Restless

Restless
Written and directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: May 23, 2000

Plot: Meeting at Buffy's house to catch up and crash after destroying Adam, the Scooby gang is purused in their dreams by a strange form of demon...

Review

Warning: If reading SPOILERS for the fourth season finale of Buffy, "Restless" will cause you to have fits of unrest, please turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead....

In short: Disconcerting, surreal, scary and totally brilliant....

Last week, the Drew Carey Show staged an "event" episode--one that was designed to get the attention of Emmy voters for the oft-overlooked show for Emmy consideration. One of the gags throughout the show was that from time to time, the words "Emmy moment" would flash up on screen to alert the voters of the overall quality of the scene both in writing and acting. It was a funny, funny episode (if you've not seen it, I recommend you watch for it this summer as I'm sure they'll repeat it), but it also had a great point. Namely that there are some shows out there that have been overlooked for the Emmy time and time again.

Joss Whedon has done his own sort of campaign for the Emmy nod this year, but he's done it in a far more subtle and interesting way. Back in December, he gave us the instant classic Hush, that stretched the boundaries of how far the cast and crew of Buffy could go in creating a surreal episode. He succeeded in spades. Now, just in time to end the season, Whedon raises the bar again with "Restless," yet another episode that is intended as an experimental episode of sorts (something the X-Files has done for years, with a rather hit and miss record).

It would be easy to lump "Restless" in with other May sweeps stunts (such as Nurse Hathaway's departure from "ER", the season ending cliffhanger of "X-Files" or Niles and Daphne finally expressing their true feelings for each other on "Frasier"), but that would be to sell this episode short. "Restless" stands as a shining example of the overall quality that Buffy has shown not only this year, but over its entire run. Whedon has continually demanded brilliance from his cast and crew and they've delivered in spades. "Restless" is just the latest example of why this show needs an Emmy nod for best drama series at the very least.

If Whedon wanted me vote (not that I have one), he's got it.

Certainly "Restless" had the quality of being a brilliant episode or being a bust. That's the chance Whedon was taking. Luckily, it turned out to be utterly brilliant. After an entire season that has, at times, been more action driven rather than looking at the emotional impact of actions and their consequences on the characters, "Restless" gave us a look at the internal emotinal conflicts of the Scooby gang in such an alarming and interesting way. And the fact that it tied together in such an interesting way and showed there to be long-term consequences to the Scooby gang's method of defeating Adam was a great touch as well. (And certainly one that I didn't expect and didn't really see coming).

In many ways, I found myself comparing "Restless" to "When She Was Bad" from the opening of season two. The two episodes share some similiar qualities. Namely both aired right after the slam-bang resolution to a season-long plotline but instead of going forward into the next action, it took a time out to show the emotional impact of the events on the characters. OK, sure Buffy didn't give into her "inner Joan Collins" here and the focus was more broad on the entire Scooby gang, but it was certainly very nice to see.

I liked what each character had to say about themselves. Certainly one of the major themes of the episode was how the Scooby gang has been hiding behind masks all year long. It was certainly far more evident in the Willow and Buffy dreams with Willow's having her "cooler" new clothes torn off to reveal her old outfit and her less self-assured and confident status as well as Buffy's smearing her face and hiding behind it. We also saw a bit of it in Giles when he his behind his singing in the Bronze and for Xander as he did everything in his power to avoid the door and the wrath of his father.

The dreams pointed out the main criticism of the season for many--that the Scooby gang has pulled too far apart. I think that's a valid point, but in reading comments from Joss, it's certainly the direction he intended the characters to go this year. And it's certainly interesting that we've now got the Scooby gang back together, stronger from being separated and moving forward. Joss stated that "Restless" contains a lot of foreshadowing for season five. Something that we have to wait until October to see how it all comes out.

Another theme that was pointed out in the dreams was how the Scooby gang is stronger with each other than without. Especially in having to face their inner demons.

And I certainly did enjoy getting to see the Scooby gang's inner demons. The inner demons worked far better here than they did in "Fear Itself." Mainly because the entire episode was intended to be so surreal and had so many distinctive camera tricks.

Whoever edited the episode, deserves a special standing ovation of their very own. This must have been extremely hard to edit together and it was seamless and flawless.

As for the dreams, I'll try to make a few points about them.

--I loved the fact that Willow's dream dealt with her trying to hide her new self from her family. That should be an interesting theme next season. Certainly we saw back in "Gingerbread" that Willow's mom takes what she sees as "rebellion" pretty well. (Certainly better than Joyce finding out Buffy was the Slayer..). It will be interesting to see just how Wilow's family reacts to her new found relationship with Tara.

--I also liked the fact the Willow had to face up to not being who she thinks she is. Or the fear of reverting back to her "nerdish" image. Again, the line about Willow's being in a giant play and that her family and friends are all watching was nicely done. As was her outfit for the bookreport. One thing that struck me was I think (and don't quote me on this) the outfit was similiar if not the same one we first saw Willow wearing in "Welcome to the Hellmouth."

--Xander's dream was certainly the most predictable, but that may be because of the character we've come to know. I had a feeling it would be about his sexuality in some way and certainly women figured prominently into it. And women acting in all kinds of interesting ways. Certainly it was interesting that of all the women he encountered, Anya was the only one who didn't offer herself to him in a suggestively sexual way. And I liked this view of Tara and Willow with the dark make-up, the low throaty voices and the interesting outfits...also that they kissed in front of him and offered to let him join. I got some unresolved feelings for Willow from that as well as some darn fine jealousy on this part. Also, to see Xander, who was once a solider forced to become one and face the inner demon of Snyder (in probably the best cameo of the entire episode). I loved the homage to Apocolypse Now and Armin Shimmermen did a tremendous job here, channelling Marlon Brando. But to! see that Xander has been avoiding his future because it looks bleak and being called on it by his father was nicely done. Nicholas Brendon, who's been sorely underused all year, really did wonders with the material here.

--Giles dream had intriguing portions. The fact that he knows Buffy has been hiding behind a mask made sense. Also, his fear of not being useful to the Scooby gang was made clear with Xander and Willow doing the research. I like the fact that his singing entered into it as he hid behind that to fill the void of not being the head librarian guy. Of the four dreams, Giles' was certainly the most straight-foward (if you can say that a dream is straight-forward) and ended the worst...with his death.

--Buffy's dream struck me in a number of ways. The fact that she feels guilty, at first, about shutting her mother off. I loved all of Joyce's lines about "oh it's dirty in here." I also loved how Buffy immediately ran off and abandoned her again when she saw her friends. (A theme that has been a constant over the entire four year run of the show). Also, I liked how she felt left out of certain parts of Riley's life--namely his military side and the fact that he had a command structure of sorts. And finally, her battle with the spirit of the first Slayer. I enjoyed that...especially the moments of silence in long shot. Those worked really well.

--I liked the fact that, on the surface, the man with the cheese was a bit of a red herring. I say on the surface because, quite frankly, Joss has hinted that there are some things being set up for next year.

--I liked how Xander was referred to as "brother" which is interesting in the context of Faith's reference to "sister" in last year's dream sequence.

--Interesting also that Tara was a linking element between the dreams. And that she served as a guide of sorts to Willow and Buffy.

--The final scene of Buffy staring at her room and then seeing it silent and dark was a nice touch. Shows a bit how the show has moved on with the characters...

--If you watch Roswell, you probably recognized the desert area. It seemed very similiar to the ones that they usually film at. Makes you wonder if it was WB day in that area....and they all took the same bus out there...;-)

All in all, this episode succeeded in every possible way. It provided the perfect coda to the season and erased the bad feelings I had at the end of "Primevil." I'm glad that Joss decided to end this way and took a chance. I think the man deserve an Emmy, as does most of the cast and the series. I guess we'll have to wait and see if that prophecy will come true....

My rating: 10.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Well, a long summer of reruns until October. At some point, I'll post my year end wrap-up for Buffy. But that could be a while as I've got to re-watch the entire season...Also, I will be posting my thoughts on Immortal in the coming weeks....