Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Storyteller

Storyteller
Season 7, Episode 16
Airdate	February 25, 2003
Production Number	7ABB16
Written by	Jane Espenson
Directed by	Marita Grabiak
← 7x15 Get It Done	7x17 → Lies My Parents Told Me
Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season Seven

Storyteller is the sixteenth episode of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the one-hundred and thirty-eighth episode overall. Andrew attempts to make a movie out of Buffy's life and the Hellmouth is bubbling over into the attitudes of the student population.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), James Marsters (Spike)

and Alyson Hannigan (Willow)

Special Guest Star: Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles)

Guest Starring: Danny Strong (Jonathan Levinson), Adam Busch (Warren Meers), Tom Lenk (Andrew Wells), Iyari Limon (Kennedy), Sarah Hagan (Amanda), Indigo (Rona)

and DB Woodside (Principal Wood)

Co-Starring: Alan Loayza (Stressed Out Boy), Corin Amber Norton (Crying Girl), Sujata DeChoudhury (Shy Girl), TW Leshner (Feral Teen)

Plot Overview

With the high school experiencing a steady increase in violent and supernatural activity, Buffy and Wood figure out its connection to the Hellmouth seal. While Andrew is busy narrating and weaving stories, he must reveal the events that led him to the seal in the first place.

Notes

Monster of the Week

• There is no monster of the week in this episode because it follows up on the story of the seal.

Body Count

#	Whom	By Whom	How	Where
1/2	Vampire	Buffy	Staked	Graveyard
3	Student	—	Exploded	Sunnydale High

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Andrew: Andrew's sexuality is put further into question in this episode when he makes several comments about Xander and Jonathan's attractiveness. There's also the parts where he watches the video of Xander and Anya over and over again, mouthing Anya's words and looking past Willow and Kennedy making out to point out Xander's craftmanship.

• Xander and Anya: Xander and Anya finally find closure on their relationship after sleeping together and realizing it felt like "one last time."

Referbacks

• 1x11 - Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Buffy sees a girl starting to disappear, a call back to when an invisible girl haunted the high school.

Buffy: Hey, shy girl, don't do this.

• 6x16 - Hell's Bells: Xander left Anya at the altar when he was shown a possible future where they were both unhappy. Andrew mentions that it was a year after the failed marriage, a reference to Hell's Bells being the 16th episode of the previous season, coinciding with this episode.

• 6x21 - Two to Go: Andrew flashes back to when Willow went evil and nearly killed him and Jonathan in the magic shop. He distorts the event so that he deflects her spells though.

• 7x09 - Never Leave Me: The pig that runs by Robin and Buffy in the school is a callback to when Jonathan's blood wasn't enough to open the seal entirely so they opted for the next best thing. However, Andrew couldn't catch the pig.

Robin: God, I hope that's not a student.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Grr Argh: At the end of this episode, the Mutant Enemy monster says "We are Gods" from the weird frolicking sequence instead of its usual "Grr Argh" grunting.

Allusions and References

• Masterpiece Theatre: The beginning of this episode with Andrew introducing his story next to a fireplace is close to the introduction to the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre.

Quotes

• Anya: (walks in on Andrew in the bathroom) For God's sake, Andrew! You've been in here for 30 minutes. What are you doing?

Andrew: Entertaining and educating.

Anya: Well, why can't you just masturbate like the rest of us?