according to joss whedon, this episode was the "ultimate postmodern look at the concept of a writer writing a show", as it questioned fantastical or inconsistent elements of the show "the way any normal person would". whedon added that the episode is intentionally left open to interpretation; the actual cause of the delusions, either the poison or buffy's return to "reality", is not made explicitly clear. "if the viewer wants," whedon says, "the entire series takes place in the mind of a lunatic locked up somewhere in los angeles... and that crazy person is me." although, "personally, i think it really happened."