Written by: | David Fury |
Directed by: | David Fury |
Starring: | Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris Emma Caulfield as Anya Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers James Marsters as Spike Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg |
Guest Starring: | Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson Adam Busch as Warren Meers Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells Daniel Hagen as Boss Susan Ruttan as Doris Kroeger |
Co-Starring: | Jess French as Cleo Kelly Parver as Girl in Park Jeffrey Jacquin as Meter Man Dwight Bacquie as Security Guard Lyndon Smith as Little Boy Melina Webberly as Little Girl Elin Hampton as Co-Worker |
The nerds turned Buffy invisible, and wackiness ensued.
The episode opened with Buffy clearing all magical items out of the house, including candles, crystals, and Kokopelli, a fertility statue. Dawn objected to much of this.
Meanwhile, Warren used the diamond stolen in "Smashed" to create an invisibility ray gun. Andrew and Jonathan thought that it looked cheesy, but they were impressed when it worked.
Buffy was having trouble getting Dawn off to school on time. Dawn seemed upset at both Willow and Buffy. Buffy and Willow discussed why when Spike burst in. He claimed that he was looking for his lighter, but Buffy did not seem to be fooled. Willow ducked upstairs, which gave Spike the opportunity to make some moves on Buffy. Unfortunately for him, Xander soon arrived and interrupted.
Xander and Dawn were about to leave when Doris Kroeger from Social Services arrived. Spike tried to give a good recommendation for Buffy, but he probably made things worse. Furthermore, Kroeger did not like seeing the bag of "magic weed." She was worried about Dawn's grades and threatened to have Dawn taken away if things do not improve.
Buffy got upset and started to hack at her hair. She must not have liked the result, as she went to a hair salon. She left just as the nerds were about to implement their next scheme. It was not clear what they planned to do, but it involved the invisibility ray and a women-only spa. Actually, it was probably very clear what they planned to do. Andrew spotted Buffy, which set off a panic and a struggle for the gun. It went off and several objects turned invisible, most notably Buffy.
Anya and Xander were in the Magic Box discussing seating arrangements for their wedding reception when Buffy walked in. She spent a little time creeping them out by playing with objects before leaving. Anya and Xander decided that Willow probably made Buffy invisible through another blown spell. Xander went to confront Willow, but she got very touchy and walked out.
Jonathan and Andrew worried about what kind of trouble an invisible Buffy could do to them. However, she had other priorities. Her first priority was disposing of a studded denim cap. After swiping a meter man's vehicle, she went to drive a certain social worker crazy. Fortunately, this was not that difficult. All it took was moving a coffee mug around while whispering "kill." She also changed Kroeger's report into Jack Torrance's manuscript from The Shining. Kroeger's boss came to the conclusion that she needed an extended leave as Buffy left whistling "Going through the Motions."
Xander found Willow at the scene where Buffy turned invisible. Willow discovered a tire mark suggesting something speeding away quickly. There was also black paint on an otherwise invisible fire hydrant. She realized that this was probably the black van Buffy saw in "Life Serial."
Buffy's next activity was to pay Spike a visit. Spike first thought that he was being haunted, but he figured out what was going on when it looked like Buffy was doing something to him that was similar to what Willow was doing to Tara at the end of "Under Your Spell," after taking into account the fact that Tara and Spike have different equipment.
Xander and Anya were researching invisibility causes. Actually, Xander was researching and Anya was still thinking about seating arrangements. She touched an invisible traffic pylon that Xander swiped from the scene and found that it now had the consistency of pudding. Xander was worried that Buffy would turn into pudding as well.
Meanwhile, Jonathan and Andrew were upset that the invisibility ray might cause Buffy to die. They made it very clear that Warren was to fix the invisibility ray and fix Buffy. Warren backed down, or at least pretended to.
Xander went to Spike's crypt and caught him "exercising" in bed without any clothes on. Xander did not believe Spike, but he did not figure out what was going on either. He told Spike that Buffy was invisible and needed to report in. When Xander left, Spike got a little upset at Buffy for basically treating him the way that she treated Riley and asked her to leave.
A frustrated Buffy returned home and grabbed a pizza. Dawn snuck in soon afterward, which gave Buffy the opportunity to have more fun with objects. Rather than be amused, Dawn got upset and ran off. Buffy then went to check her messages and found one from Xander explaining the pudding problem.
Meanwhile, Willow had done some research and found the nerds' hideout. She went to investigate and found plans for the invisibility ray, and then the gun itself. Unfortunately, three invisible nerds captured her.
Buffy was about to find Xander when the phone rang. It was Jonathan telling her that they captured Willow and that Buffy was to meet them at the arcade. While there, Warren tried to suggest that Buffy was surrounded by invisible enemies, but Andrew and Jonathan were busy playing a video game.
Warren said that he was going to turn Buffy visible again, but Willow figured out that he was instead trying to increase the invisibility power in order to turn Buffy into pudding. This prompted a bit of squabbling, which led to led to a fight. As nobody in the fight was visible, many arcade patrons fled. Meanwhile, Willow snuck over to the gun and started to turn everyone visible again.
The nerds declared themselves to be Buffy's arch nemeses, or they would have if they knew what the plural of "nemesis" was. They tried to cover their escape with smoke, but the escape door was locked. Fortunately, they managed to get it open when a security guard interrupted.
Buffy expressed some admiration for Willow's detective skills. Buffy admitted that she was upset at the possibility that the invisibility might kill her. For the first time since coming back from the dead, Buffy was glad that she was alive.
The episode might have been dull, but David Fury deserves a lot of credit for his direction, particularly in the fight scene at the end when all of the combatants were invisible.
This is the first Amber Benson free episode since "Into the Woods," and Drusilla does not appear at all (unless Warren hit her with the invisibility ray). This is a combination that usually results in mediocre Buffy. This episode is no exception.
Buffy fought Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew at the arcade.
Buffy had fun being invisible.
Xander walked in on Spike and Buffy not realizing what he was interrupting.
The entire scene at the arcade was very funny.
Buffy faced the prospect of losing Dawn.
For the first time in a while, Buffy faced the idea of dying and thought that it was a bad thing.
There was a brief flashback to Buffy and Spike's sex scene.
Later, we saw Spike and Buffy having sex. Actually, we just saw Spike.
Willow still has withdrawal symptoms from giving up magic. She is a little touchy about accusations of using magic.
Buffy feels guilty for not noticing Willow's magic problems until it was too late. For the first time in the sixth season, she is glad that she is alive.
Warren still has no problems with killing Buffy. He understands that Lex Luthor does not kill Superman because it is Superman's book, but he has yet to realize that he is on Buffy's show.
Jonathan still has problems with killing Buffy. Allegedly, he has chest hair.
Andrew also has problems with killing Buffy.
Dawn blames both Buffy and Willow for her broken arm.
If pre-episode publicity is to be believed, Buffy getting her hair cut is by far the most important thing that occurred in this episode.
Buffy now knows that Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew have been pestering her.
Willow gets the MVP for turning Buffy visible again—thus saving her life—and for revealing the identities of the nerds. At the midpoint of the season, she, Tara, and Spike are tied for the lead with two MVPs each whereas Buffy has yet to earn one.
Anya and Xander thought that they were in the running for this award, but they blew it by being wrong about Willow being the cause of Buffy's invisibility. Instead, Willow took the award through her investigative work.
Both Andrew and Jonathan deserve strong consideration for fighting over the invisibility ray gun and turning Buffy invisible. Andrew gets the goat because he did not need to be invisible. Buffy did not know who he was anyway. Buffy did know Jonathan, so he needed the invisibility more.
"I pictured something cooler, more ILM, less Ed Wood." Andrew
"Couldn't find a less flammable time of day to take a stroll?" Buffy
"Free of life? Got another name for that: 'Dead.'" Spike
Highlight the space after each question to find the answer. It is strongly recommended that you do not do so if you have not seen episodes through the episode indicated.