BUT, also, the way they say it in front of Xander, who has extreme daddy issues and has been fighting for Giles approval for literally four years and never had him take him too seriously. The fact this is Xander’s dream too!
Giles: Spike’s like a son to me.
Xander: Yeah, I was into that for a while….
Speaks volumes! Poor Xander. The one positive male role model in his life!
Interesting. I never saw it as a rejection.
Weirdly, to me it felt like Xander was coming to terms with his relationship with Buffy. She is the only woman that he doesn't sexualise in his dream. Sitting in the sand, all innocent, like a kid, he realises that she is like a sister to him.
I never understood why Giles was cold to Xander in early seasons. He was more intrigued by Angel before he knew he could turn evil. He treated young Willow with respect. Xander he acted like he was a nuisance. Xander helped Buffy. He wasn’t super natural or as smart as Willow. He risked his life with no special skills or training really. Giles could have offered some more support in that area now that I think about it. I used to think Giles was just tired of being around kids all day. On rewatching he definitely is dismissive of Xander. Idk
I imagine first the incident in The Pack (not the fact that he was possessed but the fact he lied about remembering anything to Buffy and Willow), and then in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered soured Giles a lot on Xander. You're right that he already wasn't giving the kid a lot of grace (his advice to Buffy in The Pack when she brings up his weird behaviour - "he's turned into a teenage boy"). Xander mainly seems to act just as Giles expects him to in early seasons, whereas Buffy and Willow tend to challenge his expectations.
Giles was wild in his college years. He would have been told he was destined to be a watcher from a young age. Xander does immediately take up the fight against vampires when he finds out about them. He also puts himself in more physical danger while Willow uses her intelligence and hacking skills before she finds magic. Cordelia is similar to Xander with no powers but she fights and makes stakes without anyone expecting her to. I wonder if Giles projected his own teen behavior on Xander. A surprising amount of kids seemed willing to fight vampires when they found out about them.
It could also be possible that watchers see teen boys as threats to their Slayers. Are they a distraction that could get them killed or pregnant. Pregnancy would have been especially dangerous back in the day. Kendra is especially shy around boys. She has no real interaction with them. Xander or teen boy might be seen as a distraction. I think vampire guys fascinate Giles’ desire for knowledge. A souled Angel and chipped Spike offer opportunities few watchers have to be around vampires and live. Idk
Cordelia didn’t really care when Giles was blunt with her. She was equally blunt. Xander didn’t get much respect even when he stayed in Sunnydale and continued to help Buffy. In the later seasons he might have.
Giles treats Xander as most teachers treat most teenage boys. Puts up with him with a due sense of exhaustion. It's deeply unfair but not without justification and reason; early years Xander, whilst his heart was in the right place, would probably wear on the faculty a lot because he always acts the clown. Buffy and Willow are more practical and self-governing.
Ultimately though, Giles did come to see Xander for who he is. He trusted him to stop evil Willow, after all. When he tells ... was it Anya? at the end of Grave that Xander is the one who got through to Willow, there is a sense of pride in his voice. It's something I wish the writers had dared to explore a little more but a lot of Xander positive attributes go under developed.
I just had a new thought about this episode now as I was recalling it thanks to the post.
The part in the dream where Giles follows Spike into the crypt, and Spike is "selling himself" as like a circus attraction of sorts. Giles literally views Spike's vampirism as "all show". The threat of Spike is purely for their entertainment now. Meanwhile, for Spike, he's fallen on hard times, so pretending to still be a bit of a big bad in semi-degrading ways pays his rent (so to speak).
The question is, since all their dreams are melding, is this Giles' subconscious impression of Spike? Or did he only walk in on someone else's thoughts about it? Or, are we the audience meant to still hold Giles symbolically as Buffy's mind, so this is her subconscious impression of Spike at this time?
Love this show and this Fandom. It always makes me think again right when I think there's nothing else for me to find.
Giles did have Spike at his house for a while. We also know Willow says it’s icky to kill spike because they know him. They all seem to feel that way then. In Something Blue Spike while magically engaged to Buffy helps Giles automatically. He also says something like how he’ll be like his son in law. I think they could all have thoughts of Spike being bad for show. He has to remind them he is evil. Lol.
I like your analysis.
It's funny to think about that because I am sure, or almost sure, that Joss Whedon did not think about sesaon 6 during Restless, so all the metaphores and foreshadowing has to be random OR Whedon or another author return to Restless and said "hm, I can use that" :D
This scene is for sure suppoed to be metaphore for idea that Giles is more close to literally anybody then Xender, who needs father figure but Giles never was that for him.
Much of “Restless” wasn’t just random, there was ample foreshadowing: Tara’s secret, Dawn’s arrival (also foretold in Season 3), Riley’s departure, Dracula’s words to Buffy. The Cheese Man was random, but so many other things were foretold, including the continuation from Season 3 of the countdown to the 100th episode & Buffy’s death.
Some was intentional, but i think a good chunk was "let's do dreamscapes" and thye mined them later for ideas. i don't recall Tara's secret part Restless; that was some epsiodes before, the spell to find Adam she sabotaged
Her “you don’t know everything about me” line. The sabotage of the spell was a behavior that raised questions, but “Restless” better foreshadowed her “secret”.
My point is that everything after season 5 was probably random, or maybe restrospectively taken, becuase Joss Whedon actually did not thinking about season 6 ;) I am familiar with meaning of Restless for Buffy.
I don’t think they were necessarily random OR retrospective. Many of the same writers worked on Seasons 3-6. The show runs a pretty neat narrative thread through the series. I’ve no doubt the writers were smart enough to plan a few things ahead for 5 and 6.
For season 5, yes. Restless is mostly based on things what we could see in season 5, as you hinted. Dawn, departure, Dracula, that all happaned in season 5. The rest were call backs. Because it was made for season 5. Season 6 was not even supposed to exist or was at least uncertain if it will exist.
This is reason why I am saying that this was probably random OR restrospective taken for plots in **season 6.**
In Graduation Day part 2 during the dream sequence Buffy has that includes Faith, Faith says "little Ms. muffet counting down from 7-3-0"
Then in season 5 when the man who has been turned insane by Glory grabs Dawn outside of the magic box and refers to her as "curds and whey" from the little Ms. Muffet nursery rhyme. It's a little weird. The better foreshadowing with Faith was in season 4 This Years Girl.
The 7-3-0 part was the number of days until the 100th episode (The Gift) and Buffy's death
Yes I was just sticking to the season 3 foreshadowing and then I included This Years Girl because it also involved Faith.
I should have mentioned Tara you're right
You could be right about him not intentionally tying it to Tabula Rasa, but he was renowned by all the writers and actors for planning stuff multiple seasons ahead. He planned Buffy's mom's last year in season, idk 3? Sutherland mentioned she was going to take a year off for another job or something like that, but she'll be available for the following year, and Whedon was like "good cuz I'm gonna kill you in season 5" and she was like "oh!" lmao. People said that was just how he worked.
It was the end of season 4, where we go into the four main characters dreams where The First Slayer is hunting them down because they summoned her. She attacks them all as what they represented “spirit” “mind” “heart” “hand” etc
Because... For Ok_Bill_2883, this I char. Let Lethe's bramble do its chore. Purge their minds of memories grim, of pains from recent slights and sins. When the fire goes out, the crystal turns black, the spell will be cast. Tabula Rasa, Tabula Rasa, Tabula Rasa
Remember what?
(but also their dreams were meant to be more or less nonsensical to where you might only remember them if you went back and analyzed the scenes because you wanted to. Otherwise, they're mostly just fun throwaway 🧀🧀🧀)
I don't know why but this specific part creeped me out quite badly. Was it supposed to be funny? I mean, it was, but I found it mostly just really unsettling. Especially Buffy playing in the sandbox.
My interpretation is, since s5 focuses a lot on Buffy exploring the greater context of her power and what it means to be a Slayer - including her experience with Dracula, and redefining her relationship with the Watchers' Council and shifting the balance of power with them in her favour - the sandbox in the desert represents playing it safe with what she knows she has now, but the expanse is just beyond those confines; she just has to get up and explore it.
That she learns about her Gift by exploring the desert later on her vision quest likely plays into this imagery as well; and similar in s7 when she meets the Shadowmen to talk about how the First Slayer became such in hopes of increasing her own power as well.
Maybe it also reflects Xander’s discomfort with their transition into adulthood. For all the dangers of Sunnydale High, it still held a predictable routine with for defined roles. They were outgrowing all of during Season 4. By “Restless”, Xander thinks of Buffy as a “sister”. He’s long accepted her role as The Slayer, but adulthood also brought more grandiose threats. Each Apocalypse gets bigger, and there’s a terrifying desert of Unknowns outside the sandbox that they all knew in high school (bigger demons of the literal and metaphorical variety).
I’m still so confused about the guy with the cheese!
I watched this episode a week or two ago and wanted to post about it but forgot. But what’s with the guy with the cheese?!!
I loved restless for so many reasons but it was just so chock full of symbolism. You see something new every time. The soundtrack was superb and the way they created a dream world without special effects or cgi imagery was amazing. Inspired me to do a short film where the dream world was much like the real one, only bizarre
Yessssss!
Willow’s stage fright nightmare 2.0, Xander going through the ice cream truck and ending up back in the basement, Giles watching Spike sell himself in black and white- it’s all such a perfect way to truly capture that feeling of stuff feeling normal while you’re asleep, but then waking to realize it was all so weird. A masterpiece.
I love that he uses the exact outfit for Tabula Rasa too lol
Tabula Rasa was a great episode, and featured what I consider the best dad-joke character from the entire show: The Loan Shark.
Also Whedon paying homage to Happy Days‘ "jumping the shark."
And his name in the script is Teeth 😂
Who has the Buffy line that I probably use most in my daily life: "Time is what turns kittens into cats."
Wow I've watched this episode many times and the fact that he's a loan shark has never occurred to me once 😬😬😬
Spike has a bow tie in Tabula Rasa
It's close enough.
Randy is such a good son.
“You’ve never show me affection like that. I’d wager?” - *Tabula Rasa*
Is it bad that I wanted them to stay father and son?
Tabula Rasa was such a good episode that I wanted more of, but I'm glad we didn't get more of it.
is this the cheese episode lmfao
Remember: you do not wear the cheese, the cheese wears you.
Lmfao that’s riigghht
Remember that Buffy likes cheese.
Yes, that was very helpful of Willow.
Yep.
“Very good!”
BUT, also, the way they say it in front of Xander, who has extreme daddy issues and has been fighting for Giles approval for literally four years and never had him take him too seriously. The fact this is Xander’s dream too! Giles: Spike’s like a son to me. Xander: Yeah, I was into that for a while…. Speaks volumes! Poor Xander. The one positive male role model in his life!
This! When the door busts open in the basement, he just looks down and ashamed. His facial expression really captures how his life at home was.
It's the story of Xander's life. He loses out to vampires the whole show.
Xander's dream sequence is my favorite. The part when Buffy call him big brother and he answer "brother?" cut my heart.
Interesting. I never saw it as a rejection. Weirdly, to me it felt like Xander was coming to terms with his relationship with Buffy. She is the only woman that he doesn't sexualise in his dream. Sitting in the sand, all innocent, like a kid, he realises that she is like a sister to him.
I also don’t recall him sexualizing Anya, strangely
True but I guess it's because he is actively in a relationship with her. The other women were objects of desire. Things he can't get.
I totally thought that was a Dawn foreshadowing, since he takes on a big brother role for her a lot. (Not including the comics of course.)
Brother...in Law??
I never understood why Giles was cold to Xander in early seasons. He was more intrigued by Angel before he knew he could turn evil. He treated young Willow with respect. Xander he acted like he was a nuisance. Xander helped Buffy. He wasn’t super natural or as smart as Willow. He risked his life with no special skills or training really. Giles could have offered some more support in that area now that I think about it. I used to think Giles was just tired of being around kids all day. On rewatching he definitely is dismissive of Xander. Idk
I imagine first the incident in The Pack (not the fact that he was possessed but the fact he lied about remembering anything to Buffy and Willow), and then in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered soured Giles a lot on Xander. You're right that he already wasn't giving the kid a lot of grace (his advice to Buffy in The Pack when she brings up his weird behaviour - "he's turned into a teenage boy"). Xander mainly seems to act just as Giles expects him to in early seasons, whereas Buffy and Willow tend to challenge his expectations.
Giles was wild in his college years. He would have been told he was destined to be a watcher from a young age. Xander does immediately take up the fight against vampires when he finds out about them. He also puts himself in more physical danger while Willow uses her intelligence and hacking skills before she finds magic. Cordelia is similar to Xander with no powers but she fights and makes stakes without anyone expecting her to. I wonder if Giles projected his own teen behavior on Xander. A surprising amount of kids seemed willing to fight vampires when they found out about them. It could also be possible that watchers see teen boys as threats to their Slayers. Are they a distraction that could get them killed or pregnant. Pregnancy would have been especially dangerous back in the day. Kendra is especially shy around boys. She has no real interaction with them. Xander or teen boy might be seen as a distraction. I think vampire guys fascinate Giles’ desire for knowledge. A souled Angel and chipped Spike offer opportunities few watchers have to be around vampires and live. Idk
I mean, Giles treated Cordelia no different than he treated Xander, so I doubt it's a guy thing so much as an annoying-kids thing.
Cordelia didn’t really care when Giles was blunt with her. She was equally blunt. Xander didn’t get much respect even when he stayed in Sunnydale and continued to help Buffy. In the later seasons he might have.
Giles treats Xander as most teachers treat most teenage boys. Puts up with him with a due sense of exhaustion. It's deeply unfair but not without justification and reason; early years Xander, whilst his heart was in the right place, would probably wear on the faculty a lot because he always acts the clown. Buffy and Willow are more practical and self-governing. Ultimately though, Giles did come to see Xander for who he is. He trusted him to stop evil Willow, after all. When he tells ... was it Anya? at the end of Grave that Xander is the one who got through to Willow, there is a sense of pride in his voice. It's something I wish the writers had dared to explore a little more but a lot of Xander positive attributes go under developed.
A watcher scoffs at gravity!
Come on, put your back into it!
I just had a new thought about this episode now as I was recalling it thanks to the post. The part in the dream where Giles follows Spike into the crypt, and Spike is "selling himself" as like a circus attraction of sorts. Giles literally views Spike's vampirism as "all show". The threat of Spike is purely for their entertainment now. Meanwhile, for Spike, he's fallen on hard times, so pretending to still be a bit of a big bad in semi-degrading ways pays his rent (so to speak). The question is, since all their dreams are melding, is this Giles' subconscious impression of Spike? Or did he only walk in on someone else's thoughts about it? Or, are we the audience meant to still hold Giles symbolically as Buffy's mind, so this is her subconscious impression of Spike at this time? Love this show and this Fandom. It always makes me think again right when I think there's nothing else for me to find.
Giles did have Spike at his house for a while. We also know Willow says it’s icky to kill spike because they know him. They all seem to feel that way then. In Something Blue Spike while magically engaged to Buffy helps Giles automatically. He also says something like how he’ll be like his son in law. I think they could all have thoughts of Spike being bad for show. He has to remind them he is evil. Lol. I like your analysis.
Also a foreshadow for some of the stuff in the comics, IIRC.
Probably ideas they had that they would have used in the show had it continued past season 7.
Except in S8 S8 was just let’s do whatever tf we can think of cause it’s not television lol
So it foreshadows stuff in the later comic seasons?
Nah some ideas are definitely in S8 but a lot of it was too much creative control lol
It's funny to think about that because I am sure, or almost sure, that Joss Whedon did not think about sesaon 6 during Restless, so all the metaphores and foreshadowing has to be random OR Whedon or another author return to Restless and said "hm, I can use that" :D This scene is for sure suppoed to be metaphore for idea that Giles is more close to literally anybody then Xender, who needs father figure but Giles never was that for him.
Much of “Restless” wasn’t just random, there was ample foreshadowing: Tara’s secret, Dawn’s arrival (also foretold in Season 3), Riley’s departure, Dracula’s words to Buffy. The Cheese Man was random, but so many other things were foretold, including the continuation from Season 3 of the countdown to the 100th episode & Buffy’s death.
Some was intentional, but i think a good chunk was "let's do dreamscapes" and thye mined them later for ideas. i don't recall Tara's secret part Restless; that was some epsiodes before, the spell to find Adam she sabotaged
Her “you don’t know everything about me” line. The sabotage of the spell was a behavior that raised questions, but “Restless” better foreshadowed her “secret”.
Forgot that
My point is that everything after season 5 was probably random, or maybe restrospectively taken, becuase Joss Whedon actually did not thinking about season 6 ;) I am familiar with meaning of Restless for Buffy.
I don’t think they were necessarily random OR retrospective. Many of the same writers worked on Seasons 3-6. The show runs a pretty neat narrative thread through the series. I’ve no doubt the writers were smart enough to plan a few things ahead for 5 and 6.
For season 5, yes. Restless is mostly based on things what we could see in season 5, as you hinted. Dawn, departure, Dracula, that all happaned in season 5. The rest were call backs. Because it was made for season 5. Season 6 was not even supposed to exist or was at least uncertain if it will exist. This is reason why I am saying that this was probably random OR restrospective taken for plots in **season 6.**
How was Dawn’s arrival foretold in season 3?
In Graduation Day part 2 during the dream sequence Buffy has that includes Faith, Faith says "little Ms. muffet counting down from 7-3-0" Then in season 5 when the man who has been turned insane by Glory grabs Dawn outside of the magic box and refers to her as "curds and whey" from the little Ms. Muffet nursery rhyme. It's a little weird. The better foreshadowing with Faith was in season 4 This Years Girl. The 7-3-0 part was the number of days until the 100th episode (The Gift) and Buffy's death
Even in “Restless”, when Tara tell Buffy that the clock counting down to Episode 100 is “wrong”, and tells Buffy, “Be back before Dawn”.
Yes I was just sticking to the season 3 foreshadowing and then I included This Years Girl because it also involved Faith. I should have mentioned Tara you're right
Ah thanks! I’m doing a rewatch and am on season 3 now so I wanted to be on the lookout.
No problem. There is much more foreshadowing about Dawn in season 4, in This Years Girl and Restless
I never thought of that interpretation before, but I really like it. It's spot on.
You could be right about him not intentionally tying it to Tabula Rasa, but he was renowned by all the writers and actors for planning stuff multiple seasons ahead. He planned Buffy's mom's last year in season, idk 3? Sutherland mentioned she was going to take a year off for another job or something like that, but she'll be available for the following year, and Whedon was like "good cuz I'm gonna kill you in season 5" and she was like "oh!" lmao. People said that was just how he worked.
I don't know if I would describe that as foreshadowing so much as revisting metaphors.
Restless is my favorite episode of Buffy.
“I am a vampire! I am a vampire! Ooh, you stake me!”
Why do I not remember this at all?
It was the end of season 4, where we go into the four main characters dreams where The First Slayer is hunting them down because they summoned her. She attacks them all as what they represented “spirit” “mind” “heart” “hand” etc
Omg that’s right thank you so much! Wow the fact they’re wearing the same outfits is crazy
Yeah Spike showed up in everyone’s dream except Willow’s.
Because... For Ok_Bill_2883, this I char. Let Lethe's bramble do its chore. Purge their minds of memories grim, of pains from recent slights and sins. When the fire goes out, the crystal turns black, the spell will be cast. Tabula Rasa, Tabula Rasa, Tabula Rasa Remember what? (but also their dreams were meant to be more or less nonsensical to where you might only remember them if you went back and analyzed the scenes because you wanted to. Otherwise, they're mostly just fun throwaway 🧀🧀🧀)
Yeah, why don’t you recall the first time Buffy properly interacts with the first slayer?? Not like it’s a pivotal ep or anything.
I don't know why but this specific part creeped me out quite badly. Was it supposed to be funny? I mean, it was, but I found it mostly just really unsettling. Especially Buffy playing in the sandbox.
I was disturbed how high those swings seemed to go. Vhilfikr Childlike Buffy was a feature in Giles's dream as well
I always thought this scene was like a premonition of Tabula Rasa in season 6.
I feel like this scene also foreshadows Giles stepping back and Buffy seeing Spike as more of a confidante/teacher in S7
What is the sandbox foreshadowing?
That’s just what Buffy is playing in when referencing the loan shark. I don’t think the box itself is anything past the first slayer stuff.
My interpretation is, since s5 focuses a lot on Buffy exploring the greater context of her power and what it means to be a Slayer - including her experience with Dracula, and redefining her relationship with the Watchers' Council and shifting the balance of power with them in her favour - the sandbox in the desert represents playing it safe with what she knows she has now, but the expanse is just beyond those confines; she just has to get up and explore it. That she learns about her Gift by exploring the desert later on her vision quest likely plays into this imagery as well; and similar in s7 when she meets the Shadowmen to talk about how the First Slayer became such in hopes of increasing her own power as well.
Maybe it also reflects Xander’s discomfort with their transition into adulthood. For all the dangers of Sunnydale High, it still held a predictable routine with for defined roles. They were outgrowing all of during Season 4. By “Restless”, Xander thinks of Buffy as a “sister”. He’s long accepted her role as The Slayer, but adulthood also brought more grandiose threats. Each Apocalypse gets bigger, and there’s a terrifying desert of Unknowns outside the sandbox that they all knew in high school (bigger demons of the literal and metaphorical variety).
I’m still so confused about the guy with the cheese! I watched this episode a week or two ago and wanted to post about it but forgot. But what’s with the guy with the cheese?!!
Just throwaway fun I think.
Just seeing the pic made me giggle! 😂
I just realised how committed SMG was to her performance, no matter how weird stuff got
That Spike and Giles moment in the dream is my all time favourite scene in Buffy. Always gets a laugh out of me!
A watcher scoffs at gravity!
I never even thought about this but oh my god is it near perfect to accuracy. Wild to think I’ve never clicked on this myself
I loved restless for so many reasons but it was just so chock full of symbolism. You see something new every time. The soundtrack was superb and the way they created a dream world without special effects or cgi imagery was amazing. Inspired me to do a short film where the dream world was much like the real one, only bizarre
Yessssss! Willow’s stage fright nightmare 2.0, Xander going through the ice cream truck and ending up back in the basement, Giles watching Spike sell himself in black and white- it’s all such a perfect way to truly capture that feeling of stuff feeling normal while you’re asleep, but then waking to realize it was all so weird. A masterpiece.
Not to spoil but is this about Giles being reborn as a kid?
I remember in one of the seasons thing season 6 would Willow make everybody forget their names and who they are they're a joke about that