"Living Conditions"

Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by David Grossman


In which Buffy becomes convinced that her roommate Kathy is evil and must be killed after experiencing strange dreams and listening to Cher one too many times...

Status Report - Memorable Quotes - Final Analysis







Status Report
In retrospect, one of the weak points of the first season was the over-reliance on a single concept: melding high school horrors with monster movie staples. The combination often seemed forced, and the series never came into its own until it stepped beyond such simplicity. In fact, after more than a season of strong writing and deep character evolution, one would think that the writers would have learned how to resist temptation.

It’s disturbing, then, to see how completely the fourth season embraces the largely uninspired concept that Joss introduced in the season premiere: “Buffy goes to the college…from HELL”. Last episode, it was the “sophomore hazing…from HELL” episode, and this is the “college roommate…from HELL” episode. Until the Initiative plot arc finally gets moving (and that is said in relative terms), the fourth season is a constant repetition of that concept.

The writers certainly know that most freshman end up loving or hating their imposed roommate situation, and the vast majority align with the “hate” option. Not so much because the people are inherently evil, but because it’s impossible to expect harmony when thousands of complete strangers are forced to live together during a time of massive psychological stress and upheaval. So many people have thought of their roommates as “evil” that it’s too easy to have Buffy’s roommate turn out to be a demon in disguise.

Granted, from the moment the Celine Dion and Cher began playing, Kathy’s demonic side was showing itself. No human can withstand a constant barrage of such music without going clinically insane. It’s not at all surprising that Buffy was looking for some violence to release the growing need to destroy. Presaging the end of the episode (and an eventuality that was easily foreseen), Willow has issues with her own roommates, who apparently came to UC-Sunnydale to stimulate the US economy by purchasing large quantities of alcohol.

Buffy mentioned in the previous episode that she was going to have to conceal her identity again, so her difficulties with Kathy mesh with that requirement rather well. It makes sense that Buffy would struggle with the idea of having to live the double-life again, since everyone in her circle of family and friends in the third season knew about the Slayer. Now she doesn’t have that luxury.

Like the previous episode, Buffy turns to Giles as the father figure, seeking advice on something apparently mundane in comparison with his previous duties as Watcher. And just like the previous episode, Giles is conflicted about his role. He has no issue helping Buffy with her duties as Slayer, but he also recognizes that Buffy needs to learn how to be an adult. Considering that most Slayers either die young or live out very strictly programmed lives, Giles is wading into uncharted territory, and the uncertainty is palpable.

This episode delves even further into the “Buffy goes to college” concept by exploring one of the staples introduced in the previous episode: the guy who takes advantage of freshman women. A great number of fans figured out Parker as soon as he stepped onscreen, largely because this type of subhuman animal is prevalent in the real world. It’s no mistake that Parker immediately confirms that Buffy is a freshman; he’s looking for a fish out of water, someone with emotional needs that can be exploited.

Speaking of characters with emotional (and psychological) needs, Xander seems forced into this episode. In some ways, this could be interpreted as the intention of the writers; by making it seem out of place for Xander to be there, they communicate Xander’s intense desire to be part of the gang again. It also feels like the gang tries too hard to make Xander feel welcome. Buffy hasn’t referred to Xander as “Xand” that often, and certainly not so many times in one scene.

The point of the scene, however, is to show how Xander’s artificial involvement with the gang in college is still more natural for Buffy than Kathy’s imposition. It also puts all the characters in one place so they can see Buffy react to Kathy, giving them all a baseline to work from when they think Buffy’s losing her perspective.

By the time Buffy begins having strange dreams and Kathy appears to be sharing them, the rest of the episode is fairly easy to figure out. The rest of the gang has every reason to think that Buffy and Kathy are suffering from the effects of some demon attack, and Buffy’s behavior seems extreme from that context. At the same time, this becomes important in exposing the episode’s flawed logic.

Buffy and Oz were rarely in the same room without Willow also being present, so this episode presents a rare occasion. Of course, this is also dictated by the need to get Oz alone on campus for a reason, so he can trade glances with the sultry blonde. The scene is fleeting but quite memorable, as it sets the stage for one of the most damaging character departures in the entire series run. It also allows for another on-screen look at the Initiative commandos.

Buffy’s conversation with Oz does make a compelling case for the Slayer’s lack of perspective and self-control. And in all fairness, Willow and Oz have every reason to be concerned. What doesn’t make sense, of course, is the idea that Buffy has been solely affected by the demon that both she and Kathy encountered. After all, Kathy was also claiming to have the dreams. So why would the others simply assume that Buffy is the only one acting out of character?

The rest of the episode seems to hinge on that assumption. Buffy is momentarily subdued by the others while Giles researches the spell and Willow warns Kathy. The idea seems to be that the audience should begin wondering if Buffy was losing her mind, but once Kathy is revealed as a demon, the payoff is non-existent. A new viewer might be fooled, but any long-term “Buffy” fan could easily predict where the episode was going.

Buffy’s fight with Kathy is amusing, and the writers do their best to explain why Buffy was acting so bizarre in comparison to Kathy. The problem is that the scenes with the Scooby Gang in the previous act are written as if they could know that Buffy was the only one acting irrationally. It’s a subtle point, but it’s also something that the series is usually very good at maintaining: character point of view.

Considering how adamant the writers are at addressing Buffy’s early college struggles, one would think that the topic would be handled a bit more deeply. Willow gets stronger material with her dissolving relationship with Oz. If the writers absolutely had to have the predicable “roommate…from HELL” plot point, then it might have been more interesting to let it happen over the space of more than one episode.

As it stands, the whole question of Buffy’s secret identity and the increased difficulty of having a “normal” roommate disappears in one short week. As a result, it becomes clear that Buffy and Willow were assigned to different rooms for the sole purpose of allowing this episode to exist. Considering that the plot point was not very compelling, it was a questionable writing choice.

If there is one term that could be used to encompass the episode’s flaw, it would be “pedestrian”. There’s simply not much of interest happening in this episode. The most intriguing aspect is the encounter between Oz and the sultry blonde, and when the highlight of the episode lasts less than ten seconds, it’s not a good thing.

In that sense, this episode is representative of the first third of the season. There were some highlights along the way, but most of the material amounts to the writers playing with the idea of “Buffy at college”. Sure, that’s the concept of the series at this point, but Buffy’s high school travails were mixed with the season arcs far more effectively.


Memorable Quotes
BUFFY: “Wow, this music is so…so…”
KATHY: “I know. This song is super fun, isn’t it?”
BUFFY: “You bet. It just gets funner and funner every time you play it…”

KATHY: “I just wanted to make sure that we didn’t have a thief or something.”
BUFFY: “Like who? Sid the Wiley Dairy Gnome?”

BUFFY: “You ran?”
GILES: “And jump, and bend. And occasionally, frolic.”
BUFFY: “OK. And, uh…what’s with the motorbike and scooter magazine?”
GILES: “Congratulations. You’ve found me out. I’m a mod jogger.”

BUFFY: “Umm…had a cloak on, and glowing green eyes, and skin had a, like, super-bad fake rub-on tan.”
GILES: “Translate?”
BUFFY: “Orange-y.”
GILES: “Thank you…”

PARKER: “Ex-boyfriend? Or loan shark?”
BUFFY: “Excuse me?”
PARKER: “The person you’re hiding from.”
BUFFY: “Oh…both. Ugly breakup.”

BUFFY: “Nothing big, I think. Just normal adorableness.”
XANDER: “Oh, a technique I know well. Hit the girl with your best shot, then hasta.”
OZ: “Gotta respect the drive-by…”

XANDER: “Yeah? Something apocalypse-y? Do we need to assemble the Scooby Gang?”
BUFFY: “No, but thank you for asking.”
XANDER: “I just got way too excited, didn’t I?”

BUFFY: “So then after the scorpion, the demon opened my mouth and sucked some kind of weird light out of me. And the worst part? I wake up and there’s Kathy, staring at me like I’m some kind of freak!”
OZ: “Well, actually, the worst part, I’d have to go with the demon pouring the blood down your throat…”

WILLOW: “What kind of demon runs around putting ooky blood dreams into people’s heads? Like some kind of nightmare fairy. It’s not right!”
OZ: “Well, I’m against it.”

OZ: “So…either you hit her, or you did your wacky mime routine for her.”
BUFFY: “Well, I didn’t do either, actually. But she deserves it, don’t you think?”
OZ: “Nobody deserves mime, Buffy.”

OZ: “On the plus side, you’ve killed the bench, which was looking shifty…”

WILLOW: “Toenails?”
BUFFY: “Evil toenails! I took them off the floor last night when she was in the bathroom. She thought I was asleep.”
WILLOW: “Good thinking, ‘cause in the middle of the night, those toenails could have attacked you and left little half-moon marks all over your body…”

BUFFY: “She has parts that can grow after they’re detached! She irons her jeans! She’s evil!”

XANDER: “I don’t know if I tightened those ropes enough.”
OZ: “Then we’d better go over there and check ‘em.”
XANDER: “Oh, dear God!”


Final Analysis
Overall, this episode was a bit of a disappointment, continuing the somewhat uninspired depiction of Buffy adjusting to college while fighting metaphorical monsters. The “actually evil roommate” was far too easy a target, and the lack of any real twist on the idea was unfortunate. Add to that some logical plot problems.

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

Final Rating: 5/10




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