Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Out of Mind, Out of Sight

This week at Sunnydale High, there's an angry little Casper-type person reaping havoc.  Ordinarily I would say it's a ghost, but since Buffy loves to go with the heavy metaphors, it's obviously a girl who felt so ignored at school that she literally turned invisible.

And has a distinct lack of warm fuzzies for Cordelia, it seems, after her boyfriend, best friend, and a teacher helping her are all savagely attacked.  For once Cordelia's self-obsession seems reasonable: it really is all about her.

But things come to a head when Malevolent Invisible Girl kidnaps Cordelia and decides to do some amateur facial reconstruction surgery as punishment for ignoring her.  Because that seems like a punishment that matches the gravity of Cordelia's "crime".

All's well that ends well, though.  Marcy has literally no consequences for her actions, besides getting sent to a spy school for socially maladjusted invisible people.  Although that kind of terrifies me.  And is it just me, or does it not seem like a good idea to train people with a history of instability and violent tendencies to be more dangerous?  Wouldn't that...maybe come back and bite you in the ass?


Things I Like:

It's interesting that this episode is the first time we see Cordelia as an academic.  She apparently actually read The Merchant of Venice, and cares enough about her grades to set up a meeting with her English teacher to discuss a paper.  Not something I would expect from her.

Love the bit about "Have a nice summer" in the yearbook.  It's so true, it is the kiss of death.  I always strained my brain trying to think of ways to fill space in a yearbook other than writing that, because I felt like an asshole if that's all I put.


Marcy's who speech about giving Cordelia a face people will remember kind of reminds me of Westley's "to the pains" speech from The Princess Bride.  Also, when Marcy says that she thinks Cordelia's smile should be a little wider, well:

Things I Didn't Like:

I'm not really sure what it is about this episode that rubs me the wrong way.  Maybe it's just the whole plot line that I don't like.  I would never endorse bullying or being rude to other students, because I was not the most popular kid at my school and I remember how it felt to get picked on.  But at the same time, I really didn't see anything happening to Marcy on screen in this episode that would warrant anything more than mild annoyance.

OK, so I know I'm supposed to kind of feel bad for the Invisible Girl, but at the same time...I don't know, I don't have that much sympathy.  If the popular bitches are ignoring you, go talk to regular people.  Just because you feel alone doesn't mean that you should go on a killing spree.  I'm sure if you took a poll, most people would say that they felt ignored or bullied in high school.

Award for the most unrealistic high school English class ever.  The teacher asks a question and ten hands shoot up in the air?  Please.  I've subbed in high school, that's not how it works.

Anyway, this one isn't one of my faves.  Moving on!


Verdict: 4 Stakes Out of 10