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Season 7, Episode 14
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by David Grossman
Original Airdate: 11 February 2003
"Now, if I were a sign of being evil, where
would I be?"
Buffy
REGULAR CAST
SPECIAL GUEST STARS
GUEST STARRING
SYNOPSIS
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A flashback to England when Giles fought with the
Bringers shows that Giles stopped the axe aimed for his neck and quickly
turned the weapon around on the Bringer. In the present, Giles boasts
about his accomplishment to Buffy and the potentials as they walk
through a cemetery. Spike surprisingly tackles Giles to the ground,
thinking he's the First. Giles realizes that Spike's chip didn't go off,
which forces Buffy and Spike to explain that Buffy decided to have it
removed. At the house, Giles confronts Buffy on her choice to have
Spike's chip removed and Spike's vulnerability to the First. He suspects
she's not focused and her judgment is off in the situation, but Buffy is
confident she made the right choice and that Spike's soul will keep him
from causing harm. At a hardware store, Xander spots an attractive woman
shopping for rope and offers to help her decide on the right strength.
They chat and he ultimately asks her out for coffee.
Suspecting Principal Wood of being connected to the First, Buffy sneaks
into his office in search of "evil" paraphernalia, but she's caught by
the principal before she can check out a suspicious cabinet. He asks her
out to dinner and Buffy accepts. Once she leaves the office though, he
pulls out a blood covered dagger from his coat and puts it away in a
spot cleverly hidden behind the cabinet doors. Later, Willow folds
laundry while Buffy talks about why Principal Wood asked her out and
whether she actually likes him. After Xander arrives at the house with
news of his date, he and Buffy share in the common knowledge that their
dates could both be evil. A frazzled Giles returns after shopping for
clothes with the newest potential Slayer, Chao-Ahn, and subtly complains
to the gang about the challenge of communicating with the new
Cantonese-speaking slayer.
Andrew installs a new microwave in the kitchen when he receives a visit
from the First in Jonathan's form. The First tries to persuade Andrew to
give up his quest for redemption and kill the Potentials with the gun
Willow bought while under the influence of Amy's curse. Anya tries to
clean Buffy's white shirt that Dawn borrowed and spilled pizza on while
talking to Buffy about Xander's date. On the way to her room, Buffy runs
into Spike in the hallway and he lets her know that he's okay with the
fact that she's going on a date. Lissa arrives at the coffee house and
despite Xander's nervousness, she shows interest. Willow searches for
Principal Wood on the Internet, but she doesn't find anything on him.
Anya presents Willow with some crude drawings Giles drew for Chao-Ahn
and he is scolded by Willow and the other girls for showing the graphic
images, especially since Chao-Ahn locked herself in the bathroom out of
fear.
Principal Wood leads Buffy down a dark alley on the way to the
restaurant he chose. She's suspicious and gets upset when they're
attacked by a gang of vampires. Buffy slays a few, but before she can
yell at her date for setting her up, she finds him slaying the other
vampires. Afterwards, Buffy and Principal Wood go to the restaurant to
talk about what just happened. Xander talks to Lissa about Anya and bad
timing, but she's supportive and suggests they go do something else fun.
At dinner, Buffy confronts Principal Wood on his knowledge about evil
and her job. He reveals that he works at the school and he hired Buffy
for "Hellmouth" related reasons more than scholastic reasons. He
continues to explain that his mother was a Slayer, but she was killed
and now, armed with some skills his mother's watcher taught him, he's
set to destroy the vampire that murdered his mother.
In the Summers's living room, Andrew shows the First the gun he found in
Buffy's underwear drawer. The First explains that Andrew needs to trap
all the girls in the basement and then shoot them. When Andrew starts to
ask questions, the First realizes the man is wearing a wire while
Willow, Dawn, Kennedy and Amanda try to listen from another room. It
tries to guilt Andrew by taking on the appearance of a dying Jonathan.
Despite being found out and unnerved by the First's appearance, Andrew
confidently refuses to be manipulated by the First. It then appears to
Willow and the others listening in the basement and tells them they will
all die. Meanwhile, Xander finally realizes his date is evil once he's
tightly bound to the wheel above the seal in the school basement.
Giles and Spike question Willow's attempt to record the First and then
Andrew explains what the First wanted him to do. After Spike asks,
Andrew explains that according to the First, it's not Spike's time yet.
Realizing they need to focus on evil again, Giles has Willow call for
Buffy. Willow gets a secret text message from Xander, but she's not
confident in her interpretation of the secret code. Fearing the chance
that Xander's in trouble, and with Buffy's cell phone left at home,
Spike goes to retrieve Buffy from her date. He interrupts them at
dessert with the news about Xander. Lissa explains to Xander about her
decision to help the forces of evil by releasing another Turok-Han. Her
eyes turning yellow, Lissa stabs Xander in the stomach, releasing his
blood onto the seal.
Principal Wood drives Buffy and Spike to the school and the trip goes by
mostly in silence, except for a brief questioning of Spike's
relationship to Buffy. In the basement, Spike and Buffy attack Lissa and
try to keep her away from Xander, exposing Spike's identity as a vampire
to Principal Wood in the process. Principal Wood frees Xander from the
bonds and gets him away from the seal, stopping the seal from opening
and an Turok-Han from escaping. Eventually, Buffy beheads Lissa,
revealing that she was really a demon, and she checks on the wounds
Spike and Xander received. Buffy arrives back home with Xander and Spike
and Xander decides that after so much bad luck with women, it's time he
turned gay. Spike sits and talks with Buffy later and he suggests he
leave town to avoid being present when the First decides it is his time.
Buffy disagrees and tells him she's not ready for him to be gone. At his
home, Principal Wood gets ready for bed and receives a visit from the
First Evil in the form of his dead mother. He's not interested in
anything she has to say until she reveals that Spike killed his mother.
TRIVIA
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K.D. Aubert plays Nikki Wood mother in
this episode. April Wheedon-Washington originally played her in
Fool for Love, but was replaced in
this episode.
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Kristy Wu makes her first appearance as
Chao-Ahn in this episode.
CONTINUITY
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Another demon is attracted to Xander.
This has happened several times in the series, starting with the Preying
Mantis in Teacher's Pet, with Ampata
in Inca Mummy Girl and with Anya.
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Giles uses terrifying flashcards to teach
Chao-Ahn the story of the First. He used similar cards in
Hush.
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Giles finally explains how he survived
the Bringer's attack on him in
Sleeper.
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Andrew is seen setting up the new
microwave, which was destroyed in
Conversations With Dead People.
He complained about it in
Potential.
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The First, in Jonathan's form, references
Andrew crashing his jet pack in Seeing
Red.
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Anya tries to help Buffy get rid of a
stain on her shirt in this episode. She says, "it's blood, or maybe
pizza." In
Conversations With Dead People,
Dawn ate pizza whilst holding the shirt. She got a stain on it, but
said, "Never mind, she'll think it's blood".
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There's a familiar name on a grave stone
in the cemetery... that of former High School Principal Snyder.
GOOFS
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Spike attacks Giles saying that Anya said
he was the First... but Spike wasn't there when they discovered this to
be the case, and they disproved it before they saw Spike again.
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Xander's hands and feet where tied to the
wheel. Robin cuts the ropes on his hands and he falls to the ground.
What about his feet?
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Why is the restaurant down a dark alley?
Especially in Sunnydale!
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When Wood, Buffy and Spike are in the
car, Wood looks in the rear-view mirror at Spike. He doesn't realize
until later at the Hellmouth that Spike's a vampire, but he should have
known before when he didn't see his reflection.
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In the scene when Buffy is telling Willow
about Principal Wood asking her out, Willow is folding socks. When Buffy
asks Willow to check out Wood for anything suspicious, Willow is folding
white socks, but immediately afterwards, when Willow asks Xander whether
he wants her to check out his date as well, the socks are folded and
black.
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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