History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath

* DutchAngle / MoodLighting: Buffy's dreams.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Subverted. Willow mentions that she and Xander "played doctor." Then it's revealed that Willow meant that she looked up diagnoses for Xander in a text book.
-->'''Willow:''' (''to Buffy, after Xander said the way they "played doctor" was wrong'') How did you play doctor?
-->'''Buffy:''' (''evasively'') [[BlatantLies I...never have]].

** Also, the doctor's strategy of curing the kids by increasing their viral load and so making their fever spike is complete nonsense. Raising the body's temperature higher and higher in a ''futile'' effort to "kill" the virus is exactly why and how some rare strains of the flu (such as the famously deadly [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishFlu Spanish flu]]) kill especially young people with active immune systems - it's their own fever reaction that kills them, not harm done directly by the virus.[[note]] Though your everyday flu strains usually kill only people with compromised immune systems - also not through the flu virus itself, but by weakening the body so much that it can't fight off ''bacterial'' infections anymore, so people then die of pneumonia.[[/note]] (The fever defense strategy of the human body only really works against organisms that really are alive and have a metabolism to disrupt through the heat, like bacteria.) Short of actual antiviral medication, the most sensible way to treat a viral infection like the flu is to keep the body's fever defense mechanism ''in check'', so that the body doesn't cook its own cells, and to try and ward off additional bacterial infections, thus giving the immune system enough time to produce antibodies specifically designed to bond and catch the virus particles. It really is mostly just a matter of waiting it out.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Buffy is sick and ends up in hospital - a place she hates since her cousin died in a hospital when they were children. While the MonsterOfTheWeek in the episode (which was also responsible for her cousin's death) is dealt with, Sunnydale General ends up playing a ''big'' role in Season Five - not only does Buffy's mother Joyce end up with a brain tumor and spends a few episodes there, but we're also, at the same time, introduced to the character Ben Wilkinson, a young medical intern who serves as a possible {{Love Interest|s}} to Buffy and who turns out to be the mortal, human shell of Glory, the BigBad of Season Five - Glory's plans, in turn, result in Buffy's death in the Season Five finale.

* {{Mundangerous}}: Buffy laid low by a virus -- [[EarlyInstalmentWeirdness for the first and only time in the whole show.]]

* {{Mundangerous}}: Buffy laid low by a virus.

* HospitalGurneyScene

** Also, the doctor's strategy of curing the kids by increasing their viral load and so making their fever spike is complete nonsense. Raising the body's temperature higher and higher in a ''futile'' effort to "kill" the virus is exactly why and how some rare strains of the flu (such as the famously deadly Spanish flu) kill especially young people with active immune systems - it's their own fever reaction that kills them, not harm done directly by the virus.[[note]] Though your everyday flu strains usually kill only people with compromised immune systems - also not through the flu virus itself, but by weakening the body so much that it can't fight off ''bacterial'' infections anymore, so people then die of pneumonia.[[/note]] (The fever defense strategy of the human body only really works against organisms that really are alive and have a metabolism to disrupt through the heat, like bacteria.) Short of actual antiviral medication, the most sensible way to treat a viral infection like the flu is to keep the body's fever defense mechanism ''in check'', so that the body doesn't cook its own cells, and to try and ward off additional bacterial infections, thus giving the immune system enough time to produce antibodies specifically designed to bond and catch the virus particles. It really is mostly just a matter of waiting it out.

* CreepyBasement: The final battle takes place in the service areas under the hospital.

* LongLostUncleAesop: Buffy exhibits a phobic reaction to being in the hospital, and we learn that it's because of her cousin Celia's death when they were kids. They were close, and Buffy was traumatized as a result of watching her die. While some of this trauma is legitimately resolved in the episode, the lack of mention of Celia before or after makes the whole thing seem to come out of nowhere. It is particularly jarring because Buffy spends a great deal of time visiting the hospital in Season Five, and shows no phobia beyond an appropriate reaction to the immediate circumstances. Then again understanding the cause of her trauma would've allowed Buffy to get over it.

* EyeScream: Kindestod has stalked mouths that come out of its own eye sockets.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Buffy is sick and ends up in hospital - a place she hates since her cousin died in a hospital when they were children. While the MonsterOfTheWeek in the episode (which was also responsible for her cousin's death) is dealt with, Sunnydale General ends up playing a ''big'' role in Season Five - not only does Buffy's mother Joyce end up with a brain tumor and spends a few episodes there, but we're also, at the same time, introduced to the character Ben Wilkinson, a young medical intern who serves as a possible {{Love Interest|s}} to Buffy [[spoiler: and who turns out to be the mortal, human shell of Glory, the BigBad of Season Five - Glory's plans, in turn, result in Buffy's death in the Season Five finale]].

* StealthInsult

* TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: A subtle version where Cordelia stalks off after arguing with Xander, then returns with coffee and donuts.

* LongLostUncleAesop: Buffy exhibits a phobic reaction to being in the hospital, and we learn that it's because of her cousin Celia's death when they were kids. They were close, and Buffy was traumatized as a result of watching her die. While some of this trauma is legitimately resolved in the episode, the lack of mention of Celia before or after makes the whole thing seem to come out of nowhere. It is particularly jarring because Buffy spends a great deal of time visiting the hospital in Season Five, and shows no phobia beyond an appropriate reaction to the immediate circumstances.
** Then again by understanding the cause of her trauma would've allowed Buffy to get over it.

* InnocouslyImportantEpisode: Buffy is sick and ends up in hospital - a place she hates since her cousin died in a hospital when they were children. While the MonsterOfTheWeek in the episode (which was also responsible for her cousin's death) is dealt with, Sunnydale General ends up playing a ''big'' role in Season Five - not only does Buffy's mother Joyce end up with a brain tumor and spends a few episodes there, but we're also, at the same time, introduced to the character Ben Wilkinson, a young medical intern who serves as a possible {{Love Interest|s}} to Buffy [[spoiler: and who turns out to be the mortal, human shell of Glory, the BigBad of Season Five - Glory's plans, in turn, result in Buffy's death in the Season Five finale]].

* StereoFibbing: Xander, Willow, and Cordy take an unconscious Buffy into the Hospital Emergency room.
-->'''Intern:''' What happened?\\
'''Willow:''' The flu.\\
'''Xander:''' She fell.\\
'''Cordy:''' She fainted.\\
'''Xander:''' The flu, fainted and fell. She's sick, make it better!

* ArtisticLicenceMedicine: Buffy reinfects herself with the same flu strain she already had, in order to get a fever that allows her to see the demon. After her immun system got rid of her flu infection earlier, she would be forever immune against that particular strain, and it would take at least a day to kick in anyway. This plot point would have made a lot more sense if Willow had figured out which drug from the hospital pharmacy to use to artificially raise Buffy's temperature.

* ArtisticLicenceMedicine: Buffy reinfects herself with the flu in order to get a fever that allows her to see the demon. She would still be immune from her earlier infection, and it would take at least a day to kick in anyway.
** Then again, [[FridgeBrilliance it's the Hellmouth]].

Intern: What happened?

* InvisibleMonsters / ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: The demon can only be seen by sick people.

** Then again, [[FridgeBrilliance its the Hellmouth]].

* SickEpisode

* ThisIsThePartWhere

* TitledAfterTheSong: "Killed by Death", by Motorhead.

* HealingFactor: The nurse is surprised how quickly Buffy recovers. This causes problems as she can no longer see the invisible demon.