Season 1, Episode 8
Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden
Directed by Stephen Posey
Original Airdate: 28 April 1997
Episode Spotlight
“Wrong and wrong, snobby. You think the realm of the mystical is limited to ancient texts and relics? That bad old science made the magic go away? The divine exists in cyberspace same as out here.”
Jenny Calendar
REGULAR CAST
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
- Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
GUEST CAST
- Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar
- Chad Lindberg as Dave Kirby
- Jamison Ryan as Fritz Siegel
CO-STARRING
- Pierrino Mascarino as Thelonius
- Edith Fields as School Nurse
- Damon Sharp as Male Student
- Mark Deakins as The Voice of Moloch
SYNOPSIS
In Cortona, Italy, 1418, a demon called Moloch the Corrupter is controlling the mind of a young man before him and then he snaps his neck. Meanwhile, a group of monks are performing a spell to trap Moloch in a large book. As the spell takes effect and Moloch is slowly sucked into the book, words appear on the pages. The book is closed, placed in a box, and the box is sealed.
Back in the present, Buffy opens the box and pulls out the book. Jenny Calendar, the school computer science teacher is helping Giles scan books into the computers along with some of her students Fritz and Dave. Moloch’s book is placed in Willow’s pile. Everyone leaves but Willow stays late to scan a few more books, one of which happens to be the book containing Moloch. If the pages are read, he will be set free. When she turns away from the screen, “Where am I?” appears on the computer screen.
Later that week, Buffy notices Willow’s strange behaviour. She says that she met a guy named Malcolm on the Internet. Buffy is a bit worried that Willow is so worked up over some guy she met on the Net who could be just about anyone. She goes to Dave for help but he tells her to leave Willow alone. Buffy takes his weird behaviour as a hint to find out what he’s up to. She follows him to a computer research building, which supposedly has been shut down for a long time. However, the place is crawling with people working. Plans are made for Buffy and Xander to go and find out more about this place.
In the computer lab, Willow is talking to Malcolm on the computer but quickly ends their conversation when he mentions Buffy’s expulsion from Hemery High in LA. Willow never informed him of this and she is scared that he knows. When Buffy arrives at the lab searching for Willow, Dave tells her that Willow is waiting in the Girls’ locker room for her. Fritz is in the locker room rigging up a trap for Buffy to be electrocuted by setting live wires in a shower stall. He turns on the water just as Buffy arrives and then leaves. Dave arrives to warn Buffy but the water hits the wires and sends her flying across the room before she can get away. Dave hurries back to the computer lab where he tells Moloch that he won’t do his dirty work anymore but Moloch responds with a suicide note for him. Fritz is in the room as well, ready to kill Dave.
When Buffy heads back to the lab to talk to Dave, she finds his body hanging from the ceiling with his suicide note. Back at the library, Giles figures out what is going on while Buffy makes the connection that Moloch is Malcolm. She and Xander rush to save Willow but they are too late. Fritz arrived earlier, knocked her out, and took her away to the research facility. Moloch now has a robotic form, which was made by his followers. He kills Fritz and then prepares to kill Willow when she refuses to join him. A sudden jolt stops him from killing Willow and Buffy and Xander finally break through just in time. They start fighting and Willow manages to escape from Moloch.
Meanwhile at the library, Giles has asked Jenny Calendar for help with stopping Moloch. She reveals her knowledge of all the mystical stuff around Sunnydale and Giles tells her of Buffy being the Slayer. Jenny then gets on the computer to form an energy circle so they can perform the ritual to stop Moloch. The spell works, except instead of sending him back to the book, it traps him in his robot body. Moloch is infuriated at this and attacks Buffy. Willow saves her by hitting him with a fire extinguisher. He knocks her aside and then Buffy manages to trick him into hitting an electrical box. He short-circuits and then blows up.
TRIVIA
As with The Pack, Charisma Carpenter is absent from this episode, despite her credit as a series regular.
The radio announcer in one of the scenes in this episode is voiced by Joss Whedon.
This episode sees the first appearance of Jenny Calendar, who appears in fourteen episodes all together over the course of the first three seasons. Actress Robia LaMorte previously worked with The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and also worked on Beverley Hills 90210, with series regular Emma Caulfield, although they never appeared together. Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie stars Hilary Swank and Luke Perry also had regular roles on the show, as did Rebecca Gayheart, who was up for a role in Firefly until Joss replaced her.
CONTINUITY
Willow has a picture of Giles and herself in her locker. This picture is seen again in Nightmares, and in Where the Wild Things Are, Willow admits that she used to have a crush on Giles.
GOOFS
Just before Willow is captured by Fritz at her house, the computer goes black-screen to announce new mail. She doesn’t touch it, but when Buffy and Xander get to her room the computer is displaying the e-mail.
Giles says that a common practice was to trap demons’ souls into books. But demons don’t have souls.
When Buffy goes to turn on the computer to delete Willow’s files she never touches the monitor ‘on’ button. She touches the area above the button, yet the screen pops on.
How does Buffy manage to follow Dave to the CRD building so easily when he’s driving and she isn’t?
Why didn’t Buffy see Dave’s hanging body as she entered the lab?
When Giles leaves the library after discovering the blank book, why don’t we see him in the window of the room he goes into?
Buffy’s status changes from ‘sophomore’ to ‘senior’, between the two records which Moloch accesses. Her date of birth also changes from 24 October 1980 to 6 May 1979. Actually her birthday is neither and is seen as 19th January 1981. Her birthday episodes usually air on the same date every year.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
The Watcher's Guide 