Buffy gets turned invisible by the nerds this episode, who use a diamond to power their invisibility ray. Can diamonds really be utilized as a power source? You see it often enough in fiction (Mr. Freeze's ice cannon in Batman and Robin, for example). It doesn't seem plausible to me, but then again I guess an invisibility ray isn't that plausible either.
The best part of the episode is how much fun Buffy has while being invisible. It's pretty cute how playful she gets, even when her mischievous activities expand to vandalism and thievery (stealing a traffic cop's cart). I guess there's something about not being seen that relieves her of the discomfort and judgment she's been feeling ever since she was resurrected; it removes that barrier of her friends not quite knowing how to react around her, in a weird way.
Dawn is pretty annoying this episode, though. I want to like her--I really do--and sometimes she is a cool character. But in this episode she does nothing but shoot eye daggers at Buffy. First she blames Buffy for not being there to prevent her accident with Willow from last episode, then she freaks out when Buffy comes home invisible. Like she hasn't seen weirder things. Unfortunately she comes across as a total brat.
One refreshing thing about the episode is that Buffy takes advantage of her invisibility to fix a problem and gets away with it. Usually there are morality-laden consequences or lectures from friends about using magic or the supernatural as a solution to everyday problems. In a typical episode Buffy would come to realize that gaslighting a social worker who wants to take Dawn away is, for some reason, not an appropriate solution and she has to resolve the issue using only the abilities available to an average adult. To David Fury's credit, he doesn't force us to endure such heavy-handed moralizing.
It's also nice to see Xander and Willow sharing screen time together, an occurrence increasingly rare as the seasons go on. Of course the first scene is a confrontation, as Xander accuses Willow of being responsible for Buffy's invisibility, but once that's cleared up there's a fun moment of them working together to find clues to Buffy's predicament. As much as I love Anya and Tara, neither of them really bring out anything excessively human or interesting in their love interests. The relationship between Xander and Willow was once the heart of the show and it's good to be reminded of that every now and again.
Xander makes a reference to Marcie, the student from season one who turned invisible due to the neglect of her peers. It would have been cool to have her turn up again and interweave her story line with Buffy's in this episode (or have her show up in season 4 working for the Initiative, for that matter), but maybe they couldn't get Clea DuVall back. Oh well.
The best part of the episode is how much fun Buffy has while being invisible. It's pretty cute how playful she gets, even when her mischievous activities expand to vandalism and thievery (stealing a traffic cop's cart). I guess there's something about not being seen that relieves her of the discomfort and judgment she's been feeling ever since she was resurrected; it removes that barrier of her friends not quite knowing how to react around her, in a weird way.
Dawn is pretty annoying this episode, though. I want to like her--I really do--and sometimes she is a cool character. But in this episode she does nothing but shoot eye daggers at Buffy. First she blames Buffy for not being there to prevent her accident with Willow from last episode, then she freaks out when Buffy comes home invisible. Like she hasn't seen weirder things. Unfortunately she comes across as a total brat.
One refreshing thing about the episode is that Buffy takes advantage of her invisibility to fix a problem and gets away with it. Usually there are morality-laden consequences or lectures from friends about using magic or the supernatural as a solution to everyday problems. In a typical episode Buffy would come to realize that gaslighting a social worker who wants to take Dawn away is, for some reason, not an appropriate solution and she has to resolve the issue using only the abilities available to an average adult. To David Fury's credit, he doesn't force us to endure such heavy-handed moralizing.
It's also nice to see Xander and Willow sharing screen time together, an occurrence increasingly rare as the seasons go on. Of course the first scene is a confrontation, as Xander accuses Willow of being responsible for Buffy's invisibility, but once that's cleared up there's a fun moment of them working together to find clues to Buffy's predicament. As much as I love Anya and Tara, neither of them really bring out anything excessively human or interesting in their love interests. The relationship between Xander and Willow was once the heart of the show and it's good to be reminded of that every now and again.
Xander makes a reference to Marcie, the student from season one who turned invisible due to the neglect of her peers. It would have been cool to have her turn up again and interweave her story line with Buffy's in this episode (or have her show up in season 4 working for the Initiative, for that matter), but maybe they couldn't get Clea DuVall back. Oh well.