Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: First Evil. Death and destruction, hordes of minions, ancient vampires and James Marsten hasn't worn a shirt in about three episodes. Currently on Buffy a Teen Slayer arrives at the Sunnydale bus station. She is jumped by three Bringers who are, in turn, jumped by one Slayer. Buffy takes Teen Slayer Rona home.
After the credits Kennedy tries to chat up Willow. Willow is camping out on the floor while Kennedy has her bed, a piece of furniture that Kennedy is quiet willing to share. Willow goes all pre-season four over the thought. Cut to downstairs where the rest of the Teen Slayers (Molly and new arrivals Chloe, Eve and Vi) are discussing how much protection the Slayer actually will be. After all, she didn't save Annabelle and she doesn't have a clue how to kill Nosferatu. Buffy arrives in time to overhear and agree. This raises the confidence level of the Teen Slayers whole bunches. She appeals to Giles and Anya and Giles says there is one avenue of research in another dimension that might have some information. Anya isn't keen on going but Buffy asks nicely because Spike doesn't have much time.
Meanwhile, in the cave set, Spike has a nice dream where he escapes. When he awakens the First Evil Savings & Loans-as-Buffy mocks him but Spike merely whispers to himself that "she will come for me."
Side plot. Anya and Giles go talk to an old one night stand of Anya's. After sexual favours are turned down he responds favourably to threats. He opens up a wind tunnel and Anya and Giles enter where they talk to this big eye covered thing that I'm pretty sure I saw in Big Trouble in Little China. The Eye-Thing repeats the "First is all powerful, unbeatable, you're doomed" speech. Finally Giles asks why the First, after all this time (literally) is making it's move now and Eye-Thing says it's because the Slayer returned from the dead. As they leave the wind tunnel Anya realizes that the First's coming is all her, Willow, Xander and Tara's fault.
Okay, back to the real plot. Willow gets word from the Devonshire Coven and sends Xander and Buffy to pick up a Teen Slayer who has been in Sunnydale for a couple of days. They discover the Teen Slayer dead and, worse, that she's Eve. They return to the Summer Residence and kick out the Big Bad as Eve but not before she mocks them some more. Buffy tries to cheer them up but the damage is done. The First Evil Savings & Loans-as-Eve has planted so many seeds of doubt that even Kennedy is having a hard time convincing herself that even bothering to fight is a good thing. Buffy, Willow and Xander do some non-verbal communicating and go to the kitchen.
That night the minions surround the house to await the Nosferatu. Plan A is for Willow to pop up a barrier spell but Nosferatu claws his way through. Plan B is to RUN! Everyone follows Plan B, fighting their way through the minions and escaping to the street. Nosferatu follows and Buffy suggests splitting up. Plan C, I guess. Everyone but Buffy runs after Xander who says he knows a safe place. Buffy fights Nosferatu for a bit but then he takes off to...
Construction site. Another one. Looks exactly like the uncompleted high school gym. The Teen Slayers complain that a construction site isn't exactly safe as none of them have hard hats or safely boots (except, probably, Kennedy). Nosferatu shows up about now and is all set to rend and tear when Buffy appears to announce the real Plan A.
Buffy and Nosferatu fight. Buffy, because she has an audience and can't afford to lose this time, wins by decapitating him. She then explains that it doesn't matter what the First throws at them, they'll win as long as they stick together. They walk off leaving a testy First Evil Savings & Loans-as-Eve glaring at them.
Final shot, Spike in chains proclaiming his defiance yet again. Wordlessly Buffy cuts him down as he clues in that this isn't the First. They walk out of the caves.
Fade to black.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
I just realized how big the cast had grown. See, I'd just watched the Magnificent Seven and was (of course (of course for me, anyway)) mulling over it and the Seven Samurai when I actually counted them. Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Dawn, Anya, Spike well, hey! (For the purposes of this game you must totally ignore Andrew. Can you do that?)
Now, here is where sanity returned and I deleted a big long thing where I matched each of the Seven Samurai to one or more Scoobies. Then I did the Scoobies as Magnificent Seven gunslingers. Y'all can play it at home. It's a fun game.
Oh, and you have to ignore the Red Shi... Teen Slayers for the game. Who are hopefully the Late-Teen-To-Early-20s Slayers. Someone card Kennedy quick. If you want to play a game with them you could see how many words you can spell using the first letter of their first names.
Speaking of games. Are the writers purposely trying to see how many episode titles they can work into the scripts? I caught two this episode. No, three counting tonight's title.
Gratuitous Faith mention. The second in two shows. Which is more mentions than she got all last season.
Oooh, I just had this great idea. Andrew should think of this any minute in the show because any movie staring Julia Roberts and Keifer Sutherland has to be really high in his movie list. Okay. Kill Faith, activate a Teen Slayer, resuscitate Faith. Kill Slayer 3, activate another Teen Slayer, resuscitate Slayer 3. And so on. Isn't that brilliant? A whole army of Slayers!
Obligatory "Kennedy is old" mention. She thinks she's too old to be activated. I still think someone should card her though.
I wasn't joking about Buffy fighting better when she can't lose or when she has an audience. It's true. Maybe it's just Joss being so influenced by comic-coded comic books but she always manages to find that little extra or that brilliant idea and win out.
Speaking of comics. I'm seeing a definite DC Comics favouritism here. Even though the Summer Residence is looking more and more like Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Okay, this is a rant. Does the writer and/or director think we're morons? Like we couldn't tell that the three core Scoobies were communicating in the kitchen? We saw Hush. We don't need dialogue to know something is up. We don't need a flashback scene to explain it all, especially one with such crappy voiceovers. And what is it with SMG and voiceovers? Like her mental voice doesn't sound at all like her speaking one. End of rant.
No it's not. Dang. I hated that flashback. That's twice they've used flashbacks for absolutely no good reason except they assume the audience has the retention of a goldfish (which I've been told is a second and a half but I don't know how they test that).
Holy Water worked. Why did Holy Water work? The Nosferatu pre-dates Christianity. Wood in the heart doesn't do anything and he screams like a baby when he's splashed with Holy Water.
I liked Andrew popping up and dusting off where he had his shoes on the couch.
Speaking of the First Evil Savings and Loans... check this out. http://www.livejournal.com/users/thefirstevil/
Giles? British downer or the First Evil Savings & Loans-as-Giles? The jury is still out. Although he leaned against a chair this episode.
RANDOM QUOTES
Rona: "They told me I'd be safe here."
Buffy: "Right. Well. You are safe. Safer. With me around, next time you're attacked..."
Rona: "Whoa, whoa! Next time? You saying I'm going to be attacked again?"
Buffy: "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
Willow: [upon hearing that Kennedy's house has wings] "Huh. That's that's... huh."
Kennedy: "Hey, if I wanted to catch some Zs I'd be downstairs with the other girls."
Andrew: "I'm bored. Episode One bored."
Andrew: "I am so alone."
Dawn: "Maybe you shouldn't have killed your only friend."
Andrew: "I hate that. You don't even know."
Dawn: "I don't plan to."
Willow: "I could feel it surging through me, penetrating every fibre of my being. Pure, undiluted evil. I could taste it.
Kennedy: "How does evil taste?"
Willow: "Kind of chalky."
The Eye Thingie: "It cannot be fought. It cannot be killed. The First Evil has been and always will be. Since before the universe was born, long after there is nothing else, it will go on."
Giles: "I refuse to believe that. There must be some way to destroy it."
The Eye Thingie: "What am I, talking to myself? There's no way!"
Willow: "It's showtime."
Buffy: [to Nosferatu] "Welcome to the Thunderdome."
Andrew: [to himself] "Two men enter. One man leaves."