| Written by: | Jane Espenson |
| Directed by: | James A. Contner |
| Starring: | 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 |
| Guest Starring: | Clare Kramer as Glory Charlie Weber as Ben Shonda Farr as April Adam Busch as Warren Meers Troy T. Blendell as Jinx Amber Benson as Tara Maclay Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers |
| Co-Starring: | Amelinda Embry as Katrina Paul Darrigo as Driver Cil Christner as Resident Kelly Felix as Teenager Paul Walia as Friend |
A local nerd's robot girlfriend came to town looking for him.
The episode opened with Buffy pounding on a large gray-brown bag while expressing her frustrations about Spike liking her. This led to even harder pounding, which was unfortunate because Xander was in the bag. She poured out more frustration to Xander, who told her that her problems were mostly due to being on the Hellmouth than to anything about her.
The next day, Joyce showed off the dress that she was going to wear on a date. Dawn and Buffy had fun seeing how many times they could get her to spin around. It was clear that Joyce was very nervous.
Anya and Tara were walking around discussing computers when a young woman approached them. She was looking for Warren, but neither Anya nor Tara knew a Warren. They young woman went on to ask the next person.
At a spring party, Xander danced with Buffy while Anya bragged about how not jealous she was. Buffy saw Ben but pretended not to notice him while standing in his sight. She decided to try some of Cordelia's old tricks to attracting men (e.g., laugh at all his jokes). It sort of worked. He went to drop off his drink in order to dance but took a very long time doing so.
Meanwhile, Anya was admiring the craftsmanship necessary to make Chex cereal. The same young woman who approached Anya and Tara earlier distracted Xander. This time, when she called for Warren, a man hastily ducked out of the party with a girlfriend. Anya was proud of the fact that she was not jealous that Xander was distracted by the young woman, but Tara was not pleased that Willow seemed to find her appealing.
Spike showed up at the party, which upset Buffy. He finally left her alone just as Ben returned. Before dancing, Ben first wanted to give her his phone number. She accepted it but was not sure she wanted to date again. He claimed that they would just go out for coffee.
Eventually, the young woman, April, ran into Spike. He whispered something in her ear. We could not hear what he said, but she did not appreciate hearing whatever it was. The next thing he knew, she threw him out the window. After Spike left, Buffy tried to diffuse tensions. However, April was not in the mood and tossed Buffy a few feet.
The characters discussed what they saw. Tara concluded that April was a robot, and everyone else agreed. Willow was going to look for Sunnydale students named Warren. Buffy had to leave to rescue Giles from having to baby sit Dawn. He was grateful to be relieved. Just as he was leaving, Joyce came back wanting to gush about her date.
April apparently spent all night knocking on doors looking for Warren. Most of the residents were not appreciative. The next morning, the group discussed the situation. Tara had been fantasizing about April's rear end, and Xander had been fantasizing about the whole of her.
Willow had not found any Warrens at UC Sunnydale, so she tried nearby schools. She found a Warren Meers who spent a little time at Sunnydale High. Buffy wanted to go talk to him, but Giles wanted to know why Warren built April. The others all thought that April was a sexbot.
Glory transformed into Ben just as Buffy called him. He was still interested in coffee, but was a little embarrassed to be wearing Glory's red dress.
Warren's girlfriend, Katrina, did not understand why Warren was in such a hurry to leave town. Buffy arrived, and Katrina was not happy to see yet another woman looking for him. He had a big reveal for Buffy, that April was a robot.
Spike burst into the Magic Box with his blanket on fire. He claimed that he and Buffy collaborated to defeat Drusilla and that anything else Buffy might have said was not true. Nobody seemed to believe him. Giles was especially clear in his refusal to cooperate with Spike in any way.
Warren claimed that he built April to be a girlfriend who loved him rather than a sex toy. However, Warren found April to be boring and then fell for Katrina. He left April in his dorm room hoping that April's batteries would run out. Buffy was appalled.
Meanwhile, Katrina ran into April. Neither liked the fact that the other claimed to be Warren's girlfriend. April was the stronger one and managed to squeeze Katrina until she could not breathe. Warren and Buffy found her holding Katrina's unconscious body. Buffy helped Katrina walk to a bench and determined that Katrina was still alive.
Warren wanted April to go back to his dorm room, but Buffy wanted him to break up with her properly. He tried to do so, but this just initiated her protect_warren program, which caused her to want to destroy an obstacle, namely Buffy.
April attacked Buffy. Meanwhile, Katrina woke up and realized that April was a robot. Katrina was very offended and decided that she wanted nothing to do with Warren again. Eventually, April weakened as her batteries started to slow down. She and Buffy sat on swings and talked. Before April's batteries ran out completely, Buffy told her that she was a good girlfriend and that Warren was proud of her.
While watching Xander repair the window that Spike went through, Buffy realized that she did not need to be with someone at that moment. She left a message on Ben's machine canceling her coffee date. Glory was confused when she heard the message, but Jinx suggested that Ben made a date with Buffy. Glory thought that Ben was collaborating with Buffy against her.
Warren made an attempt to explain the situation to Katrina, but she was not interested. Spike came in with a special order for a Buffybot. Meanwhile, Buffy arrived home and found that Joyce's date sent her flowers. She turned into the living room to see her mother lying motionless with her eyes open.
I understand that playing a robot may not sound like the most challenging role for an actor, but Shonda Farr did a good job at getting us to care about a robot, probably better than the pop singer who allegedly was to play April.
This is a fun episode.
Some people object to this episode because nerds are a major fan base of the show and this episode makes them look like dateless losers.
Shonda Farr was very good at getting us to care about April. She was not that good with the more physical work. Her breaking the see-saw and her squeezing Katrina both looked very fake.
April threw Spike through a window.
April fought Buffy in the playground.
Like nearly any Jane Espenson episode, this had a lot of comedic one-liners.
Joyce had a lot of fun telling Buffy what might have happened on the date.
Despite her earlier jealousy, Tara apparently was fantasizing about a part of April's anatomy.
It is hard to take April all that seriously, and I do not think we were supposed to until the final scene.
April was desperate to find Warren, but much of this search was played for laughs.
April's "death" was sadder.
The final scene suggested that there will be a lot of drama to come.
Joyce went on a date that went very well.
April's love for Warren drove much of the episode.
Tara wants to add "spicy talk." She seemed more understanding of Warren than the other women were.
Xander actually enjoys being a carpenter.
Buffy decided that she does not need to be with anyone right now.
Joyce did not look good in the final shot.
Most of the importance of this episode took place at the very end of the episode.
It looks like Spike wants a Buffybot for himself.
If the final shot meant what it looked like it meant, the show is about to lose a major character.
Finally, this episode introduced a major character.
Nobody wins its second MVP in a row for an episode in which nobody was heroic.
When everyone figures the same thing out, it helps to be quick. Maybe everyone knew that April was a robot, but Tara gets the award for being the first one to say so. Xander gets credit for being the first to say why Warren built April, and Willow gets credit for finding Warren.
Like Spike in "Crush," Warren blew his relationship with every woman in his life. Katrina walked out on him and April's batteries ran out.
It is ironic that Tara pitied Warren for a couple of reasons. One reason is a major spoiler that happens in episode 19 of the sixth season. The other is the fact that Tara seemed to think that Warren could not find someone to be with when Amber Benson dated Adam Bush for several years now.
This episode understands that unpredictability is important for romantic relationships. Unpredictability leads to the strong emotions that keep relationships from getting boring. However, I do suspect that April might have been good for Warren. Having someone that admiring might have given him the confidence to ask Katrina out and that confidence might have made him more attractive to Katrina.
In general, jealousy is not an attractive trait. Therefore, why did Warren program April with extreme jealousy? Did this jealousy make him feel special or was this a programming glitch?
The final scene made it look like one will be called for, but I will wait until the next episode for an Obituary
Commentary by Writer and Producer Jane Espenson spent a bit too much time discussing what was on screen or discussing Buffy's love life. There are major spoilers through the end of the sixth season. Insights include:
Directives:
Acive_mode/B;}MAK1_WARREN_HP
Acive_mode/B;}PROTECT_WARREN
"That's my secret to attracting men. You know, it's simple, really. You slap 'em around a bit. You torture 'em. You make their lives a living hell..." Buffy
"Buff..." Xander
"Sure, the nice guys, they'll run away, but every now and then, you'll come across a real prince of a guy like Spike who gets off on it." Buffy
"You're both crazy. It's not mom-ish at all. It's sexy. It screams, 'randy sex kitten. Buy me one drink, and I'll...'" Buffy
"At first it was confusing. Just the idea of computers was, like, 'Whoa, I'm 1,100 years old.' I had trouble adjusting to the idea of Lutherans." Anya
"Well, I go online sometimes, but everyone's spelling is really bad. It's depressing." Tara
"But you have to try online trading. It's great. The secret is avoiding the tech companies and going with the smaller firms that supply the basic components. Anyway, I took the money from working with Giles, and I tripled it." Anya
"Tripled? Like, first money, then money, money, money?" Tara
"Yes, I'm thinking about buying something very expensive, maybe and antelope." Anya
"She speaks with a strange evenness and selects her words a shade too precisely." Anya
"Some of us like that kind of thing in a girl." Xander
"I don't know about you guys, but I've had it with super-strong little women who aren't me." Buffy
"At least she didn't do too much damage." Tara
"Are you kidding? Double-glazed glass ain't cheap, and the jamb needs to be completely repaired. Oh, dear God, I'm the grown-up who sees the world through my job." Xander
"We listened to aggressively cheerful music sung by people chosen for their ability to dance. Then we ate cookie dough and talked about boys." Giles
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry, but, if it makes you feel any better, my fun-time Buffy party night involved watching a robot throw Spike through a window, so if you wanna trade... No, wait, I wouldn't give that memory up for anything." Buffy
"I was standing right here. I didn't see Prince Charming. I didn't even see a good-night kiss. It all looked pretty tame to me." Buffy
"I suppose by your standards it could seem pretty... Oh, dear..." Joyce
"What?" Buffy
"I left my bra in his car." Joyce
"Mother!" Buffy
"I'm joking." Joyce
"Good God, that's horrible. Don't do that." Buffy
"I left it in the restaurant." Joyce
"No more, no more, no more!" Buffy
"On the dessert cart." Joyce
"She practically had 'genuine molded plastic' stamped on her ass. Just trying a little spicy talk." Tara
"Do you have any books on robots?" Tara
"Oh, yes, dozens. There's an enormous amount of research we should do before... No, I'm lying. I haven't got squat. I just like to see Xander squirm." Giles
"She's a sexbot. What guy doesn't dream about that? Beautiful girl with no other thought but to please you, willing to do anything. [Willow, Buffy, and Anya glare at him] Too many girls. I miss Oz. He'd get it. He wouldn't say anything, but he'd get it." Xander
"Is she dangerous." Buffy
"She's only programmed to be in love." Warren
"Then she's dangerous." Buffy
"Can you cry. Sometimes, I feel better when I cry, but there might be rust issues." Buffy
"I think I've actually turned into someone you want around after a crazed robot attack." Xander
"And if you ever start your own business, you'll have your slogan right there." Buffy
The final scene made it look like there will be another, but I will defer to the next episode.
Highlight the space after each question to find the answer. It is strongly recommended that you do not do so if you have not seen episodes through the episode indicated.