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 21 years ago.

Listening to Fear

• Buffy and Dawn keep Joyce company at the hospital.
• Her surgery has been scheduled for the day after tomorrow. That brain tumor is a goner.
• Buffy tells Joyce that she doesn’t have to patrol because Riley and the gang have it taken care of.
• Meanwhile, Giles, Xander, and Willow take out a couple of GLOW vampires.
• Riley is nowhere to be seen.
• Because he’s somewhere unseemly allowing a lady vamp to feed from his arm.
• Seems a little twisted…
• Willow arrives at the hospital with gifts for each of the Summers ladies.
• Joyce blurts something random and slightly inappropriate, a likely side effect of the tumor.
• In the hospital corridor, a crazy guy whose sanity was sucked out by Glory a few episodes back spots Dawn and makes it clear that he can see how different she is.
• Dr. Ben stops by and asks if that guy was bothering them. Apparently the psych ward is overflowing, so that guy’s getting discharged to be looked after by family.
• Later, Willow and Tara are out stargazing when they spot a meteor that crashes nearby.
• Something crawls out of it…
• The guy who was discharged from the hospital is wandering in the woods, babbling to himself.
• And he’s attacked by the thing that escaped the meteor.
• At the hospital, Buffy convinces the doctor to let her take Joyce home in the time before her scheduled surgery.
• The Scoobies, including Riley this time, check out the meteor’s crash site and discover that it’s hollow and broken from the inside out.
• They find the dead crazy dude.
• Everyone but Riley goes into research mode. He volunteers to stay behind and keep looking for whatever killed the guy.
• Riley calls his old Initiative buddies.
• The creature from outer space makes its way to the hospital’s psych ward.
• Its victim of choice is the insane.
• It kills one of the psych patients, then moves on. It notices Joyce as they get ready to leave the hospital.
• I don’t think anyone can actually see this space creature.
• Graham arrives with a Major Ellis in a helicopter at the meteor site. Riley shows the team the body and the stuff that the thing spit into the crazy guy’s mouth to kill it.
• The space creature got into the Summers house somehow. It’s pretty much stalking Joyce.
• Buffy and Dawn help Joyce get to bed and, for a moment, Joyce sees the Key. Kinda freaks Dawn out.
• Dawn is starting to notice that multiple people are telling her she isn’t real. Buffy tries to explain that it’s not her… it’s them.
• Not sure that worked…
• At the research party, the gang discovers that the demon in the meteor is called a Queller.
• And they discovered that it was likely summoned. But by whom?
• The consensus is Glory…
• Willow calls to fill Riley in and he’s at the hospital.
• Apparently the Queller killed five mental patients, not just the one we saw.
• Joyce is rambling… talking to something that’s above her…
• Uh… it’s the Queller. Just hanging out on the ceiling.
• Buffy’s downstairs doing dishes and turns on the radio so she doesn’t have to overhear her mom’s insanity. And she breaks down.
• Riley’s team is tracking the Queller and get confused when the trail ends.
• He realizes it must have hitched a ride with the Summers’ girls.
• The Queller attacks Joyce and Dawn is able to beat it off her mom with a coat rack.
• Dawn is able to call for Buffy, who goes on the hunt.
• Spike pops up out of the basement, claiming to be stealing stuff that he can sell. But Buffy notices they’re pictures of her.
• She calls him out on it, but then the Queller attacks them.
• Buffy kills it…
• And then the Initiative show up. Just in time for clean up.
• Of course, Spike rubs that into Riley’s face a bit.
• Ben gets into his car and one of Glory’s scabby demon minions is in his back seat.
• He asks Ben why he summoned the Queller.
• Ben explains that he’s cleaning up Glory’s mess. Just like he’s done his whole life.
• Uh… what’s this? Ben and Glory are connected?
• Before Joyce goes in for surgery, she asks Buffy about Dawn. The truth about Dawn.
• Joyce makes Buffy promise that, if anything happens to her, in the surgery or after, she will take care of Dawn.
• Body count: Vampires – 2; Humans – 6; Quellers – 1