#marcie ross

[andthentheywilleatthestars]

Wellbutrin could have saved her

[my-obsession-with-gifs]

[coraniaid]

I know 'Ross' is just a moderately common last name, but I like to imagine that Marcie Ross (the invisible girl from Season 1's Out of Sight, Out of Mind) and Lorraine Ross (Buffy's second manager at the Doublemeat Palace in Season 6) are related. I don't think Lorraine's quite the right age to be a parent or a sibling, but I think it adds a certain pathos to what she says to Buffy about her previous manager Manny ("they called me in when [he] did his disappearing act") if this isn't the first time somebody she knew "just disappeared".

[holyfacehead]

the way i binged the entire s1 of buffy the vampire slayer because i read somewhere that clea duvall is in it ONLY FOR HER TO BE INVISIBLE THE ENTIRE TIME WTF*;"!**!*!*!*!**!*!*

[nikkiruncks]

Ross accusing Mark of just wanting to fuck Rachel instead of being happy that his girlfriend is doing something she cares about. Clown behavior.

[mothicalspoken]

(…You’ll always be a part of me.)

[girl4music]

Another great and clever thing about ‘Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight’ was that it layed the groundwork for the Season 6 episode ‘Gone’ in that, from a writer’s perspective, it took the themes of ‘loneliness’ and ‘isolation’ and evolved them into the more important themes of ‘corruption’ and ‘depression’. And the producers and directors took the clever idea of using objects in the environment to represent and indicate to the audience of where the invisible person was and what they’re thinking and feeling as they narrate their perception to the audience.

And the great thing about that parallel is that there is even a reference to Marci in the episode in that Buffy says her cause of invisibleness is not a “Marci deal”. However, if we look at the episode through a thematic and narrative lens - it actually is very much to do with loneliness and isolation as well as the other themes.

There’s many things to love about this episode compared to what’s not to love about it. And as you said - it’s overlooked - kinda like Marci herself.

[storiesfabled]

updated muse list

under the cut you will find the most up-to-date muse list.

911

evan buckley

maddie buckley

charlotte buckley-diaz // rowan blanchard // buck & eddie daughter

eddie diaz

athena grant

may grant

howard han

tommy kinard

bobby nash

harper nash // er registrar // ashley benson // bobby & marcy daughter

jonah nash // firefighter // tyler blackburn // ray & margaret son

raymund nash // principal // d.w. moffett // bobby’s brother

russell nash // lawyer // jack coleman // bobby’s brother

matthew ransone // police officer // casey deidrick // lou’s son

josh russo

ashlynn wilson // college student // victoria justice // henrietta & karen daughter

henrietta wilson

karen wilson

911: lone star

nancy gillian

trevor parks

arianna reyes // maiara walsh // tk & carlos daughter

carlos reyes

gabriel reyes

gabriella ryder // troian bellisario // judd & grace daughter

grace ryder

jackson ryder // football coach & pe teacher // eric stonestreet // judd’s brother

judd ryder

weston ryder // oil tycoon // jeffrey dean morgan // judd’s brother

aubrey strand // madison davenport // owen & npc daughter

owen strand

tk strand

victoria strand // liana liberato // owen & npc daughter

paul strickland

billy tyson

billy tyson jr. // firefighter // steven r. mcqueen // billy & npc son

destinie tyson // nursing student // phoebe tonkin // billy & npc daughter

chicago fire

tricia boden // aisha dee // wallace & donna daughter

wallace boden

sylvie brett

matt casey

gabriella dawson

christopher hermann

stella kidd

patrick mcholland // hunter parrish // mouch & trudy son

rachel mcholland // anna kendrick // mouch & trudy daughter

randall ‘mouch’ mcholland

peter mills

kelly severide

leslie shay

allison shay-severide // zoe levin // kelly & leslie daughter

brian ‘otis’ zvonecek

chicago med

anna charles

daniel charles

will halstead

maggie lockwood

connor rhodes

chicago pd

kevin atwater

antonio dawson

eva dawson

hannah halstead // willa holland // jay & erin daughter

jay halstead

erin lindsay

trudy platt

adam ruzek

savannah ruzek // dianna agron // adam & kim daughter

emmaline voight // shay mitchell // adopted by hank

Hank voight

Madeline voight // police officer // charisma carpenter // hank & trudy daughter

Criminal minds

Penelope garcia

Aaron hotchner

Alexandra hotchner // ssa bau // alona tal // aaron & haley daughter

Jennifer jareau

Emily prentiss

Derek morgan

Brynnlee reid-morgan // aisha dee // derek & spencer daughter

David rossi

Rylee rossi // hayden panettiere // david & erin daughter

dallas

Ann ewing

Bobby ewing

Christopher ewing

John ross ewing

Olivia ewing // britt robertson // bobby & ann daughter

Bryan jones // history professor // colin donnell

fire country

Bode Donovan

Sharon Leone

Vince Leone

Gabriella Perez

Manny Perez

Grey’s anatomy

Teddy altman

Jackson avery

Miranda bailey

Tuck bailey-jones

Stephanie edwards

Lexie grey

Meredith grey

Zola grey-shepherd

Alex karev

Chloe montgomery-shepherd // er nurse // madelaine petsch

Arizona robbins

Mark sloan

Sofia sloan-torres

Callie torres

house

Robert chase

Lisa cuddy

Gregory house

Veronica house // hailee steinfeld // greg & lisa daughter

ncis

Anthony dinozzo jr.

Tobias fornell

Hannah gibbs // haley ramm // jethro & jenny daughter

Leroy jethro gibbs

Timothy mcgee

Jenny shepard

Private practice

Cooper freedman

Addison montgomery

Jasmine montgomery-reilly // dove cameron // addison & jake daughter 

Jake reilly

Station 19

Travis montgomery

Theo ruiz

Ben warren

Zoey warren // college student // amber riley // ben & miranda daughter

supernatural

Annabelle buckley-moore // hunter // josephine langsford // evan buckley & jess daughter

Castiel

Crowley

Bobby singer

Rufus turner

Dean winchester

Johanna winchester // danielle campbell // dean & castiel daughter

John winchester

Sam winchester

[ravenya003]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Out of Mind, Out of Sight; E01E11

I dig this episode! In the grand scheme of things it’s fairly negligible, with a Monster of the Week who never reappears (even though she should have) and a fairly oddball premise (once again “mystical Hellmouth energy” is the real villain) but which also happens to be our first Cordelia-centric episode (demonstrating she has more depth than we’ve so far given her credit for) and guest stars none other than Clea DuVall.

It becomes even more bemusing when you take into account the fact that this is season one’s penultimate episode, for aside from a tiny subplot that sets up the finale and introduces Angel to the Scoobies for the first time, Buffy spends most of it trying to hunt down an invisible girl.

The more I think about this episode, the quirkier it becomes.

To start with, there’s some debate about what this episode is actually called. In some regions it’s referred to as “Invisible Girl,” and in others “Out of Mind, Out of Sight.” I'm not sure why, but I don’t think anyone could disagree that the latter is an infinitely better title than the former – not only is “Invisible Girl” a massive spoiler, but it also clashes with the next episode title: “Prophecy Girl.” Two girls in a row? That doesn’t flow very well.

On the other hand, “out of mind, out of sight” is not only a famous idiom, but also a very literate description of what happens to Marcie Ross in this episode. Everyone ignores her, and so she disappears. Plus, this is the title that appears on my DVD menu, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s the official name of the episode.

The episode kicks off, and Harmony is back! The first of the Cordettes to make a return appearance. She and Cordelia are jabbering in the hallway about the upcoming school dance, and Buffy overhears wistfully, no doubt recalling her days when she was popular. Now she’s a clumsy weirdo, scorned by the girls who would have otherwise been her friends.

It’s a rather heavy-handed scene, though an important component is that Harmony points out that: “she’s always hanging out with that creepy librarian in that creepy library.” Again, the other students might be spurning Buffy, but they are noticing what she’s getting up to. It all contributes to the subtle lead-up to the events of the Prom in season three.

In English class they’re discussing The Merchant of Venice, which is funny because I just watched the 2004 version last month. Amusingly, Cordelia has no sympathy whatsoever for Shylock, but it’s worth noting that she has an argument to make and demonstrates that she understands the material. Cordelia might be awful, but she’s clearly not unintelligent.

Also, we’re introduced to another member of the Sunnydale High faculty: Ms Miller, who is also the show’s third (?) featured Black person. I really should have been keeping count of these rare sightings of melanin skin in what is meant to be a Southern Californian town.

We cut to Mitch in the locker room, who is making a lewd comment to his friends about Cordelia. We actually met him a couple of scenes ago as Cordelia’s latest squeeze, and a fun fact is that he’s played by Ryan Bittle, who was the original Todd Wilkins in the Sweet Valley High series. Why is this relevant? Because the second actor to play Todd Wilkins was Jeremy Vincent Garrett, who also features on this show, in season two’s “Go Fish.” I enjoy these little coincidences.

He’s getting dressed after his shower when a levitating baseball, swiftly following on the heels of a malicious giggle, starts to beat the shit out of him. I can’t say it’s not a little satisfying (let’s be real – that gross comment he made about Cordy was to give us permission to enjoy this beatdown).

Just to really drive home the fact that Buffy is feeling lonely and left out, Xander and Willow start laughing about an in-joke that remains incomprehensible – something about a field trip, some antlers, and a hat. It never gets explained and it never gets brought up again. And to further hammer home the point, just in case you’re not getting it, Buffy divulges that she was once the May Queen at her old school. (Cordelia is campaigning and refuses to give her a cupcake).

The news breaks that Mitch has been attacked in the locker room and Snyder appears out of nowhere to announce that: “no one’s dead... this week.” Heh. Mitch is wheeled out on a gurney and manages to tell the assorted crowd what happened, and when Buffy goes to investigate, the Slayerettes very handily distract Snyder with talk about how the school is going to be sued. That’s teamwork.

There’s not much to see in the changing room, only the word “look” graffitied on the lockers. I’m also compelled to point out that there are no cops on the scene. I mean, they call an ambulance but not the police? (And yes, I do understand why the writers were loathe to involve the police force on a regular basis; it’s a discussion point I’m working my way up to).

In the cafeteria, the Scoobies and Giles are discussing their options and draw the obvious conclusion that it’s poltergeist activity. Buffy doesn’t think the attack was random, and Giles promises to draw up a list of students that’ve gone missing recently. In a slightly weird moment, Giles tries to recruit Xander into do some research, though in hindsight it’s just setup for a joke in which Buffy suggests he interview Cordelia instead, and he leaps at the chance to hit the books.

Harmony is commiserating with Cordelia about Mitch, though she’s mostly concerned about how awful he’s going to look in the Prom pictures. This segues into an interesting creative decision: we suddenly switch to a black-and-white flashback that depicts Cordelia and Harmony being approached by an unseen girl (it’s shot from her point-of-view) who is scornfully dismissed.

I’m not entirely sure if this was the best way to reveal Marcie (though technically, we don’t actually see her at this point) but this is nothing if not an oddball episode.

Back in the present day, Harmony is abruptly yanked off her feet and thrown down a flight of stairs. Yikes, it’s actually very wince-inducing, so well done to the stunt double. Buffy is on hand to help, and Snyder pops up to say: “don’t sue.” Heh heh.

Someone brushes past Buffy that she can’t see, though she hears a malevolent little giggle. She follows it into the band room, but fails to notice a hatch opening in the roof.

As the students leave at the end of the day, there’s a quick panning shot away from two distinctive-looking men in black suits and sunglasses (don’t worry, we’ll get back to them) and Buffy tells Giles that their ghost theory no longer holds water: she felt someone bump into her, which isn’t a typical trait of ghosts.

Their next option is simply a girl who is invisible, though Willow gets a cute moment when she says: “is she a witch? Because we can fight a witch.” (Continuity!) And yet whoever this girl is, her motive is clear, since the common denominator in both attacks was each victim’s proximity to Cordelia. Man, I really miss these detective-based episodes in later seasons.

There’s also a rather sad moment when Willow and Xander depart, and you can hear him ask: “do you wanna come to our place tonight for dinner? Mom's making her famous phone call to the Chinese place.” We learn so little about Xander and Willow’s families, and yet every glimpse we get is pretty dire. It’s a shame in a way that the show never delved into their backgrounds, because it would make sense on a psychological level that their absolute commitment to Buffy and her cause is based on not getting any love or validation at home.

Buffy decides to keep a watch on Cordelia, who for some reason is preparing her May Queen dress with her friends in a classroom after school hours (is there a reason she’s not doing this at home??) But I’m taking a moment to express my fondness for the fuzzy aesthetic of season one: the grainy quality of the footage, the slightly sluggish pacing, the rather unwieldy blocking – it’s such a far cry from the snappy editing and glossy visuals we get these days, and I love it.

Also, I feel that none of the girls in this classroom scene were given much direction, as there are some very awkward ad-libs (“how does the, um, hem go?”) and blocking (what on earth is the girl with the paper decorations doing?) going on. It’s charming in a very excruciating way.

Buffy peers at them through the window in the door, looking wistful, and are you getting it? I’m worried it’s too subtle. Buffy feels isolated and ignored, people! This might be thematically relevant later on!

Buffy draws away from the door when she hears flute music, but cannot find its source. In a nice segue, Giles looks up from his research in the library, also hearing the flute. He starts to investigate, and... okay, I love this scene. Giles meets Angel for the first time, and it’s nothing like I would have expected. (I actually started watching Buffy at the start of season three, and so season one always felt a bit like a prequel – and like I said, this meeting was not what I had anticipated for these two).

First of all, Giles gets a fright because he sees his reflection in a glass bookcase which demonstrates he’s alone – only to turn and realize Angel is standing right beside him. He looks back, and sure enough, vampires cast no reflection. That part is nicely done, and is solid setup for later in the episode when Angel’s vampiric abilities allows him to enter the gas-filled boiler room (heck, it even creates a neat comparison to Marcie’s invisibility, even though those two characters have nothing whatsoever to do with each other).

Giles recognizes him instantly, and Angel reassures him that he’s in no danger. Also, that he’s been trying to stay away since it hurts to be around Buffy. Um, sure. You’ve interacted with her, like what – seven times? And you’re in excruciating emotional pain when she’s around? I get that vampires score high on the melodrama scale, but honestly. Maybe he’s talking about literal pain since the last time we saw him Buffy accidentally seared a crucifix into his chest.

It doesn’t matter, because the most fascinating thing about this scene is that Giles doesn’t automatically enter Dad Mode. In fact, he seems a little awestruck with the idea of a vampire being in love with a Slayer, calling it “poetic.” I love that they made this choice for him; that you’d fully expect him to be disapproving of what Angel is doing, and instead finding it romantic.

We then get to the plot-relevant part of the scene, which plays out like a sneaky little alleyway thoroughfare to the events of the finale. Angel has approached Giles because he knows he’s researching the Master, and Giles laments the fact that so many texts of prophecy have gone missing.

I am POWERFULLY interested in the fact that there are apparently volumes of Slayer prophecies that detail what her role is in the “end years.” So many questions. Who wrote these books? That Aurelius guy? Are they just about the Master or do they involve all the other apocalypses that Buffy has to face? How does Angel know how to get hold of them? Who are his contacts?

Sorry, I just love the whole concept of prophecies, even though in this case, it’s clearly just basic table-setting for the unfolding plot. We’re not meant to be interested in anything beyond the fact that they exist, even though I would TOTALLY sit down to read an ancient tome that detailed prophecies concerning the Slayer line. That would actually be a total delight. Damn, I’m excited just thinking about it...

Okay, so the POINT of this entire exchange is that Angel promises to bring Giles something called the Pergamum Codex, which the latter believed had been lost in the fifteenth century. It has the most complete prophecies about what to expect from Buffy’s upcoming conflict with the Master, and it’s cute how Giles geeks out a little about getting his hands on it.

We are prepping for the next episode here, but the scene ends on an even more overt parallel between Angel and Marcie when Giles informs Angel they’re researching an invisible girl. It’s kinda funny actually, since he’s essentially saying “I know the end of the world is imminent, but first we gotta take care of this invisible teenager.” He remarks that being invisible would be a heady experience, and Angel advocates for the enjoyment of seeing one’s reflection in the mirror each morning.

Which segues us into... another flashback, this time one that shows us Marcie’s face as she’s – sure enough – looking at her reflection in a restroom mirror. Again, it’s a somewhat interesting way to reveal the identity and visage of this character, as all this context is still very much a mystery to Buffy and her cohorts (it’s rare that the audience gets clued-in before the protagonists) but it depicts her once again getting the brush-off by Cordelia and Harmony.

Back in the present day, Principal Snyder announces Cordelia as the May Queen, and promptly disappears from the rest of the episode (Snyder, not Cordelia). She begins her acceptance speech, while Buffy looks on from the walkway.

The suit-and-sunglasses men are noticeably loitering nearby, and Willow mistakes them for Cordy’s bodyguards before presenting Buffy with a list of missing students. The latest is a girl called Marcie Ross, who went missing six months ago. Hmm, if these episodes are evenly spaced over the course of a school year, that means she went missing sometime during the events of “The Pack” or “Angel.”

Willow and Xander claims they’ve never heard of her, but according to the list, Marcie’s only extra-curricular activity was playing the flute. The flute!

Buffy investigates the band room, and this time notices the hatch in the ceiling. She climbs up into the crawlspace and discovers where Marcie has been living – it’s a bit sad, since there’s a teddy and her flute, as well as a yearbook that confirms it’s indeed Marcie Ross who has been terrorizing the school.

Unbeknownst to Buffy, Marcie is in the room with her, and a knife starts levitating in midair as she searches her belongings. However, for whatever reason Marcie opts to not attack, and Buffy climbs back down into the classroom with her yearbook in hand, none the wiser.

In a quick scene, Ms Miller is alone in her classroom when Marcie whips a plastic bag over her head and leaves her for dead. Luckily, Cordelia arrives just in time to save her, and the pair of them turn to see a bit of chalk write “listen” on the blackboard behind them.

Buffy has brought her evidence to Willow and Xander in the library, and they’re perturbed when they realize they signed her yearbook (and attended classes with her) without ever registering her existence.

Giles comes up with the theory that this phenomenon isn’t magical in nature at all, but rather scientific – that because nobody noticed Marcie’s presence, she literally became invisible. Nah dude, it’s not physics, it’s just funky Hellmouth energy doing its thing.

We’re treated to one last flashback in which Marcie is sitting in Ms Miller’s class, being completely ignored by students and teacher alike. As she raises her hand in vain, she watches as it disappears before her very eyes.

Back in the present, Cordelia marches into the library in search of help. Again, this is a nice bit of lead-up to the Prom, since a. she knows where to find Buffy, and b. feels like she can call upon her for assistance when things get weird. It’s becoming public knowledge on campus that this is what Buffy does. Cordelia has also realized she’s the common element in these attacks – confirmed by the photo of her in Marcie’s yearbook that’s been rather viciously scribbled on.

Cordelia refuses to skip the May Queen celebrations that night, and Buffy backs her up: using Cordelia as bait could be a perfect way to draw Marcie out of hiding. Giles aims to work on a cure for her invisibility, while Willow and Xander will keep researching.

But the problem with invisible assailants is that they could be anywhere – like say, in the library stacks, listening to everything being said.

Buffy escorts Cordelia to a janitor’s closest where she can change into her dress, and the two exchange some nice dialogue about the nature of popularity. Cordelia expresses empathy for what Marcie’s going through, and divulges that she too knows what it feels like to be lonely. According to her, you can be surrounded by other people and still feel alone, and Buffy presumably realizes what the viewer has known this whole time – that she has the better deal when it comes to her friends. She might not be as popular as she was in L.A., but Willow and Xander are worth a thousand vapid Cordettes. And deep down, Cordelia knows this too.

Speaking of Willow and Xander (and Giles), they overhear the sound of a flute in the hall and start following it... naturally it’s a trap, and the three of them are locked in the boiler room with a tape recording and an open gas valve while Marcie drags Cordelia out of the janitor’s closet through a hatch in the ceiling. God knows where she got the upper body strength to pull THAT off.

Not realizing her friends are in danger, Buffy goes after Cordelia. The rest of the Scoobies try to escape the boiler room, but the door is locked and trying to break it open might cause a spark that could trigger an explosion (hey, I wonder if this episode is what inspired the idea of eventually blowing up the entire school at the end of season three).

Buffy reaches the crawlspace in the ceiling, only to fall back through the roof and get injected with something contained in a floating syringe – next to her is Cordelia, already unconscious.

When she wakes up, she’s at the Bronze. Again, how did Marcie manage to pull this off? She and Cordelia are tied to fancy chairs, and the word “learn” is written in glitter on a nearby curtain. Marcie makes herself known, waving a scalpel around and declaring that she’s going to pull a To The Pain on Cordelia’s face. Clearly she’s a fan of The Princess Bride.

Buffy tries to talk her out of her vengeance, while the Scoobies desperately try to escape the boiler room before succumbing to the gas. Luckily for them, Angel turns up with the promised Codex for Giles and drags them to safety, while Buffy yanks herself free of her bonds, closes her eyes, and uses her super-hearing (another Slayer ability?) to pinpoint Marcie’s location.

At just the right moment, she tackles Marcie into the curtain, exposing her whereabouts. It’s at that moment the FBI agents burst through the door and take Marcie into custody. It’s played for laughs a little, what with Buffy calling them creepy and the agents wishing her a nice day, but she does manage to establish that this sort of thing has happened before, and that Marcie will be “rehabilitated.” She’s taken away by the agents, while Buffy unties Cordelia.

So another episode ends with no deaths! For some bizarre reason, the Scoobies keep the fact that Angel rescued them from her (it really annoys me when they do this, and it’s not even clear why they do so) and Cordelia approaches in order to give them heartfelt thanks... at least until Mitch turns up and asks why she’s talking to these losers.

She snaps back to her usual self – though there’s been some progress there, and we the audience know that there are hidden depths at work.

Finally, Marcie is ushered into a seemingly classroom where nobody but the teacher can be seen. Still, the place is clearly filled with people, as a chorus of voices greet her as she takes her seat (but how’d she know what desk to sit down at if everyone is invisible?) She opens her textbook to a chapter called “Assassination and Infiltration” and laughs to herself.

A classic mid-tier episode, but also an oddball one in several respects. I guess I’m chuffed over the fact that the second-to-last episode of this season is a fairly throwaway story about an invisible girl, which also includes a tiny narrative thread that involves things like Angel meeting Giles and delivering an important Plot Coupon for the finale.

At a time where television shows are essentially big movies split into eight or so episodes, it’s an amusing reminder that writers once had to give consideration to the way their stories were structured. And that could lead to some quirky creative decisions. So yes, it bemuses me that this episode gives Angel a little sliver of a subplot that sets up the finale while Buffy is fighting an invisible girl who will never be seen again.

That said, Marcie is referenced again – though not by name, if I recall. Xander asks Buffy if she’s been felling ignored when she gets turned invisible in season six, and there’s a throwaway gag in season seven in which Buffy spots a girl turning invisible at the rebuilt Sunnydale High and tries to assure her that she’s “seen.”

But Marcie was perfectly primed to return at some point – more so than (for example) the Mantis eggs at the end of “Teachers Pet.” Hindsight is 20/20, and yet it’s impossible not to feel a little disappointed that the show didn’t take the opportunity to seed the existence of the Initiative with this episode. How easy would it have been to recon the agents of this episode into Initiative recruits in season four, and for Marcie to return in some capacity during that season? That final scene demanded a Sequel Episode.

But having deliberately drawn a connection between Buffy and Marcie and setting them up as foils, what with both of them feeling ignored and out of place, it was odd that the episode ends with Buffy simply dismissing Marcie out of hand. That she went from “we did this to her” to “you’re a raging looney” just didn’t feel right. That Buffy is empathetic is a pretty crucial component to her character.

So it’s a bit different to discern the final message here. Perhaps it was “there but for the grace of my friends go I,” since Buffy is grounded by her friendship with Willow and Xander, and clearly isn’t going down a bitter or resentful path when it comes to the way Cordelia treats her. That's the most crucial difference between herself and Marcie, and ironically, this episode marks the beginning of a friendship with Cordelia.

Miscellaneous Observations:

I’d like to think that Marcie’s “lesson” stayed with Cordelia. She shrugs it off by the end of the episode, but she does improve from here on out, and I’d like to think that she’s realized that the way she treats people matters.

I like the little detail that Angel offers to go back into the boiler room to turn off the gas since “it’s not like I need the air.” It demonstrates that vampirism does have some specific advantages (which will also turn up in the very last Angel episode) and kind of feels like foreshadowing for the next episode, in which he’s unable to perform CPR on Buffy.

During my high school years, I recall having to study a play called “After All We’ve Done” in which a boy is constantly discussed by his family and peers, but never actually seen on-stage. They’re constantly talking over him, micro-managing his life, making unreasonable demands of him, and eventually crying “after all we’ve done!” when he snaps and destroys an art exhibition at school. But like I said – he’s never actually seen on-stage. The point of the story is that he’s entirely acted upon, and I think of it every time I watch this episode.

Also, this YouTube prank of a guy convincing his younger brother that he’s become invisible.

Speaking of high school, among my friend-group the phrase “have a nice summer” became something of an in-joke thanks to this episode. We all wrote it in each other’s yearbook just to wind each other up.

After all that talk of ghosts, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t one. But technically, isn’t Sunnydale High already haunted by the spirits of that student and teacher who were having a love affair back in the fifties? It’s amusing to think they’re haunting a completely different part of the school while Buffy was trying to hunt down Marcie.

I still think it’s weird that Angel appears in this episode and not “Nightmares,” which could have showcased his character in an interesting way. Still, there’s got to be a fun story about how exactly he got his hands on the Codex.

It was fun to see Clea DuVall, and yes, this was one of her earliest projects. I know her best from The Faculty and the first season of Heroes, but she’s been working regularly over the years, most recently in The Handmaid’s Tale and American Horror Story.

As fond as I am of this episode, there are some lingering questions. Like where on earth were Marcie’s parents? Did they ignore her too? Is there a reason she chose to hunker down in a nest at the school instead of just being invisible at home?

I mentioned in the summary that perhaps the threat of the boiler room blowing up was the inspiration for the entire school going kaboom at the end of season three. On a similar note, the fact that Buffy blames the student body for Marcie’s invisibility complex also reminded me of Jonathan. Like Marcie, he’s aggressively ignored by everyone – though in his case, it’s also the audience who partakes in the “not noticing” his presence. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea of his character stemmed from this episode.

All that in mind, I’m deeming this one an Innocuously Important Episode. It’s very indicative of season one, in which the writers were still playing around with the rules of the premise, and not for the first time building their plot around a metaphor (much like “Nightmares,” the real villain is the way perception can affect reality – this angle largely disappeared after season one).

Best Line: Giles: “The loneliness, the constant exile, she's gone quite mad!” Xander: “Yah think?” Okay, it’s not that clever, but Nicholas Brendan slathers it in so much sarcasm that I have to give it props.

Best Scene: When Cordelia reveals some hidden depths and bonds with Buffy through the door of the janitor’s closest. It’s been eleven episodes, and she’s finally humanized a little.

Biggest Unanswered Question: How did the FBI know that Marcie had turned invisible? It suggests some sort of inside man who can report on the strange goings-on at the school, but this thread is never picked up on. Again, it’s a shame that the show never tied them in with the Initiative.

Death Toll: For the second episode in a row, no fatalities! That leaves us with:

Grand Total: Fifteen civilians, fifteen villains, one ally.

[she-saved-the-world-a-lot]

S01E11 Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Spoiler warning! This post contains spoilers for the TV shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel The Series.

Marcie Ross didn't see Buffy coming! Get it? Because she was invisible but underestimated Buffy? Ok, I'll see myself out.

A surprisingly introspective Cordelia takes her first step toward joining the Scoobies. Marcie wasn't trying to end the whole world, only Cordelia's. Angel rescues Giles, Xander, and Willow, arguably having a greater impact in the future of the story than Buffy in this one episode. We've all seen how different she would have been without her friends.

Another Day, Another Slay.

[solitaireinfoacc]

☆.. ﾉ tv shows

☆.. ﾉ a series of unfortunate events

★ klaus baudelaire

☆.. ﾉ amphibia

★ bee boonchuy

★ ivy sundew

★ jenni

★ maddie flour “fern”

★ marcy wu "mars"

★ polly plantar

★ terry "castor"

☆.. ﾉ big city greens

★ tilly green

☆.. ﾉ bluey

★ bingo heeler

☆.. ﾉ castle

★ alexis castle

★ kevin ryan

☆.. ﾉ friends

★ monica geller

☆.. ﾉ gravity falls

★ bill cipher

★ lauren corduroy (OC)

★ mabel pines 

☆.. ﾉ hazbin hotel

★ angel dust

★ charlie morningstar

★ niffty

☆.. ﾉ helluva boss

★ bee-lzebub

★ fizzarolli

★ moxxie

★ octavia goetia

☆.. ﾉ high school musical: the musical: the series

★ carlos rodriguez

★ gina porter

★ seb matthew-smith

☆.. ﾉ i am not okay with this

★ stanley barber

★ sydney novak “rae”

☆.. ﾉ jessie / bunk’d

★ emma ross

★ griff jones

★ ravi ross

☆.. ﾉ miraculous ladybug

★ adrien agreste

★ alya cesaire

★ april monelle (OC)

★ duusu

★ feuille (human tikki)

★ juleka couffaine

★ kagami tsurugi

★ lila rossi

★ nathaniel kurtzberg

★ sabrina raincomprix

★ sass

★ zoe lee

☆.. ﾉ shameless

★ fiona gallagher

★ ian gallagher

★ karen jackson

★ lip gallagher

★ mandy milkovich

☆.. ﾉ star vs. the forces of evil

★ hekapoo

★ star butterfly

☆.. ﾉ stranger things

★ alice creel

★ argyle

★ dustin henderson

★ eddie munson

★ eight prasad

★ eleven hopper

★ fred benson

★ max mayfield

★ nancy wheeler

★ robin buckley

★ ten / 010

★ will byers

☆.. ﾉ teen titans

★ beast boy

☆.. ﾉ the amazing race

★ aparna dhinakaran

★ james wallington

★ michelle newland

★ natalia kumar

★ raquel moore

☆.. ﾉ the amazing world of gumball

★ darwin watterson

☆.. ﾉ the amazing digital circus

★ jax

★ pomni

☆.. ﾉ the loud house

★ lucy loud

☆.. ﾉ the owl house

★ emira blight

★ hunter

★ king clawthorne

★ lilith clawthorne

★ luz noceda

★ matt tholomule

★ raine whispers

★ the collector “star”

★ vee noceda

★ willow park

☆.. ﾉ the umbrella academy

★ allison hargreeves

★ diego hargreeves

★ five hargreeves

★ harlan cooper (young)

★ klaus hargreeves

☆.. ﾉ total drama

★ blaineley o’halloran

★ brick mcarthur

★ carrie

★ cody emmett jameson anderson

★ courtney

★ crimson

★ dawn

★ ella

★ harold mcgrady

★ heather

★ izzy

★ jacques

★ katie

★ kitty

★ miles “spring”

★ sammy

★ scarlett

★ spud

★ zoey

☆.. ﾉ victorious

★ jade harley

☆.. ﾉ wednesday

★ divina

★ enid sinclair

★ eugene ottinger

★ rowan laslow

★ tyler galpin

[spangelmybeloved]

Basically...which monster/villain of the week should have been an arc villain, or at least got more than one (or two) episode(s)?

I know I missed a whole bunch, but there were way too many to list here, so I just picked out ones that I remember well.

[coraniaid]

I don't think there should be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot and I don't have any reason to believe there is going to be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot and I would not watch a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.

But, that said, if there were to be a Buffy reboot I think a big (small) change that would improve the show a lot (especially in its first season) would be to have a much broader pool of recurring student characters from the very beginning.  Not just the Scooby Gang and Cordelia, but ideally almost all the students we see in the first season should appear in multiple episodes and, if they die, they should be talked about at least once afterwards.  As it is, Season 1 is full of ghosts: characters like Amy and Harmony who will go on to be somewhat recurring but aren't quite there yet, and characters like Jesse and Cordelia's boyfriend Kevin (remember him?) who only exist to die and are not mentioned before or after. Most of the show's recurring minor student characters will only be introduced in Season 2.

In particular, I think the characters most ill-served by this in canon are, in order of first (and often only) appearance:

Jesse

I actually think the concept of Jesse – as a sympathetic character who is killed in the opening episodes before we really get to know him – is a good one.  Beyond any possible shock value of his death, it's a useful way of establishing that people can and will die in this story, and of stating out loud the setting's rules for vampires ("you're not looking at your friend, you're looking at the thing that killed him").  On the other hand, the execution is pretty awful because it is immediately clear that Jesse is not the same status of character as Willow and Xander (he isn’t even in the opening credits), he is not actually sympathetic at all (he seems to exist to answer the question "what if Xander Harris but Worse?"), and large parts of the fandom (and later writers of the show itself) will decide to completely ignore what the show is telling them about how vampires as a concept on Buffy work and why Buffy is not only justified but morally obliged to Slay them.

But the most egregious thing about Jesse is, of course, that after his death in The Harvest he is never talked about again.  I honestly think that just a couple of lines of dialogue spread out over Season 1 (Buffy blaming herself for Jesse's death while worrying whether she’s making a positive difference as a Slayer, say, or Xander mentioning Jesse as a reason for disliking vampires, or Jesse being named as one of several mysteriously missing students by Principal Flutie) would go a really long way to fixing that.  

A brief cameo appearance in Nightmares wouldn't have hurt either.  (Just months ago Xander failed to save his best friend from vampires and was taunted by the demon wearing his corpse and had to watch him turn to dust in front of his eyes, so of course he’s terrified of … clowns.  OK.)

Amy

OK, for real, if I were in charge of creating a Buffy reboot I would be very tempted to just add Amy to the Gang after Witch.  She knows that magic is real!  She knows Buffy knows magic is real!  She seems to be on friendly terms with both Buffy and Willow when the episode ends! And yet she vanishes after her first appearance more quickly than Marcie Ross.  

But, failing that, having Amy show up more than once a year in the high school seasons would be a start (especially since the show implies so much is happening to her behind the scenes each year).  Let her be a friend of Buffy's who doesn't know anything about Buffy being the Slayer.  Have Willow at least think about asking her for help with Angel’s soul curse!  Pull the trick the writers used in The Wish (and never used again) of having Willow talk about her as if they're friends even in episodes she's not appearing in.  Show us Willow spending time with her rather than Buffy during Dead Man's Party!  Remember that this character exists even when she’s not on screen!

Lance (and his various bullies) from The Pack

Hapless victim Lance is basically a proto-Jonathan and, if I were remaking the show, I would just lean into that fully and simply replace him with Jonathan from the very beginning.  

It would be tempting to do the same thing with Kyle and Heidi and the others, too: rather than retroactively introduce multiple new characters who apparently used to bully Xander in Seasons 2 and 3 that we’ve never met before and never will again (how big is Sunnydale High meant to be?).  

The obvious problem with that is that the show tells us that the Pack remember eating Principal Flutie alive, which means rather than hanging out in school giving Xander and Willow a hard time when the plot requires it they should probably all be in therapy for years.  But you can fix that while fixing The Pack as an episode by just ... not having the fact Xander not only remembers assaulting Buffy but lies about it to her face presented to us as a punchline?  Have Xander forget what happened to him. Have them all forget what happened when they were possessed, and then Kyle and Heidi and the others can be conflated with Inca Mummy Girl's Rodney and School Hard's Sheila as and when required.

Owen

This requires slightly more work, but I think Owen and Scott work better if they're the same character too.  Rather than Owen promising to stay friends with Buffy and then never appearing or being mentioned again, or Willow telling Buffy she "wasn't ready" to date Scott before Season 3 as if he even existed then, just make Scott somebody that we've already met and who Buffy had previously briefly dated pre-Angel.

The challenge here is that Buffy breaks up with Owen because she doesn’t want to get him hurt and she’s still very focussed on keeping her identity as the Slayer secret and only letting a handful of people know.

But that fits into the wider theme of Season 3 perfectly.  By this point, Buffy’s let far more people know than just Willow and Xander.  Xander’s girlfriend Cordelia knows, and Willow’s boyfriend Oz knows, and Buffy’s own mother knows, and none of this has caused the world to end.  Why shouldn’t Buffy try dating a normal guy who knows she’s the Slayer?

(And I think everything about Scott works better if he’s somebody we’ve seen before – somebody we’ve seen Buffy be romantically interested in before – rather than suddenly appearing only to disappear almost as quickly. Scott is meant to represent Buffy trying to reassert her claim to a 'normal' life after everything that happened with Angel last year..  What better way to do that than to try to start things over with the one person we do see her trying to date on the show before Angel? How much harder would Scott's rejection of Buffy hit if we'd seen that the pre-Angelus version of Buffy really did get on well with him and would have expected to make things work?)

Kevin

The end of Season 1 features, back-to-back, two of its best episodes.  In Out of Mind Out of Sight, we focus on Cordelia Chase.  We're reintroduced to Cordelia's friend Harmony and we meet Cordelia's current boyfriend, Mitch.  (Who is attacked by Marice Ross, but survives.)  In Prophecy Girl Cordelia briefly bonds with Willow while talking about how much she likes her current boyfriend, Kevin, only for the two of them to discover him dead, killed by vampires on school grounds.

Wouldn't the death in the latter episode work much better if those two "current boyfriends" were the same person?  Wouldn't we care more about Kevin's death if he was somebody we'd actually met before? 

But let’s go further than that: at the start of Season 2, in Some Assembly Required, we meet Chris, whose brother used to date Cordelia but tragically died. Chris tries to bring him back, and his brother pursues Cordelia.  The show doesn’t mention – or doesn’t remember – that Cordelia already has a tragically dead ex-boyfriend, one who died only two episodes ago.  Why not fix that?  Why not identify Chris’s brother Darryl with Kevin as well?

Make Mitch/Kevin/Darryl a single character, and then we would achieve that rarest of sights on Buffy: a minor character who we meet an episode before they die and who is mentioned again in an episode after they died.

And wouldn’t that almost make a potential Buffy reboot palatable?

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, April 10

WILLOW: Oh, my God! 'Have a nice summer. Have a nice summer.' This girl had no friends at all. GILES: Uh, once again I teeter at the precipice of the generation gap. BUFFY: 'Have a nice summer' is what you write when you have nothing to say. XANDER: It's the kiss of death. BUFFY: You guys didn't know Marcie Ross? XANDER: Never met her. Why? BUFFY: 'Cause you both wrote it, too.

~~BtVS 1x11 “Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight”~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Clothes Shopping (Buffy, Joyce, PG) by badly_knitted

Roots (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by veronyxk84

A Capeside Christmas (Spike/Jack, Buffy/Pacey, Dawson's Creek xover, G) by julikobold

Stay (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxine Eden

Starlight (Buffy/Spike, PG) by acekoomboom

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Witching Hour:, Chapters 2-3/25 (Multi ships, E) by TheLightdancer

our little vignette, Chapter 1/? (Giles/Jenny, E) by silvain

You’re my always, Chapter 2/2 COMPLETE! (Willow/Tara, T) by ronanceisrxmance

Slayer No More, Chapter 18/? (Buffy/Pike, M) by jsaint34

Dawn Rising, Chapter 56/? (Buffy, LOTR xover, T) by Luna_delCielo

Staying Afloat, Chapter 20/? (Willow/Oz, T) by dwinchester

Infinitely, Chapter 47/? (Willow/Tara, M) by Laragh

He Slays Monsters, Chapter 12/? (Buffy/Faith, E) by BeatriceEveryTuesday

[French language] Recommencer, Chapter 6/? (Buffy/Faith, M) by FridayQueen

The Boring Stuff: Reptile Boy, Chapter 2/? (Buffy/Angel, M) by missfiggy

Bark like a Stray God, Chapter 5/? (Spike, Dawn, not rated) by driyaad

Lindsey's Pride, Chapter 8 (Angel, Lindsey, T) by TinyDancer96

Lover's Labyrinth, Chapter 9 (Buffy, Willow, Xander, M) by Spooksdarkhero

I love you., Chapters 14-31 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lilacsandorangeblossoms

In Any Life, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Spikelover4ever

Celebrating You, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by DeamonQueen

Daisies, Chapter 2 COMPLETE! (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

Blood and dust, Chapters 3-4 (Buffy/Spike, 18+) by Blackoberst

Her Villanelle, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Geliot99

What the Drabble? Vol. 2, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by VeroNyxK84

A Little Poet in Her Monster, Chapters 14-16 COMPLETE! (Buffy/Spike, R) by Desicat

Daisies, Chapter 2 COMPLETE! (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

Anarchy Tour, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Alyot

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Vampire Buffy, from the episode Nightmares. Painted for Previously On… (worksafe) by ghostrabbit87

Artwork: Willow and Tara illustration (worksafe) by taniaairiarte

Artwork: Anya terrorific costume illustration (worksafe) by taniaairiarte

Artwork: [Four of Wands (tarot)] (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by isevery0nehereverystoned

Tattoo: New tattoo done tonight! (worksafe, artist not mentioned) via DistributionRight620

Artwork: ChiBangel: The Prom (Buffy/Angel, G) by MamaBewear

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: Episode 52: Graduation Day (w/ Dean Jurhs) by Gym Was Cancelled

[Fandom Discussions]

one of the funniest parts about angel getting a whole spinoff series by blipblepbloop

I just don’t buy that Xander is hot enough for it to be worth it for [Cordelia] by nicnacsnonsense

Xander is so salty that Cordelia doesn’t want to date him for real by nicnacsnonsense

The thing about Riley isn’t that he’s perfect and flawless by riley-summers

always gets to me when people are like. “Wesley was An Adult why was he hitting on a child” because. he’s like nineteen??? by zorilleerrant

You know what I don’t care, [Buffy and Willow] were girlfriends by maybebitterxox

Spike aka William the Bloody (BtVS) [meta] by lindablairs

What If: Wesley arrived earlier? by nightshade

HellmouthCon on the Hellmouth: A Buffy Celebration at Sunnydale High by WilliamMcCarty

What episode upsets you most? by Impressive-Hold-7050

Who do you wish had been given a song in OMWT that didn't? by UKMegaGeek

Can non binary be slayers? by BlueFlameWar

Did the Angel spin-off cause more harm than good? by xXagirlhasnonameXx

What episodes do you hate so much you always know that you’ll skip it on rewatches??? by Slayerette444

Which scooby gang does everyone prefer? by Haunting-Leather5483

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

CONVENTION: Fandom Charities Inc.® is excited to announce the return of the HellmouthCon by Fandom Charities

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[killerwizrd555]

imagine. Finn is like early 20s and he and Jake get sooo fucking high like once a month and just watch Bob Ross. they just sit in the living room or on Finn's bed and just watch Bob Ross. maybe peebs and Marcy come over and they just hang out in that space with them. idk I just feel like that's what would happen

[obwjam]

underrated character as a giant Everett Ross (from Black Panther). Like PLEASE HE LITERALLY TOOK A BULLET FOR NAKIA- IMAGINE WHAT HE WOULD DO WITH A TINY OR EVEN BETTER THE TINY IS HIS PARTNER IN CRIME FOR THE FBI. 😭😫

I feel like the tiny would be just as protective back and just as reckless taking injuries for him too. LIKE IMAGINE THEM CO PILOTING AT THE FINAL BATTLE. 😭

IMAGINE IF KLAUE SOMEHOW GOT A HOLD OF THEM IN CHINA DURING THE BATTLE AND WAS POTENTIALLY HURTING THEM TO GET EVERETT TO DO WHAT HE WANTS/SAYS- AND HE’S LIKE LET HER GO, THIS DOESN’T INVOLVE HER & HE JUST LETS HER GO. NOW EVERETT AS TO DIVE AND CATCH HIS TINY BFF WHO’S NOW TREMBLING IN HIS PALMS HAVING A MINI HEART ATTACK AS ROSS USES HIS LUGGAGE AND BODY TO PROTECT THEM BOTH. 😫

LOTS OF HANDHELD MOMENTS AND SOFT COMFORT REASSURANCE. LIKE HE CRADLES THEM TO HIS CHEST AS A SHIELD AS HE SHOOTS 😭 -

Afterwards, imagine T’Challa and Shuri making them their own tiny suit that could protect them so Everett can worry less. Imagine the tiny sitting on Ross’ shoulder as he interrogates Klaue.

OOOO- THERE WOULD ALSO BE A LOT OF HANDHELD MOMENTS AS HE CRADLES THEM TO THEIR CHEST AS HE TRIES TO KEEP THEM WARM FROM THE SNOWY TUNDRA CLIMATE WHERE M’BAKU LIVES 😫

this is so big-brained omfg YES to a tiny agent who works with him. one who he is so protective over and fatherly towards and even though they are both on missions, they are both in equally dangerous situation, he always will sacrifice himself for them to make sure they make it out unscathed 😭 god it's in my brain rent free now that he's cradling an injured tiny in his hand, holding it against his chest as he just shoots at the enemy like AHHH

idk if you've heard of/seen amphibia but the klaue scenario instantly brought to mind when (spoilers!) andrias just drops sprig out the window and marcy goes after him, like that's what would happen there with a tiny and ross would just dive after her instantly without even thinking about it. it just works so well with a tiny he's well established with, he knows exactly what their needs are so he's prepared in snowy weather, being in wakanda, everything 😭 and they would all love her because of course they do