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Storyline
Buffy has a conversation with a vampire who once went to Sunnydale High, and learns something interesting about Spike. Joyce materialises to Dawn in the living room. The ghost of Cassie brings a message to Willow from beyond the grave. Meanwhile, Andrew and Jonathan have returned to Sunnydale on a mission to save the town Written by
spyk_
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Certificate:
TV-PG
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Originally, Xander was supposed to talk to The First in the form of Jesse (
Eric Balfour), his buddy from Season 1. However, when Eric was unavailable, a replacement for him couldn't be found, so the scene was never filmed and as a result, Xander doesn't appear in the episode, making it the only episode of the show not to feature
Nicholas Brendon.
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Goofs
After Dawn pulls the plug on the television set she holds it up in front of her chest, but in the reverse angle she is holding the plug down by her hip.
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Quotes
Warren Meers:
[
as The First]
We've been over this. That death thing was all part of the master plan. C'mon, if you strike me down?
Andrew Wells:
I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, of course. Do you think Willow can kill me too?
Warren Meers:
[
as The First]
Hey don't worry if not pulls of his end of the bargain, we'll both become gods.
Andrew Wells:
That boy is our last hope.
Warren Meers:
[
as The First]
No, there is another.
Andrew Wells:
Wait, really? Who's our last hope?
Warren Meers:
[
as The First]
No I was just going with it. It was a thing. No he's our last hope.
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Crazy Credits
For the second time in the series the episode title appears on screen at the opening. The date and time which follows corresponds with the date and time the episode originally aired.
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Connections
References
True Confessions (1985)
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Soundtracks
"Blue"
Written by
Angie Hart and
Joss Whedon
Performed by
Angie Hart See more »
One of the scariest episodes of the series ever!!! Basically, this covers 4 alternating stories all taking place at the same time. On one hand you have Buffy, engaged in a conversation with a former classmate turned vamp. Dawn is receiving messages that she believes are from her deceased mother, and Willow is speaking to Cassie, the young woman who died a few episodes earlier. Finally, you have Jonathan and Andrew returning to town on a mission which, unbeknownst to Jonathan is being directed by the apparent spirit of Warren.
From the opening moments (a haunting song) to the final sneer on Cassie's face as she takes on a Lovecraftian appearance momentarily, this episode grabs the story arc finally, and forces it into the forefront. Apparently, the First Evil has decided to make it his/her/it's business to destroy the Slayer once and for all and it's stepping up the psychological warfare as well. Dawn's scenes are particularly hair-raising! In fact, the final few moments of this episode were wonderfully nightmarish.
Great performances by all and some wonderful dialog. My one complaint would have been that as much as I liked Jonathan Woodward in this episode, it would have been nice for Buffy to have been speaking to an actual classmate from the first three seasons - just a quibble but I hate it when new characters are introduced just to be dispatched.
Final note **** spoiler alert **** don't get too attached to this level of story for the remainder of the season. For all intents and purposes, this was the last truly great episode of the series, mostly because the promise of this episode was never fully realized.