Buffy the Vampire Slayer Talk || s4e22 "Restless" 💤
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
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done with my semester and done with my thesis!! my upload schedule should get a lot more consistent.. very sorry 😅
Wooo, congrats!
That's fine, I hope you have the best of luck with your thesis and look forward to more posts!
So happy for you and so glad to finally have you back. I was beginning to wonder if some folk who just started on Season 4 would get finished before you. All kidding aside, I've been following your patreon entries and really liked your thesis presentation. Here's hoping all your hard work is paying off. Alright enough delays. Let's do this!
@@9ansean thank you so much!! :D
Congratulations!
That cut to editing Alley after "Be back before dawn." 😂
My fave moment of this video too lol
Brilliant cut! I loved it. Alley has been absolutely on point with all these cuts to editing Alley all season.
Oof, this finale is an EXPERIENCE. The first watch-through is like something you just have to let wash over you, enjoy for its wild little moments, and then decipher later. Non-spoiler: I do love the way this ep interrogates each character's personal anxieties and fears through symbolism and weirdness. Willow's fear that, under it all, she's still the same nerdy loser she always was; Xander's fear that no matter how far he tries to run, he'll inevitably be stuck living in his parent's basement like a failure; Giles's fear that his duties as Watcher/caretaker will forever overshadow the more fun and interesting parts of himself; and of course Buffy's fear that being a Slayer will make her surrender to primal violence, and she'll end up friendless and alone.
The thing about Spike in Xander's dream: he feels he's being left behind by everyone: they're moving on without him while he's still stuck in his parents' basement. In his dream, even _Spike_ now has a bigger place in the Scooby Gang than he does.
I always saw Spike's appearance in this episode to be more about his role in the meta narrative, since he's Buffy's dark side/mental illness. He's not in Willow's dream because she doesn't acknowledge that part of Buffy yet. Xander sees it as a childish emulation of Giles (who is dour and disapproving. Basically Buffy's darkness is her attempting to be an adult), and Giles, at this point, sees it as a dramatic cry for attention.
I tend to focus more on Giles and his relationship with Xander in that scene, than Spike. I look at it as Xander wanted a father/son relationship from Giles, but never really got it. Buffy (and Willow in a sense) were the ones that got that fatherly/mentor relationship with Giles, but Xander never did. He doesn't really have a mentor of any sort to really guide him, especially in his home life, and we see him really struggle this season. I can imagine high school Xander saw Giles, a responsible and respectable man, in his life and possibly wanted to be like him instead of the family he had at home, but the relationship dynamic he wanted never took off. If we're being honest, Giles took to Buffy and Willow, but mostly seemed to only tolerate Xander. So Xander spent his time directionless because life wasn't going to stop over someone not having a real plan...
So we see Giles here with Spike, training him to be a Watcher, saying he's like a son to him. I see it as this was the relationship Xander wanted with Giles, but never got it, and eventually had to let the idea go and deal with the reality of adulthood and his personal circumstances pertaining it instead...
You guys are looking too deep into it🤔 it's pretty obvious it was the writer looking for an excuse to put Spike in whatever scenes
@@WillsonT011 Even the excuses in this episode requires explanation.
@@AshLee92490 This scene never really has made sense to me until you explained it.
“And try not to bleed on my couch, I just had it steam cleaned~”
That amazing line was not in the script, so probably an ad lib.
@@erikohman2294 king behaviour on his part 👏
It also doesnt really make sense since they're at the bronze in the dream and at Buffy's house irl.
@@mshevchenk look again, it does make sense. The couch is the one from his flat/apartment, as are the tables on either side and the lamps.
@@NeuroticNicky87 wow good catch. The detail in this episode is nothing short of incredible
This really was necessary to show the cost of the spell they did in Primeval. Otherwise, viewers would be wondering why they didn't just do it again whenever Buffy faced something so much stronger than herself.
oh very interesting point, yeah that makes sense
Yeah it took me a couple watch throughs to get that it was actually connected to the spell they did. Idk why I didn’t make the connection
To be fair, that risk could've been conveyed much simpler. But this show goes the extra mile.
@@4everbuffylover I managed to catch that it was related to the spell on the first viewing, but only because of how the First Slayer attacked each person. For the spell, Willow was Spirit, GIles was Brain, Xander was Heart. When the First Slayer actually attacks them she seems to suck out Willows vitality (or spirit), she's cutting into Giles skull (clearing for his brain), and she literally rips out Xanders heart. The Willow one is a bit confusing, but once I saw her go for Xanders heart and Giles brain, I figured it out. Such a cool idea.
@@4everbuffylover though this could have easily been a season 5 episode. It also has to do with this being the one season where they weren't up for renewal: the success of s3 had the WB ordering s4 & s5 at the same time.
Just believe in the cheese. _Trust the cheese._
But seriously, you're going to come back and rewatch this episode later on down the line. The foreshadowing is very, _very_ strong with this one.
@Peter from NZ ... it's no gouda to talk about cheese club?
And graduation day p2 when you think about it
This episode has possibly the best-written dream sequences of any show or movie I've ever seen. Each one really feels and behaves like a dream. The play in Willow's dream, that skips around in scenes, makes no sense objectively and has nothing at all to do with the real-life play they're supposed to be doing; Xander's perpetual frustration in everything he's trying to do and near-constant motion through completely disparate settings; Giles' dialogue suddenly becoming a musical number - I've experienced all those things in dreams. The script perfectly toed the line between purely psychological and narratively coherent in ways most "dream" scripts don't. Absolutely believable.
And I was so grateful, back when this first aired, that Whedon included the Cheese Man in each of the dreams. I had grown up thinking I was alone in seeing Him.
Absolutely. Dream movies and episodes almost NEVER feel like dreams, but this one does. The disjointed nature of it, the mix of deep symbolism and complete nonsense - or just dumb jokes, just the whole feel of it. Perfect.
You seeing the Cheeseman - *squinty eyes, unsure if serious*
Shouldn't this be a psychologist's favorite episode? Seriously, they have set up enormously for the next season and beyond in this episode. But no spoilers. Just expect season 5 to rock.
definitely.. just very confusing to watch for the first time ever and not know where it goes 😅
@@alleybox For some episodes, it's really worth rewatching them with directors commentary. Especially JW gives a lot of insight on what they did there.
@@alleybox so tell us about the cheese. Lol Whats your insight on the meaning of cheese? Lol If you rewatch the show cheese comes up quite a lot. Something wierd is going on with cheese. Lol
Season 5 is by FAR the best. Others are very good, but Season 5 is king.
@@russellward4624 the cheese 🧀 is the easiest thing … remember Willow telling Riley that Buffy likes Cheese 🧀.
The Cheese is moving in Season 5. 😉
No spoilers.
To say that Xander's family-life "isn't the best" is indeed an understatement. When you camp out in the backyard every Christmas eve to avoid the drunken arguments, that's pretty damn messed up.
Yeah, sadly a lot of people somehow never understand that.
I get that it's never explicitly said that his home-life is terrible (Whole family argues, his parents don't seem to care about him and his father is abusive), but they have plenty hints in the show that reveal a lot about Xander and his up-bringing.
Yes, he once told Buffy his father tried to sell him to Armenians as a baby.
The green screen is purposefully to make it feel weird and like it's not real.
But yeah, it's maybe in my top 4 episodes of the series. It doesn't act as a series finale for season 4, it's a series finale for the first 4 seasons as a whole. A massive look back on the past of all these characters and their journeys, and what is coming in the future, and they do so by diving into the psyche of each and every one of our core main characters. It's absolutely fascinating, and I love it so much. There's so much to unpack with every line.
Actually, it is a call back to how all driving scenes used to be done in old films. Go watch any movie from the 70's and earlier and any depiction of driving will be exactly what you see in the scene where Xander is driving the Ice Cream truck. Also, it is a Blue Screen rather than a Green Screen. Blue screens for film, Green for digital.
I think this episode is fucking magic. Nothing on TV or film ever felt so much like a real dream. The detached, absurd distortion of reality is so surreal and gives so much complex insight into all the characters' many layers.
This was not the finale. That was last episode. This was a post interlude. Dream like stuff. Fears expressed. Calls back to past episodes. Calls forward to things to come. Half you can guess at. Half you can't figure out now. The fun here is remembering this as you go forward in the series and catching all the points later that you didn't understand now. I didn't like this when I first saw it either. But it GROWS on you as you move forward in the series.
The whole Apocalypse Now sequence with Snyder is a masterpiece. The underlying madness - I love it!
- What Willow paints on Tara's back is a part of the poem 'Ode to Afrodite' in ancient Greek, as written by Sappho of Lesbos (ca. 630 to 570 B.C.).
- Buffy doesn't always think so, but she is not alone. She has her friends. Her mind Giles, her spirit Willow, and her heart Xander are always with her. They make her stronger, better, different from the traditional slayer type.
- Season 4 isn't about Maggie, or Adam, or The Initiative. It's definitely not about Riley. It's about the Scooby Gang. Where they are, where they're going, who they are. This season has been an in-depth psychological study of our favourite characters. That's why this weird-a** episode is such a fitting end to it.
This one will make a lot more sense after you've watched the rest of the series, trust me.
Which kinda doesn't make any sense because Willow doesn't read Greek as far as I remember. And where did she find a dual-language collection of her fragments in 2000?
Also, every character views Buffy as something of a brainless cheerleader...something I didn't notice until the 300th rewatch, but very interesting.
@@TheomiteThat can probably just be summed up as dream logic.
I’ve always understood Xander’s Comforditor comments to be about how he can fight but he’s the heart of the group who provides emotional support and healing. Like how in the season 4 premiere he’s the one to boost Buffy’s spirit. That’s why he was the heart in the merging spell. And owning that is growth since it’s a non-traditional role for a man.
That’s a good point.
The single best episode of television ever made.
Arguably THE most important episode of Buffy……..but only apparent after you’ve watched the rest of the show lol
I love everyone's first time watching this is the meme of the woman with the equations floating around her head
"Sometimes I think about two women doing a spell... and then I go and do a spell by myself." Yep, this episode is all about metaphors.
Some metaphors are so direct and obvious and other foreshadowing is very subtle. A very interesting episode.
"Hey, Larry, great to see you mastered the art of the single entendre."
That was a metaphor? You mean I spent my whole teenage years doing metaphors and didn't realize it?
The "manus" tarot card is a reference to the enjoining spell in "Primeval". They used those cards which represented what each friend brought to the group and how the first slayer tried to kill each of them in their dream. Willow - spiritus (spirit), Xander - animus (heart), Giles - sophus (mind), Buffy - manus (hand)
I always liked the detail that in each dream, when the First Slayer comes for them, she comes for what they represented in the spell. She sucks out Willows vitality (or spirit), rips out Xander's heart, and cuts into Giles skull for his brain.
Giles still seeing Buffy as a child to me just speaks to how much he really does feel like her father. As a parent, I very much relate to still seeing your children as children, regardless of how old they actually are. They will always feel like your babies.
You really have to go back and rewatch this episode after you've watched the rest of the series because it will all fall into place. It's understandable to be confused and even feel a little let down after watching this episode for the first time. I think most of us felt similarly after we first saw it. However, after you see the rest of the series this episode will most likely be a stand out episode for you. It's not a finale for season 4, that was episode 21. "Restless" is a finale for All 4 seasons and a precursor for what is to come. I still find new little things that blow my mind when watching this episode that I didn't catch the first several times I've watched it.
People forget that Buffy has prophetic dreams and because they where connect they kind of shared Buffys pseudo dream world hence the me and faith just made that bed as a slayer herself Faith also can share the dream
Not to mention that Faith and Buffy are actually making that bed in the joint dream they have in the season 3 finale
This one is... A lot. It's one which really does benefit from a rewatch later down the line.
will probably be rewatching after every season to see if i pick up on more details as i go through the show :)
@@alleybox do that! The farther along with the show you are the more details will make sense, also this is the perfect episode for a drunk rewatch 😜
@@alleybox Oh, brilliant! I hope you will record your thoughts after each rewatch? 😊
@@alleybox ehh. There’s not actually that much foreshadowing in the episode plot wise. I’d say after s5 is done, then go back, but not necessary for s6-s7. Now, the perceptions these characters have about themselves and each other does have an impact on their decisions in s5-s7. So I’d say that’s the most important thing to understand from this episode, but they go into enough depth in other seasons that if you miss things no big.
The episode is pure metaphor and foreshadowing. It makes SO much more sense after you've seen the next season or two. When you go back and watch this after you realize how much they were playing the long game with these references.
Also the cheese man is the MVP of this episode. He is pure nonsense and I love him.
The cheese man had a real Twin Peaks feel to him
Joss Whedon has said in interviews that everything in this episode had some kind of meaning except the cheese man. The cheese man was thrown in just to be random because it was a dream.
Yep, because in every dream there is usually an element that doesn't make any damn sense, and in this it was him. :)
This is probably my favorite episode of Buffy. It is so well written and insightful.
The whole Principal Snyder as soldier scene was a homage to the movie Apocalypse Now with Snyder acting as Marlon Brandos character. Apocalypse Now was also the movie described as a gay romp by Xander at the start of the episode.
As someone who has some ✨unhinged✨ dreams , this episode is one of my faves . Tho I remember finding it spooky when I first watched it (I was like 13 tho 😂)
when xander was peeing (standing up, as men do and are expected to), he wasn't just being watched; he was being assessed. there were lots of clipboards and pens. men often feel (accurately) that their masculinity is being judged by the people around them.
And Xander has always thought - and been told by his family - that he fails that test.
That’s actually a good segue from his conversation with Joyce. According to society, he’s supposed to fall into the role of a conquistador, but he doesn’t think he actually measures up to that image. So now he’s being assessed to see if there’s something wrong with him because he’s not readily jumping to take Joyce’s offer
I enjoy seeing people's reactions to this one as it is always so different than all their other reactions to BtVS or any other shows and movies reactions. Confusion is the normal for watching this the first time through. That's what dreams would be like so they don't make sense until studying why people dream what they dream. Repeat viewings are when the episode gets more interesting. I like that alley box does that.
I cannot stress enough how much I want to see a reactor do a rewatch/reaction video to "Restless" after finishing the entire series. And you could really do a rewatch at the end of s5 and s6 as well. One of my top five favorite Buffy episodes and that's steep competition.
The fact that it isn't what anyone would expect of a season finale is just part of its brilliance. A character-driven, forshadowy series of metaphor-laden dream sequences at the end of a very character-driven season, and that emphasizes the unique bonds between the Scoobies after a season when they splintered apart? I loved it when it first aired (and yes, I was also confused). With your psychology background and your appreciation for filmmaking and interesting camera shots this really should be an episode that you'll come to truly love. And if you do a rewatch vid at the end of the series then commenters would be able to actually comment without concern for all the falling spoilers.
Regarding the focus on Willow's "costume" - also remember that in Halloween in S2 she's the only one wearing a costume beneath a costume. Also, the image of the adorable kitten stalking toward the camera as its steps seem to shake the earth is pretty haunting (and important).
And note the similarities between Joyce talking to Buffy through the hole in the wall and her talking to Buffy through the hole in the door during the Parent-Teacher night attack in "School Hard". And the fact that Buffy's already walking away as Joyce tells her she could probably break through the wall is kinda heartbreaking.
The clay Buffy puts on her face is war paint - bonding her with the original Slayer. Note she also struggles with her Slayerness, parsing the difference between a killer and Slayer and telling Adam "we're not demons". And I love the poetry of the dialogue, like "I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back" (A reference to her determination to adapt and have a life beyond her Slayerness).
Buffy being Giles' surrogate daughter is at once very sweet and incredibly sad, as we see Olivia with the empty baby carriage and then later crying over the broken carriage.
And props to JW for bringing back Armin Shimerman to play Col. Kurtz in Xander's dream version of Apocalypse Now.
"Little Miss Muffet, counting down from 7-3-0." "Little sis coming, I know. So much to do before she gets here." "Be back before Dawn."
.
This is about the halfway point in the series and we get a major dive into the main 4 and their dreams. After a year that threatened them falling apart, they put an enjoining spell that United them together again. These Whedonverse shows prioritize character over plot and so this finale is exactly that. It’s not what happens to the characters, it’s how the characters respond to what happens to them. That’s the storytelling these shows go for
I love this episode. One of the very best of the entire seven season series. So many layers to it.
A watcher scoffs at gravity!
I used to think this was a weird episode.
Now I just wear the cheese.
It does not wear you!
The clock is a reference to the shared Faith-Buffy dream in Grad Day part 2. "Counting down from 7-3-0"
The first episode of Buffy I ever saw was Hush, which got me hooked. I love risk taking. Restless is my favourite episode of the slayerverse for this reason.
Did you get that the spirit of the first Slayer, the way she attacked the Scoobs related to, 1, the spell they did, and 2, the roles each of them play in the group? Willow is the soul. So it sucked out her soul. Xander is the heart. So it ripped out his heart. Giles is the mind so it cut out his brain.
Even though there was so much of this episode I didn't understand when I first watched it I had so much appreciation for the film making.
99% of dream sequences/scenes in movie and TV fall into one of 2 categories:
1) They are made to look no different from the rest of the movie/show in order to trick the audience into not being able to distinguish reality and dream
OR
2) they are overly ethereal (often using fog machines for NO damn reason)
This episode perfectly captured the drifting/merging thought process of dreams, a mix of emotional impressions, specific thought or memories and subconscious intellect and personality.
The thing with Snyder is also an "apocalypse now" take off . I didn't realize it was Adam either.
they were able to do that super long shot because the sets were all connected! this episode looks like a lot of fun to have filmed and thought up stuff for
edit: also passion of the nerd has a really good analysis that pointed out thing i missed which i recommend!!
The piano player for Giles' Exposition Song was Christophe Beck who wrote the scores for most of season 2 through 4 (and won an Emmy for his score for Becoming), and Joss would continue to bring him back whenever he wanted an especially good score for an episode.
If you're looking for a deep dive on this episode and to have it interpreted, on Passion of the Nerd's channel he has two analysis videos for this episode that really made me appreciate it a lot more, there is a version for new watchers and a version for those who have seen the whole series. A lot of the things referenced or alluded to here are very prophetic (I don't think that's a spoiler to say)
I think your main hangup is that in your mind, this was "the finale." But in practical terms, I think 4x21 was the finale, and this episode is more of an epilogue to season 4. It makes a lot of sense to have this episode, but it's not an episode that has a lot of stakes (so makes a meh finale), and it's something that has to happen right after the last episode (consequence of calling on the first slayer), but it also wouldn't make for a great season 5 pilot. I think this is part of what makes it better on rewatch, it's not just that a few more pieces click, but also that its placement in the season isn't gonna throw you haha.
Xanders dream is one of my favorites. The Being watched while preforming a bodily function is his internal monologue thinking of being judged for the simplest tasks. In his mind no matter what he does, he feels stagnant and can't preform.
Xander’s dream is a référence to apocalypse now
I swear Armin Shimerman does a better colonel Kurtz than Marlon Brando.
@@TomH2681 🤣🤣 more traumatic
Which of course was the movie he recommended for the movie night. It's kind of fitting I think by the scene was the was based on the third act of the movie, which is a lot more surreal than what came before.
My favorite part of Willow's dream is the shot of Oz and Tara smirking together at the end. "I tried to warn you." That's so good at relating the fear of being outed as a fraud. So many people insist that her dream was about being afraid people will find out she's gay, and I think that was an intentional red herring, but the reveal at the end was pretty clear. That her fear is that she's still the same "loser" who got picked on five years ago? Much more to the heart of Willow's character.
EDIT 1: as far as Xander sexualizing women, I feel like those characters aren't 100% from Xander's brain as they seem intent on distracting him from what he's doing by offering him comfort and satisfaction.
One of the easiest ways to figure out what each dream is about is to listen to repeated sentiments ("the play," "I'm way ahead of you," "you're missing everything," "I'm looking for my friends").
EDIT 2: Something else that I really love that I forgot to mention. Subtle, cool thing. Anya's stand-up is a metaphor for her trying to perform humanity. When Giles is told that it's his fault, it's because he's the one who destroyed Anyanka's power center in "The Wish," making her mortal.
PS, nobody ever seems to get this, but "Gotta be
with moving forward." "Like a shark." is a reference to an old bit of folk wisdom: if a shark stops swimming, it dies.
I love that they brought back the "softer side of Sears" outfit she was wearing the moment she met Buffy in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", like she fears she's never grown from that moment onward.
@@Blazingstoke And everyone is going to find out that under it all she is still the outcast of season 1 and she is just acting like she is confident and someone more than that.
Buffy's speech to the First Slayer is still one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. She puts in clear terms how she isn't alone, and she is more than her role as the Slayer: she's Buffy.
("I walk. I talk. I shop. I sneeze. I'm going to be a fireman when the flood rolls back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out. And I don't sleep in a bed of bones.")
Also, the card was her role in the spell: Manus, the Hand.
Which ties into how why Buffy is the greatest slayer there has been for a long time. That she's more than just a weapon of primal violence.
Which gets at how the Watcher's Council has tried to control the Slayer and reduce it to that for centuries. Which makes Giles talking about how he can cripple it with his intellect *significantly* more sinister actually. There are times when, even though he's a great guy, that Watcher training comes out and it's a *problem*
I've always been a big fan of weird dream sequence episodes, so I really liked this. Trying to make sense of it, filing a lot away for "see if it connects to stuff later on", etc. I also really like cheese slice man =) The perfect amount of dream-like randomness.
The whole main plot of S04 never really struck a chord with me back when I first saw this season, so them handling the Adam part in the penultimate episode never bothered me. This episode was like a great postscript, like a winding down after the big action-finale. Here's where we got ourselves some updates on the important stuff of the season; growing up, growing apart, handling big life-changes.
But I 100% see where you're coming from as well =)
What Willow's writing on Tara's back is a love poem by Sappho in Greek.
The cheese guy is the one element that's supposed to be meaningless.
The transitions in Xander's dream reflect the actual relative locations of the sets to each other.
The First Slayer kills Willow, Xander and Giles each in a way that reflects their contribution to the spell (spirit, heart, brain).
Giles's "Exposition Song" is available as a track.
That spare room Buffy is in at the end of the episode will become Dawn's room.
Marc Blucas was excited to play Cowboy Guy.
Xander says he *is* a conquistador as well as a comfortador.
.
The cheese guy isn't meaningless, but it is a terrible visual/verbal pun.
The Cheese Man is the central metaphor of the entire series. To understand Buffy is to understand the cheese.
@@donsample1002 I do understand the cheese and it's really cheesy.
@@alanbeaumont4848 It's meaningless, Joss Whedon has said as much
@@alanbeaumont4848 Joss said that in dreams there's always one element that means absolutely nothing, so he put the cheese guy in. There's no pun.
and 1 last thing. I think this season finale is the best season finale of Buffy, but different strokes and such. I think it is a masterpiece. No hyperbole.
I think that the "Are you a soldier?" bit is a throw back to the halloween episode, and how they occasionally use his "soldier knowledge" from that.
Edit to add: About the clock. Rewatch the dream-conversation with Faith during the end of season 3. That is all I will say.
Lastly I promise, the wall between Buffy and her mom started the day Buffy became the slayer, Buffy had to separate the two worlds. With the college setting their communication and bond thinned, hence the 1 small hole to talk through.
Ive watched this so many times, and Im still picking up on prophetic things. Top top episode!
This was one of my favorites from the time it aired, but I also have funky dreams so it was great to see other dreamscapes that seemed like something I experience a lot. I loved that they took this kind of risk with storytelling for a finale.
I very rarely remember my dreams, but when I do they're basically this episode without the foreshadowing. Time to go to the office which is now located in my old English class at school, which you get to by walking through my childhood living room. Also instead of doing any work we're watching a training video that appears to have been made before I was even born and all of this is completely logical and makes perfect sense.
Xander's part was so deep. Makes him so real and vulnerable. I think the part in the van was supposed to look as weird as it did , and I love it - especially his fear of Anya going back into vengeance and the "do you know where you're going?" question, which definitively wasn't just a "where are you driving to right now?"
And all paths lead to the basement.
@@rayswartz3378
To the basement with his violent dad upstairs
@Peter from NZ true good point
I also think with the scene in the van that it’s so obvious that they aren’t actually moving. Working as an ice cream man was an attempt at finding where he belongs that didn’t work out. Which plays into his dreams theme of “I’m stuck in the same place no matter what I try” and “I seems like I’m moving because I’m trying different things, but I’m not actually”
One of the best oddball episodes in Buffy. Possibly in tv. Good use of bizarre dream imagery, symbolism and logic with a few winks to the future.
Given the somewhat uneven appeal of S4, going jazz is probably one of the best ways they could have concocted to wrap it up.
1. Joss Whedon in his episode commentary said that this episode was a character study more than it was relevant specifically to the plot of the season. He also said this episode could be seen as an alternate Series Finale. It's true there are several foreshadowings in the episode. But for me, what the episode says about the characters is just more interesting. So I'm not gonna say anything about the foreshadowing.
2. Willow has Imposter Syndrome, you hit the nail on the head. But notice that her insecurity is all about Tara learning who Willow feels she is in High School.
3. Whedon said very specifically that Xander's identification as either a "conquistador" or "comfortador" is Xander's conflict over living up to male gender norms.
4. Your friend hit the nail on the head, pointing out that Xander is sexually obsessing over women other than Anya.
5. Xander watching Giles adopt Spike as an apprentice shows that Xander feels he has moved past the idea of accepting Giles as a father figure--on some level, he perceives Spike took that role.
6. Xander struggling at work and failing to understand Anya and GIles speaking French represents his sense of feeling left behind. Additionally, Principal Snyder's description of Xander represents Xander's belief that his authority figures (who are termed, "The Patriarchy" in the parlance of our times) have in their mind for him to be their sacrificial lamb. As a mission statement for the show, this sets up how Xander--the gender-swapped Damsel in Distress--is perceived by the world, or what he thinks the world intends for him. Specifically, this is a vestige of Buffy, Season 1, and the original Motion Picture.
7. Both Xander and Willow's dream sequences are highly sexualized. And, since Whedon DID mention he used surrealist writing techniques while writing the script, it is clear from the script that he was an untreated sex addict.
8. You were almost there with Giles and Olivia. Starting a family with Olivia is something that Giles abandoned. In the same scene, Spike is in show business. Giles later sings on stage. The entire sequence is apparently Giles feeling regret about other paths of life he did not take--starting a family and becoming a rock star.
9. It warms my heart to see Xander show up to the Bronze to support Anya. It shows that Giles thinks Xander is this supportive boyfriend type guy. Which makes me feel warm. It's like Giles has more respect for Xander than he shows.
10. The thing you missed about the clay Buffy smears onto her face is that it is in her weapons bag. You also missed that the First Slayer also has clay smeared on her face.
11. Someone else will tell you this: The "Manus" card is because Buffy was given the "hand" card in the spell they cast last episode. You will notice Xander was given the "heart" card, and the First Slayer removed his heart. Giles was given the "mind" card, and the First Slayer scalped him.
Xanders conflict of conquistador or comfortador plays into his dream choice between Anya and the other women.
Does he choose the comfort of his girlfriend or the conquest of new women
Number 7 - oooooh
And I'm so stupid, I only just noticed this. The "Manus" card, which yes was created for the show, shows an open hand and a closed hand, both crossing each other around the wrists. This is a callback to Buffy 3x1 Anne and the symbol Proletarian Solidarity--the Hammer and sickle. There are other cultural meanings to this body language.
-The left hand is closed and the right hand is open, which is the female posture for a traditional Chinese kowtow.
-The salute of Wakanda from Black Panther--which Director Ryan Coogler said was inspired from Egyptian art.
-Crossed arms as body language is a common expression of sexual submission in BDSM. (Kinky people, I see you.)
(Edit: SPOILER is referenced but not spoiled)
The thing about the clay is that it foreshadows something memorable Spike tells Buffy about the weapons a Slayer brings to any fight--not that I think the foreshadowing was intentional or was what the writers had in mind in either episode. But perhaps it means that what Spike tells Buffy in that episode is wrong?
@@davewolf6256 I don’t think it’s foreshadowing per say, but it does play into Buffy’s need to understand who she is and what being a slayer means. My guess is that it’s more along the lines of feeling like her violent behavior is a primal urge and that manifests in her dream as clay in a weapons bag since when she pulls out that bag, she’s going off to hunt. There’s also a connection with Lord of the Flies here and I don’t know if it was intentional. Putting the clay on the face is a form of camouflage when going on a hunt
@@4everbuffylover Well, I used "foreshadowing" kind of loosely to mean referring to anything that occurs in future--which is technically not the definition. But I disagree with the point that that facepaint is camouflage. I'll explain below.
The reason I disagree is that its use in the story is not to hide the Slayer. Its use within the dream sequences was to show the Slayer's true nature. In Whedon's commentary, he mentions that Riley turns his back on Buffy when he sees her put on the mask--meaning that the face paint "shows" her true nature instead of obscuring it. Likewise, when Giles sees Buffy with the clay on her face, he nearly makes the connection between Buffy and the First Slayer. So at least in the script, the purpose of the face paint is not for camouflage--even though we may try to rationalize it as such.
In fact there are three parallels between Vamp Face and the First Slayer's face paint that suggest it is not camouflage. The first is that they are primarily in the same place on Buffy's face and a vampire's face. The second is that, like Vamp Face, it reveals her true nature. (BTVS 1x1: GILES: "A vampire appears to be a normal person, until the feed is upon them. Only then do they reveal their true demonic visage.") Third is that Adam, in her dream, asserts that Buffy is a "demon," which she denies.
This poses the question of whether the Slayer is a demon, and whether or not that is answered in the rest of the series is something I will not address although I will admit it is explored. But yet another question is, "What is a demon?" After all, vampires are part human and the Slayer is at least mostly human. It's an interesting question because the answer may tie the themes of BTVS, which treats the human-demon dichotomy with almost bipolarity, and Angel, whose recurring theme is that humans are at least as evil.
And it's especially interesting how this intersects with gender studies in the show, since western culture in particular believes feminine energies are wild and need to be tamed. In other words, when Buffy protests, "We're not demons." she is protesting not only to Adam but to the Patriarchy itself.
EDIT:
That element of this episode of "Restless" actually perfectly explains why Tara is such a central part of the episode. NO SPOILERS PLEASE.
Even if you think you’ve deciphered the dreams… you are still missing some clues. That is what is so fascinating about this particular finale.
My first reaction was also "WHAT THE FUCK?????" it's definitely one you need to revisit later.
In Xander's scene Giles says Spike is "like a son to me" and Spike says Giles is going to teach him to be a watcher. In response Xander says "I was into that for a while". I think that's how Xander sees Spike, as someone who is taking his place in a way.
Giles however in his dream sees Spike as a useless showboat, that he's just barely tolerating. Whereas Xander is actually helpful with the research.
I've always had a spot in my heart for this episode, but yeah, I remember when it first aired definitely being much "I am confusion" lol. This isn't a particularly helpful thing to say, but honestly, I don't think I had a FULL appreciation for Restless until, well. Until I'd seen the entire series, then went back and rewatched it haha.
Oh, and incidentally, I've heard Joss Whedon even say that this ISN'T a finale, but more of a "coda"--he still considers Primeval to be the season finale, it's just that the "finale" for this season happened an episode earlier than usual XD
And the writing on Tara' s back at the beginning is apparently a poem fragment by Sappho written in Greek. Other than that, I think I would personally want to refrain from more, hmm, "in depth" analyses, since I think it'd be hard not to accidentally stumble into spoiler territory lol.
Anyway, last thing: it's kinda interesting imo that season 4 ends up being the sort of "midpoint" of the series? 3 seasons before this, 3 seasons after--and this is the episode that caps it off, kind of like a marker that we're "halfway" through the story. Like, I know the people making the show couldn't have necessarily known that would be the case, but I think it ends up feeling very...correct for it to turn out that way, somehow.
I thought it was just Tara's backstory. 😉
Xander's dream always rips my heart out. He's terrified of his abusive father, and not just his father, but *becoming* his father too. "That's not the way out" is such a telling thing to say. Being like his father is not the way Xander wants to be, and yet his father's hand has shaped him a lot, and that's why he comes off jerky sometimes. Who he really is and wants to be is not the man his father raised him to be, and he's constantly at war with that influence. If you've been raised by an abusive parent you get it.
This is, unironically one of my absolute favorite episodes. I love when the show breaks it’s normal formula, and when the show specifically dives into character analysis. This episode does both those things remarkably well.
It’s not a season finale. It’s the first episode of the rest of the series.
Honestly if you want to get a really go understanding of Restless, check out Passion of the Nerd. He’s doing an episode by episode guide. For Restless he did 2 versions, a spoiler free version or if you wait until you finish Buffy and Angle, catch the spoiler version for more in depth on the foreshadowing ( like your edit pop in on “Be back before Dawn”)
I also urge caution with Passion of The Nerd's videos. I can't remember about the spoiler free version for this episode, but I know with others that he does allude to and show clips at times of future episodes which can be spoilers. He's more of a kind of channel you watch after Buffy to annalise details you missed about the show - and he's truly incredible for it... But just want to throw in the reminder of caution that he's really a channel to watch after Buffy and not alongside. ✌️
Oh yes I've been waiting for this! What a gem of an episode. Edit: Love the be back before dawn reaction! x)
I think in the years to come, you'll look back on this as a favourite episode.
This episode is one of my favorites. The damn cheese man broke me when I watched this premiere as a kid I couldn't stop laughing, so my cousin for the next week would keep saying "cheese" to me making me laugh and no joke to this day if I hear her say cheese I laugh.
The reason you were so impacted, is because you know and you've accepted your destiny as a slayer.
Damn. Since episode #1, I have been POSITIVE this episode would be your ultimate all time favorite. Psyche major Alley watching this psychological masterpiece.
Sadly she was off the mark by a clear mile....
BTW, the scene between Xander and Snyder is a parody of a famous scene from Apocalypse Now. It's very funny if you're familiar with the film.
I first watched Apocalypse Now in a theatre after I'd seen Restless multiple times, and spent the entirety of the (rather serious) scene trying not to laugh out loud.
Beyond all the character stuff and references to future things (not all season 5) this was necessary to fill a common plot problem in fantasy type shows where they get some sort of amazing weapon or ability to take down a big bad then completely forget all about it and never use it again (cough cough supernatural colt, once they could make their own bullets). This episode gave them a reason to not use the super slayer spell willy nilly all the time.
I think the military/Apocalypse Now is integral in Xander's dream in part because of his experience in the Halloween episode where he becomes a soldier. We know that had a significant impact on him cos it comes up in later episodes. It's as if it's a memory, rather than a hallucination. Being a soldier was part of him for a time. Considering how the unconscious manifests in our dreams, it makes sense that his metaphor takes that form. But I'll be honest that I haven't quite concluded what that metaphor means for him 😅
This episode and the last changed the course of the show in ways you can't even fathom yet. In retrospect you'll see exactly how incredible these episodes were. Believe me, they're anything but anti-climactic.
I knew we'd see a lot of editing Ally today 🤣
I’ve been waiting for this one!! TURN IT UP
Fun fact: all the sets for the show were built on the same soundstage and they were all connected for easy access. In Xander's dream, they got the long shot of him walking from one place to another (or at least a part of it) without any editing tricks because that's just how the sets were built.
Yep. Buffy and Angel writer's room were also there. Joss office had a window over Sunnydale Street.
"I think I've figured out how to steer by gesturing emphatically."
You're not alone with how you felt after your first watching. It took a couple rewatches of the show for me to really appreciate this episode.
You may have been informed by now, but the writing that Willow is painting on Tara’s back is a fragment of Sappho’s poetry
This is one of my favourite episodes of buffy. The dream sequences are just perfect and really capture all the illogical things that dreams have. Idk what it is about but Xanders dream catches me most - especially when he talks to buffy in the sand.
It's actually a Blue Screen rather than a Green Screen. Blue is for Film, Green is for Digital. The thing with the background in the scene in the Ice Cream truck is that the background view in driving vehicles in everything from the 1970's and older was done this way. This is to show how the sequences in his dream where film related, just like the Apocalypse Now sequence, and the French sequence, a reference to foreign films. All of the Xander dream sequences are likely related to films he brought for them all to watch.
Xander's dream is very interesting. Teenage boys often experience a lot of misplaced sexual attraction and it can be very confusing. Xander's identity is wrapped up in feelings of inadequacy, he feels less than a man sometimes because he comes from an abusive home and has developed a complex over his inability to fight physically. He was outclassed at school in strength by the jocks, but also by Buffy. He isn't as academically apt or achieved as Willow or even Buffy or Cordelia.
He mentions in his dream that he began to see Giles as a male role model but not so much any more, probably because Giles at least partly rejected Xander at some level for his lack of smarts. In short he feels directionless, without good role models, deeply uncertain about his future, and falls back on stereotypical masculine behaviour but even there he feels somewhat emasculated. He has a confused attraction to Joyce, he knows it is inappropriate and sees her as much as a mother as a he does as a woman. You'll notice that he doesn't actually engage in any sexual relations in any of the "opportunities" in his dream.
Xander's "problem" really is that he really does care about the people around him. Which is why he doesn't take advantage. He cares what Anya thinks, he fantasises about Willow and objectifies her and Tara but he also respects her and loves her platonically. This is core to his frustration; he cares about the women around him but he also can't help being attracted to them. Remember also that he is a victim of sexual abuse at Faith's hands. She was the woman who accepted him into her bed but once he came to care for her, and tried to connect to her in a genuine way she abused him. His identity, then, is all wrapped up in a sense of frustrated masculinity, genuine care for his friends, deep disquiet about his future.
I think many viewers miss this because they assume Xander is just comic relief, a stereotype of teenage boyhood. Buffy is not a show that is so cheap to treat any of its main or recurring characters in this way.
"he fantasises about Willow and objectifies her and Tara but he also respects her and loves her platonically."TBH,this is the part that most disturbed me about Xander's dream.When I 1st stumbled upon the pic of those Willow&Tara(before watching the actual episode)I thought they were vampires. Now that I know the context I'm deeply uncomfortable with that part of his dream both because I'm asexual(but not aromantic,all the opposite,infact),so scenes like that usually don't go well with me _in general_ and *expecially* if they revolve around someone I deeply love romantically(in this case Willow ❤)and because I think it's gross he sexually objectifies someone who was his childhood best friend! I know that he _did_ develop an attraction towards Willow,at one point,but going from that to... THAT seems a bit too much for me!X-P I mean,I know it's subconcious,but still..I would have probably preferred if the girls in that scene were Buffy&Faith and I think it would have also fit better since Xander had a huge crush for Buffy since the very 1st episode and he had sex with Faith in the past. I would have still been deeply uncomfortable with the scene but not *as much* as with the Willow/Tara version,I believe.😖
This is actually one of my favorite episodes of Buffy. The Cheese Man is everything. And we all do wear the cheese; it does not wear us.
Strangely enough this is the episode that made me really connect with the characters like I never have with any show before, I guess that’s why it’s my favorite
Alley: I hate it here
Alley a second later: I love it here
First time I saw it: wtf?? What is that?! Hmmm... Now: I LOVE IT more and more and more :) Amazing episode. You just need to give it time.
You’ll watch this back in years to come and discover new things
Passion of the Nerd has done a really good analysis for Restless. He did it in two versions and you should watch the spoilerfree one. In hind sight this episode is a masterpiece, but that is a realization for much later... ☺️
Incredible finale especially on rewatch. I love all the fore-shadowing and i love cheese man! 🧀
The whole genius of this episode is your not supposed to get it at first, it’s the one that becomes so brilliant as the series continues, and your only on the fifth season.
This episode is one of my favs! Love details like how Willow's "costume" was her new found confidence in the fourth season. In her dream she reverted back to her season 1 self and worried that everyone thinks she's just faking who she is now. Also Xander thinking of Giles as an almost father figure and having to compete with Spike. Or Giles thinking of Spike as someone who acts out for attention irl. There are endless interpretations for this episode- definitely keep coming back to it after each season, there are always new connections.
The Xander oner took advantage of the fact that all their principle sets were laid out side by side in the warehouse they used for the production. They built tunnels from one set to another, and hid some cuts as he went through dark closets.
Imposter syndrome, that hit me hard. The first year after grad school, I ran into a former professor professionally. He asked how I was doing, and I said "Oh, just pretending I know what I'm doing." He said, "That's what we're all doing."
Don't worry about not liking it. It's because the show is now evolving beyond the straight cut fight a bad guy, win. It is now becoming more sophisticated because the characters are maturing. Things are no longer black and white. Children see the world in black and white. Adults see the grey shades. There's now alot of hidden meanings, metaphors and nuances in everything. It's fun to discover them all!!!
The Xander scene was shot with all the sets in the round so all the sets actually connected to each other so yes it is one long shot. You should watch this episode after all the finales coming up. All the lines of dialogue have importance and reference things that are to come in the future seasons.
For those new to Buffy, don't worry if you are confused. That's where this episode wants you. It deals with so many things. The characters and their secrets, ones that haven't even been revealed, along with their fears, etc. It deals a lot with slayer lore. More, it foreshadows a lot. The foreshadowing parts will make no sense until you watch through the rest of the series.
In reality though, there is so much going on here, that you, without being told by other people, won't understand half of it until ypu watched the entire series through a few times.
Honestly, the show has so many under the surface elements and so many themes, and so much hidden elements of the characters that doesn't really get discussed, that it's impossible to pick up almost any of it the first time through. I've seen the entire series through dozens of times and there are still new things I find.
So, just accept that you live in confusion and go forward. It may seem annoying, but you will come to love it. It's actually so much fun finding the hidden things in the show that repeat watchings are actually in some ways better than the first time through. First time watchers just miss so much of what's going on.
Just a sample is one of Buffy's slayer powers that only gets mentioned once in ten pilot episodes, but helps in her so many after that. It actually plays a bigger role than her strength practically in how many of her actions it effects. Because it's an ignored power though, it continuously gets played off as other things.
Also, a tip for this episode that someone else actually told me about. The cheese slices. I won't tell you directly what it means, but there are very few mentions of cheese in the series other than in this episode. That's the hint to solve what it was here for.
If you remember the previous episode they used tarot cards to represent the 4 of them in their combining with the power of the first slayer.
Buffy WAS manus, which is hands or the physicality of their combination.
(Xander was the heart, or comfortador if you will. lol 😂)