"Slayer, Interrupted" is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

storyline based on the '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' television series that was published in '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' #57–59 by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

. It was later reprinted as part of a trade paperback collected edition. It was influenced by events detailed in the episode "

Normal Again "Normal Again" is the 17th episode of season 6 of the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The Futon Critic named it the 35th best episode of 2002. The Trio summon a demon whose hallucinogenic venom makes Buffy believe that her impl ...

". The title references the best-selling memoir '' Girl, Interrupted'', also about institutionalization.

Story description

General synopsis

After running off to Vegas, Buffy has written in her diary tales of vampires and demons. Her parents have her put into a mental institution. Whilst there Buffy realises she enjoys the freedom, and the loss of her role as Slayer. However certain doctors are not what they appear. In England,

Rupert Giles Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure. The charac ...

's use of magic has prevented a Watcher from causing destruction to the

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer #56''

:Comic title: "Slayer, Interrupted, act 1" Buffy returns from Las Vegas where she had been on a trip with

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus o ...

. Dawn has been reading her diary, and tells their parents. Since Buffy had also recently burned down her school gym and run off to Las Vegas, they fear that she has lost her mind. Feeling like they have little choice, Buffy's parents have her committed.

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer #57''

:Comic title: "Slayer, Interrupted, act 2" Buffy is staying at an institution and sort of likes not having to slay vampires and other forces of evil night after night. However, something sinister is going on as the doctors may not have just the patients' interests at heart. Meanwhile, Giles has to face consequences for using black magic even if it was done to protect the

Watchers' Council In the fictional universe written by the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'', a Watcher is a member of a secret organization of parapsychologists, the Watchers' Council, which seeks to prepare the Slayer to fight demon ...

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer #58''

:Comic title: "Slayer, Interrupted, act 3" Buffy had assumed the girls who claimed they were brides to the demon Rakagore were crazy, but when Rakagore shows up, Buffy is forced to reconsider. A medicated Buffy does her best to deal with the demon who had preyed upon young hospitalized women but may need help.

''Buffy the Vampire Slayer #59''

:Comic title: "Slayer, Interrupted, act 4" Buffy does not know whom she can trust but she tries to save the group of young girls from the demon that feeds off them. Eventually she leaves the hospital, and her parents prepare for some big life changes.

Connections

The Buffy television episode

raises the possibility that Buffy never actually left the asylum and that her life in Sunnydale may have been a delusion lasting 7 years. In 2011 during the final episodes of the long running soap opera "

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

" former star

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

returned for a guest cameo as an unnamed character. She played a well dressed, coiffured and otherwise coherent young woman brought in for medication after claiming to see vampires.

References

{{Reflist Psychiatric hospitals in fiction