[Synopsis]
The episode opens up with Buffy and Riley sleeping. Buffy wakes up, and can't fall back asleep, so she leaves. We see her fight and stake a vamp, and then she goes back to bed with Riley.
Opening credits
(Since this is the first ep of the season, let me point out that the cast members are: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Marc Blucas, Emma Caulfield, James Marsters, and Anthony Stewart Head as Giles.)
Buffy and the gang go to the beach, and the Scoobies watch on as Buffy and Riley play football -- that is, until Buffy 'slays the football.' Willow does a little bonfire spell without any magical potions and things like such, but then the Scoobies end up with a torrential downpour.
Meanwhile, two guys are bringing a coffin into a mansion. The moving guys make a comment about rich people, and whatever was inside the coffin slices his throat. At Giles' place, he tells Willow that he is going back to England, because he is no longer needed in Sunnydale. Of course Willow spends the rest of the ep trying to be nonchalant about how important Giles is to everybody. After Buffy eats dinner with Joyce, she goes on patrol. She stakes a vamp, and comes face to face with Dracula. He tells her that he knows who she is, and Buffy is completely flattered. Xander and Willow arrive, and meet him also. After Dracula turns into a bat and flies away, the gang tells Giles all about their encounter. Riley, Xander and Tara are a bit jealous that Buffy, Anya, and Willow found Dracula attractive, and Willow is still trying to make Giles feel needed.
Anya reminisces about her days as a vengeance demon when she knew Dracula. She and Xander are walking home, and a wolf is following them along the top of a building. Once Anya is gone, Dracula (had been the wolf we saw) and puts Xander under his thrall, making him his 'eyes and ears in the daylight.'
Riley goes to Spike's crypt and asks for some information about Dracula. All that Spike knows is that the 'poncy bugger owes him 11 pounds' and that Dracula has always been flashy, so chances are that he wouldn't be in a rundown crypt. Riley leaves to find the vampire, and Spike says that he'll never find Dracula before he gets to Buffy.
At Buffy's house, Dracula is standing at the foot of her bed. He tells her that he has been searching for her, and she is completely mesmerized by him. He can tell that she has been fed from before, and tells her that Angel was unworthy. He then pulls her hair back and begins to feed from her.
The next morning, Buffy hides the bite marks with a scarf and goes to meet up with the rest of the gang. Xander is wicked jittery, Willow is still trying to make Giles feel welcome, and Buffy is completely distracted. While Xander is eating bugs, and trying to cover for the 'Dark Master... Bator' Riley discovers that Buffy is completely under Dracula's thrall and that he fed from her.
It is decided that things aren't safe for Buffy at her place since Drac already has an open invitation from Joyce, so Xander and Anya Buffy-sit. Xander ends up locking Anya in a closet and telling Buffy about his plan with Dracula. The two leave to bring Buffy to him.
Riley and Giles are out patrolling and come across the 'big honking castle' that they've never noticed before and decide that it must be Dracula's. Inside the castle, Dracula is telling Buffy about how they are always alone. He tells her that she needs to discover who she is and that she will have a lifetime to do just that. He then has her drink from him. Giles and Riley enter the palace, and Riley knocks Xander out. Giles falls into a pit with the three sisters, who seduce him.
Buffy drinks from Dracula, and sees flashbacks from earlier in her life. Then she stops and says that it was gross, and begins to fight him. Riley throws a cross down to Giles and helps him out of the pit. Giles tries to go back for his shoe, but Riley doesn't let him. "No more chick pit for you."
Buffy and Dracula continue to fight, and then she stakes him, to his utter shock. The gang leaves and Xander is sick of being 'the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis.' Giles tries to defend himself too and says that he was just about to kill the three sisters before Riley interrupted him. Everyone laughs at the thought of Giles nuzzling them to death. :)
Later, Buffy goes back to the castle, and stakes Dracula as he starts to reform. Once again, he starts to come back, and she tells him that she's standing right there, so the cloud of smoke vanishes again.
At Giles' place, he and Buffy need to talk to each other. Giles was about to tell her that he is going back to England, but before he has a chance, Buffy tells him that she needs to learn about what it means to be a slayer and that she wants him to be her watcher again.
When Buffy goes home, she tells her mother that she is going to the movies with Riley and Joyce suggests that she take her sister with her. Both girls look terrified at the thought of going out in public together, and yell out, "Mom!"
[Review]
Okay, for the first ep of the season, it turned out to be pretty good. This is the first time that Buffy is trying to embrace knowledge instead of escape it like she usually does in the season premieres. There were some very cute scenes: the beach, Spike's speech about how Dracula owes him money, Xander the bug eating guy, Giles in the chick pit, etc.
The whole thing with Buffy having a sister caught me off guard though. Something I definitely didn't expect to see. I'm glad that Giles is Buffy's watcher again, and it's great that Buffy is going to learn more about her origins as a slayer.
The cast all did a great job, and there were some excellent quotes in there, especially by NB: And where'd you get that accent? Sesame Street? Von, two, three... three victims." lmao.
I also got a wicked kick out of Riley finding Giles with the three sisters. "Oh, my shoe. Silly me, I'll just pop back down and get it" "Oh, no, sir, no more chic-pit for you." Ha ha ha ha!
As for the rest of the cast, a great job was done by everybody. NB delivered all of his lines wonderfully, SMG and ASH did a great job with their moment together, AH was adorable at the beach scene, and JM is still stealing the scenes, no matter how small they may be. Great job by all! :) Buffy vs. Dracula was an all around good episode, so I give it 7/10 Dark Master... Bater's :)