Out of Mind, Out of Sight (Buffy episode)
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"Out of Mind, Out of Sight," a.k.a. "Invisible Girl," is the eleventh and penultimate episode in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes. An invisible person seeks a personal vendetta against the popular Cordelia.
Plot synopsis
Summary
Cordelia's friends are being attacked by an invisible force and nobody is sure what is happening; Buffy hears laughing but finds nothing when she follows it. The gang concludes that it may be an invisible person, and the prime suspect is Marcie Ross — a girl whom no one seems to remember, even though she was in everyone's classes. Giles, Willow and Xander follow music they think is Marcie, only to find themselves trapped in the boiler room with a gas leak; they are rescued by Angel. Meanwhile, Buffy and Cordelia are kidnapped by Marcie and taken to the Bronze, where Buffy luckily manages to escape and stop Marcie before she disfigures Cordelia. After she has caught Marcie, two government officials enter, taking Marcie away to be 'rehabilitated'.
Expanded overview
Cordelia is talking excitedly with her friends about the spring and the May Queen competition when Buffy bumps into them, spilling various slayer paraphernalia. Buffy makes up an excuse about borrowing it from Giles for a history project.
In English class, Cordelia comments that in The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is self-involved and whiny. She likens it to a bicycle rider she ran over; the girl whined about her pain and ignored Cordelia's traumatic experience. The teacher was agreeable to the viewpoint. After class, Cordelia arranges to talk with the teacher the next day to talk about her paper.
In the boys' locker room Mitch, Cordelia's boyfriend, is attacked by a baseball bat. Cordelia is outside campaigning for May Queen. As Xander and Willow mock Cordelia, referring to a past Buffy did not share, Buffy feels left out and explains that she was the May Queen at her old school. The conversation ends when they hear that Mitch was beaten and is taken to the hospital. Buffy slips into the boys' locker room to find the word "LOOK" spray-painted on the lockers.
At the library, the Scoobies are stumped. They suspect a ghost. Meanwhile, Harmony asks Cordelia about Mitch's condition; Cordelia explains that he is alright but looking too bruised for the prom pictures. In a flashback, we see Cordelia and Harmony talking abot Mitch's recent break-up with Wendy, and whether Cordelia would like to be his girlfriend. In the present, Harmony is pushed down the stairs by the invisible force as Buffy approaches. Principal Snyder arrives and Buffy's friends must distract him from Buffy, who runs off to follow an invisible source of laughter. The invisible thing bumps into Buffy before escaping.
This is not a ghost. Xander suggests a cloak of invisibility worn by the Greek gods. Buffy dismisses the theory for the pettiness of the crimes. As the Scoobies disperse, Buffy follows the sound of a flute. In the library, Giles is surprised by Angel, who offers to get a book of prophecies, the Pergamum Codex. Another flashback sequence sees Cordelia and Harmony discussing a lecture and ignoring Marcy. In the present, Cordelia wins the May Queen award. Looking over Willow's list of missing kids, Buffy suspects Marcy when she sees she played the flute. Tracking Marcy, Buffy finds her hideout just as Marcy finds Mrs. Miller, Cordelia's literature teacher and chokes her with a plastic bag. Cordelia, arriving a short while afterwards, saves Mrs. Miller. An invisible hand writes "listen" on the blackboard.
As Willow looks over Marcy's yearbook, she sees it is full of the generic "Have a nice summer!" greeting, showing nobody actually knew Marcy. She is horrified to find her own greeting to Marcy, "Have a great summer!". Giles realizes that Marcy became invisible because nobody notices her. In a flashback sequence, we see Marcy being ignored in class, and becoming invisible. As the Scoobies realize that Marcy really is after Cordelia, the latter walks into the library asking Buffy for protection. They decide to use Cordelia as bait, and to have Buffy bodyguarding her. As Cordelia is getting dressed, she confides in Buffy that she is lonely too, but it is better to be lonely and popular. Marcy lures Willow, Xander and Giles into the boiler room, where she closes the door and opens the gas, then grabs Cordelia as she is changing. Buffy follows Cordelia, and finds her unconscious. Marcy surprises Buffy, kicking her and knocking her out.
Buffy wakes up, finding herself tied to a chair near Cordelia, similarly indisposed. They see the word "learn" on a curtain, and Marcy explains that Cordelia is the lesson, or will be when she makes a mockery of Cordelia's face by surgery. Buffy frees herself from the ropes, and kicks the instrument tray at Marcy. Angel rescues the Scoobies, and shuts off the gas. Buffy concentrates, listening to Marcy, then finds her, drapes the curtain over her and knocks her out. Two FBI agents arrive to haul Marcy away. Marcy is later "shown" in a school for spies, together with a whole class full of invisible students.
Writing and acting
- Giles gave a pseudo-scientific explanation of quantum mechanics for Marcy's invisibility. That being ostracized can have a devastating impact on a person's mental health is explored again in "Earshot".
- The classroom scene where Marcy turns invisible is based on a dream Joss Whedon had when he was a child: he thought that no-one loved him and that one day he would disappear.
Production details
Music
- Johann Sebastian Bach - "Siciliano"
Quotes and trivia
- Cordelia refers to Mitch as Hellen Keller when he does not know her eye color.
- This episode had the working title "Invisible Girl." Marvel Comics has a superheroine of the same name.
- Marcy plays Johan Sebastian Bach's Siciliano on her flute. In American Pie, Alyson Hannigan's character played the flute in band camp.
- "Crush! Kill! Destroy!" is a reference to Lost in Space.
- Willow wears a Scooby-Doo T-shirt.
- The text in Marcy's textbook in spy school is from Happiness is a Warm Gun, by The Beatles, when she opens it to Chapter 11.
- In the literature class, the text on the blackboard is from Waiting for Godot.
- Cordelia is shocked to see Marcy wearing Laura Ashley.
- Despite Buffy's assertion, Greek gods are extremely petty.
- Snyder is right; there were no dead students (or any death) in this episode. It is the second such episode.
- Marcy's message, "Look. Listen. Learn." is a common slogan in art education.
- Xander got his wish from "The Puppet Show"; he did not want to be on "Cordelia duty" anymore. Buffy took it in this episode.
Continuity
Arc significance
- Angel meets Giles for the first time. They will have a seesaw relationship with Angel torturing Giles in "Becoming", Giles being Angel's confidante in "Pangs" and Giles distrust of Angel in "Shells". The Pergamum Codex, which Angel delivers in this episode, contains the prophecy revealed in the next episode.
- Angel saves Xander's life, a factor in Xander's asking Angel for help rescuing Buffy in the next episode.
- Uncharacteristically, Cordelia genuinely likes the guy she goes out with in this episode. Tragically, Mitch will die in the next.
- This is the first time Cordelia works with the Scoobies.
- Like in season 2's "Go Fish", this pre-finale episode, while advancing the overall plot, is mostly outside the season's main story arc.
Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
External links
- [Buffy Body Count for this episode]
- [Buffy Guide]
- [Buffy Trivia Guide]
- [All Things Philosophical]
- [TV.com Summary]
- [BBC Guide]
- [Stake&Cross Summary]
- [Buffy vs. Angel Summary]
- [Music Guide]
- [Buffy World Summary]
- [Buffy World Statistics]
- [BBC Trivia]
- [Stake&Cross Quotes]
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