Out of Mind, Out of Sight

"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" is the eleventh episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the eleventh episode in the series. Written by Joss Whedon, Ashley Gable, and Thomas A. Swyden, and directed by Reza Badiyi, it was originally broadcast on May 19, 1997, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

THE INVISIBLE GIRL — Buffy and Cordelia become unlikely allies to combat an invisible spirit that has targeted Cordelia and everyone around her. Meanwhile, Angel goes to Giles to warn him that Buffy could be in grave danger.^[1]

Summary[]

At school, Cordelia is talking excitedly with Harmony and her boyfriend Mitch about spring fashion and the May Queen competition. Suddenly, Buffy bumps into them, spilling various Slayer paraphernalia out of her bag. When she makes up an excuse about borrowing them from Giles for a history project, they laugh at her for spending so much time in the "creepy library."

In English class, Cordelia comments that in The Merchant of Venice, the character Shylock is self-involved and whiny. She compares it to running over a girl riding a bicycle; the girl whined about her pain and ignored Cordelia's traumatic experience. The teacher, Ms. Miller, seems agreeable to her viewpoint. After class, Cordelia arranges to meet with Ms. Miller the next day to discuss her paper.

In the boys' locker room, Mitch is attacked by a floating baseball bat. When Xander and Willow mock Cordelia as she campaigns for May Queen, Buffy admits she was the May Queen at her old school. The conversation is interrupted when they hear Mitch was found beaten. Principal Snyder arrives, and Mitch explains what happened as he is taken to the hospital. Willow and Xander distract Principal Snyder, allowing Buffy to slip into the boys' locker room, where she finds the word "LOOK" spray-painted on the lockers.

During lunch, the Scoobies suspect a ghost, and Giles asks Xander to help him research. Meanwhile, Cordelia tells Harmony that Mitch is better but too bruised for prom pictures. In a flashback, Cordelia and Harmony are talking about Mitch's recent breakup with Wendy and whether Cordelia should consider dating him. In the present, Harmony is suddenly pushed down the stairs by an invisible force and injures her ankle. Buffy follows the sound of laughter into the band room, where she feels someone bump into her but finds nothing.

When Buffy tells the Scoobies about being touched by the "ghost," Xander suggests a cloak of invisibility worn by the Greek gods. Buffy dismisses that theory due to the pettiness of the crimes. While searching the school after hours, Buffy follows the sound of a flute. In the library, Giles is surprised by Angel, who offers to bring him an ancient book of prophecies, the Pergamum Codex.

In another flashback, Cordelia and Harmony talk in the bathroom while ignoring Marcie. In the present, Cordelia wins the May Queen award. Looking over Willow's list of missing students, Buffy suspects Marcie when she sees she played the flute.

After Buffy finds Marcie's hideout above the band room, Marcie goes to Ms. Miller's classroom and suffocates her with a plastic bag. Arriving shortly after, Cordelia saves Ms. Miller. Behind them, an invisible hand writes "LISTEN" on the blackboard.

In the library, the Scoobies look over Marcie's yearbook and notice it is full of generic "Have a nice summer!" messages — something you write down in the yearbook of someone you don't know. Willow and Xander are surprised to learn they had several classes with Marcie the previous year but never noticed her. Giles realizes Marcie became invisible because people treated her as if she didn't exist: a result of physics, not magic. In a flashback, Marcie is being ignored by Ms. Miller in favor of those around her even when she has her hand up. She puts it down in defeat and slowly starts to fade away.

Cordelia runs into the library and begs Buffy for protection just as they discover she is Marcie's intended target. They decide to use Cordelia as bait, with Buffy acting as her bodyguard. In the hallway, Cordelia confides to Buffy that she is also lonely, but being popular "beats being lonely by yourself."

Marcie lures Willow, Xander, and Giles into the boiler room, where she locks the door and turns on the gas. She then kidnaps Cordelia and knocks out Buffy. At the Bronze, Buffy and Cordelia awaken and discover they are tied to chairs. When Cordelia realizes her face is numb, they see the word "LEARN" written on a curtain. Marcie explains that Cordelia will be used as a lesson when she surgically disfigures her face. When a flying scalpel cuts Cordelia's cheek, Buffy kicks the instrument tray at Marcie and frees herself from the ropes. Buffy uses her Slayer senses to hear Marcie, kicking her into a curtain before knocking her out. Meanwhile in the boiler room, Angel rescues the Scoobies and gives Giles the Codex. Two FBI agents, Doyle and Manetti, arrive and take Marcie away.

The next day, Cordelia comes by to thank the gang for helping her, much to their surprise. However, she mocks them when Mitch arrives, not wanting to risk her popularity. Meanwhile, Marcie is taken to a school full of invisible students, taught by a teacher from the FBI. She sits down in class and opens her textbook. The title reads "Assassination and Infiltration," to which Marcie chuckles and says, "Cool."

Continuity[]

• Cordelia begins to have a rapport with Buffy and the Scoobies beyond simply ridiculing them. Additionally, she admits to Buffy privately that she feels lonely, despite being so popular. This will grow into her eventual disconnection from the Sunnydale High popular clique (Cordettes) in "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and her change in life direction to help the helpless (Angel Investigations) in "City Of."
• Cordelia is later used as bait again in "Anne" when the Scoobies try to chase vampires on their own after Buffy has left town.
• Cordelia mentions the time Buffy accidentally attacked her at the Bronze, from episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
• Giles and Angel meet for the first time. Buffy told Giles about meeting Angel in "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and that he was a vampire as soon as she was aware of it, in "Angel."
• Angel gives Giles the Pergamum Codex, which allows him to accurately predict Buffy's death in "Prophecy Girl."
• The United States government is aware of the supernatural, a fact that becomes more apparent later with the Initiative ("The Initiative").
• Marcie's condition will be briefly referenced in episode "Gone," when Buffy assures her friends that her invisibility is not a result of the same condition.
• In "Storyteller," another student from the newly rebuilt Sunnydale High begins to experience the same condition until Buffy intervenes.
• When Willow speculates that there might be a witch, she remarks: "'Cause we can fight a witch," referencing the Scoobies's encounter with one in the episode "Witch."
• Marcie writes LISTEN on the wall; in the Angel episode "Heartthrob," Fred writes "LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN" on a wall, both women experiencing mental breakdowns.
• Cordelia jokes about Buffy being popular in an alternate universe; Cordelia herself would be part of two alternate universes — first in "The Wish" and then in "Birthday."
• Willow wears a Scooby-Doo t-shirt, Buffy wears a neck scarf like Daphne, and later Xander responds, "Can you say 'Gulp'?" like the character Shaggy. In the episode "What's My Line? Part One," the group of friends will first be referred to as the Scooby Gang.

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

• Angel
• Cordelia Chase
• Doyle
• Mitch Fargo
• Rupert Giles
• Alexander Harris
• Jessica Harris (Only mentioned)
• Harmony Kendall
• Manetti
• Master (Only mentioned)
• Miller
• Sheila Rosenberg (Only mentioned)
• Willow Rosenberg
• Marcie Ross
• Snyder
• Buffy Summers
• Wendy (Only mentioned)
• Mitch Fargo's friend
• Unidentified FBI teacher

Organizations and titles[]

• Cordettes
• Invisible students
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer
• Watcher
• Witch (Only mentioned)

Species[]

• Ghost (Only mentioned)
• Human
• Poltergeist (Only mentioned)
• Vampire

Locations[]

• Los Angeles (Only mentioned)
  • Hemery High School (Only mentioned)
• Sunnydale
  • Bronze
  • Hellmouth (Only mentioned)
  • Sunnydale High School
    • Sunnydale High School library

Objects[]

• Cross
• Legends of Vishnu
• Pergamum Codex
• Stake
• Sunnydale High Yearbook
• Tiberius Manifesto (Only mentioned)

Death count[]

• None.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

• This episode is a twist on the phrase "out of sight, out of mind," which refers to someone leaving and being forgotten about. In this episode, the fact that Marcie is ignored while she is there causes her to turn invisible.
• This episode was also known as "Invisible Girl."^[1]
• Underneath the manual headline of "Assassination and Infiltration" are the lyrics to The Beatles' song "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," but with a few small changes; any repetition in the lyrics is removed, the line "happiness is a warm gun" is changed to "joy is a hot revolver," and the last line of text that is visible is not part of the song. What it says is "because joy is a hot revolver, and he is afraid of the monkeys who are in possession of digital skeletons of Swiss cheese."
• All of the flashback scenes in this episode are in sepia tone. This is the only time in the Buffyverse where this effect is used.
• Marcie Ross's belongings include the same doll that would be used as Miss Edith in season 2.

Broadcast[]

• "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" pulled in an audience of 2.4 million households upon its original airing.^[2]

Goofs[]

• In the HD version, a hand turning the pages in the invisible class is visible in the left corner of the screen.
• When Willow notices the Men in Black, the same pair of girls walks behind them twice. Also, a girl in an orange sweater walks behind Willow, but also appears walking through the quad in the other direction with a different boy.

Pop culture references[]

• Ms. Miller's class discuss the play The Merchant of Venice and its character Shylock.
• Cordelia uses the term "Twinkie defense," which is a derisive label used by the media for the defense strategy, coined in a 1979 murder trial.
• Cordelia says, "My eyes are hazel, Helen Keller," referencing the deaf and blind American author and political activist.
• Willow wears a Scooby-Doo t-shirt.

Music[]

• Sharon Bezaly & Terence Charlston — "Sonata in E-Flat Major for Flute and Harpsichord, BWV 1031: II. Siciliano" — Bach
• Walter Murphy — original score

International titles[]

• Armenian: "Անտեսանելի աղջիկը (Հոգեկան անտեսանելին)" (Invisible Girl (Mental Invisible))
• Czech: "Sejde z mysli, sejde z očí" (Out of Mind, Out of Sight)
• Finnish: "Näkymätön uhka" (The invisible Threat)
• French: "Portée disparue" (Missing)
• German: "Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn" (Out of Sight, Out of Mind)
• Hungarian: "Szem elől tévesztve" (Losing Sight)
• Italian: "Lontano dagli Occhi, Lontano dal Cuore" (Out of Sight, Out of Mind)
• Japanese: "去る者日々に疎し" (Out of Sight, Out of Mind)
• Polish: "Co z oczu, to..." (Out of Sight, It's…)
• Portuguese (Brazil): "Fora da Mente, Fora da Visão" (Out of Mind, Out of Sight)
• Romanian: "Ochii care nu se văd, se uită" (Out of Mind, Out of Sight)
• Russian: "Девочка-невидимка (Чокнутая невидимка)" (Invisible Girl (Nutty Invisible))
• Spanish (Latin America): "Loca e Invisible" (Crazy and Invisible)
• Spanish (Spain): "Fuera de la Mente, Fuera de la Vista" (Out of Mind, Out of Sight)
• Swedish: “Borta Ur Minnet, Borta Ur Sinnet” (Away From the Memory, Away From the Sight)

Adaptations[]

• The episode script was included in The Script Book: Season One, Volume 2.
• The book The Cordelia Collection includes a novelization of this episode.
• This episode is included in The Slayer Collection: Cordelia DVD.

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

Advertisement[]

"Out of Mind, Out of Sight" promo

"All new terror! How do you hunt an evil that can't be seen?"

"When the sun goes down, she'll be waiting. Special Sunday episode!"

Quotes[]

References[]