Killed by Death (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Killed by Death (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)"

"Killed by Death" is episode 18 of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.

Plot synopsis

Summary

After flu lands Buffy in the hospital, she rescues fevered children from Der Kindestod, a demon that turned out to have killed her cousin when she was younger and which gave her a phobia of hospitals.

Expanded overview

A flu-stricken Buffy, reluctant to stay at home, patrols the cemetery. Xander, Willow and Cordelia surprise her and she nearly stakes Xander. They try to convince her to go home but the damage that Angelus has done so far continues to fuel her fire. Angelus appears behind her and attacks Cordelia. Buffy and Angelus fight until Angelus pins Buffy down. Willow throws a burlap sack over his head and he is scared off by crosses that they all carry. Buffy faints and the gang rush her to the hospital. After being stabilized, she is admitted to the hospital for a few days against her will. Her mother reveals that Buffy has always hated hospitals ever since her cousin died in one while Buffy was there with her.

Joyce brings up the topic of Ms. Calendar's death to Giles and unknowingly brings up a topic Giles would much rather forget. Meanwhile, Xander, Willow and Cordelia wait to protect a very sick Buffy from the harms of Angelus. That night, Buffy has a dream where she sees a strange man follow after a kid. As she follows the man down the hall, flashbacks of her cousin's time spent in the hospital bring nightmares to mind. She awakes suddenly in the middle of the night and takes a walk down the hall. Two men exit the children's ward with a child that died that night. At the door she overhears a conversation between Dr. Backer and Dr. Wilkinson about the doctors' experimental treatments on the kids. As she begins to leave, she encounters two children that tell her about "Death" and how he comes at night.

The next morning Buffy's friends visit bearing gifts. All but Cordelia that is. They all take a walk and Buffy tells them all about the conversation she overheard. The doctor was trying experimental treatments on the kids in the children's ward that Dr. Wilkinson didn't exactly agree with. Since forced to stay at the hospital she plans to find out what the doctor is up to and Xander volunteers everyone's help. Cordelia and Xander sneak into the hospital's record room and search for records on the girl that died that night. Meanwhile, Giles and Willow search for information at the school library. While looking through the records, Cordelia is caught by the security guard. She flirts with him until Xander can escape with the records then leaves herself. Xander expresses his feelings towards her flirting with him and Cordelia expresses her anger about Xander's behavior around Buffy. She leaves to take the records to Giles and Willow and Xander "watches her back" as she goes.

That night, Angelus comes to visit Buffy but Xander stands guard. They stand face to face and exchange many harsh words until Angelus finally leaves discouraged by the fact that he may not make it to Buffy's room with all the security. Buffy takes a walk and finds the little boy. He is drawing a picture of the man she saw in her dream. Willow digs up information on Dr. Backer at the library with Giles. She finds that he has a large past of experimental treatments and investigations into his practices. Meanwhile, Dr. Backer is working on trying to cure the children's illnesses. After finding a solution that he thinks will work he takes it to the children's ward to try it out. Before he can do anything, the evil creature attacks him and slashes him up. Buffy tries to stop him but is thrown aside.

The next morning Buffy informs everyone that Dr. Backer is not the suspect and shows them the drawing that Ryan drew of the creature. Xander, Giles and Cordelia leave her alone and come up with a plan. Giles and Cordelia head back to the library while Xander stands guard against the threat of Angelus. At the library, Cordelia annoys Giles with constant questions. Finally, she finds a picture of the monster on the cover of a book and they research it. After searching they find that it is called Der Kindestod. After Cordelia squeamishly describes what is going on Giles takes over and then tells Buffy about how it sucks the life out of a child. Buffy flashes back to her time at the hospital as a child again. She sees her cousin freaking out while she helplessly watches. Buffy goes silent over the phone and then after several minutes, Willow takes it from her and hangs up. Buffy then realizes that Der Kindestod was the killer of her cousin.

The two head to Dr. Backer's office in search of answers. They find out about his research and that he meant the children no harm. Buffy then goes to his fridge to take the drug that he was using on the kids. Willow stops her from drinking it whole and dilutes it in water. Buffy's fever rushes to a near 107 degrees as she stumbles to the children's ward. She finds all the children are gone. They have headed down to the basement in hopes of escaping from the Kindestod. After a few moments, Buffy sees the Kindestod in the room and watches as he heads down to the basement. The door is locked so Buffy and Willow rush to find access to the basement. Dr. Wilkinson tries to stop them but Buffy shoves her aside. When security guards stop the two, Willow takes on the blame as Buffy makes her escape.

Buffy works her way to Xander and he helps her down to the basement. The children wait quietly in hopes of not being found but then the Kindestod picks up Ryan. He screams along with all the other children. Buffy arrives just in time and fights off the Kindestod. Just as he is about to kill her, she snaps his neck and she leaves leaning on Xander. Buffy finishes her rehabilitation at home with her friends. Her mother reluctantly waits on them all. Joyce then hands Buffy a letter from Ryan, which is revealed to be a drawing of her hailing over a dead Kindestod.

Writing and acting

The title of this episode is a tautology.

Quotes and trivia

• "Der Kindestod" literally means "the child's death" in German, but Giles is the only one to pronounce it with the correct accent. Cordelia is mistaken when she claims it means "child death."
• Joss Whedon has stated that the Kindestod was "based on a "'this thing creeped me out as a kid' thing,". (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book)
• The Kindestod resembles Freddy Krueger of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. Its behavior and Teutonic image is suggestive of der Erlkönig.

Translations

• Italian title: "Il mostro" ("The monster" (sic!))
• German title: "Der unsichtbare Tod" ("The invisible death")

Continuity

Timing

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

External links

• Killed by Death at IMDb