[s6e17] Normal: Again

Her mother, Joyce, is alive and well, providing a heartbreakingly tempting alternative to Buffy’s grueling life in Sunnydale. A Battle for Reality

Unlike most "it was all a dream" tropes, "Normal Again" refuses to provide a definitive answer. Buffy is torn between a world of pain, duty, and death (Sunnydale) and a world of recovery, family, and "normality" (the institution). [S6E17] Normal Again

Her battles with vampires and demons are framed as a complex "schizophrenic" fantasy created to cope with her parents' divorce. Her mother, Joyce, is alive and well, providing

The horror peaks when Buffy, convinced by the institutional doctor that she must "kill" her delusions to get better, nearly murders her friends in the Sunnydale reality. In a moment of clarity, she chooses her friends and her life as the Slayer, even if it means staying "sick" in the eyes of the hospital staff. The Ending That Still Haunts Fans Her battles with vampires and demons are framed