Overall Rating: 7.6
The average ratings come out to an 8.0, but the episode gets a -0.4 point penalty for a unsportsmanlike conduct in its slap at the U.S. military - and there's no coach's challenges on this blog (and that may be the only time I'll ever use a football metaphor here, though baseball jokes will be more common. :) ). A poignant and interesting story about the ravages of teenage social structure - a story that has indeed been done to death, but that Buffy retells in classic Jossy spirit in a manner never before seen.
Plot Synopsis:
When a string of attacks by an unseen assailant begin at Sunnydale High, Buffy and the Scoobies investigate possible explanations. Cordelia, meanwhile, is caught up in a desperate scramble to be elected May Queen and takes the opportunity while bribing her fellow classmates with chocolate to deliver a few pointed digs at Buffy's "lunatic fringe" status. Buffy reveals to Xander and Willow (after they wonder why anyone cares about being May Queen) that she used to be like Cordelia, including winning a similar honor at her old school and enjoying the experience - this naturally leaves the young apprentices feeling like they've contracted 'open mouth insert foot disease.'
As more of Cordelia's closest consorts (her boyfriend, her best friend and her teacher) fall victim to attacks from an apparently invisible person, Buffy zeroes in on the likely suspect - a band geek (high school colloquialism) who was made to feel so utterly invisible by her peers that she physically became so. The forgotten soul - every school has them and few people realize how difficult it can be on the psyche. Here on the hellmouth, the literal transformation to invisible girl is made possible and drives Marcie insane. She now focuses her wrath on Cordelia and her inner circle, blaming them for her lot in life. Cordelia too begins to realize that she is being stalked and sheepishly approaches Buffy and her 'peeps' for an assist. While helping Cordelia prepare for her May Queen coronation, Buffy gets a shock when Cordelia reveals depth in her own character and talks about the difficulty in being the queen bee. Buffy knows all too well what this is like given her past and the two begin to bond (albeit reluctantly).
They are, however, too late in realizing Marcie's plans to entrap Cordelia and she and Buffy end up prisoners as she plans to exact cruel vengeance on Cordelia by disfiguring her with surgical instruments. Meanwhile, Xander, Willow and Giles and lead into a trap by recorded flute music and nearly killed by a gas line set to deliver natural gas at full blast. They are saved by Angel, who cannot be around Buffy given his romantic feelings for her and the gypsy curse that prevents him from achieving happiness with her, but that doesn't stop him from looking out for her best interests. He rescues the scoobies and delivers an ancient codex which will be heavily featured in the season finale involving the Slayer's role in the "end days."
Unfortunately, the episode takes a significant hit when, at the conclusion of the fight scene between Marcie and Buffy, a pair of FBI agents steal the obviously unstable child away and promise to "rehabilitate" her and make a useful member of society again. We later find out that this entails military indoctrination and retraining to be black ops personnel involved in espionage and warfare. Because as we all know, our government is unquestionably evil enough to use a tortured, insane soul as a cog in the military machine rather than care for her recovery from a traumatic experience. Right. Between Buffy and Cordelia, at least, a mutual understanding is reached even though Cordelia feels she must continue to play her part in Sunnydale's social scene and that must, by definition, exclude Buffy and the Scoobies from contact with her.
Writing: 8.5
I'd give this episode a 7.5 ordinarily. Most of the script is pretty standard Buffy fare (otherwise known as good TV, but not eye-poppingly so), and the story is a repeat from about ten dozen other teen movies, after school specials and Nickelodeon shows we neither desire to view again nor particularly need to name. But it gets a huge boost for one of the strongest character exchanges of the first season and for demonstrating the potential strengths of Cordelia's character as well as her intelligence and slowly improving maturity. One of the reasons BtVS is so popular in the younger sci-fi/fantasy crowd is that Whedon and his fellow writers "get it" when it comes to why teens behave the way they do, and this is a classic example. You'll see the exchange to which I am referring in the highlights below. It's memorable enough to stick with me til I'm old and gray.
Acting: 8.0
Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) and Sarah Michelle Gellar were the strong points in this episode. Clea DuVall (Marcie) annoyed me a bit...I can't put my finger on what I felt was missing from her performance during visible flashbacks, but something about her facial expressions while her exile was being carried to fruition did not feel organic. Her voice acting in her invisible scenes was way too harsh - for the story to work, we need to like this girl even after she's lost her mind and there's no way for that to happen while she's sounding like a bitch on wheels. Otherwise, the acting is solid all around.
Message: 7.5
I can certainly relate to the plight of Marcie Ross. I had the benefit of going to a magnet school for science nerds, so some of the angst was taken out of high school, but even there, I was a relatively minor part of the social landscape...and more importantly, the cruelty of pre-teen and teenaged behavior can leave just about everyone feeling as lonely as Marcie at one time or another. The episode would score higher marks Willow and Xander had gotten more of a chance to express the ways in which they were similar to Marcie, because short of that, the script doesn't make a universal enough appeal (that's despite Cordelia's stunning words highlighted below regarding her own isolation - I still feel like opportunities were missed to reach out to a wider range of people). Also, as noted above, the story concept (and the message) are not unique. It was just the Buffy presentation that freshened the viewing experience.
Highlights:
TEACHER: Has Shylock suffered? What was his role in Venice society?
WILLOW: Well, people always looked down on him.
CORDELIA: That is such a twinkie defense! People who think their problems are so huge make me crazed. Like this one time, I sort of ran over a girl on her bike. It was the most traumatizing event in my life and she kept trying to make it about her leg! Like my pain meant nothing. (wow...)
SNYDER: I don't think Mitch needs his comb right now. I think he needs medical attention. And you...need to stay away from the crime scene. Always sticking your nose in...
WILLOW: Sued?? He's gonna sue the school?
SNYDER: What? (Buffy mouths a thank you and disappears)
XANDER: Yeah, you didn't know?
SNYDER: Alright, have you heard?
WILLOW: His dad's like the most powerful man in Sunnydale!
XANDER: His Dad the lawyer...
WILLOW: Other lawyers call him the beast. (LOL)
HARMONY: You weren't in fifth period!
CORDELIA: I went to the hospital.
HARMONY: How's Mitch?
CORDELIA: The doctors say he'll be fine. But you should have seen him lying there...all black and blue? How's that going to look in our Prom pictures? How am I going to show them to anyone!
HARMONY: Well, they can do amazing things with air brushes these days.
CORDELIA: (happily) You think? (just wow...)
GILES: So...a girl on campus with the ability to become invisible...
XANDER: That is so cool!
WILLOW: Cool?
XANDER: Well yeah! I'd kill to have that kind of power. Well I wouldn't use it to beat people up. I'd use it to...protect the girl's locker room. (giggity!)
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. (LOL)
CORDELIA: Buffy? I knew you'd be here! OK, look, I know you and I have had our differences...what you being so weird and creepy...and hanging out with this...total losers! But...I know deep down, you and I share this common feeling...
XANDER: Nausea?
CORDELIA: Someone is after me! They just tried to kill Mrs. Miller...she was helping me with me homework! And Mitch? And Harmony? This is all about me! Me! Me! Me!!
XANDER: Wow...for once she's right! (LOL)
GILES: You know...I don't recall ever seeing your here before.
CORDELIA: Oh no...I have a life. (Ouch!)
CORDELIA: Nothing is keeping me away from the Bronze tonight!
XANDER: Can we just revel in your fabulous lack of priorities? (heh...indeed)
(this is among the most poignant things I've ever heard uttered in the Buffy canon)
CORDELIA: So this girl is invisible because she's so unpopular?
BUFFY: That about sums it up.
CORDELIA: Bummer for her. There's nothing worse than loneliness.
BUFFY: So you've read something about the feeling?
CORDELIA: Hey! You think I don't know what it's like just because I'm so cute and popular? I mean, it's not like any of those people really knows me. People just want to be in the popular zone. I can be surrounded by people and feel completely alone. Sometimes when I talk, my friends are so busy agreeing with me...they don't hear a word I say.
BUFFY: Well if you don't like being this way, then why do you work so hard at being popular?
CORDELIA: It beats being alone all by myself.
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