Overall Rating: 9.0 Matt: 9.0 Eric: 9.0 Writer: Steven S. DeKnight Director : Michael Gershman 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 : Adam Busch as Warren, Danny Strong as Jonathan, Tom Lenk as Andrew, James C. Leary as Clem. Original broadcast date : May 7, 2002 My one-line description: If you like Willow with a smile on her face… Better save this ep, you won’t see her doing it for a while. It’s morning, and Willow and Tara are in bed, bathing in the afterglow of a hot night. Willow wonders about Buffy apparently not coming home, and muses that she may still be upset by what happened between Spike and Anya at the Magic Box. Tara then confirms that Buffy slept with Spike; Willow is a bit hurt, but the best friend in her takes over and she gets up to go see if Buffy needs to talk. Outside Buffy’s (empty) room, she meets up with Dawn, and the two girls talk about the mess between Spike, Anya, Buffy and Xander. Tara comes out of Willow’s room, wrapped in a blanket, and Dawn gets pretty excited – it’s actually rather cute to see, how she jumps up and down, a huge smile on her face, beyond happy, giddily offering to go downstairs and put on the TV real loud, to give the couple some privacy… Elsewhere, Buffy kicks open the door to the deserted Nerd squad’s lair. There are a few papers and computer disks scattered around, and a whiteboard which reads "Too late". Buffy spots it just before a giant buzzsaw blade comes slicing through. Buffy starts ducking as other giant blades come out of everywhere. She barely escapes through the door with the papers, but her leather coat has been sliced open. "OK, that’s gonna cost ya", mutters an annoyed Buffy. At the Summers home, Buffy and Willow/Tara (still in their love bubble) set out to analyse the papers and find Warren. Willow suggests calling Xander. Buffy rejects the idea, saying that Xander is probably not ready for "Scooby stuff" yet. Dawn then suggests Spike, but Buffy answers that the vampire is not part of the team, and probably won’t be coming around that much anymore… Tara then suggests Anya, but once more Buffy dismisses the idea, saying she’s got her own stuff to worry about. Indeed, Anya is in a bar, listening to a weeping young woman who was just cheated on. She starts fishing for a wish, but as the other woman talks about her problems, Anya starts talking about her own issues with Xander. Quickly, the other woman is completely forgotten, and Anya is mostly ranting for herself – when the other woman starts uttering a wish, Anya even interrupts her absently to continue on her train of thought. In a cave, Warren and Andrew subdue a very large demon with a taser stick. After the demon falls to the ground, unconscious, Warren comments that if their plan works, everyone will be afraid of them. He then tosses a knife to Jonathan, saying it’s his turn. Dawn stops by Spike’s crypt and has a talk with him about Buffy. After informing him that she saw the whole Spanya show, she asks him if he loves Buffy, and he just remains silent, looking uneasy. Dawn then softly asks how he could do this to Buffy, and although he counters that she hasn’t been treating him that well lately, the little sister comments, before leaving, that if he wanted to hurt Buffy, "Congratulations, it worked." In the cave, Andrew and Warren spy another demon walking through a force field. Andrew reaches out to touch the force field, but Warren pulls him back, saying that the energy would fry him. Then, Jonathan arrives, clad in the demon’s skin, and Warren pushes him through. While he’s in the demons’ lair, Andrew and Warren plan what seems to be Jonathan’s demise. The unsuspecting future victim walks back out through the force field with a wooden box. Warren scans the box with some kind of device, then opens it, revealing two red orbs – the Orbs of Nezbilachan. He announces that the orbs will give them "Strength, invulnerability, the deluxe package." He then touches the balls together, and his entire body starts crackling with energy. Warren tests his new strength on a demon who is about to attack them. He easily overpowers it, breaking its neck. Buffy walks into Xander’s apartment, looking to bury the hatchet. However, Xander is still very bitter about the whole Spike thing, and doesn’t want to forgive just yet. They have some harsh words about her sleeping with an evil and soulless being, and then he simply gets up and walks out the door, coldly leaving her there. In bed with Tara again, is on her laptop, going through the computer files left by the nerds. She can’t make much sense of them, though – not unless she gets up and goes to the county clerks office, something she doesn’t really want to do right now – as Tara reminds her that the nerds have an evil scheme going, Willow answers flirtingly that she has a scheme of her own… Xander in sitting at the bar in a club, nursing a drink. A woman engages conversation, but he starts rambling about the disaster that is his love life, and concludes that he just wants to be left alone. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Xander, in come Warren, Jonathan and Andrew, eager to test their (or rather Warren’s) new power… In the cemetery, Buffy fights a vampire and although she dusts him, he simultaneously sends he flying on a headstone, which she breaks in two with her back (ouch!). Back home, an aching Buffy, draws herself a bath. Into the bathroom comes Spike, who wants to talk. He starts out by apologizing for what happened with Anya, and then explained that he’d went to the Magic Box for a spell… Just when Buffy gets outraged at the idea that he would’ve used a spell on her, he specifies that the spell was for him, to stop the feelings he had about her. "I should have let him kill me", the vampire mutters, referring to Xander’s attempt to stake him. Buffy says that she couldn’t have let that happen, and Spike asks her if that’s because she loves him. She denies it, but he still doesn’t believe her… In a shocking scene, he advances on her, tries to kiss her, rips her robe open and attempts to take her by force despite her terrified cries. She finally manages to kick him across the bathroom; "Ask me again why I could never love you!", she snarls at him, furious and scared. Back at the bar, Warren is hitting on a woman, and Jonathan impatiently asks Andrew why they’re risking everything "so that Charles Atlas can get a date." Andrew coldly tells him that Warren is Picard and that Jonathan is Deanna Troy, and that he better get used to the feeling. Then he walks away. Warren’s wooing is interrupted by the girl’s boyfriend, who walks up and tells him to go away. Warren identifies said boyfriend as a guy who used to pick on him cruelly in 5th grade, and suggests that he’s about to get revenge. And indeed, he sends the boyfriend flying with one punch, then dispatches two more guys the same way. Approaching the bar, he starts taking out all the money, smooth-talking to the ladies. Xander comes out of the washroom, sees Warren and walks up to him, asking him to leave the girls alone. Warren taunts him, making some vulgar comments on Anya’s tryst with Spike. Xander punches him, but Warren, completely unfazed, just punches back. Xander flies to the back of the room, over a pool table, where some people pick him up – his nose and lips are a bloody mess – as Warren advances threateningly on him. But Jonathan intervenes and tells Warren they’ll be late for that "thing" he wanted to do. The three nerds leave. Xander goes to Buffy’s house to inform her of the latest developments. He spots Spike’s duster on the banister, and runs upstairs. He finds Buffy sitting on the bathroom floor, still in her robe, tears on her cheeks and bruises on her body. Incensed, Xander wants to go after Spike, but she asks him to leave it alone. Willow shows up, and tells Buffy that she has some information. Downstairs, she and Tara tell the Slayer that they found maps for armoured car routes, schematics for banks, etc. One of the banks has a time-sensitive lock, and that may be where they’re going tonight. Buffy sets out to stop them, despite Xander’s warning about Warren’s newfound "mighty mouseness". In his crypt, Spike is tormented by flashbacks of his attempted rape. Clem walks in with a bucket of fried wings (there’s a Knight Rider marathon on TV), and notices Spike’s distress. Clem ventures that Buffy may not be all there, what with her coming back from the grave. But Spike has another idea – he thinks that it’s all the chip’s fault, that it won’t let him be a monster, won’t let him kill Buffy like he killed two other Slayers before her. Clem tries to calm him down, saying that things change, and Spike answers that they do, if you make them… In an amusement park, two armed guards are making a night-time pickup. As they climp into the armoured car and try to drive off, Warren arrives and overturns it almost effortlessly… However, Buffy appears on top of the truck and attacks Warren. She manages, with a lot of effort, to kick him into a stone arch, which crumbles on top of him. She thinks he’s done for, but he rises from the rubble, a maniac grin on his face… The fight resumes, with Buffy at a clear disadvantage. Suddenly, Jonathan jumps on her back, making it look like he’s attacking her, while whispering that she has to smash the orbs. She shoves him off, and goes back at Warren; the next time he’s close enough, she snatches the orbs and indeed breaks them. Warren’s power crackles out of him, and Buffy sends him flying across the pavement. She then approaches him, intent on taking him into custody, but he reveals twin jet-packs under his coat and takes off! After a moment of astonishment, the Slayer turns on Jonathan and Andrew – who also has jet packs. He ignites them, takes off – and knocks himself unconscious on an overhanging roof. Two police cars show up, and take Andrew and Jonathan, both handcuffed, to the station. Back at the Summers house, Spike pulls up on the curb on his motorcycle, apparently leaving on a trip. Looking at the house, he growls a warning to Buffy: "Get nice and comfy slayer, cause I'll be back. And when I do, things are gonna change." He then drives off. Inside, Tara and Willow are getting dressed after more smoochies, while outside, Xander approaches Buffy, who’s busy probing the bushes for more spy cameras. She informs him that Andrew and Jonathan have been arrested, but that Warren got away. Then they talk about her relationship with Spike, and make up with a big hug. But Xander spots something behind Buffy… It’s Warren, who pulls out a gun and starts shooting. Both Xander and Buffy dive to the ground. Glass in a window breaks, and some blood splatters over Willow’s white shirt. Tara is standing there, a red hole in her chest… "Your shirt…", she says weakly as she collapses in Willow’s arms. Xander gets up, shaken but angry; then he sees Buffy still lying on the ground, her face a still mask of pain… Upstairs, Willow cradles Tara, panicking, trying to get her up. Xander rushes to Buffy and tries to stop the bleeding from a wound on the right side of her chest… Willow is still cradling Tara, crying heavily in shock and disbelief. "Nooo... nooo...." She looks up, tears streaming down her face, her teeth clenched in pain and hate, her eyes glowing an angry and unnatural red. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.