Storyteller (Buffy episode)

“Storyteller”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 16
Written by	Jane Espenson
Directed by	Marita Grabiak
Guest stars	Tom Lenk    (Andrew) Danny Strong    (Jonathan) Adam Busch    (Warren) Iyari Limon    (Kennedy) Sarah Hagan    (Amanda) D.B. Woodside     (Principal Wood)
Production no.	7ABB16
Original airdate	February 25, 2003
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Get It Done" "Lies My Parents Told Me"

"Storyteller" is the sixteenth episode of season 7 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Storyteller" refers to Andrew Wells, who became a pseudo-member of the Scooby Gang after being one of the Big Bad guys in Season 6, and has been held hostage at Buffy's home since early in the season. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.

Plot synopsis

Andrew begins a video documentary narrating the apocalyptic adventures of Buffy and the Scooby Gang, leading Anya and Xander to begin talking about their relationship (and later have sex). Meanwhile, the seal underneath Sunnydale High begins exerting an evil influence upon the students, who begin to riot. Andrew had originally activated the seal at the command of the First Evil (by murdering his best friend, Jonathan), so Buffy and Principal Robin Wood turn to him for information. He relates the details of Jonathan's murder (in several different ways), and Buffy decides to take him to the Hellmouth to neutralize the seal. At the school, students continue to riot. As Spike and Robin guard the entrance to the basement, Buffy takes Andrew downstairs to the seal. She tricks Andrew, pretending that she is about to kill him in order to force him to face what he had done to Jonathan. Andrew, repentant, begins to cry, and his tears of remorse de-activate the seal. Upstairs, Robin's suspicions that Spike killed his mother (Nikki Wood, a Slayer) are confirmed. Back at his camera, Andrew expresses the belief he will die soon and that he deserves to die.

Acting

Main cast

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
• Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
• Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
• James Marsters as Spike
• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenburg

Recurring role

• Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson
• Adam Busch as Warren Meers
• Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
• Iyari Limon as Kennedy
• D.B. Woodside as Principal Robin Wood
• Sarah Hagan as Amanda

Guest stars

• Indigo as Rona

Production details

Music

• Robert Duncan - "Hell School & The Prokaryote Stone"

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Storyteller

Translations

• Italian title: On TV "Il narratore" ("The storyteller") or, on DVD, "Narratore" ("Storyteller")
• German title: "Der Geschichtenerzähler" ("The Storyteller")
• French title: "Sous influence" ("Under Influence")
• Spanish title: "Cuentacuentos" ("Storyteller")

Continuity

Arc significance

This episode serves as a partial standalone story, while at the same time addressing the ongoing concern that Buffy's constant speeches and nagging of the potentials is getting on their nerves. Andrew steps out of the room while Buffy gives a speech (indicating her vision of hundreds of Übervamps from the previous episode, "Get It Done") and even Willow appears bored with it from the young nerd's perspective. The episode continues the "back to the beginning" theme of the season by addressing earlier incidents from Sunnydale High's past. Buffy notices a student turning invisible because no one has noticed her, echoing the events of season 1's "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." Andrew's video references past events without detail in some cases, and with extreme modifications in others. He states that the seal under the high school was recently opened but fails to indicate that he was responsible for it. Andrew notes a previous encounter he had with Dark Willow, recalling a scene from season 6's "Two to Go," albeit with changes. In this recount, Andrew is more powerful than Willow, and he deflects her attacks. In the original episode, Dark Willow's responses shown in this episode referred to a counterspell that Anya was chanting. Andrew states in the narration for his video that Kennedy and Willow are patching things up after having been in a "bad place" in recent episodes. Events in this episode close the Seal of Danzalthar, stating that it could only be done with the tears of the person who opened it. This recalls Andrew's actions in "Conversations with Dead People."

Timing

• Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

External links

• "Storyteller" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Storyteller" at TV.com