Season 6, Episode 1
Written by Marti Noxon
Directed by David Grossman
Original Airdate: 1 October 2001
“Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?”
Spike
REGULAR CAST
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
- Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
- Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
- James Marsters as Spike
- Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
- Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
GUEST CAST
- Franc Ross as Razor
- Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
CO-STARRING
- Geoff Meed as Mag
- Mike Grief as Klyed
- Paul Greenberg as Shempy Vampire
- Joy DeMichelle Moore as Ms. Lefcourt
- Bru Muller as Teacher
- Robert D. Vito as Cute Boy
- Harry Johnson as Parent #1
- Kelly Lynn Warren as Parent #2
- Hila Levy as Pretty Girl
SYNOPSIS
The Scooby Gang patrol in the absence of the Slayer. Willow and her growing powers lead the efforts and the gang with telepathy and other magic from a perch on top of a crypt. She’s even brought back the BuffyBot who helps the group slay several vampires. At the Summers home, Willow and Tara are living there with Dawn and the BuffyBot. Willow tried to make the robot more normal, but her tuning never really goes quite like planned.
The BuffyBot is sent out with Dawn for Parent Day at Dawn’s school. Despite some odd comments and tense moments, the BuffyBot doesn’t cause much of a scene and isn’t suspected of not being real. At the magic shop, Giles is packing up his items in preparation for his return to England. Anya is torn between the idea of losing Giles and taking over the shop on her own.
That night, Spike stays with Dawn while the rest of the gang has a meeting. Dawn suggests that Spike can leave, but he is determined not to leave her to be hurt ever again and starts a card game. The BuffyBot hunts vampires, but gets hit with a bottle and her motion skills are impaired. Anya has found – on E-bay of all places – the Urn of Osiris. Willow’s pleased and announces their plans to bring back Buffy the next night. She stresses that Giles, Spike and Dawn can’t know, and that because Buffy was killed by mystical energy, they have a chance of bringing her back.
Willow returns home to find Spike keeping a wounded BuffyBot out of trouble. Some left-behind Spike-obsessed Warren programming strikes a nerve with the vampire and he leaves. Without her real sister, Dawn tries to find comfort from the BuffyBot, but doesn’t get much. The next day, Giles tries to teach the BuffyBot new skills, like breathing, then they talk about Giles’ reason to be in Sunnydale now that Buffy is gone.
The vampire that hit the BuffyBot with a bottle rants to several biker demons and the news is spilled that a robot has now taken over for the Slayer. The demons ride out to wreak havoc in Sunnydale. Willow works on a spell in an open outdoor location and a baby deer approaches her. She sudden stabs it in the throat and finishes her spell. She returns to the magic shop claiming she got the blood from the black market.
The gang finds a note from Giles stating that he’s already left. Not about to accept a silent escape, the track him down at the airport and he gets a proper farewell with presents, signs, balloons and tears. After Giles departs, Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara return home for final preparations and then head to the cemetery. They prepare the ritual, sitting around Buffy’s grave and Willow begins the spell. Willow is cut on her arms and a large snake is produced from her mouth, but Tara insists that they don’t stop.
Meanwhile, Spike watches over Dawn while the bikers are tearing Sunnydale apart. BuffyBot tries to stop them, but the leader, Razor, wounds her and she runs away to be repaired. The bikers then hit the cemetery and interrupt Willow’s spell by breaking the Urn of Osiris. One of the bikers tries to take Anya away, but Tara uses magic to get her back. Xander tells Willow that the spell didn’t work, but in the coffin, a dead, decaying body reverts back to the live and confused form of Buffy.
TRIVIA
Anthony Stewart Head has left the regular cast and has been removed from the opening credits. He appears as a special guest star for the next two seasons. Alyson Hannigan has taken his slot at the end of the credits and is now credited by her character’s name.
Amber Benson remains a guest star, although she’s listed in The Watcher’s Guide: Volume Three and the scripts as a series regular.
This episode and the next were originally shown as a two-hour special when it first aired to celebrate Buffy‘s relaunch on the UPN Network.
Franc Ross, who plays the lead demon Razor, played Monty Reynolds in the Firefly episode Trash.
Geoff Meed also played Andrew Borba in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date.
Marti Noxon says in her commentary for the season six DVD that Alyson Hannigan found it extremely difficult to film the scene where she stabs the deer. She was very upset at the thought of Willow doing this. Marti says that Alyson cried the whole day and eventually most of the more gory scenes where cut out.
The gruesome scene of Buffy being resurrected was cut when Sky One and the BBC showed this episode in the UK. Other edited scenes included Willow killing the deer; Willow choking up the snake; Tara’s comment about the vampire taking prescription medication; everything at Dawn’s school before they are in the classroom and Xander being unable to give Giles some alcohol because a guy would not buy it for them. Some of these scenes were also missing from the video release of the episodes because they separated the two-parter and lost several scenes.
Tara gives Giles a little rubber monster as a leaving present and says “Grrr Arrgh”, which is clearly a reference to the monster in the Mutant Enemy logo at the end of every episode.
CONTINUITY
Willow has successfully repaired the BuffyBot after it was decapitated by Glory in The Gift. The robot also mentions its affections for Spike, a reference to it’s original purpose as seen in Intervention. Spike will not leave Dawn alone due to his failure to stop Doc in the season five finale.
Buffy’s nightmare of being buried alive was also seen in Nightmares.
Hank is said to be calling the Summers house during the episode. This is the first time we’ve heard of him contacting the girls since Joyce’s death and funeral in The Body and Forever.
GOOFS
The idea that the demon bikers wouldn’t raid the town of Sunnydale just because they thought the Slayer was there is a bit unbelievable. If they banded together, that amount of demons with motorbikes could easily have killed Buffy.
Why do only Anya and the BuffyBot have stakes when hunting vampires?
Who is looking after Dawn when all the Scoobies are patrolling?
Anya’s hair changes in different scenes.
After Willow gets the last ingredient for the spell, she goes to the Magic Box, where Tara tells her she’s late. Willow then says to her friends, “I thought we weren’t gonna meet till later.” So, what is she late for?
Willow wears a brown skirt when quizzing Dawn about her clogs. She then goes to the kitchen where she’s wearing jeans. She later wears the skirt again in Xander’s apartment.
When the Scoobies form a circle to do the spell, they are in different positions in the close up shots than in those further away.
Why did the Scoobies construct an obvious headstone for Buffy if they wanted everybody to think she was still alive? Even it’s ‘hidden’ in the woods, someone could walk past and see it.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
EPISODE
The Gift / Bargaining (Part 2)
STORY ORDER
That Old Gang of Mine / Bargaining (Part 2)
The Watcher's Guide 