Overall Rating: 4.5 Matt: 2.5 Eric: 6.5 Writer: Jane Espenson Director: Nick Marck Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers, Amber Benson as Tara, James Marsters as Spike, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg. Main guest stars : Elizabeth Ann Allen as Amy Madison, Brent Hinkley as Manny the Manager, Pat Crawford Brown as Wig Lady, Kali Rocha as Halfrek, T. Ferguson as Gary, Andrew Reville as Timothy. Original broadcast date : January 29, 2002 My one-line description: You¹ll never look at your burger the same way again. And that¹s because it may be looking back. In the Summers house living room, Willow is describing to Anya and Xander what she found in the Troika¹s lair, including some action figures and "that woman from Enterprise". She also informs them that the three geeks seem to have disappeared, leading Anya to get into a rant about how important it is to work for money and how the workers are the tools that shape America. "Good to know. I was kinda feeling like a tool", answers Buffy, walking into the living room, wearing a fast-food restaurant uniform ­ including a hat with a cow and a chicken on itŠ Later, at the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy is shown a rather graphic video explaining how a chicken and a cow physically come together to form the Doublemeat Medley. Afterwards, Manny, the very unique and unsmiling manager, introduces her to her (unsmiling) coworkers, and orders her to eat a Doublemeat Medley, to experience it firsthand. Reluctantly, she takes a bite, then asks what the secret ingredient is, but Manny doesn¹t answer her. She reluctantly takes a bite, then questions what the secret ingredient in the meat is, but gets no clear answer. Manny pairs Buffy with Gary, a coworker, to learn the cash register. Gary takes a wig-wearing old lady¹s order, then Buffy takes the next customer, but is rapidly confused by all the buttons. She then finds that her friends and her sister are waiting in line, eager to encourage her. Buffy (regardless of her financial distress) treats Xander to a Doublemeat Medley. Later, during a lull in business, Buffy finds Spike at the counter, looking at the menu. She tells him that she¹s working, but he tries to convince her that she doesn¹t need to work here, that this place will kill her, and that he can get money if she needs it. Buffy asks him to leave, but her break, a bit later on, finds both of them having sex against a wall in the back of the restaurant. Meanwhile, Gary takes the garbage out to the compacter outside in the alley, but is attacked by somebodyŠ or something. The next day, Gary doesn¹t show up, and Manny condemns Buffy to a double-shift. She gets the invaluable chance of learn how to work the grill under the tutoring of Timothy, another not-quite-normal coworker. Again, she tries to get some info about the secret ingredient, but gets no answer. At their apartment, Xander sits alone in the living room, shouting to Anya, who¹s in another room, about Buffy having to work double shifts. Suddenly, a vengeance demon appears, startling him, and threatens to inflict bodily harm on him. Lucky for him, Anya enters the room and recognizes the demon as Halfrek ­ or Hally ­ an old friend. Anya explains that she invited Halfrek for the wedding, not for vengeance, but Xander decides it may be wiser to let the two girls have a private chat. At the Summers house, Amy enters Willow¹s room, asking for her rat cage ­ she wants to keep it as a souvenir, since it was home to her for a few years. She also asks Willow how the cold turkey with the magic is working out; before she leaves, she zaps the redhead, giving her a parting gift ­ Willow panics, unable to control the magic suddenly coursing through her. At the Doublemeat Palace, a new batch of meat has been delivered, and Buffy distractedly watches the meat grinder doing its job. However, looking at the processed meat falling out of the machine, she findsŠ a finger. Now almost certain that the "secret ingredient" is human flesh, Buffy confronts Manny, bringing up Gary¹s disappearance. When he dismisses her findings, she runs out into the dining area, knocking trays off tables, shouting to patrons to stop eating, that the meat is made of human beings. Outraged, Manny fires her. Meanwhile, Anya and Halfrek are having a drink and discussing the upcoming wedding. Halfrek asks Anya to tell her more about Xander, and Anya starts to get worried that Halfrek thinks she¹s making a mistake. The vengeance demon innocently increases Anya¹s uncertainties, encouraging her to second-guess herself over Xander¹s worth as a future husband. Buffy enters the Magic Box, where she¹s called a Scooby meeting. She puts a Doublemeat Medley burger on the table, then goes to the counter and shows Dawn the severed finger, saying it¹s evidence the meat is made from human beings. An alarmed cough is heard behind them ­ Xander, who¹s finished wolfing down the burger, has overheard them. Buffy berates Xander (who¹s about to be sick) for eating the burger, but a still-magically-influenced Willow (trying uneasily to hide it) arrives and suggests that they chemically analyze the meat scrapings left on the wrapper. While Buffy goes back to the now-closed for the night Doublemeat Palace, Willow nervously conducts her chemical tests, complaining about how long it¹s taking. As she analyses the meat scrapings, Dawn admits to Xander that she¹s concerned Buffy will never be able to have a lucrative job, what with her Slayer dutiesŠ Anya enters, her conversation with Halfrek fresh in her mind, and starts trying to confront Xander on his views regarding demons. They start to argue, but are interrupted by Willow ­ the scrapings aren¹t human flesh, or even meat. They¹re a kind of vegetable proteinŠ At the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy has found all that¹s left of Manny ­ his foot, still in his shoe. Resuming her snooping, she finds a grey wig ­ belonging to the old lady who¹s a regular customer. Just then, the said wig lady ­ sans wig ­ comes up behind Buffy and explains that she has to do "something to hide this". A giant lamprey emerges from the top of her head, screaming at Buffy and spraying her with a paralysing venom. The wig lady-lamprey announces that she¹s intent on eating Buffy ­ she thrives on Doublemeat Palace employees, who are so full of burgers they slide down smooth. While Buffy tries to escape, Willow shows up outside and uses the Drive-Thru intercom to tell her friend that the Medley is not made of humans, but vegetables. Buffy hears all of it, but can¹t answer ­ she¹s still being chased by the lamprey, who finally latches on to her shoulder and starts chewing on it. But Willow, worried at the lack of response, has broken in and shows up just in time to duck a spray of paralysing venom. Thinking she got rid of Willow, the wig lady brags. "Missed me", says Willow, appearing again armed with a blade, which she uses to sever the lamprey from the woman¹s body. Buffy and Willow then kill it by throwing it in the meat grinder. "Ewwww", both girls exclaim in unison, as yellow gore spews out of the machine. The next day, Amy walks up to the Summers house, needing to borrow detergent. Willow refuses and coldly warns her off, saying that whether she¹s a friend or not, she¹d better stay away from her. Meanwhile, at the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy comes in to bring back her uniform, and is greeted by the new manager. Intrigued, the Slayer asks her about the secret ingredient being vegetables; worried, the manager urges her to close the door, then admits to Buffy that the secret ingredient is a kind of vegetable protein with beef. Concluding that the information is valuable, Buffy asks the manager if she can have her job back for keeping the secretŠ Summary by OttsFiveByFive.