| Written by: | Steven S. DeKnight |
| Directed by: | James A. Contner |
| Starring: | Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris Emma Caulfield as Anya Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers James Marsters as Spike Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg |
| Guest Starring: | Danny Strong as Jonathan Levinson Adam Busch as Warren Meers Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells Amelinda Embry as Katrina Silber Amber Benson as Tara Maclay |
| Co-Starring: | Marion Calvert as Gina Rock Reiser as Desk Sergeant Bernard K. Addison as Cop #1 Eric Prescott as Cop #2 |
The nerds covered up a murder by leading Buffy to believe that she was the culprit.
Buffy and Spike were engaging in an activity they have been doing with some regularity with two differences. First, they were under the carpet. Second, they had a conversation afterward.
Meanwhile, the nerds were moving into their new lair, Andrew's basement. Their first order of business was creating a cerebral dampener, which would to make any woman alive their willing sex slave. They were all very excited.
Buffy had summoned Tara to meet her at the Doublemeat Palace. Tara assumed that Willow had done something bad, but Buffy said that Willow was doing fine. Buffy explained that she believed that something about the spell to resurrect her caused something to be wrong with her that allowed Spike to hurt her without activating his chip. Tara did not believe that anything was wrong with Buffy.
Using a camera hidden in his tie, Warren sent an image of a bar to Jonathan and Andrew, who were waiting in the van. They shouted their choices to Warren, but he knew exactly who he wanted: his ex-girlfriend, Katrina. She, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with him. She believed that what he did to her in "I Was Made to Love You" was sick and did not realize that even worse was to come. Warren put on glasses and revealed the dampener to her. Some visual light effects shimmered out and caused her to suddenly declare her love to her "master."
Buffy returned home to see Xander and Dawn dancing together. At first, Buffy panicked, thinking that there was another musical. However, they were just practicing dance steps for the wedding reception. Willow invited her to the Bronze, but Buffy wanted to spend some time with Dawn. However, Dawn had already planned to spend the night at Janice's. This time, the plan was confirmed with Janice's mother.
Jonathan, Andrew, and Warren enjoyed having Katrina, dressed in a maid costume, serving them champagne and calling them master. Warren decided that he was to have sex with her first. Jonathan protested but did nothing to stop him. Warren brought her into the bedroom, where, fortunately, the mind control wore off.
She got very angry and threw Warren into the main room, interrupting Jonathan and Andrew's light saber fight. They scrambled for the dampener, but its charge wore off. Katrina accused all of them of rape, which horrified Jonathan and Andrew. She tried to escape, but Warren hit her over the head with a bottle. He wanted to recharge the dampener, but the others realized that she was dead.
Jonathan and Andrew were horrified. Warren wanted to make sure that the others felt equally responsible and would help him cover up the killing. Jonathan could not (or would not) teleport her away. Andrew could summon something that would eat the body, but that something would try to eat them as well.
At the Bronze, Buffy watched Xander, Anya, and eventually Willow swing dancing. She wandered up to the balcony where she participated in what Sarah Michelle Gellar called the most degrading scene in all seven years of the show.
Willow and Xander walked to the Magic Box and were startled to see Tara walking out. Xander slipped off to let Tara and Willow talk. Willow told her about how she had gone 32 days without magic. Tara said that she was looking for Buffy. Willow said that she had not seen Buffy (Tara) much and missed her. Tara said that she was sure that Buffy (Tara) missed her too.
Buffy went patrolling that night. She considered visiting Spike but changed her mind. She wanted to think about anything but Spike and was grateful to hear a scream. The next bit was surreal as the scene jumped from Buffy tackling a demon to a woman sobbing to voices asking Buffy what she did to Buffy knocking Spike down. This surrealism continued until the woman tried to grab Buffy. Buffy hit her and she rolled down a hill. Buffy went down to her and found a dead body (Katrina). Meanwhile, someone looking exactly like Katrina watched them from behind a tree. Spike wanted to leave before anyone saw Buffy. She was in a little shock.
Warren and Andrew observed the action from the van. The woman who looked like Katrina entered and revealed herself to be Jonathan. Warren seemed pleased with a job well done, but Jonathan appeared to be bitter.
Buffy had a disturbing but erotic dream about her, Warren, and Katrina. She awoke and went to tell Dawn what had happened. Dawn was sympathetic until Buffy said that she was going to turn herself in to the police. Dawn assumed that Buffy was just looking for an excuse to abandon her.
Buffy was about to go to the police when Spike pulled her into an alley. He told her that he hid the body where nobody would ever find her. Just then, two police officers came out saying that the body was found in a river a half mile from the cemetery. Buffy then started pounding on Spike, with him letting her thinking that she was working out her frustrations. This worked for a little while until Buffy saw what she was doing.
Horrified, Buffy went into the police station. She was about to confess until she heard the name of the victim. She realized that Warren probably had something to do with Katrina's death. Meanwhile, Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew checked into the coroner's report. It was ruled a suicide. Warren and Andrew seemed pleased to have gotten away with murder. Jonathan was not.
Buffy met with Tara. Tara told her that there was nothing wrong with her, but the resurrection spell might have changed her in a way that was not meaningful but would confuse Spike's chip. Buffy was horrified not to have an excuse for sleeping with Spike. Tara figured out what Buffy meant and reassured her that Spike did love her and that what Buffy was doing was OK regardless of whether she loved him back. Buffy did not want to be forgiven and cried in Tara's lap.
After a two-episode absence, Tara is back. Her scenes were some of the best in the episode.
Admittedly, this is the third time that Buffy felt guilty after believing that she was responsible for someone's death. However, Sarah Michelle Gellar did such a good job at playing Buffy's turmoil that this episode did not feel like a retread.
There are a couple of plot holes discussed in the Imponderables section.
Jonathan and Andrew had a minor scuffle.
Katrina easily fought off Jonathan and Andrew.
Buffy and Spike fought off time-warping demons.
Initially, the nerds' interaction with Katrina was played for laughs.
Buffy panicked when Willow said that she knew that Buffy was all tied up.
Buffy worried that she came back wrong.
The nerds faced first the realization that their actions would constitute rape and second the realization that their actions constituted murder.
Buffy believed that she killed a person.
Dawn was upset when Buffy was going to turn herself in to the police.
Buffy was in tears when she confessed what she had been doing with Spike.
Buffy and Spike explored the bottom side of the carpet.
Buffy and Spike participated in Sarah Michelle Gellar's least favorite scene on the balcony at the Bronze.
Buffy had an erotic but disturbing dream.
Warren still seemed to have feelings for Katrina. However, after killing her, he seemed more upset at having to pay the consequences than he was at her death.
Jonathan was very upset at the idea that his actions might constitute rape and murder. He was not comforted by the idea that he got away with it.
Andrew was at first horrified by the idea of rape and murder, but he seems pleased to have gotten away with everything.
Buffy was ready to turn herself in to the police when she thought she killed a person. She had been clinging to the hope that there was something wrong with her that caused her to sleep with Spike and was devastated when Tara told her that there was nothing wrong with her. She is upset both at the fact that she is sleeping with Spike and the fact that she is using Spike.
Dawn is sensitive to the possibility that Buffy will abandon her.
Tara seems to be more understanding of why someone would want to sleep with Spike than she was in "Intervention." She misses Willow but had been fearing that Willow would do something bad.
Willow misses Tara.
The nerds have become much darker.
Andrew gets his first MVP for summoning the demons that helped convince Buffy that she killed Katrina. Even if this did not land Buffy in jail, it did help him, Warren, and Jonathan get away with murder.
Buffy gets the award for figuring out that Warren killed Katrina and tried to fool her into thinking that she killed Katrina. Warren got consideration for coming up with a plan to convince Buffy that she killed Katrina. Even though Buffy eventually figured out that she did not, the plan saved Warren from having to face consequences for killing Katrina. Anya gets credit for figuring out that Buffy encountered rwasundi demons. Tara gets credit for figuring out that Buffy was normal and that Buffy was sleeping with Spike.
There was not a good candidate for a Goat in this episode, but Spike gets it for not figuring out that Katrina was dead for about 24 hours when he and Buffy found her. See Imponderables below.
By the time that Buffy found Katrina, she was dead for about 24 hours. This meant that she should have been cold, she should have been in rigor mortis, and she should have shown signs of vigor mortis. Buffy might have been too freaked out too notice, but Spike should have. This at least should have clued them in to the fact that things were not what they seemed.
Principal Snyder once described the Sunnydale Police as "deeply stupid." The report that Warren examined suggests that Coroner Willard Batts is as well. The report said, "Victim sustained injuries consistent with a fall. Twenty-one year old Katrina Silber's death appears to have been caused by an accidental drowning or suicide." A competent coroner would not declare a death to be a suicide if accidental death was still a plausible cause (although the reverse does happen). Furthermore, a finding of drowning suggests that there was water in the lungs. That is, she was still breathing when she entered the water. If true, this would mean that she was still alive when Spike dumped her into the water, long after everyone assumed that she was dead. At least this would explain why Spike did not notice rigor mortis or other signs of death.
"I have the sudden urge to dedicate my productive cooperation." Tara
"[Buffy]'s not around much these days. We kinda miss her." Willow
"I'm sure she feels the same way." Tara
"You're never here. You can't even stand to be around me." Dawn
"That's not true." Buffy
"You don't wanna be here with me. You didn't wanna come back. I know that. You were happier where you were." Dawn
"You always hurt the one you love, pet." Spike
"Buffy, I promise, there's nothing wrong with you." Tara
"There has to be. This just can't be me. It isn't me. Why do I feel like this? Why do I let Spike do those things to me?" Buffy
"You mean hit you? Oh. Oh, really." Tara
"He's everything I hate. He's everything I'm supposed to be against, but the only time that I ever feel anything is when..." Buffy
"Why can't I stop? Why do I keep letting him in?" Buffy
"Do you love him? It's OK if you do. He's done a lot of good, and he does love you. And, Buffy, it's OK if you don't. You're going through a really hard time, and you're..." Tara
"What? Using him? What's OK about that?" Buffy
"It's not that simple." Tara
"It is. It's wrong. I'm wrong. Tell me that I'm wrong, please. Please don't forgive me, please. God, please don't. Please don't forgive me. Please don't." Buffy
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.