Living Conditions
Written by Marti Noxon ~ Directed by David Grossman
New roommate, Kathy, is quickly getting on Buffy's nerves with her with her annoying obsessions and habits of listing to music by Cher and Celine Dion. She intricately picks on the smallest of details, wanting to know where Buffy is all the time and even goes as far as following Buffy out on patrol one night. As a demon approaches, Buffy is forced to knock Kathy out of the way and while the demon escapes, Buffy's left with one upset roommate and sweater ruined by mud. The next morning Buffy goes to visit Giles to escape her hellish roommate. After criticizing his mail and new exercising activities, she tells him about the demon she ran into and complains about the trouble her roommate is causing.
Back at the dorm, her roommate goes through Buffy's closet and borrows a sweater. Also in her investigation, she finds Buffy's slaying bag, but she doesn't seem to care about the things she finds. At lunch, in an attempt to escape Kathy, Buffy cuts into line in front of another student, Parker. He lets her stay in front of him and as they go through the line, he passes on some things he's learned about a college student saving food and money. Buffy goes to sit down with her friends, including Xander. Kathy invites herself to join them, and Buffy notices she's wearing her sweater. Kathy assumed Buffy wouldn't mind, then proceeds to eat a sandwhich and spill red sauce onto Buffy's sweater.
Willow and Buffy talk over the phone as Willow tries to avoid the massive party her roommate is throwing. When Kathy returns to the room, even more things are revealed that the two clash upon. They seem to disagree about everything including whether the window is open or closed, Kathy's habit of flossing, Buffy's habit of leaving chewing gum all over, and what food belongs to whom. They both go to sleep and Buffy has a horrible dream where her soul is practically sucked out of her by a demon. Buffy tells Giles and her friends about the dream and then Kathy joins their little group. She informs them she had the same dream as Buffy but Giles can't seem to figure out why. Buffy acts very rude to Kathy and then after she leaves, Willow and Oz are told to watch her and make sure she doesn't completely loose it.
A couple of demons stand around a fire and talk about how they've found the girl they're looking for. They perform a ritual that calls another demon forth named Taparrich. Buffy goes back to her dorm room and finds Parker there, talking to Kathy and Buffy gets very jealous. After Parker leaves, Buffy and Kathy argue about how they have to share. Buffy goes to the fridge, takes out Kathy's milk and then sloppily drinks it all straight from the carton. While an English paper keeps Willow from being there as a friend for Buffy, Oz volunteers to go and keep an eye on her. He joins Buffy on patrol where she spends the majority of the time complaining about Kathy and how evil she is.
Buffy finds Willow talking to Kathy, she gets upset and questions Willow. She then shows her a bag of Kathy's toenail clippings she picked up off the floor of their dorm the night before claiming that they grew over night and that Kathy must be a demon. Buffy comes to the conclusion that she must kill Kathy. Willow tells Giles that Buffy has reached the breaking point and that she's on her way to his place. With the help of Xander and Oz, they trap Buffy and tie her up until they can find out what's causing her change in behavior.
Willow attempts to talk to Kathy about Buffy, but then Oz calls and informs her that they have Buffy. Buffy breaks loose of the ropes, knocks Xander and Oz out, and then goes back to her dorm room. Kathy hits her, and as they grab each other by the head, Buffy pulls off Kathy's face, revealing that she really was a demon. The dreams Buffy was having were actually true as Kathy needed to steal Buffy's soul in order to keep from being taken back to where she was from.
After Giles discovers that Buffy was telling the truth about Kathy being a demon, he manages to determine what kind of demon they're dealing with. Xander and Oz wake up and go to help Buffy while Willow and Giles perform a ritual to return Buffy's soul to her body. The ritual is preformed successfully and just in time for Taparrich to come for Kathy. He speaks to her like a father would to a daughter who's run away and then opens a vortex in the floor and they go back to wherever they came from.
The next day, Buffy and Willow are roommates and redecorating their new dorm room. They talk for a bit, and Willow asks if Buffy's going to finish her sandwich, and then without permission, she quickly proceeds to take a bite out of it.
Buffy glares.
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Last Updated: 5-19-00