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Season 7, Episode 8
Written by David Fury & Jane Espenson
Directed by Alan J. Levi
Original Airdate: 19 November 2002
"Man, I hate playing vampire towns."
Aimee Mann
REGULAR CAST
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
GUEST STARRING
CO-STARRING
SYNOPSIS
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Spike digs a grave for and buries the woman he
just killed while he hums a tune. In London, a man with a briefcase
finds a young woman he knows lying dead. When he investigates her body,
a robed figure attacks the man with a dagger, but the man fights back.
Another robed figure joins in and soon, the man is stabbed and falls
dead next to the young woman. Willow arrives at the Summers' house and
finds the house a disaster and Dawn still in shock. Dawn tries to tell
her what happened and how she saw Joyce, but Willow explains that it was
a big evil messing with their minds.
At Xander's apartment, Buffy and Xander talk about the possibility of
Spike turning a human, even in spite of his chip. Buffy doesn't want to
believe it because she knows the chip still works, but she and Xander
have to wonder if maybe Spike's been acting all this time. Spike returns
to Xander's apartment and receives a somewhat cold reception. In
attempts to get a reaction from him about Holden, Buffy mentions the
encounter to Spike, but he regards it calmly and heads off to bed. Both
having things to do, but not wanting to leave Spike alone, Xander gets a
reluctant Anya to come over and stay with Spike. She doesn't like the
idea of being stuck weapon-less with Spike and his suspected revived
ability to bite. Xander tells her to call if Spike decides to go
anywhere and then leaves for work.
Buffy returns home and freaks out until she finds Willow putting Dawn to
sleep. Willow informs her about the "evil" visits she and Dawn had and
Buffy tells Willow about her encounter with Holden. Buffy wonders if
they've been victim of lies and tricks, or if something else has been
going on. Armed with a stake, Anya quietly investigates Spike's room and
clothes while he sleeps, but she ends up getting caught. She tries to
lie about her intentions, claiming to want sex, but Spike doesn't really
believe her and isn't interested in her offer. Later, after the sun
sets, Spike leaves the apartment with an apology to Anya for any
potentially hurt feelings. She quickly makes a phone call to Buffy about
Spike's departure.
Spike walks the streets and passes by a man playing a harmonica, but as
the vampire passes, the tune changes to the one Spike was humming
earlier. The sound seems to have a hypnotic effect on Spike and he
begins to hum again. Buffy follows him, keeping out of sight. He finds a
woman standing around outside and the two talk and flirt before going
outside to an alleyway. Buffy tries to keep tabs on Spike, but she has a
hard time following him through the crowd of people out walking the
streets. Spike and the woman kiss against a wall and Spike pauses,
looking up to see Buffy approach him and the woman. With a smile, she
reminds him that she wants him to do it and he vamps and bites the
woman, much to Buffy's pleasure.
Once the woman is dead, Spike realizes with great horror what he just
did. He runs off in a blind panic as Buffy morphs into Spike form.
Later, Buffy barges in on a sleeping Spike, angrily demanding to know
whether he killed the woman she saw him with. He reminds her that can't
kill because of his soul and suspects that she's jealous. He doesn't
deny talking to other women, but swears they mean nothing to him and
reminds her of the seriousness of his efforts to prove his love to her.
Buffy gets confrontational about Spike killing people and although he
doesn't remember everything, he's confident that he didn't kill her.
At Buffy's house, the girls research in attempts to find proof that
Spike has or has not killed. They discuss the possibility of Spike
killing and Willow discovers that although there haven't been a lot of
dead bodies found, there are ten missing people in Sunnydale, mostly
young women. As he gets ready to leave, Spike finds a pack of cigarettes
in his pocket and gets flashes of killing the blond woman he met at the
Bronze. He tries to leave the apartment, but Xander stands in the way.
Spike knocks Xander out, setting off his chip for his efforts and then
departs. At the Bronze, Spike asks around about the young blond woman he
was there with then moves upstairs to watch over the crowd. Meanwhile,
Xander recovers from Spike's blow and calls Buffy's to let her know what
happened.
A woman approaches Spike as he sits by himself and tries to flirt with
him, but he's not interested and tells her off. She vamps out and
reveals that he made her as the two break out into a fight. In the end,
Spike stakes her and tosses her over the balcony, briefly distracting
the band on stage and the surrounding crowd. Buffy talks to the doorman
at the club she spotted Spike outside of and asks about Spike visiting
the club. The doorman tells her that Spike's trouble; he's seen the man
repeatedly, but with a different girl every night. At the Bronze, Spike
calls Buffy's cell phone, tells her that he's remembering the bad things
he's done recently and asks for her help. She agrees to meet with him at
a set location. As Spike tries to leave, the morphing version of Spike
shows up and tells the real Spike that calling Buffy was not part of the
plan, but they'll have to improvise.
Spike leads Buffy into a dark basement and tries to show her what he
remembers about killing the girls. The fake Spike is there as well, but
Buffy can't see him. While the real Spike tries to show Buffy where he
buried the bodies of those he killed, the fake Spike begins to sing the
hypnotizing tune. Spike vamps and attacks Buffy, cutting into her arm
with a broken piece of glass. As the two battle it out, the bodies of
those Spike's recently killed start to rise from the ground beneath them
as newly turned vampires. Buffy struggles with the fledglings while the
real Spike gets a pep talk from his morphing version about tasting
Buffy's blood. As two vampires hold Buffy still, Spike leans down and
tastes Buffy's blood from the cut on her arm. It reawakens all of his
memories of killing and he falls to the ground, horrified.
Buffy finishes off the rest of the vampires then turns her attentions to
Spike. Tearfully, Spike offers his heart for the staking. He's confused,
scared, and hurting because of the lives he's taken. Buffy realizes that
something has been messing with Spike's head like with Dawn and Willow
and that he needs help. Back at her house, Buffy tells the gang about
Spike and how she needs to keep Spike close if she intends to get
answers they need. Giles charges into the room in London and finds the
dead girl and the nearly dead man that was with her. The man, Robson,
warns Giles that something has started and that they need to be
gathered. From behind, a cloaked figure raises an axe and swings it at
Giles's neck...
TRIVIA
CONTINUITY
-
This episode picks up exactly where the
last episode ended, to the point where Spike is seen burying the girl he
killed at the conclusion to
Conversations With Dead People.
Everyone is also wearing exactly the same clothes, and Xander gives
Nicholas Brendon an excuse for being absent from that episode by
claiming that sometimes he likes to sleep at night.
-
Spike and Anya refer to the time they slept
together from last season's Entropy.
GOOFS
Lessons |
Beneath You |
Same Time, Same Place |
Help |
Selfless
Him |
Conversations With Dead People |
Sleeper |
Never Leave Me |
Bring on the Night |
Showtime
Potential |
The Killer in Me |
First Date |
Get It Done |
Storyteller |
Lies My Parents Told Me
Dirty Girls |
Empty Places |
Touched |
End of Days |
Chosen
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