Season 2, Episode 22

Written by Joss Whedon

Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: 17 May 1998

"Close your eyes."
Buffy

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 Angelus

• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

SPECIAL GUEST STAR

• Max Perlich as Whistler

GUEST CAST

• Seth Green as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne

• Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

• Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar

• James G. MacDonald as Detective Stein

• James Marsters as Spike

• Juliet Landau as Drusilla

• Armin Shimerman as Principal R. Snyder

CO-STARRING

• Susan Leslie as Woman Cop

• Thomas G. Waites as Second Cop

• Bianca Lawson as Kendra Young (Uncredited)

SYNOPSIS

• A cop finds Buffy by Kendra's dead body and tries to arrest her. She tries to tell him that she didn't do it, but he doesn't believe her. She hits him and runs away. Later at the hospital, Buffy walks in, wearing dark clothes, and finds Xander. They hug and Xander tells her about Willow: she's comatose. After talking, Buffy finds out that Giles wasn't with Cordelia and that he's missing. She heads to his apartment only to find Whistler and no Giles. Whistler tries to explain what she has to do, but Buffy doesn't listen.
  
  Meanwhile, Angelus is torturing Giles to get him to reveal what he's doing wrong with the ritual to bring Acathla to life. Giles puts up with the pain of his fingers being slowly broken to keep quiet as long as possible. At Buffy's house, the police confront Joyce and tell her to send Buffy to them when she finds her. Buffy goes walking the streets when a cop finds her. As he tries to get to her, Spike comes up and beats him up. They exchange punches and harsh words and Spike explains that he wants to kill Angelus and save the world. Despite being a vampire, he still likes the world - it has a good food supply.
  
  At the hospital, Xander confesses his love to a comatose Willow. She wakes up and asks for Oz. Oz shows up and Xander is left in the background. Spike and Buffy, meanwhile, walk to the Summers house and as they arrive, Joyce drives up and asks Buffy where she's been. Buffy tries to explain herself with the help of Spike. Buffy tries to convince her mother that she's in a band with Spike but it isn't bought. They head inside, but a vampire jumps out at them from the porch. Spike beats it up a bit and then Buffy stakes him. Joyce watches it all and then Buffy tells her the truth finally: "I'm a Vampire Slayer."
  
  At the mansion, Angelus continues his torture of Giles, but Giles stays strong and refuses to give up the information. Back at Buffy's house, Buffy talks to Willow on the phone. After, she finalizes the deal with Spike. He will help her kill Angelus, but Buffy must let him and Drusilla leave the country. Buffy agrees that as long as Giles stays alive, they can leave, but if he dies, Drusilla dies. Buffy and Joyce get into a fight about her slaying and Buffy is told that if she leaves, she can never come back. Buffy walks away.
  
  Willow feels bad because she couldn't finish the spell and decides to try it again. Against Xander's protests, she orders Oz and Cordelia to go and get her stuff, while Xander is supposed to go and tell Buffy what's going on. Buffy enters the library to get something from Kendra's bag. Principal Snyder walks in and tells her she's expelled. Buffy comments on how Snyder never had a date in high school, and then leaves with the sword blessed by the knight that first slew Acathla. At the mansion, Angelus is finally fed up with Giles' silence and decides to use the chainsaw method. Spike stops him and says that Drusilla can help. She puts Giles under a trance and makes him see her as Jenny. He gives away the information that Angelus needs to use his own blood and then 'Jenny' kisses him. Angelus realizes what he should have done, and then he and Spike try to break Drusilla away from Giles. She was caught up in the moment, and Giles realizes that he's been duped.
  
  The next day, Buffy heads towards the mansion. Xander jumps out and tells her that Willow said to kick Angelus' ass. Inside, Angelus starts the ritual and cuts his hand with a dagger. Buffy walks in and beheads a vampire and then proceeds to stop the ceremony for a second. Spike stands up out of his chair and starts wailing on Angelus with a crowbar. While Buffy fights vampires and Xander sneaks in to find Giles, Drusilla tackles Spike to make him stop beating up on Angelus. Xander gets Giles out and Buffy stakes another vampire. Spike and Drusilla fight and he ends up putting her in a chokehold to force her unconscious. Angelus gets up and grabs the sword from inside Acathla and completes the ritual.
  
  Buffy and Angelus fight while Willow performs the ceremony from the hospital bed, with Oz and Cordelia helping her. Willow chants and starts to faint, but then suddenly she snaps her head back and comes back strong, chanting in Latin. Angelus, meanwhile, has Buffy knocked to the ground and he stabs at her with the sword. She stops it with her hands and hits him with the butt of it. They continue their fight. At the hospital, Willow finishes the ritual just as Buffy is about to cut off Angelus' head. He cries out in pain and Buffy stops herself just in time. As he gets up, his soul restored, Angel has no memory of anything since the night he slept with Buffy. They hug and kiss and then Buffy sees the vortex begin to open from Acathla. She kisses him and then tells him to close his eyes. She kisses him again, and then stabs the sword into his stomach. He falls into the vortex, and it closes. Angel is gone.
  
  At the Summers house, Joyce hears a noise and finds a note from Buffy in her room. Back at school, Willow is in a wheelchair and Giles is back, despite his injuries. No one has seen Buffy since the battle, and they all wonder what could have happened. Across the street, Buffy is standing outside the school with a bag. She walks away, gets on a bus and pulls out of town, leaving Sunnydale behind her.

TRIVIA

• Anthony Stewart Head put chilli peppers in his mouth during his torture scenes to make his pain seem more realistic. He was afraid the peppers would also affect Robia LaMorte and Juliet Landau, who he had to kiss in the scene.

• For this episode, the Mutant Enemy monster after the end credits says, "Oh, I need a hug." Other variations appear in the season three finale, Graduation Day (Part 2), in which he wears a graduation cap, and the series finale Chosen, where he turns to the audience. He also wears a Santa hat in Amends and finally sings 'We Are As Gods' during Storyteller. The creature is voiced by Joss Whedon.

• The stunning song which plays as Buffy leaves Sunnydale is by Sarah McLachlan and is called "Full of Grace". It's from her album 'Surfacing.' She also sings "The Prayer of St Francis" at the end of season six's finale, Grave.

• It was during the filming of this episode that Joss cemented his plans for Angel.

CONTINUITY

• Spike and Drusilla flee Sunnydale after this episode, and are not seen together again until Crush. Spike returns the following season in Lover's Walk, while Drusilla doesn't return until flashbacks in season five.

• Xander's actions in failing to tell Buffy that Willow's going to perform the spell to re-cast Angel's curse (instead he tells her to "kick his ass") are never discussed until season seven's Selfless.

• Drusilla uses Jenny's image to get information from Giles on Acathla. The First also uses Jenny's image in Amends.

• Spike reminds Joyce that she hit him over the head with an axe the first time they met in School Hard.

• Buffy is expelled in this episode after Snyder threatened her with expulsion in the previous episode. Joyce told Hank in When She Was Bad that she simply wanted Buffy to get through the school year.

GOOFS

• Kendra's chalk outline is different from the position she died in.

• When Spike pulls out the cigarette from the box that he took out of the police officer's pocket, he puts the box on the officer's chest. When they show Spike again, the box is gone.

• Buffy's hair changes during her sword-fight with Angelus. It goes from tied-up to loose and back several times.

• When Spike is carrying Drusilla out of the mansion, she is holding onto his shoulder even though she is supposed to be unconscious.

• When Spike starts to drive the car, he turns the wheel hard round to the left for ages, so the car should be going in circles.

• Sarah and David's stunt doubles are clearly seen several times during the sword fight. David's double is particularly noticeable due to the huge difference in their hairstyles.

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)