Killed by Death

Reviewed by Adam Bardwell

Rating: 7/10

After the brilliance of the previous episode, "Passion", it is no surprise that this episode is slightly disappointing in comparison. It has some good elements but lacks the drama of the episodes around it in the story arc. Neither the less this is a solid outing and my appreciation for it grows every time I watch it. The first time I saw it I thought it was well below par but on following viewings I've realised its merits as well as its problems.

I like the basic idea behind this episode - Buffy can't stop death from disease and so feels helpless. This sense of helplessness stems from seeing her cousin Celia dye when she was 8. When a child dies on the ward that Buffy has been emitted with a strong virus, this helplessness resurfaces. It appears to the others that Buffy's claim of seeing something monster like is her way to try to find something for her to slay because she is unable to stop disease. This is put very bluntly by Cordelia: "Tact is not saying true stuff. I'll pass!". It ends up that Buffy was right and that Der Kindestod (means 'child death') is killing the children (and killed her cousin) not the virus and so Buffy can save the day.

Der Kindestod could only be seen when the children had a fever. This is fair enough but I really don't get the scene wen Buffy first sees him. It opens with the clock changing, Buffy has flashes of her cousin, she then sees the child named Ryan who is followed by Der Kindestod and finally we see the clock change again but its the same change as we originally saw indicating no time past. I do not understand this - does it mean that it was all a vision of Buffy's which actually only lasted a split second? I'm sure I'm just being stupid. You know how the saying goes: answers on a postcard!

There are some good scenes in this episode. Along with Cordelia's' lack of tact and general irritation to Giles when researching I particularly liked the confrontation between Angel and Xander. It really shows Xanders' courage and his desire to protect Buffy. This may be motivated by his feelings for her but I think he's demonstrated his 'Big Brother' (see "Restless") protection of Buffy for so long that by the end of season 4 it is clear that these feelings are beyond romantic but are governed by his strong friendship with her. His line to Angelus; "You are going to die and I'm going to be there." shows his hatred for Angelus which truth be told if probably due to Angel winning Buffy's affections. This line is also semi-foreshadowing for the events of "Becoming, Pt. 2". I would not be surprised if it had originally been planned for Xander to have been present when Buffy sent Angel to hell but I'm glad he wasn't. I think it was taken something away from the amazing power of that scene.

This episode was probably the closest the show had come to making a episode which could be considered even remotely a horror. This is perhaps over stating it but the scenes with Der Kindestod are pretty creepy, especially if you watch it late at night in an empty house with the lights off - I've tried it and would not recommend you follow my example. Actually, The Gentlemen in "Hush" are far scarier but I do think that the way Der Kindestod's eyes came out to suck the life out of the children was very disturbing. This does lead me to minor editing qualm which is that when he attacks Buffy the eyes start to come out, there is a change of angle and they are their sockets.

Other problems with this episode were not all particularly avoidable. For example the child Buffy in the flashbacks looks nothing like Buffy. Something which could have been avoided is the lack of realism in Celia's death - I'm sorry I know she's only a child but it was terrible acting. A more scientific qualm come from Buffy giving herself the virus so she could see Der Kindestod's. If she wanted it to affect her quickly she should have injected a diluted dosage. In fact to work at all she should have injected it for in would have been destroyed in the stomach - I believe.

Great Buffy Moment: Xander confronting Angelus in the hospital.