Overall Rating: 7.15 Matt: 7.0 Eric: 7.3 Writer: Jane Espenson Director: James A. Contner Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers, James Marsters as Spike, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Main guest stars : Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Amber Benson as Tara, Charlie Weber as Ben, Clare Kramer as Glory, Troy T. Blendell as Jinx, Shonda Farr as April, Adam Busch as Warren Meers, Amelinda Embry as Katrina Silvers. Original broadcast date : February 20, 2001 My one-line description: The episode that created a monster. Since then, everyone wants a Spike-Bot, a Faith-Bot, a Vampire Willow Bot, what have you… At the Magic Box, Buffy is letting her frustration over Spike out on a big punching bag. Giles points out that Spike’s feelings aren’t her fault, but she comments that something about her must have turned Spike one. At the thought, she punches harder, and throws in a few kicks. The punching bag begs for a break – and reveals itself to be Xander, wearing a heavily-padded sumo suit. A contrite Buffy helps him lean against the wall, and then continues lamenting her bad luck in attracting men. Xander also thinks she’s not the problem, but Buffy wonders whether she’d keep a guy if she slayed less and laughed more at his jokes. Xander advises that she just be herself, and a grateful Buffy hugs him. A young girl gets out of a cab on a curb somewhere in town. The driver asks if she’ll be OK, and wonders what she’s looking for. "True love", she answers. At the house, the Summers women are enjoying some quality time as Joyce shows off the dress she plans to wear on a date that evening. Buffy asks about the guy she met, and Joyce fills her in. This reminds her of the impending date, and she nervously asks Buffy what she thinks she should do. However, Buffy refuses to give any advice, since both her former boyfriends left town. Anya and Tara are taking a walk in the park, discussing computers and the Internet. Suddenly, the young girl from the cab walks up to them and asks if they know where Warren is. The two girls tell her they don’t know any Warren, so she thanks them and cheerfully walks up to another person to ask the same question. It’s the Spring Break Party that evening, and Buffy enjoys a dance with Xander. As the song ends, Xander goes to join Anya, and Buffy spots Ben at a punch bowl nearby. She sneaks up near him and leans on a column, acting nonchalant until he notices her. When he finally sees her and calls out her name, she walks over to him; they share some small talk and nervous laughs, and she asks him if he wants to dance. He agrees, and goes look for a place to store his drink. Xander and Anya spot the young girl who’s looking for Warren, and Anya reports that she and Tara saw her earlier. Nearby, a young man nervously tells his girlfriend that they have to leave before "she" sees him. Meanwhile, the girl walks over to the Scoobies and asks them – again – about Warren. After some questioning, she informs them that Warren is her boyfriend, and that he lost her. Spike shows up and tries to make small talk with Buffy, who’s still waiting for Ben to come back. She just glares at the vampire, so he leaves her and settles for watching from afar. Ben comes back and asks if the guy was bothering her; when she answers that he wasn’t, Ben gives her a piece of paper with his phone number, suggesting that they could get coffee sometime. Buffy starts rambling about how him giving her his phone number could end up with him leaving town, but he timidly replies that he’d just like to get to know… coffee… better. Buffy promises to call her. Spike, having spied the interaction between the two, decides to leave, but he runs into the girl looking for Warren. She introduces herself as April, and tells him that she’s looking for her fellow. He teasingly says that she’s found him, and whispers something in her ear. This outrages April, who picks Spike up and throws him through a window, shouting that he is not her boyfriend. As everyone at the party stares, Spike demands to know why she did that. She answers that Warren is her boyfriend; "You know what? My bleeding sympathies to Warren!" replies a bruised Spike before leaving. April declares to the spectators that only Warren can touch her; she turns to go, but Buffy steps in front of her. April asks her if she knows where Warren is, and the Slayer asks her to stop thinking about Warren for a moment. April picks her up and sends her flying across the room, landing on her shoulder. The young girl apologizes for hurting Buffy, and leaves. Later, the Scoobies discuss April, whom they surmise is a robot. They decide to search for Warren the following day, and Buffy goes home to "rescue" Giles, who is babysitting Dawn. Not long after Buffy has gotten home, Joyce comes back from her date, beaming – it’s obvious she’s had a good time. She teases Buffy saying she left her bra in her date’s car; as her horrified daughter runs upstairs, not wanting to hear more, Joyce shouts that she was joking – she actually left it on the dessert cart… It’s three in the morning, and April is going door to door, waking people up and asking if they’ve seen Warren. The next day, Willow informs the gang she found the Warren they’re looking for, a guy from high school. They discuss why he would build a robot, and Tara comments that it’s sad to want a nice, normal person and not to be able to find one. Obviously affected by this, Buffy goes into another room to call Ben. On the other end, Glory morphs back into the male intern just in time to pick up the phone. He and Buffy make arrangements to have coffee the following evening. Meanwhile, Warren is quickly packing while his girlfriend, Katrina, asks what’s going on. He opens the door to show her out, and comes face to face with Buffy. Katrina asks who she is, but Warren tells her to shut up, and she angrily stomps out. Warren asks Buffy if April has hurt anyone; he informs her that April is a robot – news that comes as no surprise. Spike bursts into the Magic Box under a flaming blanket and casually asks what’s going on. The Scoobies stare at him coldly, and Giles tells him that he’s not welcome here. Spike argues that he and Buffy worked together to get rid of Drusilla, but Giles, having had enough, shoves him into a cabinet. "We are not your friends", he growls. "We are not your way to Buffy. There is no way to Buffy. Clear out of here. And Spike, this thing, get over it. » Seeing he will get no support, Spike leaves under his blanket. Meanwhile, Warren explains to Buffy that he didn’t make a sex toy – he made a girlfriend. Buffy asks if he’s in love with her, and he replies that he isn’t – he met Katrina, and decided to leave April in his dorm room until her batteries ran out. However, he didn’t tell the robot about his plan… In a playground, April runs into an angry Katrina and asks her if she knows Warren (uh oh!). Katrina says Warren is her boyfriend, causing April to grab her and start choking her as she tells Katrina to stop lying. A bit later, Buffy and Warren arrive and find April holding an unconscious Katrina a few centimetres above ground. Warren orders her to give Katrina to Buffy, and as the two humans lay her on a bench, April innocently asks if she’s broken. Then she asks Warren why he left, and he tells her that it’s over – he adds that he loves Buffy (uh oh!). Somewhere in April’s computer core, a switch goes over to combat mode. April growls. "She growls? You programmed her so she growls?" exclaims an appalled Buffy, before April charges her. Katrina wakes up to witness the fight, and realizes April – Warren’s ex-girlfriend – is a robot. Horrified, she runs away, demanding that Warren stay away from her. He chases after her, trying to explain. Meanwhile, April begins to choke Buffy; but then her batteries finally begin to give, and she grows weak. Buffy and April sit on swings, now reconciled. April doesn’t understand why Warren left her – she can’t even imagine her reason to live without him. Buffy tries to comfort her, telling her Warren was proud of her. As her batteries finally drains, April dies, still optimistic that Warren will return… As Xander repairs a window, he and Buffy chat about April, and Buffy makes a parallel with her own obsession about now having a boyfriend. She decides to call Ben, and leaves a message on his answering machine cancelling their date. At the other end, Glory listens, wondering what Ben is planning against her… Warren receives a visit from Spike, who shoves a box full of pictures of Buffy and other stuff into his arms. He orders Warren to make him a robot, and make her love him. Buffy returns home to find some flowers Joyce’s date sent. Going into the living room, she sees her mother lying limply on the sofa, glassy eyes staring upward. "Mom?" Buffy asks. Then, more concerned : "Mom?". Then, in a small voice : "Mommy?" Summary by OttsFiveByFive.