Fear Itself

Fear Itself
Written by
Directed by

Original Airdate: October 26, 1999

Plot: Still reeling from the fallout with Parker, the gang tries to cheer up Buffy by taking her to a Halloween party. But the frat house hosting the party has inadvertantently raised a fear demon and the gang is forced to face thier greatest fears....

Review Warning: If your greatest fear is reading SPOILERS for the latest episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I encourage you to turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead for "Fear Itself."

In short: An enjoyable effort.

"Fear Itself" follows in the trend of two previous Buffy episodes before it--namely, season one's classic "Nightmares" and the second season gem, "Halloween." The script for "Fear Itself" feels like the best parts of each of the episodes, combined with a bit of something that is unqiuely its own.

All in all, it equals up to a rather enjoyable effort.

Though there were times, especially in the first half of the story, that it didn't really seem to be going much of anywhere.

But, like a good meal, once you got through the appetizer, the meat and potatoes portion of the episode was worth it and left me feeling satisfied.

Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed portions of the first half, espeically the continued fall out of the Buffy/Parker relationship (or lack thereof). I also enjoyed some of the isolated scenes with Xander and Anya (who have enough undercurrent of sexual tension to bring reading Webster's Dictionary to crackle). Those worked. What didn't seem to work really well was the scene with Joyce (which in the overall scheme of things didn't really bring anything new to the episode) and a couple of early scenes with Giles and the candy. Yes, they were funny, but they didn't do much overall for the plot.

Also, the sheer coincidence value and incredible suspension of disbelief that had to happen to get the plot in gear was a bit much.

That said, once the plot got in gear, it really, really worked.

The first half hour set up some of the pieces and the second half hour knocked them over. Some were what I hoped for and expected when I heard it was about the gang confronting their fears. Others weren't.

The fears that really worked for me were those of Xander, Willow and Oz. Based on what we'd seen set up in the early scenes and what we know about these characters as whole, their fears were completely and totally in character and moments that really, really worked. Seeing Xander being ignored, Willow's fear of losing control of her powers and Oz's fear of losing control were nicely done. They really, really kept in the spirit of the characters we've come to know and love over the year. And in many ways, they had a bit more depth than those did in "Nightmares." Or at least they showed a bit more depth and growth in these characters, which is a nice touch.

The fears that did not work were Buffy's. Namely because they went to such lengths to once again establish that Buffy feels responsible for her parents break-up and that she is hurt by her father's rejection. (Yes, I understand that it was in keeping with the early theme of all the male figures in her life deserting her, but just hear me out...) I honestly felt that they were setting us up for something along the lines of Buffy's scene in Nightmares where her father tells her what a disappointment she is and how she ruined the marriage. While seeing Zombies paw at Buffy and shout that she can't save everyone is certainly interesting, I'm not sure it's her biggest fear. I think it would have been a gallery of people such as Parker, her father and Angel all runnign her down and telling her that she is not worthy of love and other such things. It certainly would have been keeping with the theme and been a much better cathersis for her to beat the tar out of them once they'd turned into demons or zombies or uglies.

So, while "Fear Itself" is certainly one of the strongest character driven episodes we've seen all year, it's not exactly what I had in mind. I enjoyed it yes, but at times there were just niggling things that bugged me.

However, there was a lot that didn't bug me.

Once I got over the fact that the fear demon's being called was a bit forced, I enjoyed seeing him. And the build-up at the end to the punchline of his being so short was probably one of the best, laugh out loud moments the show has ever had. I get cracked up just thinking about it.

I also liked Anya's reaction to the problem--Xander is in trouble, must save him. Never does it enter her mind to save Buffy, Oz, or Willow. It's just Xander. It goes along with her character's single minded devotion to whatever task is put before her. I've come to really like what Anya brings to the show (OK, Emma Caulfield is cute....:-) ) as a charcter. I hope we see this continue to grow as the year goes along.

Finally, Giles with a chainsaw...'nuff said.

So, that about wraps it up for now, except a few small items....

--The Halloween costumes were hit or miss for me. Oz as God was a hoot. Xander as Bond and his reasoning were nicely done. Anya as the bunny--oh I died laughing. Buffy's was OK and Willow's didnt' work for me.

--Continuity reference! A reference to Ted. Two thumbs way up!

--Giles was nicely used this week. I miss having him around full time as we did at Sunnydale High, but he's doing well.

--I also like the fact that there was continuity references to the fact that evil takes Halloween off. Again, I'm a continuitiy bug and I really enjoy these things.

Overall, "Fear Itself" is fun on the surface. But underneath it's got a lot of things that keep it from the realms of being perfect...

My rating: 6.5 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Buffy discovers beer....