Austin Runkle
Sechler
AP Literature, Period Six
November 26, 2013

In the television series,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, each

individual episode includes one or more themes. In the episode, “Hush,” a paranormal group of creatures, called the Gentlemen, target Sunnydale for their mischievous deeds. The gentlemen steal the voices of everyone in the town and put them in a box. With no one to scream or to alert others, the Gentlemen steal the hearts of their victims until each Gentleman has seven victim’s hearts. However, this is not the only problem that the main characters face in the episode.
“Hush” illustrates how much communication is needed for a healthy relationship.

In the episode, the main characters, Buffy and Riley, are not able to find the right words

to further their relationship. A major setback in their relationship is that they are hiding the same big secret from each other: they both fight supernatural beings. When the topic of what they will be doing later that night arises, both Riley and Buffy have trouble coming up with lies to cover for their double lives. The two do not know an appropriate way to tell the other that they fight creatures that aren’t supposed to exist. Buffy and Riley feel uncomfortable trying to get farther in their relationship. When they come close and are about to kiss, one of them gets nervous and prevents the kiss from happening. An awkward conversation then leads to Buffy and Riley leaving in different directions. The first time after their voices are pulled from their bodies, Buffy and Riley have their first kiss, because there could be no awkward conversation to stop them this time. Towards the end of the episode, both Riley and Buffy are attracted to the bell tower where the Gentlemen are based. This leads to the discovery of each other’s important role in ghoul

fighting. After they defeat the Gentlemen and regain their voices, Riley is shown coming into
Buffy’s room in the last scene saying, “I guess we need to talk,” to which Buffy replies, “I guess we do.” Obviously the two will share how they came to lead their secret double lives, but then the viewer is made to think one of two things: they will either break off what they have together so as to not worry about each other getting hurt in their work, or they will stay together to become a supernatural creature butt­kicking couple.

The relationship of another couple is strengthened through the voice­muting of

Sunnydale. Willow, Buffy’s roommate and fellow slayer, meets Tara in a Wiccan group. Willow had joined the group because she wanted to increase her powers and work on spells instead of just being able to float a pencil. To her dismay, what she really joined was a gossip group that partakes in bake sales. Lucky for her, Tara was in the group for the same reason as her. Later in the episode, Tara and Willow are being chased by the Gentlemen and are forced into a lounge­type room. Willow tries to move a vending machine with her powers to barricade