The Effect "Normal Again" Had On Me

[BlessedLunatic]

Ooooh, I actually like Normal Again.

It's not one of my favorite episodes, because it's sort of "outside" the regular plot, ideas, etc. Same way that I really enjoy the concept of The Wish, but it's also not one of my favorites because it's not..."real," I guess is what I'm trying to say.

But I love any episode of anything that shakes your belief of what you know to be real, and that gets you thinking "well, what if?"

I didn't know that Joss said he thought the ending was wrong...I actually really liked the way it was left a bit open-ended...just enough to make you go, "wait...well IS it real? Or...not?"

I definitely get that unsettling feeling from it, the "fiction within fiction" thing. Because yeah, you know the show is just a show, but when the idea that nothing about the show itself is even real pops up...it's a bit mind-boggling. I think it was a very interesting episode idea.

I once read a dark fic where Giles is called back from England to help Buffy, because she wasn't able to break out of the illusion and she killed all her friends. I don't remember where I found it or who the author was, but...*shiver* It was a great "what if?" Actually, now that I think about it, I'd like to read it again. Anyone know offhand which fic I'm talking about? I remember very little about it, other than it was dark and well-written.

 

[SlayerFest]

I should clarify. I didn't mean that Buffy isn't deep, or that it doesn't have moments (many of them) that make you think and consider things in a new way. It totally does, and I've taken a lot of elements from Buffy and Angel that have made me a better person in my own life.

What I meant was that the way "Normal Again" ended was at odds with everything we'd seen prior to it. It came out of nowhere, and I felt like it was a cheap ploy to make that episode stand out. Right from the beginning of LOST, you have the distinct impression that there is some weird sh** going down. From the very opening scene, there is a very pervasive sense that things are not as they seem, that there is a deeper meaning waiting just around the bend. The show was built that way intentionally. And it used that sense to convey larger themes to the viewer.

Buffy and Angel were never constructed that way. They absolutely did get across big themes and thoughts, no doubt, but it was always done through metaphor, through character depth (not that LOST didn't have character depth, because they did, big time). "Normal Again" didn't fit that at all.

To be honest, I don't know what the hell they were going for with that ending. All I know is that, for me at least, it didn't work and it went completely against the grain of everything we'd seen before.

I kind of disagree with that. Restless, my favorite episode, is pretty different and kind of weird. I mean I know a lot of people who hate that episode but I just love it. It's so surreal and a lot of people find it to be pointless, but it's such a great episode! Yeah I'm kind of obsessed. I guess I see where you're coming from, Normal Again is pretty strange and it definitely makes you think, "What the...?" but hey, the end of Buffy vs. Dracula was like that too. Who the hell is Dawn and where did she come from? Dawn's existence proves that absolutely nothing in Buffy is what it seems (from that point on one could view it that way). I remember after watching season 5 I would picture Dawn in some season 3 scenes haha. So to me it wasn't totally out of place, and it did fit the mood of the show, but I can see why you feel the way that you do.

 

[whitewolf]

You know the more I think about it the more I feel like the Buffyverse can't just be the figment of an insane girl. The series isn't shown from the perspective of Buffy. There are plenty of scenes where Buffy isn't in them and we see what is happening. There is also everything that happens with Angel's team in L.A.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

Still, the idea does make for some interesting theorys and such. I'm actually considering writing a fanfic that takes place in an AU where Buffy basically DID dream all that happened in the series, only when she is released, she finds the world might no be so different...

*Scribbles in notebook*

 

[WallflowerBitca]

Normal Again really made me think - and it opened up some really interesting things character-wise. I think, for me, it also really hilighted the growth of Buffy and Tara's friendship - after all, she still wasn't important enough for Buffy's demented psyche to lock her up in the basement, but she was still such a big part of Buffy's subconscious that her (addled) mind chose Tara as the one who would pull her out of the deep end (again) and rescue all of them.

But the episode left me with a really strange sense of unease, bordering on violation, so I definitely get what you're saying.

 

[Wild At Heart]

The episode really kinda messed with my head too. That's the brilliance of it. You relate to it, it makes you have deep thoughts & you question what has happened in the series up until that point. You're not alone.