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Season 4, Ep 22 (Patreon)

Published:
2022-08-02 15:42:37
Edited:
2023-07-01 15:25:49
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

oops i umm... talked a bunch 😳😳

**EDIT** some people are having issues with the video unsyncing or freezing while the audio still plays. I checked and my file is fine, I believe it's a vidyard issue. While I work through it some have said changing the resolution from auto to 720p seems to be a temporary fix! sorry yall! 

**EDIT 2 (lol)** some people are still having issues with the vidyard link so i uploaded it to google drive for you all to download instead! let me know if you have any issues with this! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yc0_r74jJTWqPLgflJlAU3UeckTKgCCe/view?usp=sharing

Files

Buffy Season 4, Ep 22 - Restless

Vidyard video

Comments

Holi117

Seen this episode SO many times (love it), and have watched several people deep dive into the interpretations, including some commentary from the writers! And just now feel like i saw/ felt something new! When Buffy and the first slayer are communicating, comparing, then fighting, Buffy stops and says “we dont do this (anymore)”.. and then the first slayer starts fighting again. I feel like it was also an aspect showing that Buffy finally, within herself, has stopped fighting her destiny. She has finally accepted her slayer-side, given up somewhat on the idea of being just a normal girl. But equally she knows and accepts she does have a life outside of slaying, she has friends and family and other stuff going on that make her a well rounded person (i walk, i talk, i shop, i sneeze…). So she doesnt want to fight her slayer side anymore, she accepts it within herself, as part of herself. Not something totally separate. BUT YET the slayer side of herself is powerful and demanding (of her time, the people close to her…) and so it keeps pushing back, trying to take over… but Buffy is choosing to find balance, to ignore that and wake up and be back in her life. “You’re not the source of ME.” The first slayer is not buffy summers. Buffy may have the power, and the first slayer might be the source of her power, but the first slayer is not the source of Buffy. She has layers and she finally seems to be willing to fully blend them. To accept her heritage in the slayer-line and also to be somewhat happy with her life beside slaying… there’s so much there!! And 15years down the road i only just saw this possible aspect!

Holi117
>>88863370

My interpretation is it is something random, but my brain automatically went to the old wives tale about how you shouldnt eat cheese before bed or it will give you weird dreams lol!

KiwiJello

I have a theory... about the cheese, but I can't tell you until you are done with the series. :) I am catching up on your reactions. Will be watching my highlight episodes to catch up then finish your journey with you :)

Lais

BINGO! I didnt write any timestamps, I was just casually playing it. My bingo card was #67b011cf4855e1b8 and I got the first column. That was super fun, hopefully you'll do something like this again here in the future.

Cecelia M

Really late to this party. but the "Faith and I just made that bed" is a reference to the dream Buffy and Faith share at the end of season 3, after Faith is in the hospital in a coma. They are making that same bed together and Faith tells her that the mayor will still have human weakness, and also that she should get back because "little sis coming, I know" and "Little miss muffet counting down from 7-3-0", similar to the foreshadowing Tara has telling Buffy to be back before dawn.

Raven Dark

I skipped ahead toward the end as I sometimes do and saw how confused you were about the cheese man. According to Joss Wheden, he means nothing. Joss wanted one thing in each dream that was totally random because that's the way dreams sometimes are. Not everything in a dream means something. Going to watch now.

Madam Satsuma

This might be the best first reaction to Restless I've ever seen. I think a lot of first time watchers (including those of us who saw it live) were just completely overwhelmed by everything that gets thrown at the audience here. And I've seen a lot of reactors get annoyed at not knowing what's going on, so it's really cool to see someone who likes to read into everything and overthink it all, because that is exactly what you need to do here. And yes, rewatch most definitely!

Claire Eyles

The writing that Willow is painting on Tara's back is an ancient Greek poem called 'Ode to Aphrodite' by Sappho. This is the English translation for some of it, but I recommend not looking up the full poem, because it might be considered spoilerish for future episodes and/or seasons. Deathless Aphrodite on your lavish throne, Enchantress, daughter of Zeus: I beg you, queen, Do not overpower my soul with heartaches , and hard troubles, But come here, if ever at another time Having heard my voice you paid me attention And leaving the golden house of your father you came to me, Yoking your horse and chariot: gorgeous swift Sparrows carried you over the coal-black earth, Thickly whirling their feathers through the midst of heaven's ether.

Rhi

Possibly my favourite buffy finale! So much foreshadowing in this episode and some of it won't make sense until the end of season 7! Definitely recommend rewatching it after you've finished Buffy, or checking out the passion of the nerd video on youtube which breaks down the episode and explains all of the metaphors and references

madfem

the soundtrack 💯💫💥

FandomReferenceHere

Such a great episode, and a great reaction! I love how you were immediately on board with the concept. You picked up on a whole lot of things, seriously impressive for the first watch! Season 3 is probably my favorite. Season 4 has some of the best and funniest episodes despite a lackluster arc. But Season 5.... Season 5 is the best season for reactions!!!! Bring it OOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!

madfem

i guess it's time for Life Changing, Core Shaking, Miraculous Season 5 !!!! (not even afraid of overhyping it cuz it IS top 3 best seasons of TV ever 💅🏻)

bing.E

Great reaction! I love this episode. Honestly my favorite dream has to be Xanders. I think it is the one that is giving us the most information about a character presently. There is foreshadowing in this episode but Xanders dream really shows us what he was going through this season and the past seasons. He definitely did feel like he was being left behind and I think partially because change was scary especially with the fear of things being different with the scoobies. He’s becoming an adult and a lot of what was important to him in high school is no longer important (being cool, trying to show off for all his high school crushes). He may not be the one going to college but he probably is the one going through the most growing pains. For example when Buffy calls him big brother, I don’t think he is insulted. I think, yes, it’s a huge realization that he finally comes to (being it is his dream lol) and as it sets in, he feels proud. He obviously has it hard at home with his family and the scoobies are the family he really cares to be apart of. He also doesn’t think of Buffy in a sexual manner while dreaming as he does all the other girls (even though he never actually goes through w anything with the others and maybe that’s for a reason too) so maybe the fact that he’s moving forward so fast in life is why he feels so left behind. I don’t know if im explaining it right. PS: I know he also doesn’t see Anya that way in the dream. They only really have conversations about the future and I think her being with him at work and her talking about becoming a vengeance demon again (which he does object to but also listens to her reasoning right before she lets him go meet Tara and Willow which symbolically i think represents tolerance, and acceptance of one another's vices)does point to the fact that he sees her as a serious relationship that he does think of a future with.

boleynns

So glad you loved this episode right away! That was my exact feeling when I first saw it a million years ago, but after watching many Buffy reactions I think mileage varies with how into the bizarre-ness of this episode people are the first time watching this. But I just immediately loved the abstract nature of everything, and completely am with you at how much it really, really feels like a dream. And for the characters, there is just so much to dig into with the meanings of every little thing in each of their dreams, and all of it holds up to many, many re-watches. I think my favorite little tableau is when Buffy is in the sandbox, and Giles and Spike are on the swings. There are the obvious funny/silly lines, but on a deeper level I think its so interesting that Xander's subconscious groups the three of them together: the Slayer, the Watcher, the Vampire. Buffy is literally playing in this sandbox (that is the vast desert that Buffy's dream leads to) that Xander can't really be a part of, and the closest he can get is being her brother. I also find it super interesting that both Xander and Giles imagine Buffy as a much younger child. Obviously Giles sees her as a daughter, but for Xander we know that he has had romantic feelings for her -- and yet in his dream, she isn't romanticized or sexualized at all (unlike Willow, Tara, and Joyce). And the last point of interest for now (because I could easily write an essay on every scene in this episode): Buffy's dream, specifically the part in the initiative and with Riley, is so juicy to me! Riley (a.k.a. how Buffy sees Riley) calling her "Killer" instead of "Slayer", Buffy telling Adam that "We're not demons" with the First Slayer standing over her shoulder, and Buffy's projection of everything Riley was involved in as being kind of silly and unimportant (they file things and give them names, and when the demons escape they build a pillow fort). So interesting! Sidenote: that anecdote about how you have dreams that take place in the same location that is "your house", but in real life you've never been there -- SAME, love that.

Fernando

Restless is one of my favorite episodes of Buffy. This season was unique in terms of finales because this was the only season Joss and crew knew they were picked up for a 5th season. So, Joss created this character-driven finale that explored the character's journeys but also laid groundwork for things that come into play in season 5. I loved your reaction to the episode. You also caught many of the insights on a first watch that took so many people a while to put together. Everyone's dreams centered on the search for identity and the journey of life. Willow's was about her finding out who she is but also running away from who she was. She's ashamed of the Willow we meet in Season 1 and has sent the last 4 years trying to create a new identity for herself and her biggest fear is that she'll always be the insecure, shy girl she was before she met Buffy. Xander's journey is wrapped up in his listlessness and being lost. His journey is a winding road and, his biggest fear, has him end up back in his parent's basement. In Xander's dream, he has a complicated and hypersexualized relationship with women (minus Buffy and Anya). This is because his only understanding of how men and women communicate and relate are what he sees in media (i.e. porn, tv, movies) and his understanding of masculinity is a soldier and men who act as "conquistadors". Xander's homelife is toxic which we see when his father breaks open the door and angrily--possibly drunkenly--shouts about how he's ashamed of them. Xander's fear, at the core, is that he'll become his father (He says something to the effect of "That's not the way out" when he looks at the door to the house). Giles' dream is about the choices he's made of his life. He views Buffy as a surrogate daughter. He's protective of her, but the life he's chosen, and his time as Watcher has made him choose that over a normal life with a wife and a kid. Olivia represents a normal life he could've had. But Giles, in this dream, only really hits his groove when he's on stage playing watcher. Overall, his big question is: who am I if I'm not Buffy's Watcher? Buffy's dream is a little more nuanced. I won't talk about the nods to things to season 5. I'll let you figure that out as the season progresses ;) But what Tara says, "You think you know. Who you are. What's to come. You haven't even begun." It ties into what Buffy says to The First Slayer about her not being the source of her. We follow Buffy around searching for her friends (you nailed the bit about her mom). With Riley, it's the idea of these men wanting to control things with their modern ideas and modern tech while Buffy, whose voice is silenced relies on a more ancient primal power--even if she doesn't believe she'll need to rely it (like rejecting that manus card, meaning resorting to fighting). Buffy rejects the idea of not being with her friend or having to comply to old traditions and rules because she makes her rules (we even see this at the start when Giles is waving the watch in front of her telling her that it's how men and women have behaved since the dawn of time and then Buffy laughs at the idea). In the end, though, Buffy's never asked about her power, she's never thought about The First Slayer or the Slayers who came before her. What does that mean? How does that connect to her? She thinks she knows what it means to be The Slayer, but does she? It's such a rich episode and I love every second of it. (I'd touch on the Cheese Guy but someone already talked about him, lol. Gotta love a little bit of humor injection.) Thanks for sharing your reactions with us! I'm do glad I decided to join the Patreon. I can't wait for how you feel about S5.

Darrell Palmer

I loved your insight into the cheese. Yes it seems to be warm and melting. I think you are the first reactor who's picked up on that. Gee, I wonder what it could mean...

Andrew Pulrang

Seconding what others have already said … I’m so happy you “got” this episode right off the bat. I don’t mind too much when other reactors are confused or even a little angry, because I do find they eventually get that the aspects they find annoying are intentional … meant to be this way … and not just trickery or bad TV-making. It’s a little like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — which is another piece of pop culture that’s both thematically rich and on the surface nonsensical. It really highlights the difference between people who like and appreciate the absurd, and those who just fundamentally don’t.

Noah

Enjoyed this immensely; looking forward to your recap. Just a couple of quick things (if they haven’t already occurred). First, you may want to rewatch the Buffy/Faith dream scene (3x22, at about 19 minutes in on your reaction vid). Not required per se, but you may benefit from a memory refresh on one or two thing(s). Similarly, you may also want to re-watch the last scene of 2x03 (“School Hard”).

TheLoungingPotato

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this episode as I get deeper into your reaction BUT...Tara looks so GORGEOUS in that first sequence of Willow's dream, especially when the bright light from the window illuminates her and the Greek writing along her back. I absolutely needed to bring that up before I forget lmao

TheLoungingPotato

This episode is in my top 5 of the whole series, honestly. Especially after having rewatched the series almost two dozen times, you notice there are so many amazingly clever metaphorical easter eggs here and there while also doing such great work of analyzing our core Scoobies. Willow, anxious about how she's perceived by other people. Xander, feeling entirely lost in his life but knowing he doesn't want a life with and/or like his parents' own. Giles, aware of what his relationship with being a watcher has done in accordance to living his life. And of course, Buffy, who has always had such a complicated understanding of where she belongs not only among the people in her life but in the grand scheme of things. This is definitely an episode I recommend rewatching after you finish the whole show. I feel like that's the best time to look back on things and be like "OH!" ya know?

ghostofdurruti

Hey, would you look at that—you were kind of right about it being a “big old reminiscing episode”! This episode is one of my top 5 episodes of the entire show and the only one of them that is the final episode of a season, which I guess means that it’s technically my favorite season finale. I don’t really think of this as the finale of Season 4, though—to me, that’s the previous episode, “Primeval”. “Restless” is something different, less a finale and more of a meditation on where we’ve been and where we’re going. It’s no accident that this episode is placed very close to the midway point of the series (the actual mathematical midway point comes after “Who are You”). You’ve already had *great* insights on what each dream says about its respective character. As for whether there are some elements that don’t make sense yet because they’re “futuring”… well. Remember that one of the Slayer’s powers is prophetic dreams, and all of the dreams this episode were shared with the First Slayer (and possibly Buffy as well). ;) This episode is so dense with metaphor and symbolism that I could write pages upon pages analyzing each dream individually. However, I think part of the fun of this episode is coming up with your own interpretations of them... so instead I’m just going to list what I think are the key quotes from each dream as of this point in the series. (*If* there are key quotes that only make sense within the context of the rest of the series—and I’m not saying that there are—I’m going to deliberately leave them out for now.) Willow: “Your costume is perfect. Nobody’s going to know the truth—you know, about you.” “The audience wants to find you, strip you naked, and eat you alive, so *hide*.” “Everyone’s starting to wonder about you, the real you. If they find out, they’ll punish you—I can’t help you with that.” “Willow, everyone already knows. Take it off. … There. That’s better. Much more realistic.” Xander: “Do you know where you’re going?” “I’m way ahead of you.” “That’s not the way out.” “The line ends here with us, and you’re not gonna change that. You haven’t got the heart.” Giles: “This is my business. Blood of the lamb and all that.” “You’ve gotta make up your mind, Rupes. What are you wasting time for?” “I’m very busy. I have a gig myself, you know.” (Holding a watch) “Well… that was… obvious.” Buffy: “You lost them.” “No—I think they need me to find them.” “Well, you could probably break through the wall…” (as Buffy walks away) “Aggression is a natural human tendency, though you and me come by it another way.” “I thought you were looking for your friends. Okay killer, if that’s the way you want it. I guess you’re on your own.” “I’m never gonna find them here.” “Of course not, that’s the reason you came.” “I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death. The blood-cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction. Absolute. Alone.” (Actually I could quote the entire exchange between Buffy and the First Slayer here, but that might be a bit excessive.) And, of course, the most important quote of all: “I’ve made a little space for the cheese slices.” :D A few bits of trivia: Christophe Beck, who wrote many of the most iconic pieces of the Buffy score, appears in this episode as the keyboard player during Giles’ exposition song. Also, although the First Slayer claims not to have a name, we actually learned it last episode when the show casually dumped a bunch of Slayer lore on us through the wording of the spell Willow, Xander, and Giles did. “The power of the Slayer and all who wield it, last to ancient first, we invoke thee … We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel, daughter of Sineya, first of the ones.” Her name was Sineya. One last thing, brought to mind by “Buffy wake up… I don’t like this…” Does anyone else feel like Stranger Things has serious Buffy vibes, much more so even than a lot of shows that seem to be more deliberately influenced by Buffy? Maybe it’s just me but Stranger Things feels a lot more like what a “modern” version of Buffy would be like than e.g. the Vampire Diaries does.

John

This episode will indeed give you a lot to think about. I first watched it 22 years ago, and I'm still thinking about it.

TheLoungingPotato

OKAY LAST COMMENT I SWEAR Over the years, I've really grown to dislike Xander. But I think I'm realizing that I just really dislike who he was for the first 3-ish seasons. Despite being so entirely lost in his life, I feel like he's really come into his own this season. I just feel like he's a lot more relatable this season and even more likeable. They gave his character more depth than just like..."quirky selfish horny teenager". If you ask me, my personal opinion is that Xander was just a bit of a dick for a lot of his high school years. He very much had "Nice Guy" energy, you know what I mean? Genuinely think that he has changed for the better since then.

Saga

There's so much to say about this episode but I'm gonna keep it short, cause wow what an awesome reaction to an awesome episode! I'm so glad you loved it and you described my feelings about this episode exactly. Yes, it's definitely a rewatchepisode, I especially recommend doing it after you're finished with the whole show. Thank you for making this so much fun!

Thom Purdy

rewatch this episode after you've done season 5. It will make a little more sense. Great reaction!

Bud Haven

The cheese man uses cheese to represent Buffy's Slayer persona and what it means for her. First having to make room in her life for it. - I've made a little room for the cheese slices. Then the Slayer persona not protecting her from the trauma of life - These will not protect you. Third that she wears being Slayer but it doesn't change her basic nature. - I wear the cheese it does not wear me. And finally pushing in her way her as she tries to confront the first Slayer.- The man shaking it in front of her. Some say the cheese man is just random silliness, but the things he says don't seem random to me. Also during her dream Buffy does wear the cheese, her Slayer persona, on her feet.

Michael S. Mammano

I'm fairly certain (I think Whedon said so, but I'm not 100%) that the cheese guy was just a way to have one random thing in there, because there's always that one thing in your dreams that's just completely out of place. "Be back before dawn." Keep that phrase in mind.

Shaun Houghton

Just some observations: Firstly, love the pigtails. Secondly, I'm confused, you want pizza, but you don't like warm cheese. Thirdly, really looking forward to seeing the Season 7 doughnut tower.

Tara.

i loooved this reaction, loved how much you enjoyed the ride and couldn't stop smiling the whole time i was watching! i absolutely would recommend rewatching it, and i selfishly would LOVE it if you would film it and post it, though i would totally understand if that is too much work with all the editing or if you just wanna watch it again on your own. i just wanted to chime in cause i am pretty sure a lot of folks would love it, just in case you'd think it would be boring or something.

707

Loved this reaction and your interpretation and analysis! I don’t want to comment on anything specific, but you’re analysis was much more impressive than mine when I first watched it XD. I can see why this episode may not be someone’s cup of tea, but as someone who likes to over think, it’s an absolute treat to analyze. I agree it’s rewatchable-even right after its first viewing to see what details you can pick up. It’s endlessly fun to analyze and wonder about-and it’s actual dream-like quality is so fun to watch. There isn’t much media that really perfectly captures what dream is really like I think, and this is so accurate. Anyway, would definitely recommend watching again when you’ve completed the series!

Svetlana Grabar

One of my top 5 episodes for sure. I really like how this show actually depicts dreams realistically. They probably had a blast playing around with sound and symbolism when making this episode. There's no way you can overanalyze this episode either so don't worry about that :D There are actually amazing youtube videos that go through this episode, scene by scene. There's a spoiler and a non-spoiler version of the video. I would LOVE it if you reacted to the spoiler one after the show is done. I haven't watched the non-spoiler one yet so I don't know if it's actually non-spoilery or not. One of my favorite things about this episode is that we see how each character views the others. It seems like Willow sees Buffy as somewhat unintelligent/child-like with the way Buffy was acting in her dream. To me, this seems to match Willow's previous lines ("Buffy did the reading? Buffy understood the reading?"). There were other ones too, like how Buffy viewed the military and how Giles sees Buffy as his child. I find it sad that Buffy couldn't see or catch up with her friends at all in her dream. She was trying to find them but didn't manage to talk to any of them. The scene with Xander, with all roads leading to the basement, was amazing. The sets were actually right next to each other so him crawling between sets was real. This season and especially this episode made me appreciate and (dare I say it) admire Xander. He worked so hard to try and get a job and he worked at so many places. It's hard to go out and put yourself out there like that, especially for non-glorious minimum wage jobs, when his self esteem is so low and all his friends are in college. He did it anyways. I loved your reaction to this and am really looking forward to your review! I'd especially love to know your thoughts on the growth of all the characters, and maybe where you see them going from here.

John

I'm super late catching up on these as I wanted to have a few to watch over time but I LOVE how open you were to this episode. It's such an interesting episode and there's so much to get from it. I can't believe we're almost on Season 5 too! That's insane but September literally cannot come quick enough right now :D