it to do good, she may claim that being popular is a responsibility but she treats it lightly. Indeed, popularity has to be exclusive to work - she has to keep people out of her gang by being nasty to them. It’s a vicious social circle. This is shown at the end of the ep when it all goes a little bit schmaltzy as Cordelia thanks the Scoobies (inc. Willow in her Scooby Doo shirt), only for Mitch to pull her away from the ‘social lepers colony’. He is only interested in her for her looks, but she will only go out with him if he makes football captain. This idea is explored further in S2 as Cordy starts to hang out with Buffy and of course Xander, and is forced to ditch her crowd.



In the meantime, Giles nervously meets Angel who sets up the season finale by having some prophecy book or other and we see his path mirroring Buffy’s - he is invisible as well, since vampires cast no reflection. He also saves the Scoobs from a gassy death. Surely they should know by now that they should never go into the basement! Still, being invisible can be useful sometimes as Buffy discovers whilst spying on Cordelia’s dress rehearsal and again in Season 6’s Gone. The fight scene with Marcie is well choreographed and her removal to a Xavier’s school type institution quite fitting. I’m surprised the FBI hasn’t shown an interest in Buffy yet.



The last word must go to Stalinist-revisionist Snyder: “There are no dead students here. This week.”

Out of Mind, Out of Sight was Out of this world! This was another great episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Some one is wreaking havoc on people close to Cordelia, and Buffy and the gang discover its a girl who became invisible, because she felt invisible to everyone. In the mean time, in the background, there are men in suits. The invisible girl initiates her final plan and has captured Cordelia and Buffy, when it seems there is no hope, the men in suits burst in and take the girl away. We later see that she is at a government facility full of other kids like her, training to be spies. What a unique ending. Joss really has good endings, even if they are open ended, that should spark your own creativity and fear. I also liked seeing another side of Cordelia as she said she can be surrounded by people and still be alone.

In this episode we are introduced to an invisible girl, Marcie. It seems Marcie wasnt even a blip on the radar when she was a student at Sunnydale and as a result she slowly disappeared completely. She is invisible, and ticked off. The target of her wrath is (surprise) Cordelia, who never had a kind word for her. It was sad to see Marcie trying to talk to Cordelia and getting insulted at every turn. Even the teachers didnt acknowledge her. Yeah, she deserved a little payback but she went overboard. It was the gang to the rescue and Buffy is able to take the invisible girl down. But the "men in black" showed up and took it from there. Hey, an invisible assassin can be handy.

The 11th episode of Buffy finally features one that’s bout Cordy and explores and also develops it a bit more.



It begins with Cordy and her friends ‘Harmony’ and ‘Mitch’ making fun of Buffy, they really ignore her and make her feel bad.



In class, they discuss a book about someone who was looked down on, Cordy says that the guy should get over himself. Somewhere deep, deep Cordy has a point.



But someone there doesn’t think so, first ‘it’ goes after Cordy’s prom date and beats him up with a bat.



The Scooby’s think it might be a poltergeist, and it’s after Cordy because it also attacks her friend Harmony and pushes her off the stairs.



Buffy finds a message in the locker room where Mitch got beat up by a bat ‘Look’



After Harmony being pushes off the stairs, Buffy hears a girl laughing and going into the music room. Later that night she also hears someone playing music.



Also, Angel is finally back. He tells Giles that he can get him some codex about the Master, later in the episode he also saves Giles, Will and Xander who were trapped by Marcie in a room filled with gas.



We shortly learn why Marcie became invisible, she was ignored by everyone and nobody really saw her and because they live on a hellmounth what people saw became, that’s how she became invisible because nobody noticed her.



When someone attacks a teacher who helps Cordy, Cordy finds her almost dead and something writes on the school board. Cordy realised it’s after her and she goes to the library where she asks for help. Giles had never seen her before and she responds ‘Oh, no. I have a life’. Buffy decides to help her and use her as bit for the prom ceremony.



While Cordy changes in a mop closet, Cordy tells Buffy about feeling alone with all those people around her because they don’t really listen. But she says it’s better that way than being alone all by herself. But then Marcie takes her up the roof and when Buffy follows, Marcie hits her and puts her to sleep.



When they wake up, they are tight down on chairs and Cordy can’t feel her face. Marcie arrives with some tools and promised Cordy to give her a face nobody will ever forget. Buffy is able to cut lose and by listening she knocks out Marcie, then some weird guys walk in and take her with them. They think that they can make her very useful and that it has happened before.



Later that day, Cordy goes to the gang and says she’s thankful but when Mitch sees her she just explains that she was giving them fashion tips. ‘Where is an invisible girl when you need her’?



At the end we see where those creepy men take Marcie, she is going to become an assassin.



This was an excellent episode, good storyline and great lines. Finally more attention on Cordy, who is. Let’s face it, one of the best characters on tv.

This episode starts with a girl who feel left out alone. a type who wants to fit in but doesn't. anywhere. She wants to be cordelia or one of her bitchettes. Cordelia doesnt even notice her. so the girl, marcy becomes invisible. She starts trying to kill all of Cordys friends and all whom she is assicated with. Then she goes after the Queen Bee herself. That plan doesnt work so well. Buffy gets in the way and saves the day! As usual! Then again doesnt she always save the day? I mean except for when she died the second time.