Storyteller

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

"Storyteller" is the sixteenth episode of season 7 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Storyteller refers to Andrew Wells, who has become a pseudo-member of the Scooby Gang after being a villain in the previous season, and has been held hostage at Buffy's home since early in the season.

Plot synopsis

This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2008)

Andrew, taking refuge in the bathroom, describes his own version of "Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres" to a video camera (imagining that he is situated in an old library with a roaring fire, dressed in a smoking jacket and holding a pipe. His dramatic narrative of her exploits is cut short when Anya knocks on the bathroom door. He tries to explain his actions, and Anya is unsatisfied (reminding him of Buffy's irritated reaction the previous night, when he had followed her on patrol). He explains his desire to make a record of the events leading up to the apocalypse, in case humans survive, so that they will know what Buffy and her allies did.

Later, Andrew talks to the video camera and uses his big white board to illustrate and explain the array of evil forces in Sunnydale. He interviews various members of the household, blithely re-imagining current and past incidents in an idealized and incorrect way.

Buffy arrives at the school to find two boys fighting, a shy girl turning invisible because nobody notices her, and various other disturbances. Buffy finds Robin, who has just been injured by a thrown rock. As she bandages his head, they discuss the bizarre (yet familiar) chaos dominating the school. She explains her suspicions that the activation of the Seal of Danzalthar is behind the morning's chaos. They investigate the newly-uncovered seal in the school basement. As Robin gets close to the seal, he is infused with evil. In a demonic voice, he berates Buffy for her involvement with Spike. Buffy pulls Robin away, freeing him; he recalls nothing.

At the Summers' home, Andrew continues his interviews. He causes Xander and Anya to re-examine their feelings for each other. Spike uses reshoots to seem more threatening. Wood and Buffy arrive and inform Andrew he is going to help close the Seal; it is now is surrounded by five possessed students and glowing with light. A magically forced memory allows Andrew to locate the magically charged knife the First wanted him to use to sacrifice Jonathan.

Buffy tells Andrew that she believes that he can help her quiet the seal. They leave for the school, accompanied by Spike and Robin. They arrive to find that the school is being destroyed by ongoing student riots. Andrew tries to film their walk through the halls, but they are attacked by several strong students. Buffy and Andrew make their way to the basement while Spike and Robin guard the stairway entrance. As they walk, Andrew revisits his memories of killing Jonathan, relating several different versions of the story as if each are true. They enter the basement room carefully and find five students standing around the seal, their eyes freshly cut and sealed (like the Bringers). In the Summers' basement, Xander and Anya revel in the aftermath of having sex again before talking about moving on with their lives (a conversation that fades into an awkward silence).

At the school, Spike and Robin are attacked by more students. Spike inadvertently confirms his role in the murder of Robin's mother, and Robin makes a failed attempt to stake Spike; in the chaos of the fight, his actions go unnoticed. Buffy battles the new Bringers while Andrew records the scene with his camera. Once she has killed the Bringers, Buffy pulls out the knife and advances on Andrew, revealing that they must spill his blood to quiet the Seal, since he was the one who initially activated it. Buffy describes the bitter prospects for their future, and chastises his constant attempts to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. Andrew, frightened to tears, admits how willingly he had murdered Jonathan, and how he is sorry. He tells Buffy that he deserves whatever happens to him. Buffy leans Andrew over the Seal so that his tears fall on its surface. The Seal closes and becomes quiet. Buffy reveals to Andrew that tears, not blood, were necessary to close the seal; she has no plans to kill him. The students around the school are released, and the violence stops.

Later, a sad Andrew talks to the camera in the bathroom again, confessing that he probably will die, and that he deserves to. Without another word, he shuts the camera off.

Acting

Starring

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
• Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
• Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
• James Marsters as Spike
• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Guest starring

• Adam Busch as The First/Warren Mears
• Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
• Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
• Iyari Limon as Kennedy
• Sarah Hagan as Amanda
• Indigo as Rona
• D. B. Woodside as Principal Robin Wood

Co-starring

• Alan Loayza as Stressed Out Boy
• Corin Amber Norton as Crying Girl
• Sujata Day as Shy Girl (as Sujata DeChoudhury)
• T.W. Leshner as Feral Teen

Production details

Music

• Robert Duncan - "Hell School & the Prokaryote Stone"

Translations

• Italian title: On TV "Il narratore" ("The storyteller") or, on DVD, "Narratore" ("Storyteller")
• German title: "Der Geschichtenerzähler" ("The Storyteller")
• French title: "Sous influence" ("Under Influence")
• Spanish title: "Cuentacuentos" ("Storyteller")

Quotes and trivia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Storyteller

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2008)

• The opening scene is done in parody of the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre.

• The monster of the Mutant Enemy Productions logo, instead of saying his famous "Grr, argh!", he sings "We are as gooooooods!!!"

• The "Cheese Man", who appeared in the dreams of Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles in the Season Four finale, appears for a split second (along with his cheese) during Andrew and Jonathan's nightmare.

• The voice in the nightmare says in Spanish "Desde abajo te devora", that is, "From beneath, it devours you". Andrew and Jonathan hear it as "Desme adbul te debora", and incorrectly translate it as "It eats you, starting from your bottom."

• This episode marks the last appearance of Jonathan. Warren will not reappear until the in-canon Season Eight comic.

• In the DVD commentary for "Conversations with Dead People", Danny Strong (Jonathan) revealed that the interstitial scenes of Andrew visualizing himself, Jonathan and Warren "as Gods" were the final scenes he shot for the series.

Cultural References

• Books shown in the opening sequence include collections of Shakespeare and Nietzsche, and also Marvel Treasury Edition #13, open to the splash page of the Hulk story from Tales to Astonish #93, "He Who Strikes the Silver Surfer."

Continuity

• This episode serves as a partial standalone story, while at the same time addressing the ongoing concern that Buffy's constant speeches and nagging of the Potentials is getting on their nerves. Andrew steps out of the room while Buffy gives a speech (indicating her vision of hundreds of Übervamps from the previous episode, "Get It Done") and even Willow appears bored with it from the young nerd's perspective.

• The episode continues the "back to the beginning" theme of the season by addressing earlier incidents from Sunnydale High's past. Buffy notices a student turning invisible because no one has noticed her, echoing the events of Season One's "Out of Mind, Out of Sight". Buffy mentions that she's seen all of the things happening before, but several incidents (the exploding student, the talking mirror) were not featured in any episodes.

• Andrew's video references past events without detail in some cases, and with extreme modifications in others. He states that the seal under the high school was recently opened but fails to indicate that he was responsible for it. Andrew notes a previous encounter he had with Dark Willow, recalling a scene from Season 6's "Two to Go", albeit with changes. In this recount, Andrew is more powerful than Willow, and he deflects her attacks. In the original episode, Dark Willow's responses shown in this episode referred to a counterspell that Anya was chanting.

Arc significance

• Andrew states in the narration for his video that Kennedy and Willow are patching things up after having been in a "bad place" in recent episodes.

• Events in this episode close the Seal of Danzalthar, stating that it could only be done with the tears of the person who opened it. This recalls Andrew's actions in "Conversations with Dead People".

External links

• "Storyteller" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Storyteller" at TV.com