Restless

[Cangel]

Has anyone ever tried doing a full dream analysis on this episode? I would be really interested in knowing what hidden meanings the dreams could've held.

[Blondie Bear]

Have you listened to Joss' commentary? It's very insightful (duh).

[Lyri]

There's a really good analysis of this episode in the third Watcher's Guide. Can't remember who wrote it off hand, or remember what was written, but I do remember thinking things like 'Huh, never thought of THAT.'

[TabulaRasa]

I am going thru it right now. Gonna see what I can find....It's long. Mostly just quotage and such. This is going to take a while.

[girlunstrung]

Yeah, I've done an analysis on it. I chose it for my drama class a few years back. It's amazing what you can read into it if you really bother. :)

[caitaintdead]

I agree with Lyri, the watchers guide part 3 was great, it has the entire script with notations of what meant what.

[LifeIsJustThis]

There's an interesting analysis about it comparing it to T.S. Eliot's "Wasteland" in Wilcox's book "Why Buffy Matters". A very interesting book...it not poorly edited and jumps around a lot..some very interesting insights.

Edit:

Also, this exchange is interesting:

Buffy: "I think I need to find the others."
Tara: "Be back before dawn."

This is of, course, a forshadowing of Dawn's introduction :)
Also, a lot of fans agree that the dreams are all the characters worst nightmares come true. But there is much more to that episode then that...

And yes, I'd be interested to know what you came up with for your drama class on it...
I actually wrote an article about the post-modern buffyverse (for MY drama class, lol) and talked a little about "Restless" in it...

[Tranquillity]

The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Matthew Pateman also has extensive analysis of Restless. Each dream has a chapter devoted to it.

[Fake Shemp]

even tho restless has A LOT of meaning in it, sometimes fans see more into a thing than the writers.... but aint that the fun in it... yep i analyze the heck outa it too lol

[chiigusa]

Most definitely. I find it fascinating to analyze things like that and spent an entire evening reading 'Restless' analysis's. That's the great thing about Buffy, it has so many layers. And on purpose, too. But, I do agree that people can sometimes read WAY too much into it, then it gets a bit ridiculous. You do have to take SOME things at face value (e.g. cheese man). No matter how much we push, Joss will forever to deny he has any significance, lol.

[hyperballadbrad]

I think it's great to analyse but I only go so far.... those kinds of episodes of course have definitive meanings but it's good to come up with your own :D

[OldSwede]

There's an interesting analysis about it comparing it to T.S. Eliot's "Wasteland" in Wilcox's book "Why Buffy Matters". A very interesting book...it not poorly edited and jumps around a lot..some very interesting insights.


Yes, it's a collection of talks from various conferences, so there is some repetition. But Wilcox showed me that instead of having read too much into Buffy episodes, I for one had actually underestimated the layers present. The Eliot parallels in "Restless" are striking, for instance.

[bufsum]

I read a wonderful and complete description of Earshot online, but I can no longer find the link. I enjoy not only being able to uncover the truths hidden in this episode, but in others as well. I highly recommend the Philosophy of Buffy, and the Seven Seasons of Buffy (to name a few in my collection).

[Elithustra]

From what I've gathered, isn't there also something to the comment 730 by Faith? I cannot figure out what that means. Anyone have any ideas? What is 730 in reference to? I know it's got something to do with Dawn's arrival, but what? I mean, did she rock up at like 7:30 am or something?

[percepto girl]

^ The 730 comment refers to the fact that Buffy will die in exactly two years time (730 days). When Faith says this the clock shows that it's 7:30. Something similar happens in Restless: when Buffy and Tara are in Buffy's/Dawn's room the clock is still showing that it's 7:30 when in fact it should be ''half'' that time because Buffy will die in exactly one year when the events in Restless occur.

[Superstar]

RE: 7-3-0
I thought it was foreshadowing the arrival of Dawn (Little Miss Muffet).

Curds and whey = cottage cheese.
The in-between process of making cheese (split - Dawn from Buffy).
Just can't get away from that cheeseman!

Related note:
I wonder if how the cheese was presented to each of the characters had meaning?
Willow: 11 slices laid in a single row
Xander: 8 slices laid in a single row
Giles: 3 slices haphazardly placed (1 on shoulder - chip? and 2 on top of the head)
(I wear the cheese it does not wear me; Watcher controls Slayer, not controlled by - but Buffy laughs off hypnotism attempt).
Buffy: Only TWO slices of cheese (1 in each hand) Life/Death?
No fruit for Buffy it seems.

Do the numbers of cheese slices have meaning?
11, 8, 3, 2

11 = 8 + 3 (referencing Grave? Where it takes Xander and Giles to equal (cancel) Willow)?

Although, the tuffet implied by the rhyme could be representative of the grassy mound of her grave.
So possibly both explanations apply.

Does that make Glory or Spike the spider?

[Elithustra]

It's funny because I read somewhere that apparently the Cheese Man means nothing. Joss threw him in simply because there's usually something in dreams that means nothing.

However, Superstar, your post does tend to make sense. I'd wager a guess on saying that Glory is the spider - metaphorically she laid her web throughout the entire fifth season. But, if we're specific to the fourth season only, Spike would have to be the spider, stalking his prey...

And thanks for that, Percepto Girl! That makes sense to me as well!

[Superstar]

Aussie agrees: you think too much.
Kemy agrees: Whose the what now?

I've been told that before - many times.
Sadly, I still don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Oh, and Dream Tara referencing the 7-3-0 while also mentioning Dawn reinforces the Dawn connection, not Buffy's death.
The two are interlinked, but the Dawn connection is the strongest.
"I know you. Curds and whey. I know what you are. You... don't... belong... here." (from Real Me)

It's funny because I read somewhere that apparently the Cheese Man means nothing. Joss threw him in simply because there's usually something in dreams that means nothing.
Yes, I've heard Joss say something along those lines as well in commentary.

But then this entire episode is so full of metaphor and allusion that it is an existentialist's wet dream (so to speak).
Ask yourself: is it the cheeseman himself that means nothing or are you also by proxy extending that comment to the cheese as well, which continues the Little Miss Muffet connection? What is the metaphor in each of those scenes: the Cheeseman or the cheese? Are they coequal? Are they both meaningless? Why the same cheeseman in each dream? Why the specific different numbers and presentation of sliced cheese? Why not just have a block of cheese or even just plates of it on a table? Was the cheeseman only there to help with the cheese presentation to Giles of 1 on shoulder and 2 on head?
Why does the cheeseman appear to Jonathan and Andrew as well?
Buffy is the cheese - that much is clear.
The cheese metaphor is important because it appears in episodes throughout the entire series in relation to Buffy.
What of the cheeseman's comments to everyone regarding the cheese?
“I've made a little space for the cheese slices.” - Willow
“These ... will not protect you.” - Xander
“I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.” - Giles
No spoken words to Buffy at all, just gesture.
Go back and watch for all the cheese references next time you do a marathon.

But then, this is one of the reasons a discussion board is formed for, no?
To analyze... even to posit. Occasionally to even have a bit of fun as well.

[pernilleborup]

Lol at the cheeseman... he was great.

And Spike in the crypt making poses.. Some of them were quite gorgeous. :P

[Tranquillity]

I found this analysis of the cheeseman from Stonesoup.co.nz. Its just a bit of fun:


An Analysis of Cheese as Metaphor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
By Fionnaigh

Wednesday 7 July 2004, by Webmaster

Remember the cheese cuy in Restless? There has been a great deal of speculation about the metaphysical and psychological importance of the cheese guy, but many devoted Whedon fans argue emphatically that the cheese man means nothing cos Joss says so. “The cheese man means nothing. He is the only thing in the show that means nothing.” Ah ha! See? This can mean only one of two possibilities. Either Joss is trying to throw us off the scent... or he is in denial. So I have made it my mission to discover and reveal the secrets of the cheese guy. And I think I may have cracked it.

The secret may in fact lie in the wisdom of nursery rhymes. And for this tip off I must acknowledge one Seth Good, who, it appears, must be a student in a pop studies course at Purdue. Seth points out that the cheese man is obviously carefully placed to trigger a resonance with the children’s song, The Farmer in the Dell. The song ends with the words “The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone, The cheese stands alone, The cheese stands alone, Hi-ho, the derry-o, The cheese stands alone.” Clearly an echo of the words of the first slayer, who growls “We ... are ... alone!” Buffy responds by looking at an image of the Scoobies, and saying, “I am not alone.” Effectively she is saying, “I am not cheese.” She is not yet ready to accept this aspect of her identity. When the cheese guy appears and dangles the cheeses in front of her, Buffy says, “That’s it. I’m waking up.” She doesn’t want to be faced with what she is. Cheese.

Let’s turn for a moment to the dreams of the other Scoobies, and the central role of the cheese guy. When he first appears, in Willow’s dream, he says to her, “I’ve made a little space for the cheese slices.” Obviously the most important issue in Willow and Buffy’s relationship is finding space for each other amidst all the relationships and slaying and other commitments. Then, in Xander’s dream, the cheese man holds up the plate of cheese slices and says, “These ... will not protect you.” This is an important dynamic in Xander and Buffy’s relationship, and ultimately the cheese (Buffy) will not be able to protect him from the loss of an eye and a lover. To Giles the cheese man says, “I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.” The key issue in Giles and Buffy’s relationship is about control and authority. Who wears the cheese? All of these relationships clearly point to the fact that Buffy is the cheese.

In fact the metaphor spreads beyond the confines of Restless. I am not able to go into every use of the cheese metaphor at this point, but I would like to list a few examples.

Way back in season one we can find references to the cheese metaphor. In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Xander makes a comment about string cheese. What he is actually making a comment about is Buffy, and the fact that he is jealous that she has a crush on another guy.

The cheese metaphor crops again in Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered Buffy that rat feels “a sudden need for cheese.” This is the need to return to her true form, as Buffy/slayer/cheese.

In Dead Man’s Party, Giles votes for a smelly cheese night (focussing on Buffy) but the others are not ready to totally forgive her yet.

In The Freshman Olivia says “Rupert, is this Bleu cheese or is it just cheese that’s gone blue?” She is questioning their relationship - she is subconsciously and prophetically beginning to have doubts about whether there is a place for her in Giles’s life, which is already so full with other cheese (Buffy and slaying).

In The Initiative. It cannot be insignificant that when Riley asks Willow to help him get to know Buffy, the first thing Willow replies is, “She likes cheese.” What she is in fact saying though is that Buffy is the cheese. And perhaps Willow is saying that Buffy is starting to find some kind of self-acceptance. Riley must realise the full significance of Willow’s statement, because later in the episode he says to Buffy, “Did Willow tell you I like cheese?” By doing this he is letting Buffy know that he likes her.

In Doomed Spike mocks Xander for “delivering melted cheese on bread. Doing your part to keep America constipated.” Spike is rubbing in the fact that Xander is merely a sidekick, Buffy is the only real cheese. And in fact sometimes Xander actually slows Buffy down.

In Once More With Feeling Xander sings, “She eats these skeezy cheeses that I can’t describe.” Perhaps he is suggesting that Anya sometimes turns to cheeses other than Buffy, and this disturbs him.

In Wrecked, Willow talks about keeping stinky yak cheese in her bra. She is acknowledging that she has made another, inferior, cheese (magic) more important than Buffy.

In Storyteller, Andrew and Jonathan dream about the cheese man. This symbolises the fact that they will return to Sunnydale, the home turf of Buffy.

And, finally, it should be noted that David Boreanaz (Angel) likes Cheese Steaks (Buffy).

Finally I would like to discuss the expansion of the cheese metaphor to include Dawn. One of the first hints that Dawn will appear comes in Graduation Day Part 2, when Faith foretells the coming of “Little Miss Muffet.” The reference to the old nursery rhyme is continued in Real Me, when the crazy guy mumbles about curds and whey. Curds and whey are of course bi-products of the cheese making process. The milk is curdled, separated, into curds and whey. The crazy guy can see that although Buffy and Dawn share the same blood, they are made from the same milk, that milk has become curdled. He sees the changes in reality that lead to the separation of curds and whey, the separate form that Buffy has taken on. Buffy needs to be cut, pressed, hardened, salted and ripened (she needs to go through a death and resurrection) before she will once again be stable in her mature state as cheese.

To conclude, let us return to the original children’s song, The Farmer in the Dell. The song was originally sung by colonial children in America, to accompany a game. Marcia Faye McGee has written from the painful sense of isolation that could be triggered by the calls of “The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone.” This is the refrain that occurs over and over throughout every season of Buffy. The cheese stands alone. Buffy stands alone. But it does not have to be so. The loneliness of the cheese can be shared, and thus extinguished. The farmer takes a wife, The wife takes a child, The child takes a nurse, The nurse takes a cow, The cow takes a dog, The dog takes a cat, The cat takes a rat, The rat takes the cheese, and the cheese reaches out and takes all the potential slayers in the world, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Bwhaaaa...

[Airam]

^ The 730 comment refers to the fact that Buffy will die in exactly two years time (730 days). When Faith says this the clock shows that it's 7:30. Something similar happens in Restless: when Buffy and Tara are in Buffy's/Dawn's room the clock is still showing that it's 7:30 when in fact it should be ''half'' that time because Buffy will die in exactly one year when the events in Restless occur.

Right, in that scene Tara tells her the clock is wrong. Restless is one of the most amazing eps, brilliantly planned out, almost every bit of it is forshadowing something, alot of them are layed out here: http://www.triviaguide.net/foreshadowing-in-the-dreams/

[AvatarofTruth]

I always thought of the Cheese Man as akin to the tortoise in The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck always insisted that 'sometimes a tortoise is just a tortoise'. We all know the tortoise meant something to John, or he wouldn't have been there, and the Cheese Man means something to Joss, we're just not meant to know what exactly. I think Joss actually mentions the Cheese Man essay during the "Restless" commentary, but I'm not 100% on that.

[pernilleborup]

Did anybody think the cheeseman is some weird sign? I mean, even Andrew and Jonathan dreams about him

[BASBritt]

I really didn't like this episode. I mean, I guess it was kinda of cool with the whole dream sequence thing being, like, the whole episode, but I didn't care much for it. It's one of my least favorite episodes of the entire series, so no, I wouldn't care enough to analyze the whole thing. LOL

[pernilleborup]

Cheese man.....nuff said

[luckystar]

cheese man could be a weird reference to buffy liking cheese but who knows joss works in mysterious ways, restless is a pure classic anyhow

[ILLYRIAN]

Buffy's dream is prophetic in nature (but not all of it).
Xanders dream is pretty much how his mind works normally.
Willow dreams of everything she has and wants.
Giles dreams of what could be.
The cheese man represents their unfulfilled futures.

[Violet]

I'm just going to say I loved this ep.