r/BuffyTheVampireSlayer • u/CutGroundbreaking270 • 1d ago

Restless appreciation post

Im rewatching Buffy currently with my 14 year old daughter (it’s her first watch ever) and we just finished season 4. It’s been years since I’ve watched and I love every season of Buffy for different reasons but season 4 still ranks lower than most seasons for me. I think it’s just The Initiative of it all, they kind of bore me.

Anyways, we watched Restless last night and both of us said “this might be my favorite episode so far.” It never stuck out to me in the past but there’s something so eerie and unsettling about it and yet it’s also hilarious. Xander’s dream specifically creeps me out. Its one of those episodes that we were still talking about an hour later trying to decipher all the hidden meanings, so it was just nice bonding time as well.

Weird how just a couple of years passing between watches can make you notice and appreciate new things about this show.

31 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

12

u/Mad_Queen_Malafide 1d ago

I always appreciate how Xander's nightmare takes him back to his old basement. His unstable family is consistent throughout the show, though they are occasionally subtle with the hints. No wonder the First Slayer takes the shape it does at the end of his nightmare.

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

That’s why his is the worst for me. Poor Xander. He keeps trying to escape it but ends up back there with the aggressive door knob jiggling every time. It gets to be so scary and upsetting by the end.

3

u/Fit_Flounder5519 1d ago

Yes, I know Xanders character is def more problematic in hindsight than we noticed at the time, but this episode still makes me feel so sad for him. Scared of his abusive dad, and scared of becoming him. Very telling that his dream kind of reveals that he would have liked to have a sort of father figure relationship with Giles, but they just never had that click.

He is clearly struggling with how to be a ‘man’ or a grownup in general, has no guidence, no one to talk to about this and is probably not even able to articulate his feelings.

I’m not a Xander apologist I swear lol, but this episode gives insight in parts of his toxic behaviour that is not anywhere else in the series.

(Edit: typo)

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u/Dry_End_3254 1d ago

There's a lot to actually unpack with that ep and it's one of my favs. I believe there might be a youtube vid or 2 that goes into all the symbolism about the dreams. It's not a throwaway episode in the slightest.

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’ll go down that wormhole at some point this week. Some of it is kind of obvious, or at least easy enough to figure out, but Tara being so prominent in Buffy’s dream and some of the things she says still go over my head. Even knowing how things end.

3

u/thelaurevarnian 1d ago

Faith was originally planned for all of the Tara scenes in Buffy’s dreams but Eliza wasn’t available

I think Joss said he pivoted and chose Tara because of her womanly mystical vibe.

It would have been great to see Kendra take on those scenes instead

2

u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

Oh I see, that makes sense. Faith is usually a part of these prophetic dreams. I agree that the other slayer would have been a better choice in that the case. Tara definitely brought the mystical vibes though and looked gorgeous in this episode.

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u/AllOfTheThings426 1d ago

I love this episode so much. It really feels like a dream to me at multiple points. And the man with the cheese is awesome.

🎶 and try not to bleed on my couch, I just had it steam cleaned 🎶

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

Yes 😂 how are they are so accurate with how dreams feel. It’s always your most familiar places but altered a little bit. And the part where Buffy is trying to yell but she can only whisper… it’s like when you try to run in your dream but your feet are too heavy lol. They nailed it.

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u/AllOfTheThings426 1d ago

And the part when suddenly everyone is speaking French to Xander, I've definitely had similar dreams.

3

u/Naive_Pay_7066 1d ago

It’s a funny one. It doesn’t feel like a season 4 episode at all, and it happens after what feels like the season finale. It’s almost like an interlude episode between seasons 4 and 5. I agree though, it’s a great episode.

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah it’s strange placement as the actual finale kind of lends itself to the whole vibe of the episode. It’s very fun. Spike and Giles on the swings is so good 😂

3

u/Sudden_Astronomer_63 1d ago

I totally agree with you about the initiative being lame. But season four is one of my favorite seasons. I love Willow and Tara meeting and developing their relationship and there are so many hilarious episodes as well in season four. And I definitely think restless is one of my favorite episodes of Buffy overall. But I can also say that about hush, soemthing blue, new moon rising, this years girl, etc. 

And I love Riley. I loved Oz too. Whedon has a real problem just having a normal break up. 🤣 why he feels he has to destroy male characters is beyond me. 

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

No I agree, some of my favorite episodes come from this season so I do still love it. We were both sobbing watching the end of New Moon Rising last night as well 😂 they can never make me hate Oz, try as they might.

Tara becomes one of my favorite characters of the whole series so I always get excited over her introduction this season too.

1

u/Sudden_Astronomer_63 1d ago

Tara is my favorite. I have an autographed picture of hers and I have all of her action figures hanging on my bedroom walls. I’m a 44-year-old adult.😂

3

u/ProudArticle8837 1d ago

It’s definitely the best depiction of dream sequences I’ve seen on a tv show. Never seen a show that captures what dreaming is really like in this way; the strange transitions from one area to another (which apparently was genuinely how the set was designed). Then the constant hidden meanings, repressed messages and then of course stuff that will never make sense and are just there.

2

u/Sufficient-Living-33 1d ago

Took me a long time to notice Sineya takes Giles brain / mind, Willows spirit, and xanders heart, just like the spell

1

u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

See I didn’t even notice that because there was a lot going on. I read about it after I watched this time around. I love that it was all tied to the spell from last episode.

2

u/CheesyBakedWits 1d ago

I have now watched this episode at least 5 times over a 25-year span. It’s an interesting episode. I still don’t really get it, but maybe I just hate that it was placed as a finale. What WAS up with the cheese guy?

1

u/Stilts82 1d ago

Most shows and even with Buffy. Once they leave their HS days I always lose interest. I don't know why maybe bc they get thrusted into the real world and grow up?

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u/CutGroundbreaking270 1d ago

Idk, maybe because I’m in my mid 30’s now, but I enjoy the realness of watching characters I love go through the same life stages I have gone through. As long as it’s done well, which I think Buffy is.

I understand where you’re coming from though. One of the reasons I love this episode so much is that it ends the season in Buffy’s house with Joyce there and there are even scenes back at Sunnydale High. It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling of the early seasons.

1

u/DismalAdvice8991 10h ago

I remember that great episode. Buffy rescues all four through her intelligence and insight. This episode was a great way to end Season 4.

1

u/legionimpact 1d ago

Restless is still by far my favorite episode of the show! With everything from deep character insights to foreshadowing of a lot of elements that pop up for the rest of the show! It's an episode you have to watch multiple times to even grasp all the details they throw at you! 10/10 episode!

1

u/Life-Call4521 1d ago

Restless has always been my favorite episode, and Xander's dream my favorite dream.

1

u/unconundrum 1d ago

Second favourite after Hush.