The Bronze. The people, they are dancing. Including Buffy and Xander. Xander is a terrible terrible dancer, but somehow I find it endearing. Buffy is dancing more sensually with Xander than I have with anyone who is "just a friend" in my entire life. Oh yeah. These people are supposed to be in high school. We see Angelus standing near the stairs, staring at Buffy. I guess Angelus is part of the production staff now or something because he voice-overs, "Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl."
Buffy and Willow walk outside arm-in-arm with Cordelia and Xander trailing behind them, arms around each other. They pass a man and a woman who appear to be necking, but we all know that means something terribly different in the Buffyverse. After the gang passes, the man lifts his head to reveal Angelus's bloodstained maw. He drops the drained woman to the ground and steps into the street and watches the gang walk along. Since by season two the show actually had a special-effects budget greater than whatever cash Joss happened to have in his pocket on any given day, we get to see Angelus morph back into his human visage. Huh. Who knew that the morphing process automatically overgelled your hair?
Cut to Buffy in her room. She peers out the window as if she senses something, but sees nothing and walks away to change. In her pajamas and terrible Junior League hair, she sets her alarm and gets into bed. After she turns out the light, the camera pans around to show the window she was looking out of and Angelus is there, looking in. Buffy is fully asleep now when a shadow falls across her bed. Angelus reaches out to gently stroke her cheek. He sits to her as he continues his narrative in voice-over. "It speaks to us. Guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?"
It's morning. Buffy stirs, and as she sits up, she finds a folded piece of paper on the pillow to her. I'm pleased to note how terrible her hair looks. Buffy has bed head, nanny nanny poo poo. Ahem. Sorry. She unfolds the paper and stares at it for a moment, more confused than upset. On the paper we see a charcoal sketch of Buffy, sleeping.
"He was in my room," says Buffy to Giles who is behind the counter of the library, doing *gasp* some of the actual tasks of a librarian. "Who?" queries Giles absentmindedly as he continues checking in books. She informs him it was Angel, and this catches his attention. He comes out from behind the counter and follows her over to one of the main tables where Xander and Cordelia are sitting. Cordelia says that she thought vampires needed an invitation, and Giles confirms that they do, but once they've been invited, they can crash all they like. Think of how annoying that would be in the real world. Cordelia suddenly realizes that she invited Angel into her car at one point, and therefore he can get into her car whenever he wants. Doesn't the invitation rule only apply to residences? Since when does Cordelia live in her car? Whatever -- that's not the point, because Cordelia was only serving as the foil for Xander's hilarious retort of, "Yep. You're doomed to having to give him and his vamp pals a lift whenever they feel like it. And those guys never pitch in for gas." Buffy asks Giles if there is a reversal spell, and he turns, preparing to go consult a book, when Xander hops up from his chair saying, "Hello? Excuse me but have you ever heard of knocking?" Cut to Jonathan and some random girl standing near the entrance of the library. Jonathan explains that they need to get a book on Stalin, and Xander asks Jonathan if "this looks like a Barnes & Noble?" Oh, get off it, Xander. Like Sunnydale is even big enough to have a B&N. Giles points out that they're in the school's library and tells Jonathan which row to look. Jonathan and the unimportant girl go into the stacks while Xander points emphatically at the door and the gang files out. What was the point of having that random girl there? She didn't even get a line. Did she win a walk-on role in a contest or something?
The gang is walking along the hall. Cordelia says something annoying and useless. We all ignore her. Giles tells Buffy that Angelus is just trying to throw Buffy off her game. Buffy recounts to Giles that before Angelus turned Dru, he killed off all of her family. In short, Buffy is worried about her mom and wants to tell her what's going on. Giles is against it because it's not procedure. Giles warns Buffy that it's "imperative that you keep a level head through all this." Buffy retorts, "That's easy for you to say. You don't have Angel lurking in your bedroom at night." Or does he? Hmmmm? Giles reminds Buffy that even though this is a difficult situation, she doesn't "have the luxury of being a slave to [her] passions. [She] mustn't let Angel get to [her] no matter how provocative his behavior may become." Let's all remember that, kids, because it becomes important later. Although Buffy is obviously already letting Angel get to her a little too much, what with that velour fake tiger-print top she's wearing.
Jenny's giving some last minute instruction to her class before the bell rings. She stops Willow on her way out and asks her to cover for her in class tomorrow, as she might be a little late. Willow is first excited, then worried about possible calamities. Jenny reassures her, and then they are interrupted by Giles and Buffy, who appear at the door. Jenny says hello to both of them, but Buffy does that snotty teenager thing and completely ignores Jenny and walks off with Willow. Giles, hands in pockets, steps across the threshold, and when Jenny asks him how he's been, exposition ensues. Jenny offers him a book that might be useful, and then asks how Buffy is. Giles basically throws the question right back at her; Jenny looks away and says, "I know you feel betrayed." "Yes. Well that's one of the unpleasant side effects of betrayal," snaps Giles. Jenny takes this moment to explain that she was "raised by the people that Angel hurt the most." Blah blibbedy blah. I don't really understand that qualifier. I mean, Angelus killed one girl from their tribe over a hundred years ago. I'm sure it was very sad and all, but MAN can those gypsies hold a grudge. So Jenny continues with her speech, and she closes with, "I didn't know I was going to fall in love with you." She looks at Giles. He looks at her. Then the Meaningful Look is over and Jenny wonders aloud if she can still take that back. Giles, trying hard to hold onto his composure although you can tell he's thrilled underneath, asks if she wants to take it back. Jenny explains that she wants to make everything up to him, and Giles gently points out that he isn't the one she should be worrying about.
Later that night, Buffy is eating dinner, and Joyce asks her daughter what is troubling her. Buffy gives her the sanitized version and warns her mother that if Angel comes by, she shouldn't invite him in.
Pajama-clad Willow is in her room, talking to Buffy on the phone. Willow tells Buffy that, as Giles said, she shouldn't let Angelus get to her. As she's talking, she sprinkles fish food into her aquarium. She spots an envelope on her bed, opens it, and pulls on the string that's inside. Out comes the fish mobile that Angelus has thoughtfully made for her. Willow drops the phone. Is that the best Angelus could do to get to Willow? Did he expect that would put her over the edge? They're fish. Did he think that perhaps she'd hunt him down, saying, "My name is Willow Rosenberg. You killed my carp. Prepare to die." Anyway, cut to Willow, still in pajamas, sitting to Buffy on Buffy's bed. Willow thanks her for having her over on a school night, and Buffy apologizes about Willow's fish. Willow tells her that they hadn't bonded yet, and she's just glad that she didn't have a puppy. Buffy mentions that she's still having trouble accepting that it's Angel doing these terrible things because "he's completely different from the guy that I knew." Willow astutely points out, "Well sort of. Except you're still the only thing he thinks about."
Spike and Dru's warehouse. Spike is sitting pensively in his wheelchair. Dru has brought a puppy to tempt Spike's appetite. Spike wheels off angrily, saying, "I won't have you feeding me like a child, Dru." Angel walks in and needles Spike about his lack of independence. Spike says something snippy to Angel. Dru apologizes for him, saying, "You must forgive Spike. He's a bit testy tonight. Doesn't get out much anymore." Angel offers to take Spike with him time in case Angel ever needs "a really good parking space." Bicker bicker. They're interrupted by Dru being crazy some more. "The air. It worries. Someone, an old enemy, is seeking help. Help to destroy our happy home."
The camera pans across a table littered with skulls, a pig fetus in formaldehyde, and other vaguely occult accessories. Jenny enters the shop, and the shopkeeper, speaking in a heavy Rumanian accent, tries to interest her in a love potion or a voodoo doll. Jenny cuts him off, saying that she's seeking an orb of Thesulah. The shopkeeper drops the accent with an "oh, you're in the trade." He prattles on while fetching the orb from the back room. Blah blah blah without the lost transliteration annals the text of the ritual of the dead is gibberish. Blah blah blah Jenny is "working on a computer program to translate the Ruaniang liturgy to English." Computers give the shopkeeper "the willies." (Geddit?) Jenny says she's going to conjure "a present for a friend of [hers]." That present being "his soul."
Willow and Buffy walk up the steps to school, and Xander catches up with them. I'm sorry that I can't recap their conversation, but I'm sure you'll understand once I tell you about Xander's red and moldy green-gray sweater paired with brown and yellow plaid pants. As if that combination wasn't horrific enough on its own, Willow is wearing an orange and yellow striped fleece shirt. It's at times like this that I wish I were blind -- just like the wardrobe people. Okay, so Willow sees Jenny and gets all upset at "five hours of lesson planning down the drain." Buffy notices Jenny as well and tells Xander that she'll meet up with him in class. Buffy jogs up to Jenny and after a brief hello says, "Look. I know you feel badly [sic] about what happened and I just wanted to say…" Jenny looks at Buffy hopefully. "…Good. Keep it up," finishes Buffy snottily. Jenny says that she will and starts to go, but Buffy redeems herself somewhat by telling Jenny that Giles misses her. "He doesn't say anything to me, but I know he does. And I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to." Jenny begins to say something, but Buffy interrupts with, "We're…good here. Let's just leave it," and walks away.
Buffy finds Giles in the student lounge. He tells her that he's found a spell to rescind a vampire's invitation. Luckily, it's a fairly basic ritual that uses ingredients that Buffy already has.
Cut to Willow's room. She's busy pounding a cross to her window; she arranges the curtain to hide it. Buffy asks if the cross will bother Willow's dad, and in response Willow says, "Ira Rosenberg's only daughter, nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall?" Hey, I'm sure that he'd rather have her nailing crucifixes to the wall than some of the other things Willow could be "nailing." I'm sure if Willow explains it to him that way, everything will be just fine. Willow continues that she isn't even allowed to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, but the trip to Xander's is "worthwhile to see him do the Snoopy dance." Cordelia, who has been laboriously studying Willow's aquarium, points out that it's devoid of fish. Willow makes a frowny face and whimpers while Buffy excuses Cordy for the night. As she's getting her coat, Cordy picks up another folded paper from Willow's bed. Willow opens it and then hands it to Buffy, saying, "It's for you." On the paper is yet another charcoal sketch, this one of Joyce in repose.
Driving down the street in some sort of sport futility vehicle is Joyce. She turns into the driveway, and Angelus is waiting on the front lawn. As Joyce exits her car with a bag of groceries, Angelus immediately turns on the jilted boyfriend routine, trying to get Joyce to intercede with Buffy on his behalf. Maybe Joyce hears the Something Bad Is About To Happen music, because she's very wary and brushes past him towards the door. Of course she drops her groceries to heighten the suspense, and as she and Angelus frantically gather the groceries, I have to laugh as David Boreanaz fumbles an orange, which whizzes off-screen. They're both distracted by it for a moment. Angelus prattles on in some more jealous ex-boyfriend speak. Joyce threatens to call the cops. Then there's the requisite fumbling of the keys as the music swells disturbingly. Angel drops the bomb that he and Buffy slept together, and Joyce looks at him in shock. She finally gets the door open, and with a final warning to leave Buffy alone she steps into the foyer. Angelus tries to follow, but is stopped by an invisible barrier. Buffy and Willow are walking down the stairs with Willow chanting in Latin. In a hard tone, Buffy says, "Sorry, Angel. Changed the locks," and she slams the door in his face.
Jenny is working on the soul-restoration spell on her computer at school when Giles enters the classroom. She quickly hides the screen she was working on, just like I do when I'm reading recaps at MBTV and my boss walks in. She tells Giles she's working on a "special project," and then mentions that Buffy told her Giles misses her. "She's a meddlesome girl," grouses Giles, who actually doesn't sound at all angry to be making up with Jenny. Jenny then tells him she might have something, and they make plans for her to come by his house later that night. Giles leaves, smiling shyly, and Jenny goes back to her computer.
The magic store owner is closing up for the night when Dru enters the store, carrying Sunshine the puppy. The proprietor seems to recognize Dru and is scared, asking what she wants. Dru tells him Sunshine "wants to know what you and the mean teacher talked about." Joss should be more careful with the way he portrays puppies on Buffy unless he wants to come off as anti-canine. First that nasty turncoat Sunshine, then Angel-puppy, who certainly wasn't a credit to the breed. And didn't Buffy tell Parker that a certain nameless "angry puppy" was responsible for the scar on her neck? Yep, puppies sure do get a bad rap on this show, and Joss should get enlightened; he's got a social responsibility, you know.
Back at school, Jenny finishes her translation and laughs hopefully. She saves a copy to a yellow floppy (even though they try to hide it, you can tell her computer is running the Mac OS) and sends it to print. Suddenly, over the top of the printer, she notices Angelus lounging at one of the desks. When she asks him how he got in, he explains he was invited by the sign in front of the school that reads "Formatia trans sicere educatorum." "Enter all ye who seek knowledge," Jenny helpfully translates for the non-Latin speakers in the audience. Angelus gets up and slowly approaches her, and Jenny tries to tell him, "Angel, I've got good news." Deluded much? Angelus says he heard she was at the magic store and then picks the Orb of Thesulah up off her desk. He contemplates the orb, cheesily expositioning that it "is supposed to summon a person's soul from the ether -- store it until it can be transferred." He then flings the Orb at the chalkboard right to Jenny's head. The Orb explodes into smithereens as Jenny gasps and ducks. Angelus bitches about "shoddy gypsy craftsmanship" and then checks out her computer, reflecting on "how much the world has changed in just two and a half centuries." Boy, that Angelus sure does love to hear the sound of his own voice, doesn't he? Jenny inches to the door and tries the knob, but it's locked. Angelus then smashes the computer to the floor and grabs the paper out of the printer. "The Ritual of Restoration," he reads off the paper, and when Jenny tries to stop him, he rips the paper in half, saying "Been there, done that, and déjà vu just isn't what it used to be." He burns the paper in the fire that has broken out in the smashed computer. As he gazes into the flames, Jenny tries to sidle past him, but Angelus looks up wearing his game face and grabs her. He tosses her across the room, where her impact breaks open the previously locked door.
Outside the classroom, Jenny scrambles up and runs frantically. She tries a set of doors to the outside, but they're locked. She runs in a different direction; Angelus follows at a brisk determined walk. Jenny gets outside and runs down a covered walkway. Angelus still follows, running now, his black coat flapping behind him. Jenny runs down a long corridor and finds another set of locked doors. The music in this scene is dramatic and loud, drowning out all noise except Jenny's clattering feet and labored breathing. She finally gets the door open and runs through, wedging it shut behind her. She runs down another corridor and pushes a janitor's cart into Angelus, who trips over it, flips into the air, and hits the deck. Jenny runs up a flight of stairs, and behind her we see the wreckage of the cart but no Angelus. At the top of the stairs is a landing with a large arched window. Jenny runs right into Angelus, who giggles wickedly. "Sorry, Jenny, this is where you get off," he gloats, and quickly snaps her neck. Jenny's body slumps to the floor and Angelus, silhouetted in front of the window, sneers, "I never get tired of doing that." What's that? Oh no, I'm not crying. I've just got something in my eye.
Giles knocks on Buffy's front door, and Willow lets him in. She hands him the book with the spell of un-inviting vampires and tells him the spell went fine until "Angel showed up and told Buffy's mom that he and Buffy had -- " She pauses, "Well, you know, that they had -- you know. You do know, right?" Giles, who hasn't really been paying attention, says he does know, and Willow is happy because, "being a librarian and all," she was afraid he didn't. They stare at each other and bob nervously, and Willow finally says she'll tell Buffy Giles was there. He suggests intervening in the conversation between Buffy and her mom, but when Willow asks what he would say, he can't think of anything. Willow opens the door, and Giles leaves.
Buffy and her mom are having a talk in Buffy's room. As her mom paces, arms crossed, Buffy offers a lame explanation that the chanting and herbs were because Angel is "superstitious." "Was he the first?" asks Joyce, and then immediately takes it back, saying she doesn't want to know. Buffy replies that Angels was the first and "the only." Joyce points out that Angel is "obviously not very stable" and then twists the knife: "I just thought you would show more judgment." Ouch! Buffy looks hurt but merely explains that Angel "wasn't like this before." Joyce asks if she loves him, and Buffy replies that she did. When Joyce starts to inquire if Buffy had safe sex, Buffy snaps at her, but Joyce snaps back, saying that Buffy can't evade this one. The scene is starting to get to Buffy, and you can see the tears welling as she admits, "I made a mistake," and her mother can't even guess at the proportions of that mistake, can she? Joyce says, "Don't expect me to ever stop caring about you, because it's never gonna happen. I love you more than anything in the world," and then sits to Buffy, finishing, "That would be your cue to, uh, roll your eyes and tell me I'm grossing you out." Buffy replies that she isn't, and that concludes the talk.
Giles starts to open his front door and finds a red rose propped against it. He enters, calling for Jenny, and finds wine chilling and opera (Puccini's La Boheme) on the phonograph. Against the wine bottle is a note that simply reads "Upstairs." Giles grabs the wine and glasses and walks slowly up the stairs, which are strewn with roses and small votive candles. The opera music crescendos as Giles climbs. We see his shy anticipatory smile turn to horror as he spots Jenny's corpse laid out on his bed, her open eyes staring at nothing. The wine glasses drop and shatter. Dammit. I'm terribly allergic to something here. My eyes just won't stop watering.
Later, Giles stands and stares, a horrified blank expression on his face. Police lights flash across his face as the authorities wheel Jenny's body out of his apartment. A policeman tells Giles he'll need to come to the station to answer a few questions, and the stunned Giles agrees, saying he just needs to make a call first.
Angelus voiceover: "Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief." We see that he is peering into Buffy's house, where Buffy and Willow are walking through the dining room. Inside the house, the phone rings. Buffy answers and looks happy for a second -- then her face crumples and she looks shocked and miserable. Angelus peers intently, savoring every moment. Buffy silently hands the phone to Willow, who listens, then cries, "What? No! No!" Behind her, Buffy slumps down the wall to the floor. Angelus smirks wickedly. Joyce runs in and hugs the sobbing Willow, and Buffy rests her teary face on her knee. No, I told you I am not crying. Someone at work had pink-eye and they must have given it to me.
Cordy and Xander pull up in front of Buffy's house in Cordy's car. When Buffy asks, Xander explains that Giles wasn't at the station when they got there. Buffy is worried about what Giles "is gonna do," and the girls get in Cordy's garlic-festooned car to go to Giles's house.
In Giles's house, we see the trampled roses on the stairs and his weapons chest lying open. Giles tosses a gas can into a large duffel and leaves. The camera pulls in close on the drawing of dead Jenny that Angelus has left behind for him.
Xander opens the door to Giles's place and he, Willow, Cordy, and Buffy duck under the police tape to enter. They look around, and when Xander muses, "I guess Giles had a big night planned tonight," Buffy corrects him that Angelus set up the scene. When she calls the preparations the "wrapping for the gift," the full import of what Giles experienced sinks in for Xander. They notice his empty weapons chest, and Buffy confirms that Giles isn't upstairs. They discuss that Giles must have gone after Angel, to the Factory, and Xander bursts out, "Well, it's about time somebody did!" Willow is shocked, but Xander gets in his big speech: "I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon. So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'" ["How very Xander to bust out a Russ Meyer reference here." -- Sars] Buffy tells him he's right, but that Giles's "revenge scenario" will just get him killed.
At the Factory, Spike is railing on Angelus for once again not killing the Slayer. Dru tells him that the "bad teacher was going to restore Angel's soul," and Spike retorts that he preferred the "old Buffy-whipped Angelus." He then says that Angelus's "little pranks" are going to leave them with "one incredibly brassed-off Slayer." "Don't worry, Rollerboy," snaps Angel, declaring that he's got everything under control. At that moment, a Molotov cocktail smashes near them, and the large table in the center of the room bursts into flames. Angelus starts to run and is stopped by a crossbow bolt to the shoulder. Giles marches in, drops the crossbow and, picking up a flaming baseball bat, starts to beat Angelus about the head. Dru wants to join in, but Spike stops her. Giles drops Angelus with his blows, but then leaves himself open, and Angelus manages to grab the bat. They struggle, and Angelus gets Giles by the throat. "All right, you've had your fun," growls Angelus, "but you know what it's time for now?" "My fun!" responds Buffy, and kicks Angelus in the back. They fight, Dru whisks Spike away in his wheelchair, and Giles lies unconscious amongst the flames. Buffy and Angelus engage in a nifty little fight, using chains and other props from around the Factory. Buffy is winning, and as she smashes Angelus repeatedly into a railing, he starts to laugh, taunting her, "Are you gonna let your old man just burn?" Buffy stares at Giles, and while she's distracted, Angelus tosses her over the railing. Her Slayer-skills allow her to land without getting hurt, but Angelus gets away. Buffy helps Giles up and they stumble out. Outside, Giles shoves Buffy away and snarls, "Why did you come here? This wasn't your fight!" so Buffy punches him in the face. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she demands, and then she starts crying and hugging him: "You can't leave me. I can't do this alone." My, uh, pink-eye is really flaring up over here.