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Invisible Girl (AKA Out of Mind, Out of Sight)
4V11


As the Spring Fling dance nears, Cordelia's new boyfriend is mysteriously beaten up at school -- by a baseball bat with no one attached to it. The attacker leaves a cryptic message on the locker, which leads Buffy to believe it wasn't an ordinary monster. Giles suggests it might be an invisible creature or a ghost.

Another attack finds Cordelia's friend Harmony flying backwards down a flight of stairs, with no apparent outside force. After hearing a girl's voice, Buffy pursues the invisible attacker to no avail. Buffy enlists Willow's help in trying to get a list of missing kids -- perhaps this invisible girl is one of them. Meanwhile, Angel appears at the library and says he's worried about Buffy -- he knows that something big is about to happen but he doesn't know what.

Shock of shocks -- Cordelia is elected the May Queen for the school dance. Buffy is convinced Cordelia is the link between the two mysterious attacks. She finds a girl in Willow's printout, Marcie Ross, who she thinks might be the one. Marcie was in the band, and the invisible girl keeps hiding in the ceiling above the band room. Buffy follows her there to find a nest of sorts where the invisible girl has been hiding. Another attack occurs: Cordelia's teacher is almost suffocated.

Further investigation reveals that Marcie was in everyone's classes, but no one seems to even remember that she existed. Giles says she simply became invisible because she was perceived that way -- it's all due to physics, helped along by living above a Hellmouth.

Marcie's goal seems to be to destroy Cordelia, who is already wigged out by the attacks on people close to her. Cordelia's coronation as May Queen that evening would be the perfect place for Marcie to attack, but Cordelia is none too thrilled about being used as bait. As Cordelia gets ready at school for the dance, Marcie yanks her up through the ceiling. Meanwhile, Giles, Willow and Xander hear some haunting music and try to follow it, hoping to find Marcie. The trio is led to the boiler room where they are overcome by gas fumes. Marcie anesthetizes both Buffy and Cordelia, brings them to the Bronze and ties them up. Marcie, armed with an arsenal of creepy surgical instruments, explains to Cordelia that she intends to give her a face no one will ever forget. She slices Cordelia's cheek, but Buffy manages to free herself and a scuffle ensues. Buffy finally knocks Marcie out, just as a pair of FBI agents arrive to take Marcie away. Angel saves the unconscious gang in the boiler room, but Giles tells Buffy it was a janitor -- he doesn't want to remind Buffy of her lost love. Cordelia acts grateful to the gang, but becomes her normal obnoxious self when her newly-healed boyfriend and her cooler-than-thou friends show up.

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Ashley Gable and Thomas Swyden's clever script, based on a story by series creator Joss Whedon, is jam-packed with clever dialogue, which other writers would do well to use as a model. It also has a carefully-polished plot, which makes good use of the theme of alienation. That said, it's not the most original story, and it can be no coincidence that Willow is wearing a Scooby Doo T-shirt is some scenes. All the series needs is a pooch and a van, and Hanna-Barbera would be consulting their lawyers!

This episode thrusts Cordelia into the spotlight, and Charisma Carpenter proves to be more than up to the challenge. It's a pivotal episode for her character, redefining her relationship with Buffy and the gang, and mellowing her haughty attitude. After opening her heart to Buffy, Cordelia is practically one of the Slayerettes by the end of the episode, even though there is still some animosity. ("Buffy, I know we've had our differences, with you being so weird an' all, and hanging out with these total losers... I know that you share this feeling that we have for each other, deep down.", blubbers Cordelia. "Nausea?!", suggests Willow.)

It also brings a new dimension to Angel's relationship with Giles, as he retrieves the book about Slayer lore that will play such an important part in the series' finale. The explanation for Marcie's invisibility (the result of people's indifference combined with energy from the Hellmouth) is particularly inventive, and deftly bypasses the obvious potions and scientific experiments.

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