"Dead Man's Party"

Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by James Whitmore, Jr.


In which Buffy returns home to find that her friends have some lingering resentments over her decision to leave, just in time for some zombies to appear and crash the party...

Status Report - Memorable Quotes - Final Analysis







Status Report

Coming on the heels of “Anne”, this episode had the chore of reinserting Buffy into her former life without taking forever in the process. This was a necessity because the season was already established as being about the “paths not taken”, introduced by Buffy’s time in Los Angeles living another life. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to show the contrast between the Slayer the Buffy has become versus the Slayer that she might have been (Faith) without bringing her back to Sunnydale with most issues from the former season resolved.

Thankfully, Marti Noxon doesn’t wrap things up too neatly. In general, Buffy is back in the good graces of her friends and mother, but other issues remain unresolved. Perhaps the most important issue is her status at Sunnydale High, which provides an opportunity to once again establish the link between Snyder and the Mayor.

It’s interesting that Buffy continues to have doubts as to how to proceed with her life after killing Angel, because it leaves her with some questions about her place in the world. Buffy faced the fact that Slayers rarely plan for the future in the second season, but now another aspect of the Slayer life comes into focus. When most Slayers are unable to lead any kind of semi-normal life, what else could Buffy have become?

Those issues aren’t addressed in this episode; only her lack of a clear path is established. Several issues continue to spill over from the second season, and like the season premiere, the episode suffers somewhat from the lack of forward momentum. It’s certainly a good thing that the writers take their time for consequences to trickle down from Buffy’s impulsive decision to leave home, but it has the unfortunate effect of forcing the season to begin later than it normally would.

For the most part, the underlying emotions within the episode are dealt with realistically. Joyce has just as much difficulty dealing with what it means for Buffy to be a Slayer as one would expect. She shifts from pretending to be nonchalant to doting over Buffy’s every move, all the while trying to soften the fact that Buffy has come very close to ruining their lives again.

This episode also gives the audience a glimpse of how Joyce chose to cope with Buffy’s absence. It’s natural for Joyce to have sought out friends in a time of crisis, something to give each day some semblance of meaning. It’s also quite realistic to depict the friend of one’s mother as overly familiar, as if assuming the right to chastise. Surely there are many who can relate to that kind of feeling, the adult friend of a parent who seems to think they can say anything that comes to mind.

Not all consequences are covered as well as they might be. One glaring omission is an explanation for how Buffy was cleared of murder charges. It’s not as though Kendra died under mysterious circumstances, so Buffy couldn’t simply be excluded as a suspect. Add to that Buffy’s decision to skip town within mere hours of Kendra’s murder, and one would think that she would be the main suspect! Instead, for some odd reason, the charges disappear. It certainly comes across as though the writers didn’t want to have to deal with the whole thing, but in light of the season arc with the Mayor, it doesn’t quite make sense.

As mentioned already, the scenes with Snyder almost make up for it. Certainly it’s easier for the writers to handle trouble getting Buffy back into school than it would be to handle her legal troubles. But it also provides a strong link between Snyder’s constant threats towards Buffy in the second season and his desire to continue applying pressure upon her return. His role as the Mayor’s flunkie would slowly become toothless, but at least in the beginning of the season, Snyder remains a palpable annoyance.

Unfortunately, the supernatural counterpoint to Buffy’s reintegration troubles doesn’t quite measure up against close scrutiny. For one thing, it’s hard to imagine anybody being so distracted by personal issues that they ignore the clearly demonic look to that mask. The fact that Buffy points it out in the teaser says it all. Also, while the ongoing gag with the dead cat (no pun intended) provides comic relief, one has to wonder why Joyce didn’t notice the smell of a decaying animal in the basement!

Perhaps even less forgivable, the zombie plot interrupts the emotional core of the episode just when the characters start to get honest with each other. Some might find Willow, Xander, and Joyce to be too harsh with Buffy, but they have every reason to feel the way they feel. Buffy did leave without so much as a word, and she returned expecting everyone to act like nothing happened. It’s a matter of trust, and what many forget is that unlike the audience, the characters were left wondering if Buffy would ever return to Sunnydale.

In fact, Buffy is ready to leave again, to run away from the hard consequence of alienating her loved ones. Buffy made a mistake, and part of that is answering the uncomfortable questions and negative emotions that come with mistakes in life. However justified Buffy might have been in needing time alone to work out her grief, she chose to do so without considering the others that were suffering with her. It’s that lack of consideration that her friends couldn’t handle.

Considering how unresolved the confrontation with Buffy was, it seems almost ludicrous to think that fighting for their lives would erase all of those lingering wounds. It’s true that Buffy’s return saved quite a few lives, since it would have taken much more time to figure out the source of the zombie attack had the world not reverted to Buffy at the exact same time. But that shouldn’t have wiped the slate clean. Perhaps the final scene is meant to playfully reveal that the friends have decided to work things out peacefully, but one might have hoped that the scars would still show.


Memorable Quotes

BUFFY: “It’s angry at the room, Mom. It wants the room to suffer!”

BUFFY: “I got in a few hours ago, but I wanted to see my mom first.”
GILES: “Yes. Yes, of course. How did you find her?”
BUFFY: “Well, I pretty much remembered the address…”

JOYCE: “But you can’t keep her out of school! You don’t have the right!”
SNYDER: “I have not only the right, but also a nearly physical sensation of pleasure at the thought of keeping her out of school…I’d describe myself as tingly.”

BUFFY: “What about home schooling? You know, it’s not just for scary religious people anymore…”

BUFFY: “You know, I wanted Forest Pine or April Fresh, but Mom wanted Dead Cat…”

OZ: “It looks dead. It smells dead. Yet, it’s moving around. That’s interesting.”

CORDELIA: “I’m the dip!”
XANDER: “You gotta admire the purity of it…”

OZ: “We should figure out what kinda deal this is. I mean, is it a gathering, a shindig, or a hootenanny?”
CORDELIA: “What’s the difference?”
OZ: “Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig, dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage; and hootenanny, well, it’s chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny…”

GILES: “Unbelievable. ‘Do you like my mask? Isn’t it pretty? It raises the dead!’ Americans!”

BUFFY: “You’re really enjoying this whole moral superiority thing, aren’t you?”
WILLOW: “It’s like a drug!”


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode took a fairly strong exploration of the consequences of Buffy’s decision to run away and tried to mesh it with a standard zombie plot. The combination was less than effective, and ultimately took something away from the emotional center of the episode. The cast did a good job of bringing things together, and the direction did the writing justice.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 6/10




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