Brief Synopsis: “An invisible force is attacking the students and teachers at Sunnydale High. Buffy and the Scoobies must find a way to stop this unseen menace and determine why it seems to be centring its attacks on Cordelia.”
"Nightmares" (1x10) quick link here "Prophecy Girl" (1x12) quick link here
Before getting started on this review, here are a few notes about how these reviews will be formatted...
1) I
will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it
makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the vast amount of
text.
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please be warned that there may be a few spoilers for things that
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5) The
basic layout for the review will be the review itself, the ‘quote of
the episode’, and then the final score for the episode (out of ten). All
of the final scores will also be placed on a separate tab so that you
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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?
• This episode centres around a girl named Marcie who becomes so lonely and isolated that she becomes invisible. How bloody sad is that? Feeling so overwhelmingly lonely that you literally fade away. This is the type of episode that I think “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” was created for. High School is probably the time in life where people feel the most misunderstood and alone, so this is the manner of story that “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” should be telling. This episode is classic “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. It takes the real life issue of loneliness, adds in a supernatural element (Marcie turning invisible), and explores the issue. This is most definitely the saddest episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” thus far when you really think about it. When I have children, I will show them this television show (along with Angel) when they hit their early teens because it’s the perfect show for teaching people morals and how to deal with the shit that life throws at you. “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” are easily, easily the greatest shows that I’ve ever stumbled across when it comes to exploring every single issue that arises during teenage life, young adult life, and in the case of “Angel”, adult life. Death? You’ve got “The Body”. Suicide? You’ve got “Amends” and “Earshot”. Loneliness? You’ve got this episode. Any emotion that a human being is feeling can be explored and helped by the Buffyverse.
• With the above being said, I don’t consider this to be one of the best episodes of the season. It’s not one of the worst either; it’s right in the middle.
• Before I start this review properly, I’d like to talk a little about loneliness, as this episode deals with the issue in a more direct way than any other episode that follows. Loneliness is a killer. Angel once said to Buffy that “loneliness is probably the scariest thing there is”, and that statement is absolutely true. It’s common knowledge by this point that I battled severe depression for four years. The single worst part of that battle was feeling completely alone. I had friends around me, I had relationships, but ultimately I was faking happiness to get by. I didn’t want sympathy and I didn’t want people to know I was in pain, so I faked that I wasn’t. Feeling so alone and friendless that you become invisible isn’t possible, but feeling so alone and isolated that you feel invisible is very possible. Isolation leads to a lot of negative feelings towards the world as a whole. You don’t feel like you’re a part of the world anymore, and you start to resent the world for that. What makes this episode work for me personally is that I can empathise with Marcie. I understand why Marcie is angry; I can see why she tried to get revenge on Cordelia. Grey-area villains like Marcie are always the best kind! Holtz is another perfect example of this type of villain. How can you root for the ‘good guys’ to defeat them when you can see the point of view of the villain? In Marcie’s case, the difference is that Marcie acted on that instinct to get revenge. At that moment Marcie went from being a sympathetic character to the villain-of-the-week who needed to be stopped by any means necessary. However, even when she was evil, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her...and THAT is what makes this episode work.
• This is a slightly embarrassing author’s note, but I danced fanatically to the opening theme. In my haste to get back to the computer, I fell over. The irony is that if I was invisible like Marcie, my house mate wouldn’t have burst out laughing at me.
• Willow: “Other lawyers call him The Beast.”
Boy, I hope Mitch’s father isn’t the same Beast that later appears in Angel. I can’t see father-son cycling bonding-trips with that pairing.
• Xander: “Maybe it’s a vampire bat?”
How did Buffy, Willow, or Giles not fall off their chair laughing at that?! The first time I heard it, I shot milk out of my nose! In my defence, I was nine, and it was funny.
• Xander would rather do research than talk to Cordelia? 11 episodes later, they kiss. The Xand-Man moves fast, doesn’t he?
• I’m with Xander; schoolboy Shangel with invisibility powers would have also protected the girls' locker room a lot. For their own protection of course...always helping those hopeless.
• Giles: “You may have to work on listening to people.”
Buffy: “Very funny.”
Giles: “I thought so.”
Giles’ dry English humour is a delight as always.
• This is the first episode since “The Harvest” to feature Harmony. Who knew how important she’d end up being in later seasons?
• Cordelia: “People who think their problems are so huge craze me. Like this time I sort of ran over this girl on her bike. It was the most traumatising event of my life, and she’s trying to make it about her leg! Like my pain meant nothing.”
Can you believe this is the same person who becomes part demon to save Angel from a terrible fate 5 years later? Cordelia’s character growth might be the biggest in all of the Buffyverse (I personally think that Wesley’s is, but Cordy is a close second).
• Clea DuVall! My heart expands; it has grown a bulge in it! Clea is in everything, I swear. Everyone go watch Carnivale right now! Clea is one of the main characters, and the show is incredibly unique and quirky. It’s about a travelling carnival, warriors of light and darkness, and a telepathic person in some form of coma...I’m not doing a very good job of selling this show. The point is, it’s awesome! Clea is another case of Buffy season one having fantastic guest actors. This season has had some truly remarkable actors and actresses appearing as non-main character roles...Julie Benz, Brian Thompson, Richard Werner, Elizabeth Anne Allen, Robin Riker, Clea DuVall...time and time again I’m blown away by the quality of guest acting.
• American readers: Is “Have a nice summer” really such a bad thing? It sounds pleasant enough.
• Angel mentions to Giles that he can get Giles the Codex. The Codex will play a very important part in the next episode, as Giles reads a prophecy in the Codex that says that “Buffy will face The Master, and she will die.” Much more on that dramatic prophecy in the next review. It’s so alien to see Giles and Angel having a civilised conversation when you take into account what is to come in the next season.
• Snyder’s obsession with not getting sued in this episode brings some much needed comedic relief. Without a few comedic moments in this episode, it would have been one of the darkest episodes that “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” ever produced, in my opinion.
• Finally some character development for Cordelia! She is no longer just ‘Bitchy character #1’. Cordelia’s speech to Buffy about being lonely is the first glimpse that we get into the softer side of Cordelia . It’s a really interesting insight into the fact that even popular people feel lonely. I think loneliness is pretty universal, especially during your teen years. Cordelia’s speech and Marcie’s hatred of Cordelia really reminds me of Buffy’s speech to Jonathan in “Earshot” about how everyone is ignoring other people’s pain because they’re too busy with their own.
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.”
That statement from Cordelia sums up why she acts the way she does for 3 years of High School. Being popular gives her self-esteem and makes her feel better about herself, even though sometimes she’s lonely. It explains why she tries so hard to become Homecoming Queen, it explains why she refuses to be seen with the Scoobies in public...it explains everything. Cordelia needs to be popular because it gives her an identity. Without being popular, Cordelia has nothing. Cordelia has many people that wish to surround her because she’s popular, but none of them, not even Harmony, really know her. It’s all superficial. It’s only after moving to Los Angeles and losing everything that Cordelia realises that there are far worse things in life than being unpopular. There are thousands of people in real pain, and Cordelia inheriting the visions means that she feels all of these people in pain and needs to do something about it. Her character in “Welcome To The Hellmouth” and her character in “You’re Welcome” have very little in common, which is a wonderful thing to see progress throughout the years.
• I find it fascinating to look at how all the different characters in this episode deal with loneliness. As established earlier, Marcie goes down the path of vengeance on Cordelia. Cordelia surrounds herself with people to try and cure some of the loneliness. Buffy, like Cordelia, surrounds herself with her friends and family in order to combat some of the loneliness and isolation that she feels as the Slayer. At this point in time there is nobody in the world that can relate to what Buffy is going through trying to juggle her slaying life and her regular life. Loneliness and isolation in relation to Slayers is a fascinating topic, which gets explored in various snippets as the seasons progress, so I’ll be exploring these bits as they come. Willow is empathetic towards Marcie. I find this character trait of Willow’s brilliant! Willow is always the one to defend the actions of villains that have a reason to seek vengeance! She defends Marcie in this episode, she defends Hus is season four’s “Pangs”...when you take into account the fact that Willow ultimately kills Warren as an act of revenge, it is made believable by Willow’s empathy towards other characters in a similarly isolated situation.
• Angel saves the Scoobies! Sometimes a lack of breath can be a good thing.
• I’m sorry, but I can’t help but love that Marcie was going to give Cordelia a Joker-smile. Part of me wishes that this had happened just to see Angel (who is the most serious character in Buffy) go up to Cordelia and ask “Why so serious?” Can someone write this fanfic for me?!
• Are those agents the first glimpse of The Initiative? I’ve never thought of that before...hmm...
• I would have loved to see Marcie pop up again down the line. Perhaps in season four with all the Initiative drama. Maggie Walsh could have sent Marcie after Buffy! That would have been amazing.
Quote Of The Episode
Snyder: “Dead? Of course not. What are you ghouls?! There are no dead students here....this week.”
It’s no wonder the Sunnydale High School newspaper has an obituary section...
FINAL SCORE: 6.5/10
So what are your thoughts
on "Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know
all your thoughts in the comments section below!
Reviewing every episode of television shows, as well as films, conventions, and a whole host of other things. Currently reviewing "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel"!
I love this episode. I actually believe this is even better than Nightmares and the best episode of the season so far. Prophecy girl is definitely my favorite episode of Buffy season 1 for sure.
ReplyDeleteAs Topping says in his book _slayer_, this ep. is noteworthy for showing Cordy is, deep down, a "tough cookie" as opposed to the stereotypical bad girl with mush for brains who gets her comeuppance at the end of evry ep." that she would have been "on any other show." Whatever Joss's shortcomings, he has almost no use for knee-jerk tropes- he's 9 years younger than I'm so I don't know how much our "classic TV memories" overlap, but he probably had reactions simialr to mine to those things.
ReplyDeleteSort of an inconsistency; they go out of their way in S-3 to portray Willow and Harmony as having been enemies since close to the end of second grade but yet here Willow doesn't really indicate that.
D'C'A'
I got the chills when we realized what Marcie's plan for Cordy was - the joker smile?!
ReplyDeleteAlso, to answer your question, yes. "Have a great summer" was what you wrote when you didn't really want to sign a yearbook, or what was written when you didn't have enough intereaction to write anything more personal. It's those "signatures" that you look back on and wonder why they even bothered.
True
Delete- Hmm, I enjoy this episode more than I should, considering I wasn't very impressed by it in previous re-runs. One thing that hasn't changed for me, though, is how I feel about the character of Marcie. I admit, I never really felt sympathic towards her, which is saying a lot as I'm usually very Tara/Willow-like and can empathise with pretty much anyone. I do see how Marcie got to be that way and how lonely and miserable an existence she must have been leading, but it was her choice how to deal with her life once she started to turn invisible (as hard as that might have been). I'm also speaking from personal experience when I say that I relate to how Marcie's feelings of loneliness and isolation made her feel invisible in high school. But she chose to act on revenge and allowed her hate to turn outward, which completely twisted and destroyed her character. So I can't really see the point of the villain in this case. She's too far gone as to ever be deserving of sympathy and I think Buffy speaks the absolute truth when she says, “You know I felt sorry for you. You suffered. But there's one thing I didn't factor into all of this. You're a thundering loony!” Sometimes people choose the wrong path and can't be saved, as awful as that may be. :-(
ReplyDelete- Looking back on this now, I find it incredible how Buffy could be so unaware of her own appeal and intelligence. She’s still in a place where Cordelia’s mocking words really get to her and doesn't see that she's got something much more real and valuable than Cordy - real friends. When I was in high school I knew I should feel comfortable with who I am (which I accomplished maybe 50% of the time), but overall I still used other people as a yardstick for how well I fitted in. Oh, the life of a teenager is so hard....
- Cordelia: “Is that when you got weird and got kicked out?” (Pause. Buffy rallies.) Buffy: “Okay, can we have the heartfelt talk with a little less talk from you?” Buffy’s reaction to Cordelia’s shallowness and repeated stings are hilariously ambiguous. She’s a good person AND the Slayer, but Cordelia’s testing her to the limit here. I am so grateful that Cordy shares a little insight into her life with Buffy. It’s enough to let us appreciate her a little more and perhaps re-evaluate her total lack of tact and intelligence.
- Ah, Angel, I’ve missed you! Good to see you (or rather not see your) reflection again. Giles is very twitchy around him, as he should be later on in Season 2. But now he saves the Scoobies from the thundering loony that Marcie Ross has become.YAY for Angel! ;)
- Quantum Physics says that reality is shaped , even created, by our perception. Buffy really lends itself to learning all kinds of knowledge. I didn’t pay this concept much mind when I was starting to watch Buffy (obviously I was too young), but now I’m amazed that the writers managed to put such a wonderful truth in there (and make an interesting ep).
- The most interesting thing to me about this episode is the observation – and universal truth - that people suffer from loneliness throughout their lives and will do pretty much anything to escape it. Angel's line, “loneliness is about the scariest thing there is” has made it into popular culture by this point and I frequently use it in my own talks with my friends. There is nothing more scary than feeling alone and cut off from the world, but the trick is realising that it's just our minds playing tricks on us; most of the time we do have lots of people around us who care for us, but they might just be swept up in their own worries or fears and can't always pay attention. Everyone's going through their own pain in life, no matter who they are and how together they may seem. It's good to know that wanting to escape lonelienss and striving for a life filled with meaningful relationships and a need to be “seen” is a natural part of the human condition. We're all bonded through it. <3 :)
Although I loved this ep I wish the writers would have stuck with the original title, "Out of Sight Out of Mind' as I feel it summed up the antagonist and was more complex than "Invisible Girl' although in this ep Cordelia, Buffy and Marcie could have been the invisible girl in question. Cordelia's quest for popularity making the real person invisible, Buffy's attempts to be normal making her identity as the Slayer invisible or as invisible as can be in a town like Sunnydale and Marcie's literal invisibility. Anywho I too felt sorry for Marcie and HOPED against hope she could be redeemed even after she said she wanted to slash Cordy's face (in an attempt to be noticed perhaps?) Of course I didn't want Cordy injured or Marcie to become as vapid as Cordy or even a full fledged Scoobie but it would have nice to have had her on the peripheral like Amy was. Thinking back I too wonder if Marcie was to be recruited or studied as part of the Initiative. I STILL contend that Marcie would have been a much better member of The Trio than Andrew and I would have loved to see her in Watcher training INSTEAD of Andrew. Anywho this ep was about alienation and loneliness whether self imposed or forced upon. Basically saying if you don't TRY to make a difference in your world you WILL become invisible. Note all the characters tried to stand out in some way. Willow had her brains and computer skills. Xander his sense of humour and compassion for others. Giles his brains and paternal skills. Even Cordy had her oh so precious popularity and money (by way of her family) Angel had his good deeds and all of the characters save Cordelia had ppl who cared about them. Makes me wonder what Marcie's home life was like. Marcie kinda reminded me of Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club (yes I realize I am showing my age). But that character never got violent! In any event great ep.
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that on SOME Buffycenttic sites that this ep is titled "Invisible Girl" hence my first rant about the title... Yeah that was me above
DeleteI know just how Marcie felt in High School.
ReplyDeleteMy one question: How did she know where to sit at the end in the classroom with all the other invisible people? She couldn't see which seat was unoccupied. Just always been curious. :)