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