Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "Listening To Fear" Review (5x09)

Brief Synopsis: “A Queller demon from outer space lands in Sunnydale and begins to kill all the mentally ill people that have been piling up lately. Meanwhile, Joyce has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and her behaviour is becoming more erratic while she waits for her operation. Can Buffy stop the Queller demon before it latches on to Joyce?”


"Shadow" (5x08) quick link here                                                                                                                                 "Into The Woods" (5x10) quick link here

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With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



Much like “Shadow” before it, “Listening To Fear” is a very polarising episode and a very mixed bag. Part of the problem I have with this episode is that I feel as though it tries to be standalone in its approach and pacing, but everything except the Queller demon is continuing previous stories and yet again none of these stories get resolved in this episode. That’s the episode’s biggest problem. Coming off of “Shadow” (an episode that was all continuation and no resolution), “Listening To Fear” needed some form of resolution. Something to happen that wasn’t just furthering plots for two episodes in a row. We see Riley get more depressed and mopey, but his story isn’t resolved until the next episode. We see Joyce’s tumour drama, but that isn’t resolved until the next episode (excluding the horrific complications later in the season). We see Spike acting more stalkerish with each passing day, but that isn’t openly discussed until “Crush”. We discover that there’s a connection between Ben and Glory, but not what that connection is. In addition to the above, the pace is ridiculously slow. Like, “Where The Wild Things Are” slow. The outer space plot is also rather cheesy and lame...I just read this paragraph back and it’s a lot of complaints. However, the episode isn’t bad! Due to Joyce’s storyline and the reaction of Buffy and Dawn, the creepy Queller demon scene at the Summers’ house, and the closing 5 minutes of the episode, this episode somehow manages to work! I have no idea how it works, but it somehow does. What kind of witchcraft is this?!

The episode opens with Joyce in the hospital due her brain tumour tests. The tests come back negative and she lives happily ever after. END OF STORY, NO EXCEPTIONS. Due to Buffy being distracted with Joyce at the hospital, the rest of the Scoobies have taken over patrolling. They’ve definitely improved since the season three opener, “Anne”, where they could barely kill one vampire in a routine patrol. Here, Willow stakes two vampires without any magic! I can’t recall another episode before or after this one where Willow kills two vampires without the aid of magic. Go Willow! Good work, team! Apparently, Riley was supposed to help them patrol, but he no-showed due to his new obsession with being bitten by vampires for kicks. I have a lot to say on this subject, but I’m saving most of it for the next episode, after Buffy discovers Riley’s new hobby. As I’ve mentioned before, I understand why Riley is doing what he’s doing. He’s trying to discover why darkness has such a powerful hold over his girlfriend and he’s miserable because he feels like Buffy is slipping away from him. However, he really should just man up and talk to his girlfriend instead of sulking and feeling sorry for himself. How is that going to improve his situation?

After patrolling, Willow takes a gift bag to the hospital for the Summers girls and I’m fairly certain my heart is now broken beyond repair. Oh, Willow, I adore you. How do you go from this to a lying woman that manipulates and mind-rapes the people around you in less than a year? The gift bag contains a beer hat for Joyce so that she can have a drink without having to get up or use her arms to lift drinks to her mouth, a spell book for Dawn because Dawn is a wannabe Wicca, and a yo-yo for Buffy because who doesn’t need a yo-yo in life? Willow also delivers all of Buffy’s homework to her, which is a wonderful little call-back to “Killed By Death”, where Willow did the same thing. Seriously, I cannot deal with all this cute and all these Joyce feels. I can’t do it. Scenes where the Scoobies are acting like a family fill me with such a warm, fuzzy feeling. Also within this scene, we’re finally made aware of the full extent of Joyce’s illness. She snaps at Buffy in front of Dawn, which we haven’t seen in this way ever before and she’s generally not acting like her usually good natured self. Ever since the 3rd season (and for large parts of the first two), Joyce has always been so sweet and kind to everyone. She never raises her voice and she always has a sympathetic ear and advice for anyone who asks for it. This is the lady that talked Spike through his breakup with Drusilla (two soulless vampires). This is the lady that searched for little marshmallows for Spike’s hot chocolate. This is the lady that invited Dracula in because she was lonely and because he “looked normal...a little pale”. It’s so alien (see what I did there?) to witness Joyce acting so erratic and rude.

Honestly, this episode is worth it just for the amazingly adorable scene where Willow and Tara are stargazing together. They make up their own constellations while being all cuddly and talking about how the universe makes them feel significant instead of insignificant. In all seriousness, is this the cutest scene ever on the show? Can Willow magically bring Tara back from the dead and they can live happily ever after and have their own spinoff show? If the entire plot of the show was just these two stargazing, I’d watch it and I’d love it! If Wolfram & Hart can bring Darla back, Willow can bring Tara back!

This is the very first episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” that deals with an alien landing on Earth. “Angel” dealt with it in season one’s “She”, but I can’t recall “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” dealing with it before this episode. It’s an interesting concept and I’m very surprised that it took the show so long to approach this topic, but the execution wasn’t as great as it could have been. I do appreciate the Queller demon, but it just falls flat when you think about some of the incredible creatures that have landed on Earth in other television shows over the years. Perhaps my issue with the Queller demon is that it isn’t fleshed out at all. It likes to kill mentally unstable people, yes. What else do we know about the creature? Where does it come from? What’s its background? Why does it go for mentally unstable people? Spending 30 seconds of exposition on these questions would have been useful...especially when you consider just how much of this episode is talking in the first half an hour. We’re now over halfway through the episode and absolutely nothing has happened outside of conversations. We’ve had talking at the hospital, a meteor, talking on the way to the meteor landing site, and the stargazing scene...that’s it. This episode takes too long to get going. 

Giles: “Head into the woods for a bit.”

This is an interesting line from Giles when you think about the next episode being called “Into The Woods”, due to Riley and Buffy not being out of the woods in their relationship turmoil. Oh, sweet summer child, I have to review that episode next. Xander’s amazing speeches in that episode usually have me in a near-tears state.

Riley secretly calls in The Initiative to look at the dead crazy person that the Queller has murdered in the woods. This is significant as it shows that Riley is interested in rejoining The Initiative. Graham’s words to Riley in “Out Of My Mind” are clearly having an effect on Riley. Graham told Riley that he used to have a purpose, he used to have a mission, and now all he has in life is Buffy. Of course, Riley feels like Buffy doesn’t love him and she’s about to leave him, so what does he have left if she does? Nothing. He gave up everything to be with her. Riley is turning back to The Initiative for two reasons, in my opinion. Firstly, he misses having a mission. He misses his military lifestyle. He misses being in a black and white world. Since leaving The Initiative, his life has fallen apart to a certain extent. He feels useless and helpless. Secondly, he’s using The Initiative as a backup plan in case his fears are correct and Buffy does leave him.

One of the things about this episode that does work is that everything ties together well. Joyce can’t look at lights because it hurts her eyes (which is a legitimate side effect of her condition), which means that the Summers’ house is entirely dark when the Queller demon attacks. There’s a legitimate reason for the Summers’ house to be in darkness rather than just making the house dark for creepiness and plot purposes. It’s not a significant thing to point out, but it does add a little something extra to the episode. While Joyce is struggling at home, she has one of her crazy moments (I can’t think of what else to call them) and tells Dawn that Dawn is nothing, just a shadow. Poor Dawnie. That’s got to be tough to hear from your mother regardless of the circumstances, even with Dawn not being aware of her Key status. My relationship with Dawn is funny. Half of the time I wish to gag her to stop that incessant whining, but the other half of the time I wish to shield her from the horrific world that she’s been thrust in to...I imagine that’s just how Buffy herself feels too. Dawn is starting to realise that crazy people keep telling her that she’s not real. It’s happened at least four times during this season and Dawn no longer feels as though it’s a coincidence. Buffy somehow manages to put Dawn’s fears to bed (for the time being) and does a really fantastic job of supporting her sister. They couldn’t get along at all before Joyce’s illness, but now they’re their biggest support systems. It’s true to real life.

After Buffy leaves Dawn upstairs in her bedroom, she goes downstairs to do the dishes and she completely falls apart and starts crying. It’s heartbreaking to see Buffy lose control like this because it’s such a rarity! How many times have we seen Buffy fall apart in five years? A handful? Buffy is a character that has had the weight of the world on her shoulders - as a teenage girl - since she was fifteen. She has to worry about the Hellmouth, vampires, patrolling, living a secret life, and now she has The Key, Glory, and her mother’s brain tumour to contend with. Her world is falling apart. Her sister isn’t really her sister and her mother may die. Buffy is truly the embodiment of what she tells Angel in “Amends”...“strong is fighting. It’s hard and it’s painful, and it’s every day”. Buffy has been knocked down time and time again and every single time she’s gotten back up. After drowning, she got back up. After Jenny’s death, she got back up. After being forced to send Angel to Hell, she got back up. After Faith killed a human, she got back up. Now, however, it all seems to be too much for her for the first time. Sadly, things are only just getting started. Riley is about to leave, her mother is about to die, and she’s going to be dragged out of Heaven by her friends. She’s allowed a moment of weakness here where she can let all of those negative emotions out. It would be unrealistic if she wasn’t overwhelmed and falling apart. Buffy being Buffy, she won’t let her mother or anyone else see that she’s falling apart. Buffy is used to facing her pain and fear alone. The First Slayer told Buffy that she is supposed to fight and die alone. What makes Buffy different is that she has a support system of loved ones around her. However, in these crunch moments, ultimately she is alone. She sent Angel to Hell alone and left for Los Angeles alone, she has to make the tough choices alone (like trying to kill Anya in “Selfless”), and she often spends time alone when she’s going through a difficult situation. She has this wonderful group of people around her, but ultimately she is the Chosen One, not them. In certain situations, she has to act alone. Ironically, the one person in the world that could truly understand her predicament would be Faith, who’s in prison.

The episode picks up a great deal after the Queller demon attacks the Summers’ house. Again, the problem is that it took us more than 25 minutes to get here! Like Dawn, we’re led to believe that Joyce is mumbling to herself, but then the camera pans upwards and THE QUELLER DEMON IS ON THE FUCKING CEILING! AAAH! SO. BLOODY. CREEPY. IT JUST VOMITED ON JOYCE’S FACE! SO. BLOODY. CREEPY. Outside of the lack of information given about the Queller demon, I do appreciate the monster. The fact that it vomits on people to suffocate them is disturbing and works. The fact that it scuttles and has a shell like a cockroach is disturbing and works...wait, are you trying to tell me that nobody saw this overgrown cockroach chillin’ on the hospital ceiling?! The ceiling is bright white! Did nobody notice the mass of brown or scuttling?!...I almost feel as though they deserve to be vomited on for being so stupid. I do appreciate Dawn taking charge and trying to protect her mother from the Queller while waiting for Buffy to run upstairs. Every now and then you get these little flickers that Dawn has greatness within her. It’s an interesting parallel to her character in season seven’s “Potential”. When Dawn thinks she’s a Potential Slayer, she acts like one and holds her own. When she thinks she’s mundane and has nothing to offer, she doesn’t hold her own. It’s a great message to send out – believe in yourself and you can achieve anything you desire.

...So, Spike was in the basement stealing pictures of Buffy...can you say ‘conveniently placed to help fight the Queller demon and bring him into the episode’? Either way I’m okay with it. Spike always adds another dimension to an episode. Buffy kills the Queller and happiness is restored to Sunnydale...not.

It becomes apparent that Ben summoned the Queller to clean up Glory’s mess (all the crazy people appearing in Sunnydale due to Glory’s brain-sucking)...does this mean that there’s some kind of connection between Ben and Glory? I can’t even write that sentence without grinning about the scene in “The Weight Of The World”, where Spike is trying to explain to the Scoobies that Ben and Glory are the same person. I knew there was more to that coma-inducing character than meets the eye! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he’s more than just a pouty face. It was a great choice to bring Ben into the story now and emphatically state that Ben and Glory are connected in some way. He’s a major player in the season all of a sudden. I thought they were brother and sister at this point.

My very favourite scene of the episode is actually the last one. Joyce remembers that when she was having a crazy mind moment, she knew that Dawn wasn’t her daughter. She asks Buffy for the truth and Buffy confirms that Dawn isn’t Joyce’s biological child. I was surprised and really impressed that Buffy told her mother the truth about Dawn. I was expecting Buffy to lie. Instead of pushing Dawn away because of this, Joyce accepts it. She knows that Dawn is precious and important to the world and she still loves Dawn like her daughter regardless because that’s who Joyce is. Joyce is a mother to all of the Scoobies, not just Buffy. She’s been a surrogate mother to Willow and Xander for years too. So what if the monks forced Dawn into her life? Dawn feels like her daughter. Dawn feels like Buffy’s sister. The monks created Dawn from Buffy. They share the same blood. Therefore, some of Joyce’s DNA does reside inside of Dawn. How Dawn entered their lives isn’t important, the fact that she’s in them and feels like family is. I have so much love and respect for Joyce Summers in this moment. There’s no hesitation, no doubt...she simply accepts Dawn and loves her like a daughter regardless. She asks Buffy to promise that if she doesn’t make it through her surgery, Buffy will protect Dawn no matter what. I think it’s safe to say that Buffy lives up to that promise. Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn (and the world) later in the season. Buffy’s reaction to Joyce’s speech is horrific because Buffy’s face has this frozen look of terror that we’ve never, ever seen before. It’s like the full weight of Joyce’s illness has hit her and she realises that she might indeed lose her mother to this tumour. Screw you, Whedon! You mess with us for numerous episodes over Joyce’s fate, end this episode with Joyce going into surgery and make it look like she’s not going to survive, then you pretend that everything is fine and dandy, and then you kill her! It’s masterful storytelling, but I don’t have to like it!

Joyce: “Dawn...she’s not mine, is she?”
Buffy: “No.”
Joyce: “She’s...she does belong to us, though.”
Buffy: “Yes, she does.”
Joyce: “And she’s important to the world, precious. As precious as you are to me...then we have to take care of her. Buffy, promise me, if anything happens...if I don’t come through this...”
Buffy: “Mom...”
Joyce: “No, listen to me. No matter what she is, she still feels like my daughter. I have to know that you’ll take care of her, that you’ll keep her safe. That you’ll love her like I love you.”

Kill me, kill me now.


Quote Of The Episode

Xander: “I still don’t get why we had to come here to get info about a killer snot monster.”

Giles: “Because it’s a killer snot monster from outer space...I did not say that.”


I love how Giles is genuinely disgusted at himself for that sentence.

FINAL SCORE: 6/10

What are your thoughts on "Listening To Fear"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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