Tiny Terror

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is notorious for having underlying social issues explained and expressed in some of the many episodes. In the episode "Fear, Itself," we see the gang - consisting of Buffy, Xander, and Willow - getting trapped in a fraternity house and continue to be followed by their own fears of which were manifested by a pentagram painted on the floor that the fraternity brothers found in a book. The gang later meet up after being separated by an incantation spell the pentagram conjured. After meeting, they discover the pentagram is truly a summoning spell for the fear demon, Gachnar who is self described as "the Dark Lord of nightmares, [and] the bringer of terror..." While the episode shows Buffy and the gang overcoming their individual fears, the writer is trying to portray a more in depth crux displaying the way children of divorce are affected.


Though it may not be obvious, there is an underlying issue that the writers are trying to express through this episode. As we continue to watch "Fear, Itself," you start to pick up hints of emotional turmoil with Buffy, and truly see how her parents divorce has affected her. We follow through to see Buffy push people away from helping her or earn her trust after an unexpected outcome between her and a boy causing Buffy to be guarded and cynical. The divorce did not only affect Buffy, but it has also affected the people around her. For example, Buffy does not trust Willow enough to let her stay in the fraternity house to help her overcome the mysterious events happening there. This later becomes a larger issue and causes the two best friends to part ways in the house, ultimately causing both of them to be lost. As the fear demon was manifesting Buffy's fears, she finds that she has inner demons holding her down and trying to keep her from being where she was most comfortable with her friends. Buffy believed she had already faced her fears of the divorce. The writer wanted to portray to the audience that divorce does not just affect the immediate couple, but it also has a chain of events and issues caused in the lives of the people surrounding them, in this case, Buffy.

There were several monsters in this episode the audience were introduced to. Xander's monster was touching back on the fact that even with all of his friends, he feels lonely and left out because he is the only one of his friend group that is not in college. Therefore, the pentagon manifested his fear of being invisible, separating he and Buffy in the haunted fraternity. Also, Buffy is faced with demonic beings trying to hold her down and forcing her to be affected by her anxiety of loneliness and problems of others which are literally weighing down on her now. Next, Willow's was upset with Buffy's comments made about how Willow's spells only work about fifty percent of the time. Emotionally torn, Willow separated herself from Xander and Buffy, later to find her fear of being unable to cast a spell correctly manifesting by her attempt in trying to reverse the incantation spell but ultimately being unsuccessful causing a swarm of bugs to chase her around the fraternity. And finally the gang is introduced to the fear demon, Gachnar. Although the picture of Gachnar seemed very threatening, he just so happened to be only the size of their hand, ending the night full of fright.

While finishing the episode, it is clear that in order for something to be scary or monstrous, it does not require a physical form. We as a society only view what we physically see to be monstrous, rather than addressing certain emotions or feelings as such. Having the sense of loneliness, as expressed by Xander and Buffy's fear manifestations, or the sense of depression, shown by Buffy's standoff-ish attitude towards others, is being explained as an inner monster that takes control of one's mental state of mind and causes repercussions on one's life as we see depicted in this episode showing the affects of divorce on a child.

-Chase Noone