Something I just found about 'Normal Again'.

A

AustinA123

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Q: We hear you're fond of Shakespeare's works - "Hamlet" in particular. Could that have partly inspired the "Normal Again" storyline that Buffy might be insane, since one theory about "Hamlet" goes that the entire story is actually taking place in Hamlet's imagination? How important is "Normal, Again" in the "Buffy" arc?

A: I have never been a subscriber to, "the entire play takes place in Hamlet's imagination" theory. In fact, although I'm a devoted fan of "Hamlet" and it is the text I know best in all the world, "Normal Again" did not come from it.

How important it is in the scheme of the "Buffy" narrative is really up to the person watching. If they decide that the entire thing is all playing out in some crazy person's head, well the joke of the thing to us was it is, and that crazy person is me. It was kind of the ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show, which is not the sort of thing we usually do on the show. The show had merit in itself because it did raise the question, "How can you live in this world and be sane?" But at the same time the idea amused me very much and we played on it a little bit, "How come her little sister is taller than her?" "What was Adam's plan?" We played on the crazy things we came up with time and time again, to make this fantasy show work and called them into question the way any normal person would. But ultimately the entire series takes place in the mind of a lunatic locked up somewhere in Los Angeles, if that's what the viewer wants. Personally, I think it really happened.

There's no doubt in my mind now 😀

Source: Joss Whedon
 
Joss thinks what really happened? That shes in an institution or shes in a slayer world?

Either way, its meaningless, its not for him to decide, its for me to.

I love Normal Again for how well written and acted it was...but it cheapens the entire story of Buffy for me so I choose to rejects its concept, in fact I usually skip over it when I watch the show, mainly because it takes me out of the 'Buffy world' for a while...and thats just not fun!
 
I always just assumed that the "Normal Again" story was about a parallel universe (our reality, maybe) and that somehow, "Normal" Buffy had achieved some sort of link with Slayer Buffy, possibly because of some sort of medication therapy that she was receiving. I was always sort of disappointed that there was never a followup to the story where there was some sort of crossover, (even if it had pretty much already been done with Willow in "Doppelgangland") that would result in both "Slayer" Buffy and "Normal" Buffy being able to cope better with their respective realities.
 
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Silum
i like the parallel dimension idea, sortof like different dimensions. Both are real. Interesting, this could actually make the episode more watchable.
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Lacrimosa
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Eleftheria
That's a very interesting theory, and I gotta tell you I have thought of that too.Like Vamp Willow and high school Willow...living in different realities
I've said quite a few times that I believe that the demon that stabs Buffy links her to a parallel version of herself and that the choice is a very real one.

But then the whole premise of this episode is something that is a staple of Sci-Fi so as much as I enjoyed it, I didn't take anything 'new' from it.
 
There was a great Star Trek-The Next Generation episode "Frame of Mind" which a similar theme. Riker, thinking he is rehearsing a play, appears to be a patient in a mental hospital and the episode flips between Riker in the hospital and Riker interacting on the ship. We aren't sure what is real and what is Riker's imagination . . . good ep.
 
bigmoneygrip said:
There was a great Star Trek-The Next Generation episode "Frame of Mind" which a similar theme. Riker, thinking he is rehearsing a play, appears to be a patient in a mental hospital and the episode flips between Riker in the hospital and Riker interacting on the ship. We aren't sure what is real and what is Riker's imagination . . . good ep.
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That wasn't a bad episode, but the best take on this story has been the Ben Sisko 1950's one in DS9.
 
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bigmoneygrip
Damn, I forgot about that one - writing his story on the wall!
Normal Again is one of my favorite episodes, albeit not original in plot, as EB pointed out. I like to think of the possibility of it all being inside her head, and then the show questioning itself is neat. im a big fan of it.
 
white avenger said:
I always just assumed that the "Normal Again" story was about a parallel universe (our reality, maybe) and that somehow, "Normal" Buffy had achieved some sort of link with Slayer Buffy, possibly because of some sort of medication therapy that she was receiving. I was always sort of disappointed that there was never a followup to the story where there was some sort of crossover, (even if it had pretty much already been done with Willow in "Doppelgangland") that would result in both "Slayer" Buffy and "Normal" Buffy being able to cope better with their respective realities.
Click to expand...

It is set in a parallel universe, one called Television where realities can be as connected or as unconnected as you wish.
 
In my mind - Both worlds are real. We just happen to be following the more exciting of the two worlds.
 
^ Yeah. Can you imagine if the show was all watching Crazy!Buffy be crazy? And sit there? And maybe drool? 😉
 
S
Selig
Reality Buffy TV! Doesn't bear thinking about (No pun intended)
Yeah, this concept has been done on many shows, not just Buffy. The Star Trek examples have already been given, LOST did a similar episode where Hurley doesn't know if he's truly stranded on an island or in a mental institution, and I know I've seen very similar plots done on other shows as well, even if these are the only examples I can think of off hand.
 
S
Selig
Like the man says, there are no original ideas.
I agree that it's an alternate universe, just like 'The Wish' was. Buffy was linked due to the demon's poison to a Buffy in another world and she was conflicted over it. It doesn't make her world and the world we watched any less real, or the Buffy in the asylum any less real either.
 
AustinA123 said:
Q: We hear you're fond of Shakespeare's works - "Hamlet" in particular. Could that have partly inspired the "Normal Again" storyline that Buffy might be insane, since one theory about "Hamlet" goes that the entire story is actually taking place in Hamlet's imagination? How important is "Normal, Again" in the "Buffy" arc?

A: I have never been a subscriber to, "the entire play takes place in Hamlet’s imagination" theory. In fact, although I’m a devoted fan of "Hamlet" and it is the text I know best in all the world, "Normal Again" did not come from it.

....There's no doubt in my mind now 😀
Click to expand...

Why?
I mean, Joss didn't say anything there.
He said that he never believed that the "Hamlet" plot had happened in Hamlet's imagination. Meaning, he believed the plot actually "happened" in Hamlet's life. Then he says he did not take the idea for "Normal Again." If anything, that says that the events in "Normal Again" weren't real, and had only happened in Buffy's mind.

But, at any rate, I agree with whoever said that it's up to us, not Joss, and that if "Normal Again" was real it would cheapen the series. I choose to regard "Normal Again" as an interesting idea, maybe a parallel universe, and certainly a neat trick. Joss was able to make us doubt six years of what we'd known to be true, all with a single episode, and that's pretty cool. But I don't really look into it beyond that.
 
I know this is overly simplistic but if the "Buffy world" were happening in Buffy's mind wouldn't we see most things happen from Buffy's point of view? There are intricate plot twists and events on Angel that Buffy knows nothing about yet we are supposed to be afraid that this world is all in her head? Maybe I'm just trying to comfort myself because I would hate if Buffy ended with an insane girl in an asylum.
 
Silum said:
Joss thinks what really happened? That shes in an institution or shes in a slayer world?

Either way, its meaningless, its not for him to decide, its for me to.

I love Normal Again for how well written and acted it was...but it cheapens the entire story of Buffy for me so I choose to rejects its concept, in fact I usually skip over it when I watch the show, mainly because it takes me out of the 'Buffy world' for a while...and thats just not fun!
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I agree with you, Silum. Art is about interpretation. It is whatever we want to to be. 🙂
 
The alternate reality fanwank is fun, and viable too, because so much of the Buffy/Angel verse makes sense when one warms to the possibility.

Dawn can be seen as a merged reality rather than a spontaneous creation. Angel kills Connor, but he doesn't really because Connor's back the next season. Merged realities.
 
Also, it's not entirely necessary for it to be entirely from Buffy's viewpoint to be a delusion. We daydream about things that don't involve us ALL THE TIME. Writers make up intricate plots that involve people we've also made up. Angel could be seen that way, as could all the scenes that happen outside of Buffy's awareness.
 
LittleMissLikesToFight said:
Normal Again is one of my favorite episodes, albeit not original in plot, as EB pointed out. I like to think of the possibility of it all being inside her head, and then the show questioning itself is neat. im a big fan of it.
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I totally agree. I love Normal Again. I know the "it's all in your head" plot device is overdone, but I liked the way Joss & co. poked fun at their own ideas, at the viewers for suspending their disbelief through so many crazy concepts, etc.

Like a lot of you, I, too, like to think that the demon venom linked Buffy with an alternate reality more like ours. I think it's cool and very meaningful for the character that she chose the harder, more noble reality -- especially after spending so much of the season wishing she had remained dead. I think Normal Again gave Buffy some perspective and helped her to climb out of her depression and rejoin the world.
 
I can never come up with an absolute in what I want to take this episode as.It's an ongoing battle in my head everytime I watch it.
 
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