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.

The Prom

• You know… I skipped my prom. So, even though this episode aired during my freshman year of college, it felt like it was my prom.
• Just kidding… It was just an episode from an awesome TV show.
• We open on Buffy sleeping.
• And Angel watching her sleep.
• Why is this a staple in vampire lore? They always have to watch girls sleeping?! Even the vampires with souls? It’s creepy.
• Anyway, Buffy accidentally fell asleep at Angel’s mansion. She’s talking about couple-y things. A drawer for her stuff. Some mirrors here or there.
• And then she brings up the prom. Clearly makes Angel uncomfortable.
• And then she nearly kills him by opening the curtains and letting in the sunlight.
• What a great girlfriend!
• At school, Anya approaches Xander. She makes it clear that she hates all men, but she doesn’t have a date for the prom. So she wants him to take her.
• Back at Angel’s place, he has a visitor.
• Hey, it’s Buffy’s mom!
• She expresses her worry about his relationship with Buffy.
• Joyce isn’t saying that he should break up with Buffy. But she’s not not saying it, either.
• In the library, the Watchers have discovered that the Ascension means the mayor will be shedding his mortality to become a demon. They just don’t know which one.
• Giles wants them to focus on the Ascension/Graduation Day… Buffy thinks that, since it’s possible they could all evaporate, it’ll be important to have fun at the prom.
• Cut to a creepy house with a creepy demon looking critter in a cage going kinda nuts.
• And now we’re in a church. Angel and Buffy are getting married… huh?
• Buffy looks lovely in that wedding dress.
• Is it wrong that I still kind of have a crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar?
• There are no wedding guests, so the marriage is invalid. No witnesses.
• As they walk out of the church, into the sunlight, Buffy catches fire.
• Then Angel wakes from that particularly disturbing nightmare.
• In the sewer, Angel and Buffy patrol, looking for a vampire.
• Buffy brings up the prom again and Angel gets uncomfortable again.
• They’re interrupted by the vampire, who Buffy quickly slays because she doesn’t have time to deal with that right now.
• Angel lets her know that he’s been thinking about the future. And he’s breaking up with her.
• After graduation, he’s leaving Sunnydale.
• But, y’all, it’s okay… He’s spinning off into his own show.
• Buffy talks with Willow… She knows that Angel is right. But right now, she’s just a girl who’s first love just broke her heart.
• Back at creepy house, one of the demon critters breaks free and gets loose.
• Xander finds Cordelia at that dress store again and finds out she works there. She’s trying to earn money to get a dress.
• Turns out, Cordelia’s dad screwed up his taxes for the last 12 years. So everything is gone.
• While Cordelia explains this, the demon critter breaks in through the store window and mauls a guy wearing a tux.
• Then the critter scampers away and it’s seemingly being controlled by some guy outside.
• The Watchers determine the demon critter is a Hellhound. And the guy outside the store is Tucker Wells.
• He graduated the year before. He’s planning to attack the prom. With Hellhounds trained to attack people in formal wear.
• The gang starts changing their prom plans. But Buffy won’t hear it.
• She’ll make sure they have the fun prom they deserve, even if she has to kill everyone on the face of the earth to do it.
• Seems excessive.
• Buffy bumps into Angel at a slaughterhouse. He’s picking up fresh blood. She’s looking into who could be buying cow brains to feed the Hellhounds.
• It’s an awkward interaction.
• Cordelia’s finishing her shift and nearly walks out without her dress. She didn’t finish paying for it… but someone else did.
• This prom is so very ’90s.
• Anya is talking Xander’s ear off about all the men she’s tortured over the centuries.
• Wesley is smitten when Cordelia arrives.
• Cordelia thanks Xander for paying off the dress.
• Buffy confronts Tucker. He’s attacking prom because he was rejected by a girl last year. Idiot.
• Three Hellhounds have already been released onto the streets of Sunnydale.
• Buffy takes one out with a crossbow, distracting the other two.
• But then they hear the DJ playing “Celebrate” inside the gym, so they turn back.
• Buffy stabs a second hound with a knife.
• Then she breaks the third’s neck.
• She drags the bodies away, then changes into her dress.
• Buffy looks lovely in that prom dress.
• Is it wrong that I still kind of have a crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar?
• During the awarding of superlatives, the class surprises Buffy by giving her the award for Class Protector. They give her this gold painted umbrella.
• Before the prom ends, Angel shows up and shares a dance with Buffy.
• Body count: Vampires – 1; Humans – 1; Hellhounds – 3