Season 2, Episode 2

Written by Ty King

Directed by Bruce Seth Green

Original Airdate: 22 September 1997

"Are you crazy? You don't just sneak up on people in a graveyard. You make noise when you walk. You stomp or… yodel."

Buffy Summers

REGULAR 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

GUEST CAST

• Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar

• Angelo Spizzirri as Chris Epps

• Michael Bacall as Eric Gittleson

• Ingo Neuhaus as Darryl Epps

• Melanie MacQueen as Mrs. Epps

CO-STARRING

• Amanda Wilmshurst as Joy

SYNOPSIS

• Buffy is waiting in a cemetery for a boy, now a vampire, to wake up. Then out of no where, Angel appears. Angel and Buffy get into a discussion about their relationship. Angel ends the conversation and Buffy is not satisfied with his reaction. As she goes after him, she falls face first into an open grave. As it turns out, a young cheerleader was dug up from the grave.
  
  The next day at the library, Giles is trying to work up the nerve to ask Jenny Calendar out on a date. Buffy gives her advice on the matter then tells him about what she found the previous night. Giles says it may be someone trying to raise an army of zombies. Buffy goes to find Willow and asks her to run a search on the name of the girl, Meredith Todd. Willow is signing up for the Science fair and talking to Chris, who happens to be the reigning champ for the Fair. As Buffy approaches, Eric, Chris's friend, is taking random pictures of girls passing by.
  
  Willow finds on the computer that Meredith Todd died in a car accident along with two other girls. Everyone heads off to the cemetery to see if the other girls have been removed as well. Buffy meanwhile asks that they don't tell Angel where they are going because she's having some problems with him. That night, Cordelia is leaving cheerleading practice and walks to her car. She senses that someone is following her and starts to freak out. She drops her keys under the car and reaches for them. As she does, someone approaches from the other side of the car. She runs and hides in a dumpster and as she tries to get out, encounters Angel. He starts to help her out, and they find an arm (as well as other body parts) inside the dumpster.
  
  Back at the library, Buffy and the gang return to find a frightened Cordelia clinging to Angel. They fill each other in on what they found and put an end to Giles' zombie theory. Later, they go searching through the lockers of several science students that may be using the body parts. They find medical books and the article on Meredith Todd in Chris's locker and a map of the perfect girl in Eric's locker. They come to the conclusion that the two are trying to build the perfect body.
  
  In a secret lab, Chris and Eric are almost finished with their creation except for the head. Eric has the three girls lined up: Buffy, Willow and Cordelia. Daryl, Chris' reanimated dead brother comes out of the shadows with the appearance of Frankenstein and chooses Cordelia's picture. Eric cuts out her face and places it on their chart. The next day at school, Giles finally decides to ask Jenny out, but she ends up asking him to a football game instead. Meanwhile, Buffy and the gang are trying to find out who may be next on the list. They find that they don't have a head for the body from the police reports.
  
  Giles and Jenny head off to the football game and Giles gets off to a bad start by making jokes about the game. Meanwhile, Buffy goes searching for Chris and Eric. She heads to Chris' house and finds his lab inside. After discovering that Cordelia is the head they are looking for, she rushes out to try and protect her. Daryl skulks around in the shadows behind her. In the locker room, Cordelia is getting ready when Chris comes up behind her to distract her. Eric places a bag over her head. Buffy arrives just in time to beat up Eric and save Cordelia. After Cordelia leaves, she finds Chris and he tells her about Daryl.
  
  They head back to the lab at his house only to find that he's gone. Buffy and Chris head to the school where they hope to save Cordelia from death. Daryl is watching her from beneath the bleachers. As Cordelia takes a break from cheering, Eric captures her again and takes her away with Daryl. They head off to an abandoned building where Eric plans to behead her. She is unmasked and has the chance to see Daryl and her new body. She, of course, screams but can't be heard. At the game, Buffy and Chris arrive too late, but Chris tells her where they are.
  
  Meanwhile, Willow and Xander crash Giles' date. Chris heads off to tell them what happened while Buffy rushes to the building to save Cordelia. Just as Chris is about to cut her head off, Buffy arrives and they fight. Daryl stands up to protect his prospective love and fights with Buffy. A burner is knocked over and starts a fire. Xander arrives with the rest of the gang to help. He gets Cordelia out while Giles and Willow drag out an unconscious Eric. Buffy continues to fight with Daryl and as he is about to smash a desk on her head, Chris stops him. Daryl hurries off to save the body while everyone else escapes the fire.
  
  Afterwards, Jenny reveals that she likes Giles. While Buffy is talking to Chris, Angel arrives to see if everyone is okay. Willow and Xander talk and Xander brushes off Cordelia as she tries to thank him for saving her life. Buffy and Angel leave together through the graveyard and talk. She tells Angel that she does like him.

TRIVIA

• This is the first episode where the opening episode narration is spoken by Anthony Stewart Head. The original narration was said by an unknown narrator for the first season, more noticeable on the video releases. Head takes over here, as well as saying Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer before the episode begins. The words spoken in the narration are: "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." This narration disappears sometime before the end of season two.

CONTINUITY

• This episode officially kicks off the romantic notions between Giles and Jenny as they share their first date at the football game. The relationship hits it's problems, especially in The Dark Age, Innocence and tragically Passion.

• We find out in this episode that Angel is 241, which makes him 247 when Angel ends its run.

• The first seeds are sown for Cordelia's future relationship with Xander when he saves her from Chris's burning building. She thanks him but he's too busy asking Willow why he can't get a date to listen to her. Cordelia is almost part of the gang now - they even invite her to dig up bodies with them.

GOOFS

• In their newspaper photo, the three dead cheerleaders from Fondren High, inexplicably, have the letter J on their sweaters.

• None of the photos of Cordelia, Willow or Buffy in Eric's montage correspond with the poses they made.

When She Was Bad | Some Assembly Required | School Hard | Inca Mummy Girl | Reptile Boy

Halloween | Lie to Me | The Dark Age | What's My Line? (Part 1) | What's My Line? (Part 2) | Ted

Bad Eggs | Surprise | Innocence | Phases | Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered | Passion

Killed by Death | I Only Have Eyes for You | Go Fish | Becoming (Part 1) | Becoming (Part 2)