HoyaSaxa-

I think that the scenario you imagine under "3" is the ONLY way that Buffy's mental instituition memory makes much sense...aside from that, it seems to me that the writers simply stuck it in there to make it all seem more emotional...the trouble is that I just find it unbelievable that Buffy never told anyone about it. TV shows often invent experiences that their characters had in the past that makes something that they're going through now more emotional; the trouble is that it's usually never mentioned after that episode, and so instead of being emotional and touching it seems clunky and forced (one show that used to do it all the time is the sci-fi show Sliders, but Buffy rarely does it, which is one thing that makes-or made it-great TV.).

I have always been fascinated by the idea of what the first four seasons would have been like w/ Dawn in the picture. It seems like kind of a gip that no one actually remembers the first four seasons having happened exactly as they did in the actual show. Oh well...my theory is that one thing that Dawn's existence also changed is Hank Summers' relationship w/ his family: it seems like as soon as Dawn was introduced, Hank went from being a father who sometimes stayed in touch w/ his daughter to a jerk who ran off to Spain w/ his secretary. Could it be that Dawn actually influences her family's past? It seems plausible to me that Hank could have been overwhelmed by having TWO teenage girls to contend with, and that led the divorce to be messier and him to become more estranged from his family.

I'd chalk that up to Giles and his fellow Watchers not being powerful (or unwise) enough to tamper with the mystical forces behind the Slayer. Medical exams, including a hospital stay in "Killed by Death" and the lengthy trip to a sanitarium revealed in "Normal Again," never revealed anything physically remarkable about Buffy.

Don't they usually expect crazy folk to be stronger than normal? Besides, she was only there for a few weeks, and I doubt she was actively trying to escape. And it's not like they did a full body MRI in "Killed By Death" to scan for structural abnormalities.

As for the Summers parents' permanent vacation in Egypt, if they can parentwank bloodstains in clothing, I'm sure they could do the same for old fantasies about vampires.

Cornelius: Good point about Hank's increased parental suckitude with the advent of Dawn. That might explain a lot.

Strange enough, of all the episodes in S6 that people like to rip on my least favorite is "Normal Again".

For me, "Normal Again" would have been just fine had they left two things out of the episode:

1. Buffy's aforementioned confession about really having been in an institution AND having previously told Joyce and Hank about the vampires. It just totally didn't fit with any previous continuity.

2. The ultra-cheesy ending scene in the clinic. "It wasn't real--or was it? dun dun DUN!

But I liked the rest of the episode. The concept of Buffy having to choose between her crappy reality and an easier, nicer fantasy world was an interesting one, especially since she probably still felt cheated for having been ripped out of heaven.

Also, it doesn't fit with S1. I can't remember the instance, but Buffy slips and says something about vampires at one time, and it doesn't cause alarms to go off for Joyce, which you think it would if it was something you had had your daughter commited over.

UHm, pre-WttHMm Buffy burned down a school. I'd be surprised if she WASN'T committed for a short time.

"UHm, pre-WttHMm Buffy burned down a school. I'd be surprised if she WASN'T committed for a short time."

I'd like to say that as a series Buffy has maintained pretty good continuity rules over its lifetime. In a tv show like this, that's kind of hard to do over 7 seasons and a spinoff that crosses over from time to time. That said, the extrapolations one can make by the presence of Dawn are intriguing to the point where even the 4-shot comic can be evolved even further.

Angel now has this interesting factor involved too.

The big question is -- what is the Bobby-Ewing-In-the-Shower moment?

That said, the extrapolations one can make by the presence of Dawn are intriguing to the point where even the 4-shot comic can be evolved even further.

Which really makes me wish they would do the cartoon.

UHm, pre-WttHMm Buffy burned down a school. I'd be surprised if she WASN'T committed for a short time.

I got the impression she was committed before this, not after.

Also, it doesn't fit with S1. I can't remember the instance, but Buffy slips and says something about vampires at one time, and it doesn't cause alarms to go off for Joyce, which you think it would if it was something you had had your daughter commited over.

UHm, pre-WttHMm Buffy burned down a school. I'd be surprised if she WASN'T committed for a short time.

Which could also account for Joyce not seeming to know anything about vampires. In Buffy's mind, the big issue is the vampires - to Hank and Joyce, the action is going to be by far the bigger issue than the delusional-sounding excuses she's throwing at them. The details of her ravings might not sink in to the extent that they'd trigger alarm bells later on.

If it did happen before the school incident...well, it's a weaker argument but could still hold. She's (in their eyes) delusional and raving about impossible things - it's the fact of the situation that matters more than the specifics of her ramblings.

I got the impression she was committed before this, not after.

Hmmm. Buffy's not particularly forthcoming with the details. She just says, "When I first saw vampires..." or words to that effect. Basically, all I'm saying is that Buffy had an intense period of violence and (to her parents' mind) delusions. And she was only institutionalized for a couple weeks (according to Buffy.) Really, it can be read as "before I came to Sunnydale," and be quite reasonably meaning, "When I burned down the gym because it was full of vampires, but nobody believed me and now I just say it was because it was full of asbestos." (as per WttHM.)

As retcon's go, I completely buy it.