Question Christmas scene, real or imagined?

[The Bronze]

Just watched The Body last night and there's a lovely Christmas scene at the beginning. Does anyone know if this is a flash back to something that happened or if it's a fantasy Buffy is having while in shock?

 

[NotASlayer]

I seem to recall it was described as a flashback done so that the post-opening credits credits (there's probably a proper word for those) didn't show over Buffy dealing with Joyce.

 

[thetopher]

I just assumed that it was the previous (as in Season 5's) Christmas that was the last mass gathering of everyone happily together (minus Riley because I guess he'd already left by then).
It doesn't seem like a fantasy because of a few things; Anya's 'Santa is a real and he kills children' revelation, Buffy being absent from most of the table talk conversation, her teasing Mom and Giles about band candy; all seems 'flashback-y' rather than 'made-up'.

Usually in the timeline Christmas time is at the seasonal midpoint, round about episode 10 or 11 (Buffy's Birthday ep is usually episode 12 or 13) which puts this just around Triangle? Except I don't think Xander has a cast on his arm from Troll-damage...(or maybe he does)

So...just pre-Triangle?

 

[The Bronze]

I totally forgot about the scene until watching again. Other bits from the episode stay with you more I guess. I was hoping it was a flashback so glad there's nothing obviously off about it 🙂

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

I always assumed it was a memory of a real event.

 

[TriBel]

I think it's an "involuntary memory" - Buffy might not even be aware of it (she never mentions it). It's a real memory - but whether it's a memory of a real event is questionable. It could simply be a mash-up of unconscious fears and desires; longings and regrets.

This exchange is key and haunts Buffy until S12 when "Joyce" is returned.
JOYCE: (quietly to Buffy) You are a demon child.

BUFFY: I live to torment you, is that so wrong?

JOYCE: A daughter's duty, I suppose. (kisses Buffy on the forehead).

Yes - it's jokey banter but as Freud said, jokes are the "royal road to the unconscious". She partly addresses the fear in Intervention: "And now my mom is gone ... and I loved her more than anything ... and ... I don't know if she knew". What goes unsaid is Buffy's fear that Joyce didn't love her - because she was the Slayer (demon child). That being the Slayer makes her too hard to love (in the fullest sense - as both loving subject and loved object).

I totally forgot about the scene until watching again.

Whereas I forget everything except that scene - and Dawn drawing negative space (the two are related).

 

[November]

I assumed it was a real memory too. Same as the birthday party in firefly. A perfectly happy moment cut to tragedy. Adds to the shock value.

 

[Tome]

Definitely a real memory.

 

[TamsinValencia]

I thought it was a memory.

 

[TheXandyman]

Buffy's last christmas with her mother.