Episode 20: Touched

Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner

At the Summers house, after Buffy leaves, there is a bit of chaos as everyone tries to decide on the next move. Giles and Dawn wonder to each other if they did the right thing by making Buffy leave. Faith tells everyone they should sleep on it, and they agree--and then the power goes out in Sunnydale. Buffy walks through the streets then breaks into a house, disarms the fearful homeowner, and makes herself at home.

Spike and Andrew are stuck at the mission until the sun goes down. Andrew tries to get Spike to play a game, but Spike is worried about Buffy. Faith is trying to lead the Potentials, and they come up with a plan to kidnap a Bringer to get information. Caleb and The First (as Buffy) watch the Bringers work at something. Kennedy is used as schmuck bait to catch a Bringer. They bring him back to the Summers home but learn that his tongue has been ripped out. Dawn remembers a spell to communicate with people who can't talk, and they decide to do it. Spike and Andrew return, and Spike learns that they made Buffy leave. He is furious and starts a fight with Faith, accusing her of wanting Buffy gone. He leaves to find Buffy.

Willow and the others do the spell to communicate with the Bringer, who speaks through Andrew. They learn that Caleb is keeping something underground, then Giles slashes the Bringer's throat. Spike finds Buffy in the house she broke into. He tells her that she was right and that Caleb has something at the vineyard, but she is apathetic. The First appears to Faith in the form of the Mayor and tells her she was right to make Buffy leave and that Buffy never cared about her. Spike is surprised that Buffy doesn't want to take back her leadership of the group. She explains to him that she feels that she's doing things wrong, that she never connected with the Potentials. She tells Spike he only wanted her because she was unattainable. He tells her she is insufferable, then tells her that he loves her--not because he wants anything from her but because that is what he feels, that she is worth loving. He gets ready to leave her to go to sleep, but she asks him to stay and hold her. He does. The First/Mayor continues to taunt Faith then disappears. Wood comes in to find Faith shaken. They bond over their common experiences meeting the First and become close, sharing a moment of passion.

Kennedy seduces Willow, easing her fears about being in control of her magic. Xander and Anya share some ice cream, complaining about all the sex going on in the house. There is a montage of Faith and Wood having sex, Willow and Kennedy having sex, and then Xander and Anya having sex on the kitchen floor. Buffy and Spike are still holding each other, gazing into each other's eyes. Caleb and the First talk about their plan. The First urges Caleb to kill them faster.
The next morning, Faith and the Potentials go to search for what Caleb and the Bringers have hidden underground. Spike wakes to find Buffy gone. She has gone back to the vineyard to confront Caleb about what he has of hers. While Faith and the Potentials fight the Bringers in the sewers, Buffy fights Caleb at the vineyard. During the fight, a trapdoor is revealed, and Buffy opens it and enters another chamber where she finds something that makes her smile. Meanwhile, Faith and the Potentials find a bomb that is about to go off.