Invisible Girl
Story by Joss Whedon. Teleplay by Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden.
Directed by Reza Badiyi
Original Airdate: May 19, 1997
Plot: Marcie, an unpopular and virutally unnoticed
student at Sunnydale High, vanishes quite literally (she becomes invisible). She blames
Cordelia for her vanishing from sight and sets out to ruin Cordy's life. In desparation,
Cordy is forced to turn to Buffy and the rest of the Scooby gang for help...
Review
Warning: If you'd rather keep SPOILER information out of sight, out of
mind, turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead and no amount of
ignoring them will make them invisible.
In short: Hit and miss.
In some ways, it's hard to sum up exactly how I feel about
Invisible Girl. Namely because on paper it sounds exactly like the type
of thing Buffy does best--take an established horror myth and give it a
new and interesting spin. And the fact that Marcie disappeared precisely
because nobody ever saw her when she was visible was certainly an
interesting idea. However, like many episodes of Sliders, I found myself
coming away from the episode thinking, "Great idea but not as well
executed as it could have been."
I guess I was just expecting a bit more. Part of it may be that
last week's Monday showing of Nightmares was so darn good. And knowing
that Tuesday night we'd see the instant classic School Hard again. Couple
with it my own excitement at finally being able to see Prophecy Girl next
week and it's easy to see Invsible Girl as an episode that's content to
circle the runway as we get ready for the really big stuff that's coming.
(And there are hints of it here!)
But, that would be an injustice to the show because I'd overlook
some of the best character development we've seen Cordy given up to this
point. For the first time in the first season, Cordy goes beyond being
the shallow, self-serving witch we've come to know and love. Indeed, at
first, it was very hard for me to find any redeeming quality to Cordy, but
in the light in Invisible Girl, it's nice to see that she actually does
have a human side underneath her bluster and insults. The scenes with
Buffy as they discussed how hard Cordy works to be popular while it
doesn't seem to bring her the happiness she thinks it should were
extremely well done. Cordy was shown as glaring opposites in the
story--mainly by the flashbacks. Her plotting to steal her new boyfriend
as well as stealing Marcie's comment about the toupee looking like cabbage
show her in an all around negative light. (Part of this is probably due
to the fact that these are flashbacks from Marcie's perspective and thus
would portray Cordy as less than ideal, but a portion of them do show how
cold Cordy can be). Coupled with the scenes with Buffy, we see a new side
of Cordy and that her ego is a front. I think we saw the real Cordy in
the moments when she's the most scared--both in the closet changing and at
the Bronze. (And does anyone else find it ironic that she would change
clothes in the janitor's closet, where she will later spend long periods
of time making out with Xander? Just a little aside!) Charisa Carpenter
gives Cordy a new level of depth, that quite frankly at this point Cordy
needs. Yes, we saw her great fears last week of bad hair days and chess
club, but I think this week we saw a greater fear--that someone would find
a chink in her armor and determine she's not all she pretends to be. Or
becoming like Marcy--unseen.
So, if I were to quickly dismiss the story as filler material
until Prophecy Girl, it'd be easy to overlook that plotline and some major
growth.
But, when it all came down to it, the plot of a girl who turns
invisible had so much more potential than it eventually turned out to
deliver. I'm not sure what I expected really, but I was hoping for a bit
more than we got here. I think part of it was that in the last twenty or
so minutes that the plot descended into a ton of cliches instead of rising
above them as Buffy usually does. Buffy is separated from the Scooby
gang, knocked out, and threatened. I think there were some major, major
plotholes in the final few moments, a few of which really bugged me.
One was that Angel served absolutely no purpose to this episode.
It seemed as though they just threw him in at the last moment in order
to have foreshadowing for next week and because they couldn't think of
anyone else to get the Scooby gang out of the gas filled basement. The
explanation of "Oh, I just happened to come by as you're desprate for my
help," just really didn't hold water for me. Not that Angel can't be a
savior, but I think having it be less cliched would have worked.
Add to that the internal illogic in the final minutes. Somehow
Marcie is able to virutally simulataneously lock Giles, Xander, and Willow
in the basement, then haul it up to the bandroom, get into the duct
work,and kidnap Cordy. Did she also gain super speed along with her
invisibility? Because that's pretty much the best explanation I can come
up with when it comes to this part of the plot?
Finally, why take Buffy with her? OK< I know it's the standard
evil villain clichhe to knock out the hero and then tie him/her up and
explain the entire diabolical plan to him/her, but surely Marcie had more
sense than that. She's had all this time to come up with her revenge plan
against Cordy and she wants it to go perfectly. But yet, she takes Buffy
along, knowing that Buffy regularily slays vamps and such. (Marcies tells
us as much with her dialogue). So, why take Buffy who could, quite
obviously, foil your plans easily? It doesn't make much sense.
So, while the idea was good, the Cordy development even better,
the entire episode was a let down. I'm not disguisted, just disappointed.
Well, that about wraps it up except for a few small things....
--Did anyone else think that Marcie's plan to disfigure Cordy was
similar to what Wesley wanted to do the Count in the Princess Bride? I
found that an amusing little nod.
--Dialogue to rewind for: Cordy's interpretation of Shylock's
speech was great!
--Dialogue to fast foward past: "It's not like I need the
oxygen." Ugh!
--Is this the first time we've seen Principal Snyder or does he
appear in the Puppet Show? I was just wondering.
Well, that's about it for now. All in all, it was a great concept
on paper that never really went over that well on screen. I am willing to
give a few extra points for Cordy's character development, though.
Rating: 6.0 (out of 10.0)
Next up: On Tuesday, a classic with the first appearance of Spike and
Dru. Set those VCRs now! On Monday, the season finale of season one wiht
Buffy and the Master going mano a mano in a battle to the death. Once
again, set those VCRs now!
"Then why do you work so hard at being popular?"
--Buffy
Review Copyright 1998 by Michael T. Hickerson. All Rights Reserved.
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