Buffy has decided that it is time to take the fight to the mayor so when she learns that he has acquired an artefact, the Box of Gavrok, that he needs for his ascension she decides to take it and destroy it. She and her friends come up with a plan and, despite a minor setback, they get the item... unfortunately one of the gang is captured. Buffy and the rest of the gang must decide whether to return the box in exchange for their friend or whether the threat to the whole of Sunnydale outweighs the life of one person. Away from their supernatural worries the young protagonists muse on what they will do next year; Buffy has been offered a place at a college outside Sunnydale but is told she can't leave because of her duties; Willow can go just about anywhere she wants, including Oxford and a number of Ivy League universities and Xander plans to travel the country rather than study further.
This was a really solid episode that progresses the story of the mayor's ascension and raises interesting moral questions. There is plenty of action and some good tense moments; a particular highlight is seeing Willow stand up to Faith even though the latter is wielding a particularly vicious looking knife... Alyson Hannigan and Eliza Dushku are great in this scene. There are some good humorous moments; Armin Shimerman provides the best laughs as he interrupts the exchange between Buffy's gang and the mayor; learns just what horrors are contained in the box and then ponders why they can't be dealing drugs like normal kids! The discussions about what the various characters will be doing next year may seem superfluous but sets up the whereabouts of the characters in series four. Overall a fine combination of action, character development and story progression.