Fear Itself (Buffy episode)
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"Fear Itself" is the fourth episode of season 4 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Buffy reluctantly agrees to join Willow, Oz, and Xander at a Halloween frat party. The gang finds themselves in a real-life house of horrors, in which a Fear Demon feeds on their individual fears. Meanwhile, Anya needs Giles (who is for once trying to get into the spirit of Halloween) to help her save Xander when she realizes something is amiss.
Expanded overview
While carving jack-o'-lanterns in Xander's basement for Halloween, the gang discusses their plans for Halloween while Buffy continues to mope over her situation with Parker. They decide to go to the Alpha-Delta house for a Halloween party. Buffy leaves early and on her way home, a kid jumps out at her wearing a demon mask, and she hits him without thinking. The next day, at school, Buffy and Oz both express their concerns for Willow about her magic. Buffy spots Parker and immediately runs away because she doesn't want to face him. Willow follows and tells her to get over and have fun at the party that night, but Buffy thinks that Giles will want her to do some patrolling. When Buffy goes to visit Giles however, he's wearing a sombrero and in an incredibly cheerful Halloween mood. He discourages her from patrolling that night and encourages her to go party.
At the Fraternity boys are getting ready for the party, and one guy finds a symbol in an old book to paint on the floor of the party room. Anya goes to see Xander again, and again wants to know where their relationship is going. He agrees that they're somewhat dating and invites her to the Halloween party that night. Buffy visits Professor Walsh and asks for the assignments, but Buffy is met with less than kind reception from the strict teacher. Riley however, gives her the assignment and then tells her to have fun on Halloween. Oz and Xander carry the equipment for a sound system to the Frat house and Oz installs it while some of the guys paint the symbol on the ground. Oz cuts his hand and some of his blood spills onto the symbol making it come alive and turning a fake spider lying on it into a real one.
Joyce sews one of Buffy's old Halloween costumes, Little Red Riding Hood. They then talk about how things used to be with her Dad around and her Mom's current social life. Buffy waits outside the party for her friends, and Xander shows up dressed as James Bond. They run into Willow, who's dressed as Joan of Arc, and Oz, who's going as God. At the party, a guy leads a blindfolded girl to stick her hand into a bowl and tells her the grapes inside are eyeballs. When she takes the blindfold off, they really are eyeballs. Everything at the party goes crazy as people run in all directions screaming, some ending up mutilated and injured in various ways. The gang starts to make their way through the maze, but they encounter several Halloween obstacles, including fake cobwebs, skeletons that jump out at them. Then they really start to get scared as a spider crawls on Willow, they discover real blood on the floor and a group of bats fly down from the ceiling.
Anya arrives at the party, dressed as a big rabbit, but she can't get in because there's no front door. As she walks around to the front, she sees a girl screaming at a window, and then the window disappears from the house. Inside, and unable to get out of the house, Buffy tells the gang to find a way out and get help. They find Chaz, one of the Frat guys in a closet saying that it's alive. A skeleton attacks Buffy from behind with a knife, but she destroys it and it becomes fake again. Buffy and Willow fight over Buffy giving orders and then over Willow wanting to do a guidance spell that will lead the way. Anya goes to Giles for help and they start looking for a way to help.
Xander tries to talk to Buffy and the gang, but he finds that he's invisible to them all as they completely ignore him. Willow and Oz, who go off on their own to find a way out, find stairs and head up. As they're walking, Oz starts to change into a werewolf and scratches Willow before running away from her. Xander approaches a mirror, and along with his reflection a once-fake head on the table behind him says that he can see him too. Oz sits in a bathtub, chatting that he isn't going to change while Willow conjures her spell. The spell however gets out of control and she screams for help. Buffy, hearing Willow's cries tries to get to her, but instead falls into the basement where the dead start coming up from the ground and grabbing at her.
Meanwhile, Giles and Anya are unable to find a way in, so Giles pulls out a chain saw and cuts a door into the house. In their frenzied attempts to escape their fears that have somehow come true, all the gang runs into the coat room and things seem back to normal. From a book, they determine that the sign on the floor is the Mark of Gachnar and then Giles and Anya break into the room. Before Giles can tell her that destroying the symbol will call Gachnar forth, Buffy destroys it. The very ugly demon is called forth, but it turns out he's incredibly tiny in size and after a laugh, Buffy just squashes him with her shoe. At Giles' place, they eat candy and Giles discovers his mistake. The small picture of Gachnar in the book had the subheading, "Actual size."
Extremely comprehensive overview
Writing and acting
Cast and crew
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Seth Green as Oz
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
- Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
- Emma Caulfield as Anya
- Written by: David Fury
- Directed by: Tucker Gates
Production details
Music
- 28_Days - "Kool"
- Third Grade Teacher - "Owowow"
- Verbena - "Pretty please"
Quotes and trivia
- Buffy: Conjuring. Wil, let's be realistic here. Okay, your basic spells are usually only about 50-50.
- Willow: Oh yeah? Well... so's your face!
- . . .
- Xander: Who's the little fear demon? Come on, who's the little fear demon?
- Giles: Xander, don't taunt the fear demon.
- Xander: Why, can he hurt me?
- Giles: No. It's just... tacky.
- . . .
- Xander: Big overture. Little show.
- . . .
- Giles: Oh, bloody hell, the inscription!
- Buffy: What?
- Giles: I should have translated the Gaelic inscription under the image of Gachnar.
- Buffy: What's it say?
- Giles: 'Actual size.'
Continuity
Arc significance
This episode explores the fears each of the members of the Scooby Gang has, most of which are the underlying subplot for each character for the entire season.
Buffy is afraid of letting people into her life since her experience with Parker. So in the house she finds her fears coming true by being separated from all her friends. Gachnar knowing this, uses this situation since he knows it is most frightening to her.
Xander fears growing apart from the others, since he is the lone Scooby that did not got to college. In his basement before the party Anya touched on this and he got defensive about it. So Gachnar makes him unseeable and unhearable by the others, so that the others, in effect, "abandon" Xander.
Oz spoke of his fear of becoming the wolf to Buffy and Willow in the cafeteria. He fears that he can not control what happens while in this state. So the fear demon causes him to think he is becoming the wolf and he even attacks Willow.
In the cafeteria, Willow tells Buffy that the next level she is approaching in her magical skills is a "little scary". So when she tries to cast a spell to help them in the house, the spell attacks her.
When we finally see the demon is actually quite small, we realize that there really was nothing to be scared about, hence the aptly titled episode which borrows from the famous quote by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) | Buffyverse chronology: Fall 1999 - December 1999 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| L.A. 1999 | Angel comic: |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.01 City of (Angel episode)>City of |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.01 The Freshman (Buffy episode)>The Freshman |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.02 Living Conditions (Buffy episode)>Living Conditions |
| L.A. 1999 | |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.02 Lonely Hearts (Angel episode)>Lonely Hearts |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.00 Unaired Angel pilot |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Not Forgotten (Angel novel)>Not Forgotten |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.03 The Harsh Light of Day (Buffy episode)>The Harsh Light of Day |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.03 In the Dark (Angel episode)>In the Dark |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.04 Fear Itself (Buffy episode)>Fear Itself |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Blood of Carthage (Buffy comic)>Blood of Carthage |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel graphic novel: Surrogates (Angel comic)>Surrogates |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel comic: Strange Bedfellows (Angel comic)>Strange Bedfellows story, Angel #4 |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy video game: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Game Boy Color) |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.04 I Fall to Pieces (Angel episode)>I Fall to Pieces |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.05 Beer Bad (Buffy episode)>Beer Bad |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.05 Rm w/a Vu (Angel episode)>Rm w/a Vu |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy books: Lost Slayer (Buffy novel)>Lost Slayer series |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.06 Wild at Heart (Buffy episode)>Wild at Heart |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy graphic novel: Oz (Buffy comic)>Oz |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | Buffy book: |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.06 Sense & Sensitivity (Angel episode)>Sense & Sensitivity |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.07 The Initiative (Buffy episode)>The Initiative |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.07 Bachelor Party (Angel episode)>Bachelor Party |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Close to the Ground (Angel novel)>Close to the Ground |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Soul Trade (Angel novel)>Soul Trade |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel graphic novel: Earthly Possessions (Angel comic)>Earthly Possessions |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Redemption (Angel novel)>Redemption |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Shakedown (Angel novel)>Shakedown |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Hollywood Noir (Angel novel)>Hollywood Noir |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Avatar (Angel novel)>Avatar |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: Bruja (Angel novel)>Bruja |
| L.A. 1999 | Angel book: The Summoned (Angel novel)>The Summoned |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.08 Pangs (Buffy episode)>Pangs |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.08 I Will Remember You (Angel episode)>I Will Remember You |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.09 Something Blue (Buffy episode)>Something Blue |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.09 Hero (Angel episode)>Hero |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.10 Hush (Buffy episode)>Hush |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.10 Parting Gifts (Angel episode)>Parting Gifts |
| Sunnydale, 1999 | B4.11 Doomed (Buffy episode)>Doomed |
| L.A. 1999 | A1.11 Somnambulist (Angel episode)>Somnambulist |
External links
Reviews
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