'Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Weirdest Episode Feels More Like 'Twin Peaks' (2024)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is renowned for being one of the most influential coming-of-age shows of all time, as Joss Whedon created a dense mythology that served as an allegory for the transition from childhood to adolescence. Each season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer introduced a new “Big Bad” for Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), and Buffy's Watcher, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), to face off against, but the show was often at its best when it took stylistic detours in the form of more experimental episodes. While the musical episode “Once More With Feeling” and the near-silent horror episode “Hush” are often cited among the show’s standouts, Buffy the Vampire Slayer famously took a stab at surrealist storytelling with its Season 4 finale, “Restless.”

The fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains one of its most controversial. By transitioning the “Scooby Gang” from high school to college, the show lost some of the inherent charm that the earlier episodes had contained. Additionally, the focus on the villainous organization known as “The Initiative” proved to be largely underwhelming, and did not live up to the high standard that previous “Big Bad” characters had set. However, “Restless” took a stylistic detour from the rest of the season for an adventure that took place almost entirely in the characters’ collective dream state. By paying homage to the style of Twin Peaks, among others, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was able to produce a nontraditional and self-reflective season finale.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

TV-14

Action

Adventure

See Also

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Comedy

Drama

Mystery

Sci-Fi

A young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.

Release Date

March 10, 1997

Creator

Joss Whedon

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar , Alyson Hannigan , nicholas brendon , Michelle Trachtenberg , Emma Caulfield , James Marsters

Main Genre

Action

Seasons

7

Production Company

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Network

The WB , UPN

What Happens in "Restless"?

“Restless” takes place immediately after the Scooby Gang has thwarted the plot by The Initiative to unleash the monstrous creature Adam (George Hertzberg), giving them a rare opportunity to rest and catch up. Although the characters are anticipating a lazy evening that includes watching classic movies like Apocalypse Now, they slowly begin to fall asleep and begin experiencing a shared nightmare about meeting the First Slayer. “Restless” explores a dream-like state in which traditional logic does not apply; rather than taking down a villain or discovering an evil plot, Buffy and her friends must interpret the cryptic messages that they have been receiving and try to break free from the vision.

While there’s an element of slapstick humor within some of their visions, “Restless” forces each of the main Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters to face their inner demons. Willow is placed in a situation where she must perform on stage, despite not knowing any lines; this speaks to her lack of self-confidence and trepidation about using her new powers. Xander reckons with his anxieties about responsibility and his relationship with his girlfriend, Anya (Emma Caulfield). Buffy is forced to reckon with the true legacy that comes with being a slayer; she is unwilling to give up her personal friendships, even though this is something that slayers have done for generations. Moments from past episodes are alluded to throughout in order to enhance each of the character arcs.

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Season 4 Finale Utilizes a Surrealist Style

Despite being conceived as an homage to classic genre movies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer utilizes the surrealist style of David Lynch in “Restless.” In Twin Peaks, events in the Red Room show key moments of character development or thematic transition through metaphorical events; Cooper learns insights about Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) by entering into a dream. Similarly, “Restless” allows each of the main Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters to reach a critical decision as a result of their premonitions. Willow accepts her changed identity, Xander reckons with his maturation, Giles realizes his time as a mentor has concluded, and Buffy accepts the potentially sacrificial role she may have to inhabit to fulfill the prophecy from the First Slayer.

As terrifying and confusing as Lynch’s work tends to be, it often includes an element of idiosyncratic humor. Buffy the Vampire Slayer homages the bizarre humor of Twin Peaks by placing the characters in unusual situations. Between a re-enactment of Apocalypse Now, an image of the vampire Spike (James Marsters) as an infantile child, and Buffy’s boyfriend Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) as a Western-style sheriff, “Restless” repurposes familiar archetypes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe for comedic effect. The sheer strangeness of the situation only makes the more graphic moments of body horror more upsetting. However, there are also humorous elements that are included just for the sake of being weird; the recurring appearance of a “Cheese Man” (David Wells) may not have any thematic context, but it does add a few strong laughs.

“Restless” Marked a New Era for 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Although the characters emerge from the dream state by the time that the episode concludes, “Restless” features many allusions to the future of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy is told through a vision featuring Tara (Amber Benson) that “a new Dawn” awaits her soon; this foreshadows the emergence of her half-sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) in the subsequent season. Giles also references Spike as being “like a son” to him; in the Season 6 episode “Tabula Rasa,” a case of collective amnesia makes Giles believe that Spike is actually his offspring. The predominance of Tara within Willow’s vision even teases the romantic relationship the two women will have in the next several seasons of the series.

While not a traditional finale, “Restless” marks a transitional point in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as it became a more theoretically nuanced series. The later seasons of the series deal with adult issues such as abuse, trauma, abandonment, addiction, and sacrifice, signifying a significant shift from the more lighthearted tone of the earlier episodes. Overall, “Restless” serves as the show’s first entry into a much deeper and darker world.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is streaming on Hulu in the U.S.

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