Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Restless

"Restless" is the 22nd episode and season finale of season four of the supernatural drama television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), and the 78th episode of the series overall. The episode was written and directed by the show's creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on The WB in the United States on May 23, 2000. The premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that an adolescent girl, Buffy Summers, is chosen by mystical forces and given superhuman powers to kill vampires, demons, and other evil creatures in the fictional town of Sunnydale. She is supported by a close circle of family and friends, nicknamed the Scooby Gang. "Restless" centers on the dreams of the four main characters after enduring an exhausting fight in the previous episode. The dreams are used to comment on the characters—their fears, their past and their possible future. Consistent with each dream is the presence of the First Slayer who hunts and kills them one by one until, in the final sequence, she is confronted and disempowered by Buffy. The episode serves as a coda to the fourth season instead of a climax, as Whedon wanted to achieve something different for a season finale. Whedon experimented with several filming techniques to make the episode as dreamlike as possible. The episode also foreshadows upcoming events, most notably the first appearance of Buffy's sister Dawn. Buffy scholar Nikki Stafford calls the surrealistic episode "unprecedented in television", saying it is "so jam-packed with information that we'll probably be seeing allusions to it for the rest of the series", and referring to it as a "mysterious lead-in to the emotionally turbulent season five". "Restless" received high praise from critics upon airing, particularly for its character development, visual direction, and wit. It is frequently noted as one of the best episodes of the series.