Welcome to Rewatching Buffy, the part of the blog where I rewatch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each Tuesday evening, you’re invited to join me as I attempt to rediscover what made me love this show 20 years ago.

Homecoming

• Cordelia expects to be Homecoming Queen. Probably obvious, right?
• Wait, she’s probably not as popular as she once was. She’s dating Xander. She’s hanging out with his friends. Not exactly the in crowd.
• It’s awkward… Scott hasn’t asked Buffy to the Homecoming Dance yet. They pretend like they’re both excited about it.
• But neither of them actually acts excited about it.
• Buffy takes a brown bag to Angel. I assume it’s blood.
• Yep… it’s blood.
• She breaks the news that she hasn’t told the others about him yet. They wouldn’t understand.
• She also breaks the news that she’s dating someone. He takes it surprisingly well. She explains that Scott is someone she can count on.
• The next day, he breaks up with her.
• Who breaks up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
• I get it. Angel’s back. The writers needed to clear the path.
• Buffy stands there, mildly heartbroken, being watched by some creepy guys in a high-tech van.
• What does the FBI want with Buffy?
• Elsewhere, an old guy shows Buffy, on-screen, to Mr. Trick. Interesting.
• Enter: the Mayor of Sunnydale. Weird guy. Obsessed with cleanliness. Also, he wants the surveillance guys to be put under surveillance.
• Actually, that last part kind of makes sense.
• Buffy misses picture day because she’s training in the library and no one told her about it.
• This, on top of the recent break-up and the fact that her favorite teacher from last year has no clue who she is, fuels Buffy’s rage, inspiring her to throw her hat in the ring for Homecoming Queen.
• Mr. Trick has invited a bunch of… um… people? demons? whatever… to compete. Their task is to take down the Slayers. He’s calling it Slayerfest ’98.
• That’s catchy. He could sell t-shirts.
• Xander and Willow are helping each other figure out what they’re wearing to the dance. They share an inappropriate, more-than-friends moment. That’s gonna lead to no good.
• Buffy tries to get campaign help from her friends. But they’ve already committed to help Cordelia.
• Because Buffy and Cordelia have been at each other’s throats, the gang decides to trick them into riding alone together in the limo.
• Which is then hijacked by the surveillance guys. Slayerfest ’98 has begun.
• They think Cordelia is Faith. Oops…
• Buffy takes out one of the human hunters, who steps into a bear trap and informs Buffy about everyone involved in Slayerfest.
• They take shelter in an abandoned cabin that, for some reason, has electricity.
• A spiny-headed jaundice demon finds them. He’s killed by surveillance guys’ grenade launcher.
• The vampires involved in the Slayerfest are Lyle Gorch and his new wife. Lyle wants revenge for his brother’s death back during the Mama Bezoar incident. They’ve knocked out Giles and are waiting for Buffy at the library.
• Surveillance guys’ old man is tracking Buffy and Cordelia somehow.
• Mr. Trick has been arrested. Seems the mayor wants to have a word.
• Buffy and Cordelia make it to the library and Cordelia manages to stake Gorch’s wife.
• Buffy figures out that the corsages have transmitters. She tricks the surveillance guys into shooting each other. The old man thinks he’s won. Idiot.
• The mayor lets Trick know that this is a big year for him. That’s vague enough to be intriguing.
• He knows about the Slayer. He knows about Slayerfest. He wants Trick to work for him.
• Buffy and Cordelia arrive at the dance just in time to find out there was a tie for Queen. And neither of them are a part of that tie.
• Body count: Humans – 2; Vampires – 1; Jaundice Demons – 1