Buffy Season III Episode Guide: Choices

Mayor Wilkins gives Faith a wrapped present. She unwraps it to find an elegant yet lethal knife inside. While Faith admires her gift, the Mayor tells her about an important package from Central America that will be arriving the next day at the airport. Meanwhile, Buffy and Angel ponder their future during their patrol.

The next morning, Joyce finds out that Buffy has been accepted to Northwestern. Her mother's enthusiasm leads Buffy to contemplate a life away from Sunnydale. While Principal Snyder goes around campus looking for any drug deals going on, Buffy talks to Willow, Oz, and Xander about college plans. Willow got into Oxford, while Xander is planning to pass on college and take a road trip. Cordy implies that she got accepted to several colleges as well. Once inside the library, Buffy informs Wesley of her desire to take attend Northwestern, using her vacation breaks to make the occasional return to Sunnydale. Naturally, Wesley opposes the idea of the Slayer leaving the Hellmouth, citing the continuing threat from the Mayor. In response, Buffy decides that it's time to take the offensive against Mayor Wilkins, a plan that Giles agrees with. Later that night, a plane carrying the Mayor's package arrives at the airport. The courier, who has a large box handcuffed to his wrist, meets the vampire waiting for him. Just as soon as he raises the price of the delivery because of the Mayor's absence, Faith fires an arrow right through his chest. Pulling out her brand new knife, Faith cuts off the dead courier's hand in order to take the box back to Mayor Wilkins.

Faith returns to City Hall with the box, unaware that Buffy is spying on her at this very moment. Buffy then follows the vampire and eventually interrogates him on the contents of the box. She learns that it is called the Box of Gavrok, and that it contains some form of demonic energy that the Mayor must consume on the day of his Ascension. With a map of City Hall, the gang devises a strategy to steal the box, which they will then destroy with a spell called the Breath of Entropics. Later that day, Xander passes by a clothing store and sees Cordy inside through the window, checking out a dress. He goes inside and tries to call her on her bluff regarding her college plans, but Cordy proves him wrong by showing Xander all of her acceptance letters. That night, everyone but Xander and Oz go to City Hall. While the others steal the box, Xander and Oz have to prepare the Breath of Entropics. On the roof above the Mayor's office, Willow casts a spell that eliminates the force field around the box. While Willow heads back down the ladder, Angel lowers Buffy into room via a pulley system. When Buffy lifts the box off of the table, an alarm is set off. With the pulley jammed and unable to bring Buffy back up to the roof, Angel leaps down and helps Buffy fight off the vampire guards. They then escape and head back to the school. Upon seeing the aftermath of the robbery, the Mayor is furious. His mood is considerably lightened when Faith shows up, holding a struggling Willow hostage.

After Buffy and others try to figure out how Willow got caught, they decide to trade the Box of Gavrok for Willow's freedom. Wesley opposes this plan, declaring that stopping the Mayor's Ascension is the greater priority. This leads to an argument that is surprisingly silenced by Oz, who loses his cool and throws the cauldron and pedestal against the wall. Taking his cue, Buffy tells Giles to call the Mayor and arrange the trade. Meanwhile, Willow tries to get out of the room she's locked in at City Hall. One of the vampire guards comes in and tries to take a bite into her neck, but Willow manages to levitate a pencil and dust him with it. Heading out into the hallway, Willow hears Faith and Mayor Wilkins approaching, so she ducks into the Mayor's office. There, she finds the Books of Ascension. After several moments pass, Faith catches Willow reading the books in the office. Willow proceeds to berate Faith for the choices she's made. In response, Faith punches Willow to the floor. Before Faith can slice Willow with her knife, Mayor Wilkins stops her with news about the trade deal.

The gang waits for the Mayor and the others inside the school cafeteria. Shortly after the lights go out, Mayor Wilkins enters, followed by Willow in Faith's custody. Before making the trade, the Mayor takes some time to examine Buffy and Angel's relationship, predicting a dark future for the couple. As soon as the trade is finally made, Principal Snyder bursts into the cafeteria, accompanied by several cops. Believing this is a drug deal, one of the cops opens the Box of Gavrok to see what is inside. Before the Mayor can stop him, the cop opens the box wide enough for a spidery creature to leap out onto his face, killing him instantly. While the others try to find out where the creature crawled off to, a second spider crawls out of the box. One of the spiders attacks the Mayor from above, but to no avail. Principal Snyder watches in disbelief as Mayor Wilkins' wounds instantly heal. Buffy shuts the lid before anymore can get out. Suddenly, one of the creatures that got out lands on her back. Buffy instinctively falls back onto it, crushing the creature between her back and the floor. Faith spots the second creature crawling up the wall, and she puts an end to it with a well-aimed throw of her knife. With the Box of Gavrok back in his possession, Mayor Wilkins leaves the scene. Faith follows him, leaving the knife behind.

At the library, Willow surprises Giles by handing him a few pages she stole from the Books of Ascension. The next morning, Buffy concludes to Willow that she'll never leave Sunnydale. Willow then states her plans to attend the University of California at Sunnydale, right alongside Buffy. Buffy doesn't want her friend to hold herself back, but Willow makes it perfectly clear that staying in Sunnydale and fighting evil is what she wants to do. Elsewhere, Cordy handles the same dress that Xander caught her with earlier. Her daydream is cut short by the manager, who orders Cordy to finish her break and get back to her work. Later that night, at the cemetery, Buffy and Angel decide to disregard everything the Mayor said about them.

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