With its dated effects, campy tone, and emphasis on emotional storylines over pure scares, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, is rarely actually scary despite being a horror show. Buffy often just uses horror concepts to dramatize everyday life experiences. In Season 6, a demon that kills fast food workers is a metaphor for the hopelessness one feels at a dead-end job. Season 7’s “Same Time, Same Place” still follows this formula, presenting an emotional story about how hard it is to reconnect with friends after you’ve made a severe mistake — while including a truly chilling monster. What makes this episode so scary is the way in which it taps into the feeling of a paralysis nightmare.
"Same Time, Same Place" Isolates Willow From Her Friends
Surprisingly, "Same Time, Same Place" was written by Jane Espenson, who also penned some of the funniest, most lighthearted episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and went on to write for shows like Gilmore Girls, Battlestar Galactica, and Once Upon a Time. For this Buffy episode, however, Espenson put her usual love of comedy aside and delivered a story with haunting scares and a deeply sad emotional core. In “Same Time, Same Place,” Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) returns to Sunnydale after taking a sabbatical in England to get her magic under control. But, when she returns, she’s unable to see her friends Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), and they’re unable to see her. From the very beginning of the episode, Willow’s isolation sets a nightmarish stage.
However, the episode soon reveals that the reason Willow and her friends can't see each other is because of a spell that Willow subconsciously cast due to her fears about being judged after her abuse of magic in Season 6. The episode cleverly illustrates this reveal by first following Willow’s friends, who are unable to see her, then rewinding to depict the same time and place from Willow's perspective, as she looks for her friends. The audience knows something supernatural is happening, but for Willow, it just feels like she's been abandoned.
Related
The Demon Gnarl Is Truly Terrifying in "Same Time, Same Place"
However, it's the monster-of-the-week that makes “Same Time, Same Place” truly scary. The demon, Gnarl, is played by the late actor Camden Toy, who was known for his monster performances on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel.Most notably, he played one of the Gentlemen in “Hush,” another Buffy episode that stands out for its genuine chills. Not only is Toy’s performance wonderfully creepy, but the demon suit he wears in this episode looks more convincing than many of the prosthetics on Buffy's previous seasons.
What makes Gnarl so memorable is his method of killing: he paralyzes people and slowly eats their skin one piece at a time. When he slowly starts to strip pieces of skin off a paralyzed Willow, it's arguably the most haunting scene in all of Buffy's seven seasons. Toy's creepy performance and slow, torturous method of inflicting pain would be unsettling enough, but, the paralysis and the disgusting visuals as Gnarl peels and eats pieces of skin make this scene even more horrifying.
This 'Buffy' Episode Makes Familiar Emotional Territory Uniquely Scary
Image via UPN
The idea of using isolation and the nightmarish feeling of not being able to communicate with others isn’t a new one for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On an emotional level, “Same Time, Same Place” is also reminiscent of “Fear, Itself,” the Halloween episode in Buffy's fourth season. In that installment, the monster-of-the-week separates the characters, leaving them unable to communicate with each other, and preys on their fears of abandonment. "Fear, Itself" features scenes where Xander tries to speak to his friends but finds they can’t hear him, while Buffy is also taunted with her greatest fear that everyone will abandon her. But “Fear, Itself” features a lot of humor to undercut the seriousness of what's going on; by contrast, “Same Time, Same Place” goes much further, never letting up on the nightmarish feeling.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is remembered far more for its humor, excellent character work, and creative episode concepts than it is for genuine horror, so it’s worth revisiting “Same Time, Same Place” to remember how creepy the show could get. The emotional distress Willow is put through, Camden Toy’s excellent performance, and a paralyzing method of killing all come together to create an episode of Buffy that will keep you up at night after watching it.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
Your changes have been saved
A young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
Release Date
March 10, 1997
Finale Year
May 20, 2003
CastSarah Michelle Gellar
, Nicholas Brendon
, Alyson Hannigan
, Anthony Stewart Head
, James Marsters
, Emma Caulfield Ford
, Michelle Trachtenberg
, Charisma Carpenter
, David Boreanaz
, Kristine Sutherland
, Amber Benson
, Seth Green
, Marc Blucas
, Danny Strong
, Tom Lenk
, Eliza Dushku
, Armin Shimerman
, Juliet Landau
, Adam Busch
, Robia LaMorte
, Mercedes McNab
, Harry Groener
, Charlie Weber
, D.B. Woodside
, Iyari Limon
, Clare Kramer
, Bailey Chase
, Leonard Roberts
, Sarah Hagan
, Lindsay Crouse
Image by Federico Napoli
Image via UPN
English (US) ·