Ah, fond memories of high school traditions. Although in the UK we don’t tend to have May Queen coronation, we know the drill. Popular kids take it way too seriously, whilst the rest of us just don’t get what all the fuss is about. Whilst masquerading as a simple high school drama, there are actually some quite pertinent things going on here hence why it scored slightly higher than the season average.
At various points Buffy and Cordelia both find themselves alone. Cordelia cannot turn to her group of friends when confronted with an invisible girl bent on revenge, instead she turns to the Scoobies because even though she is surrounded by people, she doesn’t really consider them friends. But, as she says ‘it beats being alone all by yourself.’ Buffy on the other hand often finds herself apart from the Sunnydale crowd. Still the newbie, she doesn’t yet have all of the in-jokes and histories that the others have cultivated over time. She’s used to working alone, too afraid of getting anyone else hurt to actually open up and let them in. In this episode she finds she has more in common with Cordelia than she wants to admit after they have a bit of a heart to heart whilst tied to chairs.
Another revelation in this episode is the realisation that even though Cordelia is a mean girl, she’s also pretty smart, and she ‘does the reading’. She is worried about her grades, and goes to the effort of talking to teachers about how to improve. Though Cordelia is portrayed as the stereotypical antagonist character, she is already showing surprising depth foreshadowing her future development- *spoiler* – she’s pretty incredible. However, she’s not quite there yet, when she’s told that the invisible girl has a vendetta against her Cordelia shrugs it off. All she cares about is that the problem goes away, she’s not quite ready to ‘help the helpless’.
All of that aside, the episode is still a bit of a ‘creature feature’, and although it deals with the whole ‘I feel invisible’ element of High/Secondary school in a new (and literal) way, it still has quite a linear plot. It gains a plot point for Angel and Giles’ meeting, which drives the plot towards the final episode, and reveals Giles’ protective, paternal side.
Bonus points for Giles getting knocked out for the finale- again!
“There are no dead students here… this week.”- Snyder
Advertisements Share this:
