I know I'm kinda obsessed. Posted this in the 20th thread, but was encouraged to make it it's own thread so here it goes. If you disagree, give me reasons! I love debating this show. If I missed something, blow my mind.

Foreshadowing in the Buffy verse

In this post I’m going to talk specifically about four episodes: Graduation Day, This Year’s Girl, Restless, and Once More with Feeling. The first three dealing with Dawn and the death of Buffy (and I’ll likely wax poetic about my much reviled at the time theory of ‘Spike redemption based on dreams and wounds’ so feel free to skip that), with Once More with Feeling having more General foreshadowing for the rest of six and of seven.

This Year’s Girl and Graduation Day have been a highly debated topic in this thread alone.

First: Graduation Day (pt II).
Buffy’s dream while she is in a coma from Angel feeding from her. The room is packed (as was Dawn’s room when Buffy discovered she wasn’t real), and they first talk about a cat. A cat that no one owns, and that flashes back and forth to a dark-haired girl. Could be Faith? Could be a refence to Dawn.

Then there’s the line:
Buffy: There’s something I’m supposed to be doing.
Faith: Oh yeah, Miles to Go. Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0.

This is the most widely talked about part of the dream sequence. Because at the time the episode was aired (or supposed to air), there were 730 days until Buffy’s death in season 5.

They then have a conversation that is obviously about Angel, and then talk about the ‘stuff’ again, which Faith gives to Buffy. There is a fan theory going around that, because Dawn looks less like Buffy and more like Faith, the monks fucked up and modeled her after the dark-haired slayer, but relegalized and gave her Buffy’s blood. Stupid theory, but figured I’d mention it, as it would be then foreshadowing that Faith is giving her all her stuff.

On to this Year’s Girl, with the juicier bits:

This Faith and Buffy dream sequence begins with them making a bed that reminds you of the room Faith ‘left her stuff in’ in season three. “They smell good don’t they.’ Is the first line, as Faith and Buffy adjust the clean sheets. “Clean sheets. Like Summer.” (As in Summers, a brand new clean one). Faith says she wouldn’t know, because Dawn is not hers, not in that sense.
Again, the most talked about part of the sequence:

Buffy: I wish I could stay but..
Faith: You have to go.
Buffy: It’s just with…
Faith: Little sis coming. I know. So much to do before she gets here.

Many people at the time figured that ‘little sis’ meant Faith herself, as she would wake from her coma later in the episode. But nope. And then the dripping blood and Faith saying ‘Damn. Just when we made it so nice.’ Has made fans speculate that again, Dawn was created from BOTH slayers, as they both dreamed about her. We find out soon that this dream was not in fact Buffy’s, it was Faiths.

Alright. That’s the last of the little stuff. On to Restless. Like I said, I could talk about Restless ALL DAY. I will not be focusing on the Dawn bits here, but I will put them first if you want to skip the rest.

Of course, Restless is the episode that makes NO sense on the surface. It’s a huge dream seque3nce, with all the scoobies caught in it. But the foreshadowing is insane. As Joss has said, only the Cheese Man didn’t mean anything at all (though some argue the placement of the cheese meant shit lol)

We start with Willow and Tara. Tara mentions Dawn again, saying “I think we should worry, that we haven’t found her name.” Again about a cat. Willow later says “She’s not all grown yet.” Which was true at the time.
Incidentally, fans figured out the poem written on Tara’s back was about controlling one’s lover. Epic foreshadowing there.
The drama stuff is Willow pretending to be who she’s not, which got lost in the ‘drug addiction’ metaphor of season six of not being the yellow bright girl, but a power hungry witch.
Also, of course Riley is Cowboy Guy and I CAN’T AGREE MORE.
Giles mentions the Musical number too lmao.

Props and props is about how vampires are always considered wrong
Willow then gets lost finding herself after meeting the ‘spirit’ Cheese Man (he’s not touching them, so spirit).

“Why is there a cowboy in Death of a Salesman anyway?” indeed. GO AWAY RILEY. Ahem. My issues, ignore. Tara of course then warns Willow about the path of dark magic and power (I wish it would have stayed power and not drugs). Buffy’s rant about men foreshadowed her ‘I don’t love Riley’ bit.
‘You must have done something.’ ‘I rarely do anything. I am very seldom naughty.’
Buffy rips off her ‘costume’ and it’s old dopey Willow, but still I believe the metaphor is about her travels down dark paths. Then of course, she is ‘killed’ by the First Slayer my draining her spirit.

Xander:
Xander’s dream is mostly about his self-confidence issues. He is also the only person in Restless who goes upstairs/is upstairs and doesn’t die, so note that.
He continues to end up in his basement room, where his father is shaking the door at the top of the stairs. ‘That’s not the way out.’ Well, he doesn’t die, so sure.
SPIKE! Swinging in the sun, wanting to be a watcher. Foreshadowing. Also, wearing Randy’s suit and ‘Spike’s like a son to me’ from Tabula Rasa. Also that he sees Buffy as more childlike than he should, and he wants to protect her from things he cannot.
And then the hilarious Anya sequence that shows how much he kinda disregards her. Foreshadowing Hells Bells in season six. And then of course Willow and Tara getting sexy cause he’s a boy.
Also note how everyone tells him ‘They are way ahead of him.’ Again with the self-confidence issues.
And he’s back in the basement. Because he believes he will be stuck there forever, and he doesn’t want to become his abusive father. ‘That’s not the way out.’ Again. Cheese Man holds the cheese near his chest, for the heart reference.

Giles ‘tells him the others have gone on ahead’. Again, everyone is ahead of him. And then no one speaks English anymore because he believes he’s stupid.

God, the Snyder-Xander conversation is amazing. “Where are from Harris?” “The basement mostly.”
“You’re a whipping boy, raised by mongrels and set on a sacrificial stone.” A lot of us at the time thought this meant Xander’s death, like Joyce and Tara and Buffy, was also coming. I posited later that ‘That’s not the way out.’ Saved him.
And then of course, the first slayer kills him by ripping out his heart.

Giles:

Jesus, this one and Buffy’s are the biggest. He is controlling Buffy, but sees her as a child at the same time. He wants a family, his ‘orgasm friend’ is pushing an empty stroller and is pregnant (some say another reference to Dawn)
THE SPIKE PHOTOSHOOT. OMG OMG
Oliva is sobbing on the crypt, an empty stroller again, and no longer pregnant. Either a reference to Buffy’s death, or that Dawn was one who should have died.
Spike’s posing, putting on airs of being the big bad vampire.
And then, the thing that got me laughed at for YEARS until it actually came true:
Giles: “I still think Buffy should have killed you.”
And then Spike, in response, strike a pose: A perfect representation of Christ on the Cross. Redemption and sacrifice.




This triggered the Redemptionista movement in fandom hardcore, and I kept churning out evidence throughout season five that I was right; all of his ‘injuries’ sustained after Intervention were ‘wounds of the cross’ (bite to the side, the hands with the sword blade, and finally, the crown of thorns after Buffy’s death). Again was told I was crazy, and season six kinda made me think I was wrong, but then seven happened and I was right and yay.

ANYWAYS.

Cheese Man again, with Cheese on his head, which represents Giles being the ‘head’. Joss is a LIER.
Xander: “I promised Anya I’d be there for our big night.” FUCK YOU XANDER. *crying*
“Some primal, animal, force.”
“That used to be us.” A reference to how very old the Slayer line is, basically since humans were a thing.
And then Giles sings and I forget to like, do anything but fangirl, but I’ll try. It’s called the Exposition Song, because it’s just exposition lol
“No wait..”

And then the First Slayer Kills Giles by scalping him, as he is the head.
The watch returns as he still controls Buffy and is a watcher. “You never had a watcher.” Ugh.

BUFFY:
Pretty much the most important dream of course, cause it’s Buffy.
Buffy wakes up after Anya begs her in the exact room Faith and her prepared for Dawn, down to the posters.

Buffy : “Faith and I just made that bed.”
Tara: “For who?” (Little sister)
Buffy: “I thought you were here to tell me.”

Then:

Buffy: It’s so late.
Tara: Oh. That clocks completely wrong. (It was now 360 days until Buffy's death, it's not getting late, it's nearly there)
There is then a reference to Buffy being the Hand (fighter) and a direct quote of the first Slayer from Intervention in season five from Tara.
The bed is suddenly made, all ready again.
Buffy leaves the room, and of course, Tara says:
“Be back before Dawn.”

Buffy’s mother being stuck in a wall might be reference to her tumor, or her separation from Buffy because of college. The mice thing makes me think it’s the tumor 
Riley: Hey there killer. Another reference to what a Slayer is. The gun on the table pointed in her direction.
Adam without the monster is a BEAUTIFUL thing too.
Adam: Aggression is a natural human tendency, though you and me come by it another way.
Buffy:



Adam: Is that a fact? (Of course we later learn in season seven that Slayers are in fact, made from demons)

Then some funny, and the demons start coming, and Buffy has her weapons. But her weapon is the Slayer itself; the mud on her face, the essence of what she is.


I do love the color shift here. She is a slayer, at her core, but different. She has people that help and care for her, and isn’t alone. Riley, seeing what she is, leaves her. Which of course, happens to everyone’s delight in season five.



An then, my favorite scene.

The hallway to sand. The desert. This might be because the desert is where I grew up. But anyhow.
Buffy has her first conversation with the First slayer.
“Someone has to speak for her,”
“I have no speech, no name; I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction—absolute, alone.”
What a slayer has been since Buffy became one.

“The Slayer does not walk in this world.” After Buffy reminds her that she is not alone.
“I walk, I talk, I shop, I sneeze. I’m going to be a fireman when the floods roll back. There’s trees in the desert since you moved out, and I don’t sleep on a bed of bones.”
Buffy is NOT a mindless creature of destruction, even if it is the core of her nature.

Cheese Man and the Cheese in his hands. LIES JOSS. IT MEANS A LITTLE BIT, Buffy was the Hand.
They fight of course, Buffy wins, and then the First Slayer stabs her in her arms, which is interesting. Buffy ignores her, and the dream breaks. “You are not the source of me.” Except sorry Buffy, she is.

There endth the lesson on Restless. There is TONS more, and I typed this up during a quick rewatch, but yeah. Sorry for going on and on.

OMWF.
Foreshadowing in Once More with Feeling You Say? I say yes.
Much subtler of course than the other foreshadowing. Tara on the stairs (which for some reason mean death in this show), singing about leaving. Spike hitting a dead end on his way to ‘save’ Buffy. Spike grabbing a priest and begging for 'sweet release'. Spike saying 'Someday he'll be a real boy.'
"first he'll kill her, then I'll save her." was a reference to the tear-jerking "Every night I save you" speech from Spike earlier in the season. and OW OW OW Also for the final battle Buffy is pretty much literally dressed in Spike's usual armor of leather coat and red shirt. They are wearing the same clothing, and he hadn't worn what fandom refered to as the 'red shirt of evil' in a long time before that.
I am sure there is more but this is already 6 pages and likely full of typos, so…I am done now. Enjoy if you like meta-analysis of foreshadowing. Point out if you think I am wrong.

SORRY FOR GOING ON AND ON. I AM A HUGE GEEK.

And now I am watching OMWF for the 150th time, thanks guys.

Here, a present:

https://youtu.be/5Xh8duZ1-j0

Sweet being an amazing villian and Dawn's hippy thing that made me feel weird even as a straight woman. "What I mean, I'm 15, so this Queen things illegal."

^ Worth the read.

Buffy's "Restless" episode remains one of the most layered bits of foreshadowing in TV history.

And then the First Slayer Kills Giles by scalping him, as he is the head.

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Yeah - the ANTHONY head!

I'll show myself out.

Great essay btw.

Seminal show imo. Still inspires me in everything i do.

So, I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this show.

Is it good enough to warrant the giant essay the OP has written? To me it always just seemed like a WB high school drama with vampires. Or as comedian Artie Lange's uncle once put it: "Jew broad, fights Draculas."

Mineshaft_Gap said:

So, I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this show.

Is it good enough to warrant the giant essay the OP has written? To me it always just seemed like a WB high school drama with vampires. Or as comedian Artie Lange's uncle once put it: "Jew broad, fights Draculas."

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Mineshaft_Gap this is my favorite show of all time. The high school only lasts really two seasons. Then it's very much about growing up in a dark world. While Season one is rough, it's highly recommended.

And hell, it's Joss Whedon, you know that won't be the typical 'WB high school drama ' crap. The show was ahead of its time. I recall Joss fighting tooth and nail because an actress wasn't skinny enough for WBS tastes, and because he didn't want to do a 'very sexy episode' on a first lesbian kiss. The first kiss therefore was in a depressing and horrible episode as a moment of comfort. This was the 90s remember.

Sheroking said:

^ Worth the read.

Buffy's "Restless" episode remains one of the most layered bits of foreshadowing in TV history.

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Thank you

SomTervo said:

Yeah - the ANTHONY head!

I'll show myself out.

Great essay btw.

Seminal show imo. Still inspires me in everything i do.

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Ha! And yes, same.

My personal motto is actually from angel "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do."

Mineshaft_Gap said:

So, I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this show.

Is it good enough to warrant the giant essay the OP has written?

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Yes. Yes it is.

Man, that 730 thing is something else. Graduation day was the end of s3 right? So it foreshadowed two seasons ahead?

Sweet was my favourite buffy villain. Shame he never got a reprise (ha!), but I guess on the other hand he never outstayed his welcome.

Sir_Crocodile said:

Man, that 730 thing is something else. Graduation day was the end of s3 right? So it foreshadowed two seasons ahead?

Sweet was my favourite buffy villain. Shame he never got a reprise (ha!), but I guess on the other hand he never outstayed his welcome.

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Yep, season three finale foreshadowing the season five one. Mind blown huh?

Mineshaft_Gap said:

So, I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this show.

Is it good enough to warrant the giant essay the OP has written? To me it always just seemed like a WB high school drama with vampires. Or as comedian Artie Lange's uncle once put it: "Jew broad, fights Draculas."

Click to expand...

It's kind of like Babylon 5. It starts off a bit weaker but gets better by the time the first season ends and keeps getting better for a long time, there are some really, really shitty singular episodes, it doesn't necessarily have all the best actors and the budget is pretty low, but if you can tolerate the low-budgety nature of the show and its imperfections (and Whedon's style of writing, which isn't everyone's cup of tea), there's a really enjoyable show underneath it all with surprising depth, likable cast of characters and some really great storytelling at times. The drama can pack a surprising amount of punch once/if you get invested in the characters.

"My mom's going to die when she sees the bill. I hope it's a happy aneurysm."

Start of season 4. May be off a bit but that basically the line. It's amazing how that joke was funny at the time but if you watch it now it's a whole new meaning and sad.

Willow says she thinks Evil Willow is kind of gay in Doppelgangland

Excellent write up. I recently finished rewatching the entire show for the first time since I was a child watching it on tv. I was consistently having my mind blown by all the foreshadowing and just how well written it all was.

Great piece OP, did you ever post on slayalive?. ha. I think a re-watch of Buffy is in order as it's been years since I've watched it again.

Thank you for this! <3

I came to Buffy pretty fucking late. I watched the whole series 2.5 years ago, having only seen pieces of it growing up. Restless was my favorite episode when I got to it, and it remained so the rest of the way through. Just thinking about this episode(esp the foreshadowing around Spike and Joyce) still gives me goosebumps.

i was a huge buffy fan but i don't really remember any of this, i guess i just enjoyed it for what it was and didn't look further into the "message" or whatever.

I don't actually remember how it ended...maybe i never finished it

super-heated plasma said:

"My mom's going to die when she sees the bill. I hope it's a happy aneurysm."

Start of season 4. May be off a bit but that basically the line. It's amazing how that joke was funny at the time but if you watch it now it's a whole new meaning and sad.

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Yeah that's the quote an I totally forgot about it ugh.

SweetDonuts said:

Great piece OP, did you ever post on slayalive?. ha. I think a re-watch of Buffy is in order as it's been years since I've watched it again.

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I was mostly on LiveJournal and the message board that just got shut down. The internet was a different time back then.

Your post made me wish I enjoyed Buffy a quarter as much as I enjoyed Angel

LionPride said:

Your post made me wish I enjoyed Buffy a quarter as much as I enjoyed Angel

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Angel was amazing too. Maybe I'll write an essay on it, but there wasn't as much foreshadowing there. :/ Maybe I'll just wax poetic about how badass Wesley the Weapon is.

Media said:

Angel was amazing too. Maybe I'll write an essay on it, but there wasn't as much foreshadowing there. :/ Maybe I'll just wax poetic about how badass Wesley the Weapon is.

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I kinda talked about my reasons for not liking Buffy in the other thread, but I legit enjoy Angel so damn much. Besides the entire Jasmine season...

Not as much foreshadowing, if any at all, just interesting story progression from beginning to end. And when Vincent Kartheiser still had a hair line before Mad Men

LionPride said:

I kinda talked about my reasons for not liking Buffy in the other thread, but I legit enjoy Angel so damn much. Besides the entire Jasmine season...

Not as much foreshadowing, if any at all, just interesting story progression from beginning to end. And when Vincent Kartheiser still had a hair line before Mad Men

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I loved both shows so much. Angel kinda sucked on Buffy, but damn he was amazing on his own show. I loved the whole damned cast, yes, even Connor (I felt badly for him). Season five will always be one of my favorite seasons of TV ever.

Very interesting read, but your writing style is unclear and messy at times. Kind of like you're just throwing whatever is in your head down into the paper. Still a real cool read. Love the show.

Media said:

I loved both shows so much. Angel kinda sucked on Buffy, but damn he was amazing on his own show. I loved the whole damned cast, yes, even Connor (I felt badly for him). Season five will always be one of my favorite seasons of TV ever.

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Season 5 of Angel is honestly the best thing Joss Whedon has done movie or TV wise besides Serenity.

Maximus. said:

Very interesting read, but your writing style is unclear and messy at times. Kind of like you're just throwing whatever is in your head down into the paper. Still a real cool read. Love the show.

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Basically what I did, while watching restless. My writing is usually much better I promise

This was very stream of consciousness

There's minor other instances of foreshadowing as well. The beginning of S3 foreshadowing Angel's return and the tragic end of their relationship, and "Buffy vs. Dracula" talking about her struggle with the demon inside Buffy and her eventually giving into death.

Media said:

Angel was amazing too. Maybe I'll write an essay on it, but there wasn't as much foreshadowing there. :/ Maybe I'll just wax poetic about how badass Wesley the Weapon is.

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That show's entire plot revolves around prophecies.

"The father will kill the son."

BKatastrophe said:

There's minor other instances of foreshadowing as well. The beginning of S3 foreshadowing Angel's return and the tragic end of their relationship, and "Buffy vs. Dracula" talking about her struggle with the demon inside Buffy and her eventually giving into death.

That show's entire plot revolves around prophecies.

"The father will kill the son."

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Forgot about those damn.

And yeah, the Sans Shoes (hehe) prophecy and such, but I think in the end those proved to be manipulation. Even the father will kill the son was that fuck head Van helsing dude screwing with shit with his demon buddy right?

Media said:

Forgot about those damn.

And yeah, the Sans Shoes (hehe) prophecy and such, but I think in the end those proved to be manipulation. Even the father will kill the son was that fuck head Van helsing dude screwing with shit with his demon buddy right?

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Sahjan was able to manipulate the prophecy to say that, as it once said "the son of the vampire with a soul will be become a man and kill Sahjan" (or something like that). In the end, they both became true. Angel did "kill" Connor in a way by making the deal that resulted in erasing his memories and rewriting his life, "killing" his son. Eventually Connor did regain his memories and killed Sahjan, making Sahjan's machinations pointless.

The series deals a lot with freewill and destiny, and even if you can't avoid fate, you can still choose how you get there. And even if you do get there, you have no idea what'll come afterwards.

BKatastrophe said:

Sahjan was able to manipulate the prophecy to say that, as it once said "the son of the vampire with a soul will be become a man and kill Sahjan" (or something like that). In the end, they both became true. Angel did "kill" Connor in a way by making the deal that resulted in erasing his memories and rewriting his life, "killing" his son. Eventually Connor did regain his memories and killed Sahjan, making Sahjan's machinations pointless.

The series deals a lot with freewill and destiny, and even if you can't avoid fate, you can still choose how you get there. And even if you do get there, you have no idea what'll come afterwards.

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All true. I've haven't had a rewatch of Angel in a long while I really should.

Mineshaft_Gap said:

So, I've only ever seen bits and pieces of this show.

Is it good enough to warrant the giant essay the OP has written? To me it always just seemed like a WB high school drama with vampires. Or as comedian Artie Lange's uncle once put it: "Jew broad, fights Draculas."

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Buffy basically created TVTropes. That should be answer enough.

If you need more, Passion of the Nerd puts it more succinctly than I can hope to.

Great essay and yeah Buffy was rife with symbolism.

Angel however had the Chalice of Mountain Dew.

the_sun_king said:

Buffy basically created TVTropes. That should be answer enough.

If you need more, Passion of the Nerd puts it more succinctly than I can hope to.

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No basically about it. TV tropes would not exist if not for a couple of geeks wanting to name the trope flipping and lampshading that Joss does. <3

Cool, will read on it later as you got me to start watching season 6(starting halfway in S5) in the last thread. Having this kind of thoughts and second perspectives really gives value to second viewings for me.

BreezyLimbo said:

Great essay and yeah Buffy was rife with symbolism.

Angel however had the Chalice of Mountain Dew.

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I fucking loved that. The fact that they got played so easily is absolutely astounding.

BKatastrophe said:

I fucking loved that. The fact that they got played so easily is absolutely astounding.

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Yeah. That fight. God damn Spike needed that. I remember fandom bitching that he won, and I was like 'Hello, he's been fighting with a Slayer/Slayers for like 6 years now..'

Mountain made it amaz I bgls because of the look on his face and that my soda of choice too.

Media said:

Yeah. That fight. God damn Spike needed that. I remember fandom bitching that he won, and I was like 'Hello, he's been fighting with a Slayer/Slayers for like 6 years now..'

Mountain made it amaz I bgls because of the look on his face and that my soda of choice too.

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The thing is that the whole episode and episodes leading up to that, and even for awhile after that, have Angel showing that his heart clearly isn't in it. He's lost his way and he's not really in it anymore, so Spike won because he wanted it more. Had Angel wanted it just as much, he probably would have won, but that's not how it played out.