Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Digging deep into the human psyche, we find a problem amoung our society. While in the episode the result manifests into a metaphysical occurrence, the reality is a lot of us struggle on a regular basis to fit in or even just find our place in the world. Truth is, usually the result is taking one's own life, if not others in the process as well. Key takeaway is to always listen and get help for those who are struggling.

Heavy theme considered, we do have a suspenseful episode that could actually take off in any direction. A nod to classic sci-fi, a homage to current crime drama, this unique episode foregoes otherworldly monsters for the ones we battle emotionally.

Cordelia has people that are close to her assaulted at school - a boy she's dating is beaten with a baseball bat, Harmony is pushed down a staircase, and her English teacher is almost suffocated to death. All of these things happen due to some invisible force. Cordelia goes to the Scoobies, to whom she is ordinarily very mean, and declares "This is all about me". And for once she's right.

This episode deals with a very real problem of kids who are "invisible" to everybody around them. Despite their frantic yoo-hoos to their peers and teachers to have their existence acknowledged, they are completely alone and unnoticed. I would say that this is at least better than being mercilessly bullied. From personal experience I can say that I would have loved to be invisible to my tormenters. But I digress.

This one definitely falls into the monster-of-the-week category, but it is a bit different because the villain is not actually a demon of any kind.

There's an interesting Buffy connection in the 2004 horror film "The Grudge". Clea DuVall (Marcy in this episode), Jason Behr (in "Lie to Me" in season two) and Sarah Michele Gellar were all in that film and all had pretty big roles.

The introduction of an invisible girl is interesting. For a time we see how she was indeed invisible in her world and then literally so. Of course, it's Cordelia and her buddies that are her target, as well as the teacher that ignored her in class. Ever since Claude Rains and his old Invisible Man movies, I've been intrigued by the whole idea of invisibility. What would one do? Of course, nearly every male would have a similar goal. There are times in these episodes when I'm not sure of Buffy's capabilities. She seems vulnerable in this one and yet she can be slammed against concrete walls, struck full blast in the face, and keep on cooking. I wonder if they ever thought of getting a can of spray paint. Unless she has some sort of teflon coating, a little bit of stuff would expose her.

Another great "monster" that represents the real fears of high school: The Invisible Girl. Cordelia is a lot of fun in this one. The interplay between Buffy and Cordelia is always amusing in season 1. The knife effect at the end is actually chilling.

The story of a misfit outcast girl who takes revenge on schoolmate is hardly original but it is a good one and does work well in this episode. The episode tries to develop bit more of a character for one character but its not done all that well and kind of feels clumsy. The resolution also felt a little contrived and the final but just goes very Xfiles and not in a good way.

Its another of those episodes where the supporting characters don't really help much, Angel shows up just to kind of remind you hes still a character more than anything. The action isn't well done at all really given the antagonist is invisible. So while there's a good premise the execution is a bit shaky.