"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Gone (2002)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

David Fury

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
David Fury (written by)

TV Series:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Original Air Date:

8 January 2002 (Season 6, Episode 11)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

The Three Geeks mistakenly turn Buffy invisible. The Slayer takes some advantage from going unseen. Willow has to do the detective without using magic, while Xander finds Spike doing some weird physical training.

Plot Keywords:

Invisibility | Sister Sister Relationship | Female Protagonist | Lesbian | Sci Fi Episode

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield	...	Anya
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Dawn Summers
James Marsters	...	Spike
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Danny Strong	...	Jonathan Levinson
Adam Busch	...	Warren Meers
Tom Lenk	...	Andrew Wells
Daniel Hagen	...	Social Services Supervisor
Susan Ruttan	...	Doris Kroeger
Jessa French	...	Cleo
Kelly Parver	...	Girl in Park
Jeffrey Jacquin	...	Meter Man
Dwight Bacquie	...	Security Guard

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

As Buffy is leaving the social services office, she can be heard whistling "Going through the Motions," the opening song from episode 7, "Once More with Feeling."

Quotes:

Doris Kroeger: There was a voice, before. It made my coffee dance. It told me to...
Manager: To what?
Doris Kroeger: Nothing.
Manager: Doris, take the rest of the day off. See your doctor.
Doris Kroeger: W-What about my cases?
Manager: We'll, uh, put someone else on them, and have them redo the Summers' interview.
Doris Kroeger: I'm not crazy. I am not crazy!

Movie Connections:

References "The X Files" (1993)

Buffy's invisible and she likes it

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Gone" isn't exactly a great episode. It suffers from a general season six feeling of "sadness" and doesn't really contribute much to the over all story arc. But, has some pretty clever and creative parts to it. This is also the episode where Buffy finally comes face to face with the Trio, so you really should give it a shot if you're watching the season on DVD.

"Gone" revolves around Buffy becoming invisible. Remember that diamond that the Trio stole back in "Smashed"? Well they've used it to build their newest invention, an invisibility ray. They plan on using the devise to spy on naked women at tanning salons. Unfortunately, things quickly go wrong. Buffy is having a bad day. Social workers are threatening to take Dawn away from her, she and Spike have gotten into another argument and she's still not thrilled to be back in the land of the living. After Spike tells her that he loves her hair, she decides to cut it off. As she leaves the hair salon, the Trio accidentally hits her with their invisibility ray.

Buffy is actually happy with the change. She likes being hidden from the world and finally starts having fun. She scares the social worker who's been bothering her, chats with Xander and Anya, and heads over to Spike's to surprise him. Willow, meanwhile, tries to piece together what happened, without using magic. As she investigates, she realizes that the invisible-ness is dangerous. It's destroying Buffy's cells and it will kill her unless they fit it. She begins searching for the Trio. Xander goes to Spike for help in finding Buffy and finds him "exercising." Really Spike's having invisible sex with Buffy. When Xander leaves, Spike feels used and unhappy and kicks Buffy out.

Buffy heads for home and scares Dawn. Then she learns her cells are turning into "pudding." Then she finds out that the Trio has captured Willow. Deciding that she's tired of being invisible, and that doesn't want to die, she agrees to meet them at a local video arcade. The Trio have made themselves invisible now, too. They're also holding Willow hostage. Andrew and Jonthan want to fix Buffy, but Warren has other ideas. He tries to kill her. Buffy and the Trio fight. Willow grabs the invisibility ray and makes them all visible again. Buffy learns for the first time who the Trio are. She is amazed and kind of amused to see that they are her "arch nemesis-es-es" now. The episode ends with Buffy and Willow promising to move on with more healthy lifestyles.

There are some really fun parts to this episode. I like Spike trying to impress the social worker with Buffy's parenting talents. He's trying to help, but the lady looks at him and you can see her thinking, "Nope." I also like Anya and Xander bickering over their seating arrangements. Its gotta be hard to figure out where to put your wedding guests, when the demons sitting next to them at the table might try to eat them. And good for Xander for remembering Marcy's invisibility back in season one's "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." I also like Buffy misbehaving. Being invisible makes her feel free and she's actually having a good time for once. Stealing little parking carts and teasing Xander and Anya. It's great. Also, I really like Jonathan and Andrew in this episode. They aren't happy that Warren lied to them and they genuinely want to help Buffy. Jonathan's phrase, "We have to re-visible her again!" just cracks me up every time I hear it. And it's pretty funny when Buffy finally realizes that these three are the ones who have been pestering her all season. She has no idea who Andrew is, so the Trio has to explain he's Tucker's brother. "Warren! Jonathan! And... Wait, who are you?"

I think that it's the direction in this episode that makes a lot of it work. Just because we can't see Buffy, doesn't mean that that camera doesn't zoom in on the spot that she's "standing" for reaction shots. It makes it feel like Buffy really is in the scene, just invisible. And the fight sequence in the video arcade is brilliant. Buffy, Andrew, Jonathan and Warren are all missing, but the camera moves around the room as they "battle" each other. Pinball machines break, Warren shout "Over there!" but no one knows where he's pointing, the scene cuts back and forth to where the characters are suppose to be standing... It just all works really well.

On the down side, there's something sort of sad about this episode. I can't explain it, but I think it has something to do with season in general growing progressively darker from about this point on. Also, why is Dawn so freaked out by Buffy being invisible? It's Sunnydale. Things like this happen all the time.

My favorite part of the episode: Jonathan deepening his voice on the phone so Buffy won't recognize him. "I'm no one you know."