Overall Rating: 9.05 Matt: 9.1 Eric: 9.0 Written by: Marti Noxon Directed by: Michael Lange Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, David Boreanaz as Angel, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Main guest stars : Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Seth Green as Oz, Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar, James Marsters as Spike, Juliet Landau as Drusilla, Brian Thompson as The Judge, Eric Saiet as Dalton, Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall, Vincent Schiavelli as Jenny’s uncle. Original broadcast date : January 19, 1998 My one-line description: What Buffy wanted for her birthday - Angel naked with a big bow on the… Buffy is dreaming. As she pads down to the bathroom in the middle of the night, Drusilla stalks her. Buffy turns, but there’s nothing there; she turns back to enter the bathroom, which has become the Bronze… There, she encounters Willow, and then her mother. She goes to the dance floor, where Angel is waiting. Suddenly, Drusilla shows up behind him… and stakes him. As he turns to dust, Drusilla wishes Buffy a happy birthday… Buffy wakes up in her bed, sweating. The next day, Buffy goes to Angel’s place and wakes him up. She tells him about her dream; he tries to comfort her, but she reminds him that she dreamed about the Master and that came true. She wonders if Drusilla is truly dead, but he reassures her with a kiss. They do a bit of necking, and he asks her what she wants for her birthday. She asks him to surprise her, and then leaves for school. At school, Willow and Buffy are discussing the possibility of her seeing Angel "at bedtime". Buffy isn’t sure what to do, but Willow advises her to seize the day. As they walk, they come across Oz, and it’s obvious that Willow likes him. It’s Buffy’s turn to give advice – go do the talking thing. Willow shyly goes to greet Oz; after a bit of nervous small talk, Oz finally asks her out for the next evening, but she suddenly remembers she can’t – they’re having a surprise party for Buffy. Willow courageously offers Oz to be her date to the party, and he accepts. At Cordelia’s locker, she and Xander are also discussing Buffy’s party. Xander asks her if they should go as a couple, which leads to an argument – Cordy’s not sure she wants to be seen with him. He walks away, and she catches up with him, asking him to let her think about it. She leaves, and Xander joins Giles in the student lounge. They’re about to talk about the party, but they shush as Buffy and Jenny approach. Giles notes that Buffy looks fatigued, and she tells her about the bad dream she had the previous night. She feels it may be prophetic, but Giles tells her not to worry too much. Giles and Jenny watch her off to class, and then go to the library. There, they talk about Giles treating Buffy like a grownup – Jenny feels he shouldn’t push her. For example, this thing with Angel – she thinks Giles should talk to Buffy, make sure she’s not about to make bad choices. At the factory, a vampire – Dalton – delivers a box for Spike. Spike is in a wheelchair, badly injured from the fire in the church. Drusilla pushes Spike into the main room, which is being decorated, as for a party. Dalton puts his box besides two oddly similar ones. Spike is weary and wants to leave Sunnydale, but Drusilla is confident her party will be a success… because it will be the last. The next morning, Joyce reminds Buffy they’re having a mall trip on Saturday to celebrate her birthday. Since she’s 17, Buffy wants her driver’s license, but Joyce is worried. "Do you really think you’re ready, Buffy?" she asks, holding a plate – exactly as in Buffy’s dream. Then, she drops the plate –exactly as in the dream – and curses. When she looks up, the door slams – Buffy has left, freaked. In her empty classroom, Jenny is visited by a tall, older Gypsy male. He accuses her of ignoring her responsibility to her people; she protests that the curse still holds, but he replies that it seems his pain is lessening. Jenny admits that there is a girl, but Angel (aha!) is still suffering and making amends. The man is appalled by this; he orders Jenny – Jana of the Kalderash people – to make sure that the relationship between Angel and Buffy ends now. One moment of happiness for Angel, it seems, would be one minute too many. As Cordelia speaks to Harmony, trying to prepare her acceptance of Xander, Xander himself speaks to Willow, trying to prepare her acceptance of Cordelia. Both attempts are met with less than total success. Willow, especially, thinks that they and Cordy belong to two different worlds. Oz arrives, and Willow giddily confirms their date for tonight. As Oz moves away, Xander is obviously jealous. Xander and Willow enter the library just as Buffy is telling Giles about the part of her dream that came true. She’s worried it could mean Drusilla’s alive, and Giles promises to research the vampire. Buffy glumly goes off to class, and Willow and Xander talk about cancelling the party. Giles decides it will go ahead – they can protect Angel and have cake at the same time. As she makes her way back to the library to meet with Giles, Buffy runs into Jenny, who tells her the Watcher wants to meet her somewhere near his house. They get into Jenny’s car, and the teacher drives Buffy to an alley behind the Bronze. Buffy is baffled, but she suddenly spots three guys moving another iron box like the ones Drusilla is collecting. She gets out of the car and realizes that one of the vampires is Dalton. She’s attacked by a huge vampire, but manages to make Dalton run, leaving the box behind. She keeps fighting the big vampire. At the Bronze, the gang is waiting anxiously for Buffy. Suddenly, she and the vampire crash through the back wall of the stage; she pins him down and dusts him. Everyone stares at her. "Surprise!" Cordy says. As Giles and Angel go to ask her if she’s alright, she realizes this is a party for her… Jenny comes in with the big iron box, and Buffy opens it. Inside is a big, powerful, armoured arm. It shoots from the box and grabs Buffy’s throat…Angel pries it away and wrestles it back into the box. The gang wonder what that was, but Angel has an answer – it’s the Judge, a demon brought forth long ago to separate the righteous from the wicked, and burn the righteous down. Giles recognizes the legends, and adds that the Judge couldn’t be killed; an army was sent against him and managed to dismember him, and his pieces were scattered across the earth. Angel concludes that Drusilla plans to reassemble the Judge and bring forth Armageddon. Jenny asks Angel to take the arm out of town. Buffy wants to go with him, but Jenny points out it could take months – Angel confirms he has to take this thing the farthest possible. He decides to leave by cargo ship tonight. Buffy is sad – what a birthday this is! Jenny offers to drive Angel and Buffy to the docks. At the factory, Drusilla is mad at Dalton for losing her "gift". She takes his glasses off, steps on them and threatens to put his eyes out with her fingernails. Spike talks her out of it, saying Dalton may be their only chance to recover her present. At the docks, Angel and Buffy prepare to say goodbye. He pulls something out of his coat pocket – a present for her. It’s a Claddagh ring, adorned with two hands holding a heart. Wear it with the heart pointing towards you, and it means that you belong to someone… His own Claddagh ring is oriented that way. Buffy tries not to cry, and they share a goodbye kiss… Suddenly, Dalton and two other vampires leap onto them from a cargo net above. As they fight, one of the vampires sends Buffy into the water; another vampire makes away with the iron box, but Angel has no choice – he has to rescue Buffy. He fishes a dazed Slayer out of the sea. At the library, Giles, Xander and Willow are waiting for Buffy and Jenny to return. Finally, Buffy enters, wearing dry clothes, and breaks the bad news about the ambush. She reveals that Jenny took Angel to his place so he could change. She asks Giles for an update, and what he has is not encouraging – The Judge’s touch can burn the humanity out of someone, and no human has survived it. Furthermore, "no weapon forged can kill him". The Scoobies take to the phone, calling their parents to let them know they’ll be sleeping at each other’s home that night – thus liberating their night to do research on how to stop the Judge. It’s 2 in the morning, and Willow and Xander are doing research. Giles spots Buffy sleeping on his desk; he looks at her benevolently, and he and Angel agree that she needed a break – she hasn’t been sleeping well. And indeed, Buffy appears to be sleeping fitfully… In her dream, Buffy is moving through the factory, dressed in a sleek black dress. She moves the decorations aside – spots Jenny Calendar along the way – and moves to the main room, where the iron boxes are set in a circle. Drusilla holds Angel in her grip and slits his throat. Buffy wakes up, terrified. Angel is standing over her, his face full of concern. At the factory, Drusilla takes the last box from Spike and fits it with the others, forming the outline of a large man. A wave of energy washes off the boxes, and they all open – revealing The Judge, a blue demon dressed in black armour. He gets up, looks around and lifts his hand to zap Spike and Dru. Spike talks him out of it, though, threatening to return the Judge to his boxes. As this is a party, though, Drusilla offers the Judge a present – Dalton. Declaring Dalton full of feeling, the Judge asks that they bring the vampire to him. He place his hand on his chest, and burns him alive… Buffy and Angel start assembling weapons, announcing to the gang that Buffy knows where Spike and Dru are. They’re going to the factory to see how far they’ve gotten in assembling the Judge. They creep on the higher level of the factory, looking down at the party. Suddenly, the Judge senses something, walks over to Spike and Dru… and looks up at Buffy and Angel. They turn to run, but find their way blocked by vampire minions. They’re brought before Spike, Dru and the Judge; Spike and Dru relish every moment as the Judge prepares to burn Buffy and Angel, but Angel manages to free himself from the vampires holding him. He yanks at a chain holding TV sets overhead, and they come crashing down, opening a hole in the ground leading into the sewers. Buffy and Angel leap in, followed by some vampire minions. They manage to outrun them, and emerge from the sewers into a street near Angel’s place. Elsewhere, Giles and Jenny exit a shipping office, having obtained no info on the box or the vamps. They climb into his car, worrying about Buffy and Angel. At Angel’s place, the vampire gets Buffy some dry clothes. She winces as she takes off her shirt, and he moves in behind her to inspect the injury – which is small. They move in closer, saying how painfully they love each other. They kiss, and lean back on the bed… Angel awakes in pain as lightning crashes outside. Buffy sleeps peacefully beside him. He gets dressed and goes outside; he staggers, and then falls to his knees… He calls Buffy’s name, as the rain washes on his pain-racked face. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.