Title:
Season/Episode Number:
Season 6, Episode 16
Summary:
Buffy gets spiked by a random demon set loose by the Trio, and begins to hallucinate that she is in a mental asylum, and that all this time Sunnydale and all its inhabitants (except Joyce) are or were products of her deranged mind. She and we flash back and forth between the Buffyverse and the asylum throughout the rest of the episode - and as we go along it is less and less clear which is reality and which is delusion.
In the asylum Crazy!Buffy is visited by none other than Her Bouffanted Highness Joyce, accompanied by Hank. Yes, for in this reality Joyce is alive and still married. Shock! Both she and Hank are glad to see a lucid Buffy, apparently a rare thing.
For the most part, Joyce spends most of her time trying to convince Crazy!Buffy that Sunnydale really is only figments of her imagination and that she must reject it for their reality. That she has no sister, no friends called Willow and Xander, and there are no vampires...
The episode climaxes with Buffy having to decide between killing her friends, thereby "destroying" Sunnydale in her mind or rejecting the asylum world as merely a sinister plot device to make her go evil. Despite an ever more distraught Joyce telling her she can beat the illness, that she can be strong, Buffy nevertheless chooses Sunnydale, and turns her back on "reality" once and for all.
The final scene has Joyce breaking down in Hank's arms as the Doctor says of Crazy!Buffy, "we've lost her."
The asylum scenes are lit in strange, washed-out colours, which make an already upsetting situation even more uncomfortable to watch. Joyce's return is not a happy occassion.
Normal Again is not a classic Joyce ep, but one where Kristine really gets to show her acting chops and we are reminded yet again how much the show misses her presence.
Sunnydale Style:
Joyce has two outfits here: a black and white stripey top with chic black shoulder bag is all we see in the first scene, then for most of the episode a dark (green?) cardigan over a white top, with beige trousers and black shoes.
Interaction:
Buffy, Hank, Asylum Doctor
Joyce's Best Line:
Joyce fights for Crazy!Buffy: "You've got a world of strength in your heart. I know you do. You just have to find it again. Believe in yourself." *sniff*
Fertility Statue Rating:
Click here for our season six overview.
