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Episode 5.02: Real Me | Episode 5.04: Out of My Mind
Characters:
| Buffy | Xander | Willow |
| Giles | Spike | Riley |
| Anya | Dawn |
Overall (6/10)
Buffy:
Buffy's apparently been a bit of a workaholic lately. Focusing on her Slaying and her schoolwork. This is evidenced by Riley's admonishment for her to relax at the very beginning.
This is actually something of a change for Buffy, who always tried to prioritize her life so that her social stuff came first (though, oftentimes, the Slaying overtook that priority). Now, though, she's putting Slayer and school first.
Xander:
This is Xander's episode. Xander's feeling a bit loserish. Living in the basement is getting a little old. His girlfriend isn't happy with him. He's about to lose his job. Giles cautions Xander to "be careful with that" when Xander is merely moving an item to a shelf, but Giles says nothing to Riley who's wildly swinging around a statue in that same moment. Oh, yeah, and Riley seems just a lot cooler than Xander.
Then he gets split in two with loser!Xander showcasing all the...not-so-awesome parts of Xander. He's messy, forgetful, clumsy, not too bright, and just an all-around goober.
On the other hand, we have suave!Xander who's...well...suave. He's cool, personable, charming, assertive, and sensitive.
The twist, of course, is that both of these represent Xander. They show the two extremes of who Xander is. And Xander quickly discovers that it's through his own skills that he gets the apartment, keeps his job, and comforts Anya.
The episode does a clever trick with leading the audience to believe that loser!Xander is the genuine Xander while suave!Xander is the demon. This subverts our own perceptions of the character when we realize that suave!Xander is our Xander, as well.
Indeed, we see this clearly in two scenes. One where he's confidently arguing for Buffy to kill his doppelganger. This attitude of Xander's hearkens back to arguments regarding Angel several seasons ago where Xander was just as adamant about killing Angel.
Additionally, we have the scene with Xander comforting Anya. Every so often, Xander will have moments of great insight and sensitivity regarding issues such as that.
Willow:
Willow plays the supporting role in the episode. Though she's supporting Xander instead of Buffy this time around.
I think it's noteworthy that Giles didn't get knocked out in this episode. Even if he did come pretty close.
Spike's obsession with the Slayer grows a bit stronger as evidenced her. His moment with the mannequin is especially interesting for its subtext. Is he being threatening or romantically wistful? Maybe a little of both.
Riley gets to be something of a standard by which Xander is compared. The apartment lady goes immediately to Riley, who she sees as being more likely to rent an apartment than Xander. Additionally, Riley seems to be better at handling his relationship with Buffy.
However, just as Xander discovers the good qualities in himself by the end, he also learns that the happy Buffy/Riley relationship is a bit of a facade for some real issues.
For one, Riley is unhappy with how much time Buffy is spending with her Slaying duties. However, he also stresses the importance of Buffy being the Slayer saying that he "wants it all". We'll see later that, despite what he may say, he truly doesn't understand everything that entails.
At the moment, though, he believes that Buffy doesn't love him. At least not the same way he loves her. Buffy's feelings for Riley are rather ambiguous in canon, and a case could be made either way. Whatever the case, Buffy's obviously uncomfortable discussing whatever feelings she may have, and so Riley is left with the impression that his feelings are unreciprocated.
Anya got injured in the last episode, and now she's worried about her own mortality. After having been an immortal demon for some thousands of years, it's a bit of a shock to her that she'll die in...maybe 50 years' time.
She's eager to move on with life. Get an apartment, a pet, a boat, maybe a kid. She feels her life is quickly moving to its finish.
Xander, however, manages to make her feel better with regards to those worries.
Dawn only plays a small part in this episode. It is significant, though, that this episode has the first mention of Joyce having headaches.
A demon zaps Xander, dividing him into suave!Xander and loser!Xander.
Well, Toth, supposedly. However, the bad guy is really Xander's insecurities, especially as they manifest in loser!Xander.
Perhaps the most out-of-place S5 episode. This doesn't forward the arc in any significant way. In fact, this episode might well have worked at the end of S4.
A solid and entertaining episode that gives a good exploration of Xander's character, as well as highlighting some of the Buffy/Riley problems.
Special performance award goes to Nicholas Brendan for the Snoopy dance.
6 out of 10.
The end with Riley talking about his feelings for Buffy.
Episode 5.02: Real Me | Episode 5.04: Out of My Mind
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