It's clear by now that those repeats on Buffy for the holidays weren't
random choices. I'm glad I had the chance to see "Normal Again" and
"Villains" back to back. Because it's clear there is a connection
between them. The key is in the episode "Normal Again".

I was surprised to see the phrase "your world is breaking down" and
"your friends are going mad." Keep this in mind when you think about
these episodes. It's because these are clues to the final season on
Buffy. It all starts with the end of Season 5. When the Scoobies are
fighting Glory, we last see Glory in all her "madness" and we simply
assumed that Glory was a "mad" god. But taken in context with "Normal
Again", it's clear there's a connection. From the end of season 5, the
emphasis was on the slow deterioration of the characters delving into
their dark sides. So when I watched "Normal Again" I was intrigued by
one fact: when Buffy wanted to end her stay in the hospital, she
promised she'd do everything in her power to "overcome" her friends who
were keeping her trapped in the fictional world of Sunnydale. They were
part of Buffy's "madness". All of her friends don't exist. In fact, they
are all manifestations of Buffy's madness. If we believe "Normal Again"
to be the real Buffy Summers locked in the mental institution, then it
should not come as a complete surprise that the most normal person in
Buffy's "world" is Tara. It's an important clue that Tara is the one who
keeps Buffy "trapped" in her world. She's the outsider, the non Scoobie
who gives the Sunnydale world credence and its depth. Buffy in her fight
to destroy her Sunnydale world was able to capture Xander, Dawn and
Willow. She locks them into the cellar…a classic reference to the
subconscious mind that has deep, dark desires. In "Normal World" the
Buffy in the hospital has doubts about leaving the Sunnydale of her
creation, and that's why there's Tara. Because it was only Tara that was
able to free Buffy from destroying her own Wonderland because Buffy
herself didn't want to give it up. Tara was Buffy's consciousness not
wanting to give up Sunnydale.

Tara was the manifestation of Sunnydale becoming reality and normalcy
for the Buffy locked in the mental institution. It was a natural growth
in Buffy's world to have her friends starting to develop relationships
that created the sense that Buffy's world was indeed, real. But the
Buffy in the hospital is undergoing treatments, therapy and constant
supervision in the hopes of helping her come out of the delusion of
being the "Slayer". Toward the end of "Normal Again", Buffy's doctor
urges Buffy to do "whatever it takes" to kill the fictional world of
friends she's created in the 6 years she's been in the hospital. Now
here's the irony: it was Tara that helped Buffy decide to continue
living in her dreamworld, but it was Tara that pays the ultimate price:
Buffy killed Tara. Not Warren. If "Normal Again" is to be believed, then
everything that happened since Tara's death is a long drawn out campaign
from Buffy herself in ridding herself of everything that exists in her
dreamworld that's encouraging her to carry on in the Sunnydale of her
imagination. So, the killing of Tara was Buffy's doing. She "imagined" a
scenario that Buffy herself created that allowed her to kill off Tara.
By doing this Buffy has snuffed out the one person that made Sunnydale
real. Killing Tara was an important step for Buffy to take…but it had to
look like it was from an outsider…and not Buffy herself. Others have to
do the dirty deeds to help Buffy from feeling the guilt in killing off
her friends one by one. So Tara was the first victim in Buffy's campaign
to rid of herself the imaginary world she's created while in the mental
institution. This whole season is about Buffy using the "First/Morphy"
as her defence mechanism in killing off the Slayer line as well as
killing off her friends. When Buffy starts to regret what she's
doing…and this will manifest itself when Buffy reunites with Spike down
the line…Buffy will become possessed by the First/Morphy. Buffy will
realize once she gets back to Spike that she must destroy the Sunnydale
world she's inhabited. Because in the line from "Normal Again", Buffy
taunted Dawn saying "having a relationship with a vampire isn't your
idea of crazy?" is the clue. When Buffy reunites with Spike, she'll
realize that she IS crazy and must rid herself of everybody in the
Sunnydale world she's come to love because she wants to be normal. Buffy
will become possessed by the First/Morphy. Morphy is Buffy's
consciousness fighting the dreamworld Buffy has created because Buffy
herself cannot be held responsible for what happens to her friends. It
has to be an "outsider" that does in her "family" hence the Big Bad -
which in this case for Season 7 is The First. The shocking conclusion to
Season 7 will be the revelation that the Big Bad is Buffy
herself…because she chooses to end the world she's known for 7 years
while in the mental institution.

And if you don't believe the above..ask yourself this question: At the
end of "Normal Again" the Buffy in the Sunnydale world asks Willow to
make the antidote drink for her to take so that she can be sure she's
"cured" from seeing the hallucinations. Well, why would it be necessary
for the Buffy in the Sunnydale world to request an antidote to seeing
hallinations if she knows being in the Sunnydale world is her real
world? Because the buffy in the Sunnydale world still isn't convinced
she's living in the real world! So the kicker is that Buffy really is in
the mental institution. Notice how Dawn is important in "Normal Again".
Buffy created Dawn so it keeps her tied to the Sunnydale world. Dawn is
the "Key" to it all for Buffy. Without Dawn, Buffy would have ended her
stay in "Sunnydale" long ago.