Cheese man direction

A stage direction for the Cheese Man in Restless was: “Cheese man – a skittish, balding, bespectacled, little fellow in an old woolen suit. A voice not unlike Peter Lorres’s.”

French scenes

The French voice-over for Giles in Xander’s dream in Restless was done by Joss Whedon’s assistant Diego Guiterez, who later went on to write the season six episode Normal Again. The following is the French dubbed scene of Xander’s dream, from the shooting script:

Joss Whedon said this about the French scene at The Bronze posting board: “At the last minute I dragged my assistant DIEGO in to read it. He’s Mexican, speaks a little French (yeah, he’s trilingual, which for someone as barely unilingual as myself is both annoying and annoying) and he was reading off a script so it may not have sounded perfect to some but the effect was just great for the dream. Now y’know.”

Joss Whedon’s favourite episodes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon spoke to USA Today in May 2003 (after the final episode had aired) about his favourite Buffy episodes. They are as follows:

1. Innocence: “It’s a mission-statement show, and one of the ones where I first found out what we could do.”
2. Once More, With Feeling: “What am I going to say?”
3. Hush
4. The Body
5. Doppelgängland: “Because one Willow is certainly not enough.”
6. The Wish: “Very bleak, very fun. It went to a dark place, and that’s really exciting to me. That’s where I live.”
7. Becoming (Part 2): “Buffy loses everything. Also, it had a sword fight. I love sword fighting.”
8. Restless: “Most people sort of shake their heads at it. It was different, but not pointless.”
9. Conversations with Dead People: “I’m very fond of ‘Conversations with Dead People.’ I just thought structurally and tonally it was very interesting and had a lot to say. And I got to write another song.”
10. Prophecy Girl: “Because that was my first time, besides telling directors what to do, that I actually got to direct. And it was the first time I got to kill Buffy, and the first season ender, and it was the first time I realized I could take everything we did in the season and tie it in a bow.”

Joss’s pet character

The character of Olivia appeared in three episodes in season four (The Freshman, Hush, and Restless), and was mentioned in one other (Who Are You?). These are the four episodes of that year that Joss Whedon wrote. She was was at least mentioned in every Joss Whedon episode of season four, and was never seen or even referenced in any non-Joss Whedon episode of the entire series. It seems that this character must have been of interest to him, at least during season four.

Michelle before Dawn

Joss Whedon has said that Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn) actually visited the set on the day the “Be back before dawn” sequence was filmed in Restless. This scene signified the coming of the character Dawn. Michelle was only there as a friend of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s, and had not yet been cast as Dawn.

Michelle in Xander’s dream?

In Restless, when we see a group of people crowding round Xander’s ice cream truck, there’s a girl standing to the left of the screen who really (and REALLY) looks like Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn). Michelle was not yet a member of the cast of Buffy, but Joss had mentioned in his commentary that she visited the set during the filming of Restless, so it’s not entirely impossible that it’s not Michelle.

Missing friends

There are rumours that Joss Whedon hoped the following characters could return for the episode Restless: Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) to laugh at Willow in her nerdy clothing from Welcome to the Hellmouth again; Faith (Eliza Dushku) for a continuation of the 7-3-0 stuff; and Angel (David Boreanaz) to do the scenes in the desert, translating the First Slayer for Buffy.

Mysterious Cheese Man

One of the main things to come out of the episode Restless was the desperation of fans to find out about the enigmatic Cheese Guy. Joss Whedon insists that there is no meaning in his presence. He had this to say at the old posting board The Bronze:

Trouble-danger

A line of Buffy’s was deleted from the season four finale Restless: “I think they might be in trouble-danger.”

Twin Peaks

Many people believed that the scenes in Restless where Willow walks between the red curtains was a reference to Twin Peaks. At the Posting Board, Joss said the following: “…just wanted to mention: the red curtains weren’t actually a Twin Peaks homage — in fact I thought of cutting them when I remembered the connection. But I had my own reasons (rather obvious, I thought) for wanting Willow to go into them, so I kept ‘em.”

David Wells

David Wells, who played the not-so-mysterious ‘Cheese Man’ in Restless, has also been in Days of Our Lives (as Carl Liszt), Return of the Living Dead III, Basic Instinct, Other People’s Money, Marilyn and Me (alongside Joel Grey, who played season five’s Doc), Beverley Hills Cop, Six Feet Under, The X Files, Babylon 5 and much more.

Dream cameos

Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder), Seth Green (Oz), Mercedes McNab (Harmony) and Phina Oruche (Olivia) make brief cameos in the episode Restless. This was the final episode for all these characters, except for Harmony who appeared in season five. When Giles sings at the Bronze, the piano player is Christophe Beck (the former BtVS composer); and Four Star Mary (the real band behind Dingoes Ate My Baby) are the guys onstage with him. They also recorded the music for this scene with Anthony Stewart Head on vocals.

George Hertzberg

George Hertzberg played the human/demon hybrid Adam in season four. He has also appeared in Providence, Any Day Now, 18 Wheels of Justice, Home Improvement (in an episode called ‘Desperately Seeking Willow’) and 3rd Rock from the Sun. He appeared without his Adam make-up in the episode Restless, in a scene with Riley.

James M. Connor

James M. Connor played the Initiative scientist in Where the Wild Things Are, New Moon Rising and Restless. He played Jack in The Yard Sale, and was Randall’s Best Man in About Schmidt. He has also been in Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, The X Files, and The Drew Carey Show.

Michael Harney

Michael Harney, played Xander’s father in Restless. He has also been in Erin Brockovich, NYPD Blue, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, ER and Cold Case, amongst other things. Casey Sander played Xander’s father in Hell’s Bells.

Sharon Ferguson

Sharon Ferguson, who played the First Slayer in Restless, Intervention and Get It Done, appeared as a skater in Austin Powers in Goldmember (alongside Seth Green, who played Buffy’s Oz) and as a hooker/dancer in Malcolm X.

Cheese Man

The Cheese Man was a bespectacled and enigmatic man with a passion for cheese slices. He showed up in each of the Scoobies dreams in Restless for no reason other than to confuse Buffy fans as to his meaning. He also appeared very briefly in Storyteller.

Dream time: Buffy

In her dream in Restless we see that Buffy has a mystical power and she is worried that by definition she is nothing but a killer. She also worries about being alone, as Riley rebuffs her (no pun intended) and she is always trying to find her friends.

Dream time: Giles

In his dream in Restless we see that Giles is basically having a mid-life crisis. He’s torn between his work and parental responsibilities (which is how he sees Buffy) and play, hence his singing of the exposition in the Bronze.

Dream time: Willow

Argh! What does this mean?! Here’s a rough breakdown of the basic meaning behind Willow’s dream in Restless. We see that Willow still sees herself as the nervous nerd she was in season one. She even wears the same outfit from Welcome to the Hellmouth. The red curtains which Willow walks through symbolise all kinds of things: the womb; the vagina; safety etc. They basically symbolise Willow’s relationship with her girlfriend Tara, where she feels warm and safe.

Dream time: Xander

In Restless, Xander dreams of himself being a struggling twenty-something who is desperate to escape his horrible life in his parents’ basement. Every time he goes somewhere he ends up back in the basement. We also see how he feels about his abusive father, who rips his heart out. Oh yes, and he’s been having a few naughty thoughts about Willow and Tara - and Buffy’s mother.

First Slayer

The First Slayer was a primal Aboriginal woman who was made into a Slayer by the Shadowmen. Her purpose was to defend man from demons. In Restless, the First Slayer’s spirit tried to kill Xander, Willow, Giles and Buffy in their sleep, because the enjoining spell that they performed in Primeval was an affront to her. In Intervention she became Buffy’s guide during her Vision Quest and told her death was her gift. The First Slayer came to Buffy in a dream in Get It Done and told her, “It’s not enough”.

Foreshadowing in the dreams

Ever since the episode Restless first aired, Buffy fans have been trying to work out if any of the dreams contained any predictions for future episodes. Several things came to pass since the first airing of Restless, and are listed below. I admit that some may seem more tenuous than others!

Foreshadowing the Dawn arc

There are two significant references to the character of Dawn before she first appeared in Buffy vs Dracula:
In This Year’s Girl, Buffy and Faith are making a bed in Faith’s dream. They have the following conversation:

Buffy: “I wish I could stay, but…”
Faith: “Oh, you have to go.”
Buffy: “That’s just what…”
Faith: “Little sis coming. I know.”
Buffy: “So much to do before she gets here.”

As well as referencing Dawn verbally, the two Slayers are making the bed in Dawn’s future room.
The second reference occurs in the episode Restless. Tara says to Buffy, “Be back before Dawn”.
There is also a couple more, slightly cryptic, references: In Graduation Day (Part 1), Buffy walks into Faith’s apartment and Faith says, “Look at you, all dressed up in big sister’s clothes.” In Restless. In Giles’ dream, Olivia is pregnant, which may signify the coming of Dawn as Giles became a father figure to her after Joyce died.
In Graduation Day (Part 2), Buffy dreams that she and Faith are making a bed together (again!). Faith says, “Miles to go. Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0″. Faith’s riddle is explained later in the series. “730″ is a forshadowing of Buffy’s own death (Buffy dies to save Dawn). It means 365 multiplied by 2, meaning in two year’s time. This date coincides with the episode The Gift where Buffy dies. The number crops up again in season four’s finale Restless, where Buffy sees a clock saying 7:30 and Tara tells her the clock is wrong. It is: there are no longer 730 days before Buffy’s death, there are 365.

Joyce and Xander

Joyce fell for Xander in Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered when Amy’s spell went wrong. In Restless, Xander dreamt that Joyce was attracted to him again.

Joyce through a wall

The scene in School Hard where Buffy talks to Joyce through a hole in the wall was propably the influence for the scene in Restless where Buffy discovers her mother has decided to live in a wall.

Just made that bed

In Buffy’s dream in Restless she says, “Faith and I just made that bed”. Buffy and Faith actually made the bed together in Faith’s dream sequence in This Year’s Girl. A dream sequence that references someone else’s dream sequence!

Miss Kitty Fantastico

Miss Kitty Fantastico was a black and white kitten belonging to Tara and Willow. The girls discussed getting a cat in New Moon Rising. She appeared in The Yoko Factor, Restless and Family then disappeared for three seasons. Her absence was finally explained in End of Days, when Dawn implied that Miss Kitty had died, “Xander, my crossbow is not out here. I told you, I don’t leave crossbows around all willy-nilly… Not since that time with Miss Kitty Fantastico.”

Spike the poser

In Giles’s dream in Restless, he sees Spike having his picture taken in different intimidating poses. In Storyteller, when Andrew is recording Spike for his documentary, Spike is seen being filmed (”Sod off before I rip your throat out and eat it”), and is willing to repeat the recording when Andrew tells him that the light was in the wrong place. He is acting intimidating and scary for the Andrew’s camera, just as he was acting for the cameras in Restless.

Willow’s old dress

Willow’s dress in Restless is obviously supposed to be the one she wore in Welcome to the Hellmouth, but it’s actually slightly different. The season one dress was a small plaid and this one looks as though it’s made of panelled suede.

Willow’s stage fright

Willow gets stage fright, which was first hinted at in The Puppet Show when she ran terrified from the stage during a talent contest. In Nightmares, Willow was forced to sing a piece from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly on stage but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Her stage fright was also explored in the episodes Restless (when she was in front of her class and everyone was laughing at her) and - to a lesser extent - in Once More, With Feeling when she was the only main character not to sing a great deal.
In The Yoko Factor, Tara suggested to Willow that she take sophomore Psych but Willow suggested drama instead. In Real Me we saw Willow berate Buffy as the Slayer didn’t have the time to take drama class with her. In Restless, Willow has a dream about having stage fright about the drama class, who are performing a play without actually having any classes.

Xander the sheep

In Restless, after Willow and Tara tell Xander to join them, you can see the word “sheep” written twice on the inside of the ice-cream van as he crawls towards them. The first one is in the lower right corner, and the second one is on the right side of the screen. This could be suggesting that Xander views himself as a sheep, following the Scoobies around because that is all he can do.

Exposition song

Giles sings at the Bronze in his dream in Restless. The piano player in the scene is Christophe Beck (the Buffy composer) and the band is Four Star Mary (the real band behind Oz’s band Dingoes Ate My Baby). Anthony Stewart Head recorded the song with Four Star Mary. The lyrics are:

Strange, it’s not like anything we faced before,
But it seems familiar somehow.
Of course. The spell we cast with Buffy must have released,
Some primal evil that’s come back seeking,
I’m not sure what.
Willow, look through the chronicles for a reference to a warrior beast.
I’ve got to warn Buffy. There’s every chance she might be next.
And Xander, help Willow.
And try not to bleed on my couch I’ve just had it steam cleaned.

Becoming a Slayer again

The appearance of the first, original Slayer in Restless raises some interesting points not yet explored in the show. The episode is essentially an epilogue for the forthcoming season, and in the next episode (Buffy vs Dracula), Buffy tells Giles that she wants to find out more about what it is to be a Slayer, which is the beginning of Buffy’s more spiritual period where she finally accepts that the Slayer is part of her and she can’t fight it.

Enjoining spell

Willow, Giles, Buffy and Xander used an enjoining spell to enable Buffy to defeat Adam in Primeval. They combined their essences of Giles (Surfus or The Mind), Willow (Spiritus or The Spirit), Xander (Animus or The Heart), and Buffy (Manus or The Hand). Buffy became indestructible, and was able to remove Adam’s uranium power core. The spell brought forth the First Slayer who attacked the Scoobies in their dreams in Restless.

Annie Hall

In Xander’s dream in the episode Restless, the following dialogue occurs:

Xander: “You gotta have something. Gotta always be moving forward.”
Buffy: “Like a shark”.

This is a possible reference to Woody Allen’s 1977 film Annie Hall, in which Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, states: “A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies.”

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a Vietnam war movie made in 1979, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on Conrad’s book The Heart of Darkness. In Restless, Xander brings a video of Apocalypse Now for the Scoobies to watch. Later, Xander dreams of the scene in the movie of the encounter between Lieutenant Willard (Martin Sheen) and Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) in which Principal Snyder plays the role of the Colonel. In Gingerbread, Snyder says, “I love the smell of desperate librarian in the morning” which is an adaptation of the famous line from the movie, when Lieutenant Colonel says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”.
A third Snyder-related reference to Apocalypse Now is in The Puppet Show. At the end of the episode, we get to see the dramatic scene that Buffy, Willow and Xander perform. One of Xander’s lines is: “Darkness! And horror of darkness.” At that moment, the camera cuts to Snyder sitting in the audience. The most memorable line of Conrad’s book belongs to Kurtz (the character that Snyder spoofed in Restless), who says, “The horror. The horror!”
The Angel episode Apocalypse Nowish is a clear reference to the book and film.

Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman is a play by Arthur Miller, first performed in 1949. It is the story of the final days of Willy Loman, an unhappy travelling salesman. The play is referred to twice in Buffy: in Band Candy, Buffy name checks Willy Loman when faced with selling chocolate bars, and in Willow’s dream in Restless, she dreams that she has a role in a school production of the play. It is directed by Giles (wearing a cravat), and includes Riley dressed as a cowboy, Buffy dressed as a 1920s flapper girl and Harmony as a milk-maid/vampire.

Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, starring Bruce Campbell, is alluded to a few times in Buffy. In Amends, the First screams, “Dead by sunrise”, which could be a nod to the subtitle of Evil Dead 2, namely, “Dead by Dawn”. In Crush, Xander says to Spike, “Hey evil dead you’re in my seat”. In Conversations with Dead People, Buffy says, “Yeah, what I really need is emotional therapy from the evil dead.” In Deep Down, Gunn says, “Evil Dead was probably just messing with us.”
The scene in Restless in which Xander is being pursued by the first Slayer down a long corridor (eventually leading to his parents’ basement) is highly reminiscent of a similar scene in The Evil Dead, in which Ash (Bruce Campbell) is being chased by the entity. Another visual reference to Evil Dead can be seen in After Life. The scene in which Anya become possessed is similar to a scene in the movie in which Linda (Ash’s girlfriend) gets possessed by evil spirits.
Sam Raimi was executive producer of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hit movie The Grudge.

Sappho

The poem Willow is painting on Tara’s back in her dream in Restless is by Sappho and is in the original Greek:

The Graduate

Joyce’s seduction of Xander in Restless is similar to the events of 1967 film The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Buffy’s line in Into the Woods, “Are you planning to seduce me, Mr. Finn?” is a paraphrase of the famous line from The Graduate, “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?”
In Angel’s Ground State, Lilah says, “Looks like Connor’s gonna need someone who cares - like a big sister….or hey, Mrs Robinson, if that’s what he’s into.”