Buffy Season I Episode Guide: The Puppet Show

It's time for the Sunnydale High Annual Talent Show, and Giles has been assigned by the new principal, Mr. Snyder, to organize the event and conduct the try-outs. Principal Snyder forces Buffy, Xander, and Willow to participate the show as a form of punishment for their unexcused absences the previous day. As they try to put together a dramatic scene, they meet Morgan, a smart student who is doing a ventriloquist act for the talent show. His puppet, Sid, gives Buffy the creeps, since she is not particularly fond of dummies.

One of the talent show participants, Emily, is found dead in the locker room. Her body was discovered with its heart removed from its body. The only evidence found at the scene of the crime is a large knife. Giles suspects a human attacker, but Buffy believes that a demon is the cause of the murder. After some investigations, they conclude that Morgan may be a demon who is harvesting organs in order to maintain his human form. Buffy breaks into Morgan's locker to look for more evidence, but she finds that his puppet is missing from its case. Later that night, Buffy is attacked in her bed by Sid, the puppet. By the time her mother arrives at the room, Sid has escaped through the window.

Buffy tries to explain to the others that the puppet is alive and attacked her. They have trouble believing her story, especially since she earlier made it clear that dummies spook her. In class, Sid's obnoxious interruptions annoy the teacher, who thinks it's Morgan goofing around. She takes the puppet from him and puts it in her closet. Xander steals the puppet from this closet and brings it to the library. However, when he's not looking, the puppet escapes. Buffy later discovers Morgan's dead body in the props room of the theater. His brain was removed from his body. As Buffy slowly backs out, a chandelier falls on her from above, knocking her out. She regains consciousness just in time to stop Sid from stabbing her with a knife. After a brief fight, they realize that they both believed they were fighting the murderous demon.

Back in the library, Sid explains to the others that he is a demon hunter who has been cursed to live inside the body of a puppet. His goal is to vanquish the Brotherhood of Seven Demons. He has already killed six, and he believes the seventh demon is in the Sunnydale High Talent Show. After running a second test to see if anyone in the show has disappeared, Sid leaves, thinking that demon must be elsewhere. Buffy then discovers a brain hidden in the school. It belonged to Morgan, and the demon rejected it. After going through his school records, they conclude that Morgan may have had some sort of brain cancer, which therefore made his brain unsuitable for the demon. They then realize that the demon will be looking for the next smartest brain it can find, which would belong to Giles.

As Buffy, Xander, and Willow race towards the theater, a student named Marc straps Giles into a guillotine set-up. Thinking that Marc is just testing the equipment, Giles readily accepts. Marc positions Giles's head so that the blade will cut right through the scalp, allowing the brain to fall out. Marc then begins to hack at the rope that is suspending the blade with a hatchet, but before he can make the last cut, Buffy tackles him. As they fight, the rope breaks, sending the guillotine blade down towards Giles's head. Xander grabs the end of the rope just in time and keeps it from moving any further. Since Marc has the key to the lock that is keeping Giles's head in place, Willow uses the hatchet to hack away at the lock. Marc, now in demon form, gets Buffy backed up against a cabinet, but Sid suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts stabbing the demon with a knife. Willow finally breaks the lock, and Giles gets off the contraption. Buffy knocks the demon onto the guillotine, and Xander releases the rope. The blade swiftly drops, lopping the demon's head off. Sid knows that it isn't over, however, until he destroys the demon's heart. Only then will he be free from the curse and finally die in peace. He drives the knife through the demon's heart, then collapses atop the demon's lifeless body. As Buffy picks up the soulless puppet, the curtains open up and the spotlights focus on the stage. The confused audience looks on at the macabre sight, while Buffy and the others remain frozen in their places. Later, Buffy, Xander, and Willow perform their dramatic scene from Oedipus Rex. Xander messes up his lines badly, and Willow runs off the stage when it is time for her line. Buffy and Xander then stand there on stage, waiting for the scene to end.

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