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In one of the Buffy episodes, there is a quick flash of a scene where she is in a mental hospital. Was it ever resolved why this scene was shown? I seem to remember the implication being that her whole life was a mental breakdown.

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  • Any chance the answer below might be accepted? No new info has turned up for almost two years.
    – Praxis
    Apr 11, 2017 at 18:41
  • Go on then, because it's you
    – Peter
    Apr 12, 2017 at 7:36
  • You're a dear. :-)
    – Praxis
    Apr 12, 2017 at 14:27

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The episode you are referring to is "Normal Again". It isn't a "quick flash of a scene". The entire episode is a tug of war between her being in a mental institution (in which the doctor and her parents are trying to convince her that being a slayer is a delusion) and the life we are accustomed to seeing her lead in Sunnydale.

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Ostensibly, the mental institution is the delusion (rather than her life as a slayer), and the visions of the mental institution are brought on after Buffy is stung by a demon, thereby exposing her to a hallucinogenic venom. In-universe, this is why we are seeing these scenes.

That being said, the episode ends in an ambiguous way, so as to suggest that her life as a slayer in Sunnydale might actually be the hallucination.

Out-of-universe, this is what led to the episode in question:

According to Joss Whedon, this episode was the "ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show", as it questioned fantastical or inconsistent elements of the show "the way any normal person would". Whedon added that the episode is intentionally left open to interpretation... "If the viewer wants," Whedon says, "the entire series takes place in the mind of a lunatic locked up somewhere in Los Angeles... and that crazy person is me." Although, "Personally, I think it really happened."

(Source, derived from here.)

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  • IIRC - the demon didn't bite Buffy - it stabbed her with a needle thing on its arm...
    – Jon Clements
    Jul 25, 2015 at 0:57
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    The ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show. Someone has a high opinion of himself, hmmm?
    – Beta
    Jul 25, 2015 at 1:33
  • @JonClements : Was working off of memory. Corrected --- thanks.
    – Praxis
    Jul 25, 2015 at 5:27
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    @Beta: well, yeah. He created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and wrote and directed many of its best episodes. Opinion is accurately high.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Apr 11, 2017 at 15:19

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