Official Discussion of "Normal Again" (UPN-US)

Buffy Summers

Buffy Summers

Yataro
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from thewb.com

Buffy is sent into a wild fluctuation between alternative realities - in one world she's the vampire slayer, in the other she's been institutionalized for severe delusional schizophrenia.

With either world appealing and disturbing for different reasons, she faces a difficult choice of which reality to accept.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like it's going to be one of those "Should I choose to remain the Slayer or to be normal" eps.

normalagain.jpg
 
Thanks for posting that up. I thought she had already made the choice to become the slayer way back when. Kinda feels like retracing old ground. ^_^ I hope it turns out to be a good ep though
 
I saw the trailer right after Hell's Bells and am quite impressed! This definitely looks like a kewl episode. It's just too bad us fans are gonna have to deal with a bunch of reruns for a while. They're doing the same thing on Angel. Ugh...
 
NOT FAIR! My station doesn't show the trailers after the show... damn them. lol.

Yeah, it DOES seem a lot like the recent episode of charmed... weird too, because I rarely watch charmed... saw it for the first time in MONTHS when that episode was on.

But really... decide between being the Slayer and not? Kind of like... deciding whether to be dead or not.


And does anyone notice... whenever they have a MOMENTOUS EVENT in the show, the next episode or the one after is kind of... non-plot developing? for example.... the Musical episode... Tara finds out what Willow did to her... Giles is planning on leaving... buffy and spike KISS! (damn that was good) and then... bang. two episodes later... they've all lost their memories! Nothing really develops in the general storyline... almost like they're TRYING to make us die of suspense.
 
Sounds intersting. Too bad that I won't be able to see it until a year from now maybe. Does anyone know when FX is going to start showing Season 6 episodes???
 
I thought she already accepted being the slayer way back in Welcome to the Hellmouth, when she was telling Giles that she quit, but obviously didn't.

Also, what kind of a choice can this be? And I dont think its the same as would she rather be alive or dead? B/c from what she has said this season I'd think she prefers death and "heaven." I mean is it a choice between being the slayer in one reality or being stuck in an insane asylum? I think I'd take the slayer option. But, if you pick the slayer option, which seems like a choice of insanity over reality, then that would mean 6 seasons of Buffy have been all a figment of Buffy's imagination. If its her imagination why is she making it so painful on herself? I'd think that in her own imagination that she'd keep her mom alive, and Angel would never have left her, etc. Ie. she'd be living an ideal life.

Starting to get myself confused here... better go to practice before I get too "lost" in thought.
 
True. But if she is not the slayer (and never was) then we have just been watching her imagination for the past few years, and I feel very cheated. Then if she chooses to remain that way, do we continue watching her imaginations? And if she choses not to be the slayer and gets let out? Then all we've watched was still a big dream, and in the future we will only be watching Buffy the Normal kid. And I still feel cheated! I am not thinking very far outside the box here, but it doesnt seem like much of a choice to me, as either one leaves me unsatisfied. So this ep looks like it has the potential to be horrible (if it fufills either of the above 2 options) or really great if there is a third option that I am not seeing. I guess I will find out in 9.5 hours.
 
A demon hist her with a spell. It is magic that is causing her to have these two realities. She is the slayer - she just thinks she might not be. We haven't been watching her imagination for the last 5 1/2 seasons....
 
I just got done watching this episode. I was blown away. Sarah really impressed me-this is why she is my acting idol. LOL. This is some of her finest work as an actress in this episode. And the writing is just amazing. This is why I love TV folks! I'm just still so taken with this episode-the "awe" hasn't worn off yet (it's only been 20 minutes-lol). Even if someone wasn't a Buffy fan, they have to admire this episode.
 
What did you think of tonights episode ?

i thought it was a intresting episode, which world do you think is real ? the ending kinda through me off. Anyways they didnt show a preview for next weeks episode. Does anybody know what its about ?? By the way im new here 🙂
 
hello and welcome.

Tonight's episode... very good... but rather... DISTURBING! watching Buffy beat up her friends, and set the moster loose on them... it was gross. And the ending REALLY annoyed me. it was very cliffhanging... it kept the possibility that she really COULD be in an institution, because after she decided to stay in "sunnydale" they had one more scene in the institution. I REALLY hope they don't try to bring this back sometime though... it'd bother me. and I'd be VERY ANGRY if hey tried to end the series with her waking up in the 'real world.' It would completely diminish and compromise EVERY SINGLE message that Buffy ever sent out.


And once again, Dawn proves her annoyingness. That girl takes things WAY TOO MUCH TO HEART! I mean, yeah in buffy's 'psychotic world', dawn doesn't exist... because dammit, she DIDN'T exist. So she takes her absense there like Buffy wanted it that way? it's rediculous.
 
it's been just about 20 min. for me since i saw the episode and three words - Oh My God!!! This episode really blew me away! Everything was so amazing. From the concept to the acting, to Joyce, and just the whole thing. it all just came together to make one awesome episode. i was actually scared near the end. can't wait to find out what the next episode is about. i gladly give this episode the 2 thumbs up it really deserves! :: tu :: :: tu :: bravo, bravo!

i also agree that even a non-Buffy watcher would like this episode. they'd still be able to understand everything even though this is the sixth season (which shows how good Joss and all the writers are with continuity). who knows, this could be the episode that finally gets some people to start watching.
 
I think next week is going to be a repeat. I liked 'Normal Again' but it was disturbing... what if BUFFY really IS in a mental institution! AHHHHHH!!!!!!
 
Joss? If you or any of your people are listening, could you please STOP torturing us? Can any happiness in the show last more than an episode or two? Yes, she's a fictional character, but for crying out loud, for the sake of all viewer's sanity, PLEASE give the girl a little happiness! Is it really too much to ask? 'Cuz, I'm sayin', if I wasn't completely addicted to the show, I would have stopped watching last night. Life isn't sunshine and roses, by any means - but it isn't all anguish, either. So let them be happy, a little - please???
 
I thought the ep was really cool. They didn't come out and say Buffy was really in an institution and Sunnydale has been a hallucination for the past 6 years, which is a good thing. But, they make you think about it, especially with the ending.

I mean, you could look at the ending as her leaving the asylum-hallucination for the Sunnydale reality, or did she choose the Sunnydale-hallucination, but is still really in an institution, just comatose. I definitely think its the former. Obviously the latter implies that the whole series is a hallucination, but I am really basing my opinion on the one scene between Joyce and Buffy in the institution. The one where Joyce tells her she is a strong girl and Buffy says 'thank you.' I think that scene was really important. Buffy, admitted being very despondent recently, but her illusion of her mom saying that might have finally convinced her that she is strong enough to deal w/ her new life in the sunnydale reality. So, I kind of see this as Buffy's 2nd step (1st was admitting her using Spike) towards becoming somewhat 'normal again'.

I've got a few more things to say, but I'm already late for class...

-Helga
 
part 2....

I was a little disturbed when Buffy starting beating up her friends and then released the demon on them, even though I know she was delusional at the time. Good timing Tara!

Also I really the eps self-references. Like how the doc said Buffy had come back to their world for a few months over the summer, when we all know she had been dead. That's prolly the part that is keeping me guessing. And also, how the demons/ big bads got bigger and badder, but that this year its only 3 guys she went to high school w/. Lastly, Buffy saying something to the effect of "a girl w/ super powers who fights demons and vampires. how real is that?" I thought those parts were really cool.

I hope that we are starting to see the Scoobies coming back together again. They've been a little fractured this season, but now they are all w/o their significant other and are hopefully forced into strengthening their friendship.
 
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