Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Bad stuff is happening. People dying, ghosts, house trashing. Cut to Xander who seems to have a full time job repairing the carnage that the Scoobies generate. The rest of the Scoobies are researching or, in the case of Dawn, looking for a reason to hit Andrew. Joyce arrives and tells Buffy that she needs some tea. Or maybe some rest. Buffy disbelieves the whole thing and Xander's talking wakes her up. Cut to one of those Sunnydale caves where BB as Dru and the Nosferatu (aka UberVamp from the credits) are beating Spike up mentally and physically. Let's go to credits and song!
After the song it's daytime. Dawn and Anya are taking their frustrations out on an unconscious Andrew. Buffy offers to hand him over to the First if he doesn't spill his guts. Which would be a lot more scary if Andrew actually knew what the First was. And, it turns out, would be a lot more scary if the First had a real villian name like Voldimort or Lex because the First just doesn't sound ominious (unless they hold your mortgage).
Andrew takes them to the school basement and the seal. They find evidence that another sacrifice was made and they guess Spike. They cover up the seal and head out. On the way they encounter Woods coming in with a shovel. Buffy and Woods both make lame excuses why they're wandering around the school basement carrying shovels. Woods makes sure that Buffy will be back to work the next day and, as she obviously isn't puking her guts up, she agrees.
Research now proceeds with a new target: the Seal of Danzathar. Dawn does the cyber-search while Anya assists Willow with a locator spell. Because we how good locator spells work. Right. Anyway, the spell (surprise) blows up and the First manifests through Willow, who has to put on the wig and contact lens. Xander smashs the spell ingredients and Willow collapses, very freaked that the First was using her and very scared that it can do so anytime she uses magic. Buffy says no magic then until they know what they're dealing with and, resolves to go out right there and then and kill the First or else. Xander points out that it's likely to be the 'or else' and that someone should go along with her. Buffy says she'll handle it alone and bravely goes off to die sensesly. Fortunately when she opens the door Giles is there.
Giles introduces the three young women with him as Slayers in training. They are Molly (think brash and British), Annabelle (think reserved and British) and Kennedy (think feisty and American). Giles explains that many of the Teen Slayers have been killed (and, in case we forgot they kindly stick in a flashback of Berlin and Istanbul) but Giles got these three here and more are on the way. When Willow tells Giles that they're hit a brick wall in the research because "the First Evil" is rather vague as names go, Giles hands over a couple of books and files which were all he managed to steal from the Watchers Council library before they blew up. Anya jumps to the conclusion that Giles blew up the council and Andrew tries to work the idea but gets gagged. The Teen Slayers are not reassured by the Scoobies as the main plan seems to be 'leave everything up to the Slayer.' Buffy thinks they need more firepower. Like Spike
Because Spike was mentioned we have to show him. BB as Dru and Nosferatu are torturing Spike by dunking his head into a pool of water in order to get Buffy's secrets from him. That's it. End of scene.
Buffy and Giles head toward the Christmas Tree lot looking for the caves where Buffy fought the minions of the First the first time around (Season Three "Amends"). Buffy wonders if she should decorate the rubble for Christmas and, after they save the world, Giles could maybe just visit with no oh-my-god-we're-all-going-to-die urgency. Giles says yes and they cut to the Summer residence before it gets to sappy.
Meanwhile, back at the Summer's residence, Andrew questions Xander if Buffy is a good leader. Apparently shiny hair and not stabbing things are high on Andrew's list of leadership qualities. Willow is trying to figure out where the four guests are going to sleep and getting no help from Kennedy. The Teen Slayers then show that they got the hungry part of hungry and horny down by savagely attacking two bags of cookies.
Back outside Buffy and Giles find first the Christmas Tree lot and then the hole in the ground. Buffy explores and next finds Nosferatu. I could go into great gory detail (about three minutes screen time) but essentially Nosferatu beats the crap out of Buffy and she only escapes because she makes it to the cave entrance and daylight. They head home and find the Teen Slayers eating. Again. Buffy and Giles brief them on Nosferatu who is apparently this Neanderthal equivalent who is really tough to kill. Research is suggested and, at school, Buffy missappropriates internet time to do a search on Evil. Woods wanders by and catches her so Buffy has to make another lame excuse. Woods makes a comment on true evil, making it sound like he's seen it, but doesn't go into detail.
Insert another scene of gratuituous Spike bashing here.
Still at school Buffy zones out and has another Joyce visitation. Joyce tells her that she has to heal and rest and worry about the sun going down. Buffy says that she can't rest because her friends need her, evil is coming. Joyce says that her friends put too pressure on her and that evil isn't coming; it's here. The bell awakens Buffy in time to start apologizing to some poor kid who had finally worked up the nerve to talk to an adult and get a disapproving look from Woods.
That night the Scoobies weapon up as Xander finishes boarding up the living room and the Teen Slayers watch. Willow is apologetic to Buffy. Willow knows that the magic makes her a big gun and that Buffy won't ask her to use it even if she really needs it. Buffy tells her not to worry about it. Kennedy asks if the Teen Slayers can have weapons too which causes a bit of dissension in the Teen Slayer ranks. Annabelle doesn't really want a weapon because the Slayer will protect them and a weapon makes her a target. When Kennedy points out that they're already a target (plus staying with the number one target) Buffy gives them weapons.
Let's see. Annabelle runs away. Buffy chases. Nosferatu kills Annabelle. Buffy fights Nosferatu. Nosferatu beats Buffy to a pulp. Buffy runs into a factory. Nosferatu follows. Buffy tries to squish him. Nosferatu fails to be squished and punches Buffy through a cinderblock wall. The three Core Scoobies find Buffy later.
Insert a scene were the First, wearing Dru's face but not the personality, ask Spike why he bothers to resist evil when he has no proof he can be a good person. Because, he says, Buffy believes in him.
Ironically cut to Buffy who, while she might believe in Spike, is having trouble believing in herself. She heads downstairs to hear further discouraging news. Basically, they're screwed worse than with Glory. According to Giles their one plan and hope was Buffy and Buffy can't evil kill the minion of the First, let alone the First itself. Buffy agrees. They can't fight it, can't anticipate it, can't run from it, can't hide. All the other Big Bads were just a shadow, created by this one, the Biggest Baddest. But, suddenly, Buffy remembers the tag is Vampire Slayer rather than Vampire Doormat and rouses the troops.
Fade to black.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Not to introduce logic or anything but Joss & Co. are playing fast and loose with their own canon. The Slayer has gone from one per generation to serial-Slayer to poly-Slayer (poly like many, not polyester).
The Summer residence has gone from the house that pops back into repair to the house that never is repaired.
It would be the height of hubris to assume that TPTB read my review calling the First Evil the First Evil Savings and Loan and thus created the joke about the First Bank of Delaware. But it does amuse me in the small hours of the night.
Obviously Buffy didn't use Google. Which is a good thing because I got 10,600,000 hits with the search parameter "Evil" (and the second on the list was, interestingly enough, for vampires with homepages on Geocities). "First" brought up 185 million hits, the primary one being a site that indexes the different dotGOVs for the US government. We just won't read too much into that. "First Evil" brings up, SURPRISE, about 3.5 million hits, most of which seem to be, SURPRISE, Buffy fanfics. Do you have any idea how many man hours you can absolutely lose at Google? I think a lot more research should go into the destructive powers of Google rather than nuclear or biological warfare. "Manifestation of evil in the movies" had 10 thousand hits. See, she was narrowing it down.
With the axe swipe unresolved, the glowy Giles effect and a lack of physical contact (I know he's British but usually someone hugs him) some effort is being made to make Giles existence ambiguous. What I find oddest is him pushing Buffy into a role she has been uncomfortable with for six years and, frankly, isn't great at - sole leader calling all the shots. Rhetoric aside the Scoobies have always been a team, not an army.
Anyone else think that, with all the caverns, catacombs, sewers, tunnels and giant worm tunnels that Sunnydale shouldn't just go "foooommmph" and collapse? 'Cause there can't be much structural support there.
Anya. Glasses. A ploy to win back Xander who knows that smart chicks are so hot.
Total aside. I recently saw the new James Bond flick and the immediately had Faith in my head talking hot/cold, sharp/dull. Maybe it was the accent that Wesley and Remington Steele share.
Yet more confusion over who sired who. BB as Dru called Spike "Daddy" when the line runs Darla sired Angel sired Dru sired Spike. "Son" would have been more appropriate.
Like, Buffy couldn't see the frigging big, flat hollowed out area of the Christmas Tree lot? The one with the big neon arrow flashing "don't notice this!"?
I did not like the music chosen for the final speech. It sounded way too much like something you'd play in the movie just before the sargeant waved his guys over the trench wall to take out the machine gun nest. "Well, men, we're all going to die uselessly so let's have the Jerries waste a bunch of bullets!"
Kennedy's attitude reminded me a lot of a younger Buffy. Or a mellow Faith.
RANDOM QUOTES
Xander: "It's a loop. Like the Mummy Hand. I'm doomed to replace these windows for all eternity.
Dawn: "Looks like the First made another sacrifice. Or a music video."
Giles: "I'm afraid we have a slight Apocalypse."
Buffy: [looking for a hole in the ground] SFX: Crunch. SFX: Thud. "Found it."
Kennedy: "I hope you don't hog the blankets."
Willow: [wide eyed bewildered silence]
Computer search engine: "Displaying results 1 - 10 of 900,517"
Principal Woods: "Once you see true evil, it can have some serious afterburn. And you can't unsee what you saw... ever. It's just one opinion."
BB as Dru: "What makes you think you will ever be any good at all in this world?"
Spike: "She does. Because she believes in me."
Buffy: "I'm beyond tired. I'm beyond scared. I'm standing on the mouth of Hell and it's going to swallow me whole... [pause] and it'll choke on me. We're not ready? They're not ready. They think we're gonna wait for the end to come, like we always do? I'm done waiting. They want an Apolcalypse? We'll give 'em one. Anyone else who wants to run do it now because we just became an army. We just declared war. From now on we won't just face our worst fears, we will seek them out. We will find them and cut out their hearts, one by one, until the First shows itself for what it is. And I will kill it myself. There's only one thing on this earth more powerful than evil. And that's us. [pause] Any questions?"