Overall Rating: 9.75Matt: 10.0 Eric: 9.5
Written and Directed by: Joss Whedon
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. Original broadcast date : May 19, 1998 My one-line description: Why does Joss like to hurt us so? Picking up where the previous episode left off, the cops order Buffy to step away from Kendra. She spots Xander and starts for him, wanting to see if heÕs OK, but the cops grab her and pull her back. Principal Snyder comes in and tells the cops that Buffy Summers is trouble; she protests, but Snyder smiles in glee as they start to handcuff her. Suddenly, she rears back, knocks the cop unconscious, and runs away. The other cops shoot at her, but itÕs too late. A female cop takes her talkie and reports that they have a fugitive on the run Ð homicide suspect, female, blonde, approximately 16 years old, suspect is very dangerousÉ Buffy sneaks into the hospital, wearing a hat and an overcoat, keeping her head down. She runs into Xander, and the two friends hug in relief. He hugs her even tighter as some cops walk by, making sure they donÕt recognize her. She tries to make a joke, but he stays grim-faced. She asks him whatÕs wrong. Willow lies in a coma in a hospital bed. Xander starts to leave to call Oz, but Cordelia arrives, and he hugs her. She explains how she escaped, and Buffy asks whether Giles was with her. Silence Ð no one, it seems, has seen Giles. Giles comes to at the mansion; Angelus greets him as he wakes up, and announces he wants to torture him. Before, howeverÉ Giles sees the stony Acathla standing not far from there; Angelus explains that he wants Giles to tell him what he did wrong in the awakening ritual. Giles looks at Angelus, and suddenly lunges up and tries an escape. Drusilla saves the situation, coming in and grabbing Giles by the throat. Angelus decides to torture Giles anyway. At BuffyÕs house, police detective Stein is interrogating Joyce as to her daughterÕs whereabouts. Joyce informs him that Buffy went to sleep over at WillowÕs house. ÒSecond victimÓ, Stein tells the police officer behind him. He tells Joyce to give him a call if Buffy comes back home. Buffy enters GilesÕ apartment, where she runs intoÉ Whistler. He claims to have been waiting for her; Buffy, short of patience, pins him against the wall. He tells her it wasnÕt supposed to be like this Ð AngelÕs big day was supposed to be him stopping Acathla, not teaming up with him. He asks her what sheÕs prepared to do Ð what sheÕs prepared to give up. Once again, Buffy grows impatient and walks out. Behind her, Whistler yells that the sword isnÕt enough Ð she has to be ready, and she has to know how to use it. As Buffy crosses the street, a police cruiser spots her and comes at her, lights flashing and siren blaring. The police officer steps out, points a gun at her and orders her to put her hands above her head. But suddenly, the cop is knocked unconscious byÉ none other than Spike. He greets Buffy, but she lunges at him and attacks him. He gets her to stop, and tells her that he wants to help her stop Angelus (who, he informs her, has got Giles). Spike explains that he doesnÕt want the world to end Ð he likes it here. But more importantly, he wants Drusilla back. SheÕs outraged that he would want to save the world to get his girlfriend back, but he convinces her to accept his help. They take off towards her house. At the hospital, Cordelia goes to get some coffee while Xander watches over a still-unconscious Willow. He takes her hand and starts a touching speech about him needing her, sheÕs his best friend, he loves herÉ WillowÕs eyes flutter open; ÒOz?Ó she croaks. Oz enters right that instant and goes to her. While he tends to her, Xander gets up to go fetch a doctor. Willow asks if everyone else is OK. At the mansion, Giles is tied to a chair in a small room, bloodied and looking the worse for wear. Angelus is impressed with the WatcherÕs stamina; he bends down for more torture, asking Giles to tell him when it hurts. As Spike and Buffy walk up to the Summers house, JoyceÕs car enters the driveway. She jumps out and runs to her daughter and frantically asks if sheÕs OK. Buffy reassures Joyce, and covers up for Spike by telling Joyce theyÕre in a rock band together (!). Joyce decides they should go inside and discuss all this, but suddenly a vampire jumps from the bushes and attacks her. Spike and Buffy unite to beat him up, and then stake him. Joyce watches, wide-eyed, as the vampire explodes into dust. Spike concludes that the vampire was one of AngelÕs boys. Joyce goes to her daughter and asks her whatÕs going on. Buffy takes a deep breathÉ ÒMomÉ IÕm a vampire SlayerÓ. A few minutes later, Willow is on the phone with Buffy from her hospital bed, telling her friend that sheÕs OK. She apologizes for not being able to cure Angel, and asks if Buffy has had any luck in finding Giles. Buffy replies that she got a lucky breakÉ Meanwhile, in the living room, Spike and Joyce are sitting in awkward silence. Back in the kitchen, Buffy, still on the phone, tells Xander that Angelus and co. are holed up at the old mansion on Crawford Street; she plans to hit it come daybreak, but she needs to get something firstÉ In the living room, Joyce suddenly asks Spike whether theyÕve met. He replies that she hit him with an axe one time. Buffy walks in, and Joyce asks if Willow is OK. Buffy answers that Willow is fine, and then turns to Spike and asks what the deal is. He helps her kill Angelus, he replies, and she lets him and Dru skip town. Buffy isnÕt too eager to let KendraÕs killer go free, but Spike promises to take Dru out of the country, and that Buffy will never hear of them again. Buffy agrees, but warns that if Giles dies, Dru dies. As they talk, a bewildered Joyce tries to follow; when Spike leaves, she tries to understand what just happened. She wonders if itÕs because Buffy never had a strong father figure; then she decides they have to call the police. Buffy follows her into the kitchen and stops her from doing so, saying that sheÕll get them killed if she involves them. She tells her mother she has to go get KendraÕs sword, but Joyce demands an explanation. ÒOpen your eyes, Mom! What do you think has been going on for the last two years?Ó Buffy replies impatiently. ÒThe fights, the weird occurrencesÉ How many times have you washed blood out of my clothes, you still havenÕt figured it out?Ó Joyce wants it to stop now, but Buffy exclaims, despair in her voice, that it never stops. ÒDo you think I chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how lonely it is? How dangerous?Ó Joyce is convinced Buffy needs help, but the Slayer replies that she just needs to get out of this house. Joyce wonÕt let her, and the two physically wrestle. ÒYou walk out of this house, donÕt even think about coming back!Ó Joyce snaps. Buffy stares at her mother, and then leaves. At the hospital, Willow informs the gang that she wants to try the spell again. Xander doesnÕt like that idea, but Willow puts on her resolve face, which means she wonÕt change her mind. Oz is a bit confused, but Willow just asks him to go to the library to get her things, and Cordelia will explain on the way. In the torture room at the mansion, Giles is looking even worse than he did before. Angelus tells him heÕs been very brave, but that now itÕs time to make it stop. He once again asks Giles to tell him what he wants to know. ÒTo be worthyÉÓ Giles starts, ÒYou must perform the ritualÉ in a tutu.Ó Angelus glares at him. ÒPillockÓ, Giles mocks. Angelus angrily calls for a chainsaw, but Spike Ð once more in a wheelchair Ð warns he wonÕt get his answers that way. He calls out to Drusilla, and asks her if she wants to play a gameÉ In the library, Buffy picks up KendraÕs weapons bag off the floor. Snyder enters, catching her in the act. He calls her a criminal, but she tells her she didnÕt do it, and that the police will figure it out. It doesnÕt matter, Snyder replies; sheÕs proven too much of a liability to the school. Relishing the moment, he expels her. She picks up KendraÕs sword, and comments that he never had a single date in high school É She walks past him and out the door. He takes his cell-phone and speed-dials; he asks his correspondent to tell the Mayor he has good newsÉ Drusilla kneels in front of Giles and cleans the blood off his face and forehead. She runs her fingers through his hair and closes her eyes, wanting to know whatÕs inside him. Having learned what she needs, she hypnotizes himÉ She puts her hand over his eyes, shutting them, and asks him to see with his heart. The hand is removed from his eyes, and Giles sees Jenny Calendar. She moves to untie him, and he puts his hands to her face in genuine wonderÉ She asks him if he told Angel about the ritual; Giles answers he didnÕt, but they have to get Angel away from Acathla. Jenny asks him what to do, and Giles hesitates; Jenny tells him itÕs alright Ð theyÕll be together, and will have what they never got to have. Giles tells her to get Angel away from Acathla; his bloodÉ Shushing him softly, Jenny kisses him. The camera zooms out, showing him kissing DrusillaÉ Behind him, Angelus smiles as he figures it out Ð his blood is the key. Then he and Spike try to call Drusilla, still hungrily kissing Giles, back to reality. Giles looks as though heÕs in Heaven; when Drusilla pulls away, he realizes what just happened, and his smile melts awayÉ Buffy enters GilesÕ apartment and asks Whistler what he meant when he said she had to know how to use the sword. ÒAngelÕs the keyÓ, he explains. ÒHis blood will open the door to Hell. Acathla opens his big mouth, creates the vortex, then only AngelÕs bloodÕll close it. One blow. Send them both back to Hell.Ò Buffy looks at the sword, and tells him she can deal Ð sheÕs got nothing left to lose. ÒWrong, kidÓ, he says sadly as she leaves. ÒYou got one more thingÓ. At sunrise, Buffy makes her way to the mansion. Xander joins her on the way, and she orders him not to fight Ð his job will be to get Giles and get them both out of there. Xander is about to tell her that WillowÕs going to try the spell again, but he changes his mind, and says Willow told him to tell her to kick AngelÕs ass. At the mansion, Angelus once again begins the ritual to awaken Acathla. Meanwhile, in WillowÕs hospital room, she, Oz and Cordelia start the Restoration ritual once moreÉ ÒNot dead, nor not of the livingÉÓ she intones. Drusilla hands Angelus a knife. He slices his palm, and approaches Acathla. At that moment, the door slams open, and Buffy enters, beheading a vampire guard in a second. ÒHello, loverÓ, she greets Angelus. He tells her he doesnÕt have time for her, and then tells her that she canÕt take them all. As they talk, Spike rises from his wheelchair, grabs a heavy iron poker, and slams it into the back of AngelusÕ head. As Angelus falls to the ground, Spike hits him again, and again, as Buffy spars with another vampire guard. Suddenly, Drusilla tackles Spike; they go flying, and they start fighting. Xander sneaks in through the fighting, and goes to the room where Giles is being held. Giles doesnÕt believe Xander is real; ÒThey get inside my head, make me see what I wantÓ, he explains. ÒThen why would they make you see me?Ó Xander asks. Convinced, Giles lets Xander untie him and help him away. As Spike and Drusilla fight and Buffy is busy with a vampire minion, Angelus picks himself up and makes his way to Acathla. Dusting her vampire, Buffy sees him grab the swordÉ and pull it free. Drusilla stops fighting and looks in awe, but Spike grabs her in a chokehold and drags her away. Angelus and Buffy circle each other, swords at the ready. Angelus is convinced sheÕs too late, but she doesnÕt seem to care. They begin sparring, viciously, their swords a blur. In her hospital room, Willow is having trouble continuing the ritual. Her words become hesitant, untilÉ her head snaps back and she starts speaking the spell in Romanian, her body tense and shaking. Oz and Cordelia look at her, aghast, as her head snaps back down, her eyes an angry black as she continues the ancient Romanian incantation. The Orb of Thesulah begins to glow. At the mansion, Acathla begins to rumble as Angelus corners Buffy and kicks her sword away from her. Meanwhile, Spike chokes Drusilla into unconsciousness, and then picks her up and leaves, stopping a moment to comment to himself that Angelus is going to kill BuffyÉ After a moment, he shrugs and exits. Angelus advances on Buffy, pointing his sword at her. ÒNo weapons, no friends, no hopeÉ Take all that away and whatÕs left?Ó Buffy closes her eyes, looking very sad. He lunges at her with the sword, but she stops it in an eyeblink with her palms. ÒMeÓ, she replies. She jerks the sword back and kicks him in the chest. SpikeÕs car bursts out of the garage, all windows blackened. Spike drives with a fierce determination, while Drusilla lies unconscious beside him. In the mansion, Buffy drives Angelus back, almost against Acathla. She knocks his sword from his hand, and he stands before her, beaten. At the hospital, Willow-turned-Gypsy finishes her incantation. The Orb glows and disappears. At the mansion, Angelus falls to his knees and cries in pain. After a moment, he picks himself up again, and looks at Buffy, unsure. ÒBuffy? WhatÕs going on? I donÕt rememberÉ where are we?Ó Angel is back. He takes Buffy into his arms, and she abandons herself completelyÉ But then AcathlaÕs mouth drops open, and a vortex emerges, growing. Buffy holds on to Angel, despair showing on her face. She tells him she loves him, and he replies that he loves her. She tells him to close his eyes, kisses him one last timeÉ and thrusts the sword through his chest. She steps back, and Angel disappears into the vortex. Acathla has turned to stone once again, and Buffy stands there alone. Buffy walks slowly back towards her houseÉ Some time later, Joyce enters BuffyÕs room, sees a note on the bed. She reads it, and her eyes fill with tears. At school, the Scoobies are chatting on the front lawn. Willow is in a wheelchair, and Giles is still bruised. They wonder where Buffy is; no one has heard from her. Giles reports that they went back to the mansion, where Acathla was dormant. They decide Buffy is bound to show up sooner or later. Buffy watches them from afar; as they leave for class, she heads in a different direction. Cut to the inside of a bus, Buffy looking out the window. The bus leaves Sunnydale and disappears away on the horizon. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.
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