Was Buffy Normal Again, or Not?

[BuffyHead]

I love this ep, i love how it ends open, i think it was genius. I think its a lot of intresting wondering if its all real.

 

[faeriegrrl27]

Let me begin by saying that this is one of my favorite episodes, and throughout I never doubted the existence of Sunnydale.

That being said, I really don't think it matters. That was the whole point of the episode. What exists is irrelevant. What we believe, what makes us happy, what *feels* real is all that matters. This episode really hit home the first time I saw it. I was at a very bad time in my life, and I pretty much lived and breathed Buffy. It was all that mattered to me. I had few friends, I was going through serious depression, I was just really unhappy. So I lost myself in Buffy. So when Normal Again rolled around, I felt like it was a slap in the face. I felt like it was speaking to the audience, chastising those who were so wrapped up in the show that they had detached from actual life. But what the episode finally proved to be about was acceptance of this "lifestyle." Buffy had a choice. She had Sunnydale and she had a "real" world. So it came down to Buffy deciding which one made her happy IMO. And what made her happy, what was real to her, and therefore real, was Sunnydale. So I felt like the show was saying, "It doesn't matter." I really felt like I had this new understanding of my relationship to the show. I *know* Buffy's not real (...sorta), but I live it. It was (and is, though to a lesser extent) my life. So it seemed like the show, especially with that last scene, was saying, "MAYBE it's not *real* but it simply does not matter. It's your decision, and it's here to help you." You being both the audience and Buffy.

 

[Connor Holtz]

As far as I'm concerned Buffy is wackier than a fruit loop but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy her insanity.

 

[Marisa]

Well how much worse is it to now all of a sudden have to deal with the fact that perhaps everything pre-season 5 ATS was orchestrated by Jasmine? And maybe even some events on Buffy? (Angel's return from hell, the snowfall in Amends)

That annoyed me but I don't believe that either I think skip was trying to mess with the gang at that moment. Yes I think some events maybe Connor existing could be apart of that but not every event and choice that just isn't believable to me. I was actually kind of mad that Joss would even insinuate that, mostly because I don't think Jasmine was well enough thought out to say going into the whole series this was supposed to happen so this character could be here. Do you get what I am saying? I know sometimes it makes sense to me but not everyone else lol.

 

[Connor Holtz]

Taken into account how old that original dimension she conquered was, it is easily surmisable she's been planing her arrival on Earth for centuries, maybe even a milenia. Too many things had to come into place for most of those events to be coincidental. Who knows how many events she actually nudged could debated forever but the most important ones involving Connor, Angel and Cordelia are most certainly apart of her plan.

But this all moot seeing as it was all in Buffy's head 😉

 

[zobothehobo]

Well how much worse is it to now all of a sudden have to deal with the fact that perhaps everything pre-season 5 ATS was orchestrated by Jasmine? And maybe even some events on Buffy? (Angel's return from hell, the snowfall in Amends)

That part was easy for me to deal with. Especially the Buffy stuff in question (the return from hell and snowfall in Amends). Some of the stuff makes absolutely no freaking sense whatsoever so to have it orchestrated by a higher power trying to take over made it make sense to me...

 

[Thamior]

That part was easy for me to deal with. Especially the Buffy stuff in question (the return from hell and snowfall in Amends). Some of the stuff makes absolutely no freaking sense whatsoever so to have it orchestrated by a higher power trying to take over made it make sense to me...

...And it was. Angel's return from hell was orchestrated by the First Evil (as part of a plot to kill Buffy), and the snowfall was clearly orchestrated by the higher powers. Or, as far as the snowfall goes, you could say that Angel was fated to stay alive to fulfill the Shanshu prophecy. In any case, the fact that it is predestined/orchestrated is not the problem - the problem is that it is orchestrated by Jasmine. It was a poorly thought out plot that tried to do more than it could, and failed. They just went too far - I don't find it believable that all of the actions taken pre-season 4 Angel were part of a plan that ended up failing miserable in the course of 3 episodes. Sorry, I don't buy it.

 

[The Zeppo]

I honestly don't think it matters which one is real. What really matters is which one we should believe. I don't know if anyone here has read the book Life of Pi (if you haven't, you should, it is absolutely amazing), but there are some similar issues in the book. Whether or not Buffy believes (and lives as though) she is in Sunnydale is what really matters. I happen to believe that reality depends on how we view it - meaning, reality is not independent of us. If Buffy sees the world in terms of Sunnydale being real, then that is what is real for her. So, when Buffy choses to stay in Sunnydale at the end of the episode, she is, in fact, making it so that Sunnydale is real (whether or not it was real before). So, it's not about which one is true - it's about which one we should believe.

I know this is kind of confusing right now, so let me simplify it into a premise-conclusion argument:

PREMISE 1: It is not possible for something to be objectively real ONLY because someone believes it is real (IE, if I believe in God, that doesn't mean God is real; rather, it only means God is real to me)

PREMISE 2: It is not possible for something to be objectively real unless someone is experiencing - and/or believing - it (IE, if a tree falls alone in the forest, we cannot say that it is objectively true that it makes a sound)

PREMISE 3: It is not possible to know what is objectively real - rather, we can only know what we are experiencing, and believing.

CONCLUSION: We should not be looking to know what is true, but we should be looking to know what we should believe. Since the only way of knowing what we should believe is by experiencing it, our perceptions tell us what we should believe (IE, if I see a tree, then I should believe that there is a tree there. I cannot, however, say that I know there is a tree there, because it is impossible for me to know objective truths).


So, if I apply this to the episode Normal Again, I end up with this: I cannot know which of the two worlds are real; but I should believe that Sunnydale is real, because that is the world that Buffy is experiencing.

Okay, I probably didn't express myself very well, but it's late, and that's as clear as this post is going to get. Good luck deciphering it, guys!

As bystanders however we have an overall view of events, so like "gods" we as the audience get to see all angles and events, so with what is presented to us yes we have the power to declare what is objectively true. But with the possibility of Sunnydale all being real or not, my issue is that we "get to see the tree fall, so can say if it made a sound or not." We see the hospital with Buffy after she has entered back into Sunnydale, so as it exists independant of Sunnydale Buffy, doesn't that make it real.

 

[TeamSunnydale]

I thought that this episode was intriguing and very thought provoking. If you look into it, it almost makes you consider is anything real? It is highly plausible that Buffy was simply a mental patient and everything the viewer has come to be fond of in the show is even less real. Its like, we know Buffy is just a TV show, but if the characters don't believe in their lives, then how can we?