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 22 years ago.

Doublemeat Palace

• Ugh… just that title is unpleasant.
• Willow fills Xander and Anya in on what they’ve been able to find out about the nerd.
• And in walks Buffy in her new uniform.
• To help make ends meet, she’s taken a job at the local Doublemeat Palace.
• I’m really glad that’s not a real restaurant.
• The premise is disturbing.
• The way they explain it on the show is that the meat is a mixture of beef and chicken and some kind of secret ingredient.
• Guys, this is the same reason I’m vehemently against the turducken.
• It is an abomination.
• Buffy watches a cheesy new hire video, which is scarily accurate when compared to real videos that a lot of places force new hires to watch.
• Manny, the manager (not a joke, that’s really his name, which he likes to tell people), introduces Buffy to her co-workers.
• They aren’t the sanest types.
• Former employees seem to disappear from time to time.
• Not suspicious at all.
• Buffy asks about the secret ingredient and all Manny will say is that it’s a meat process.
• Even regular customers notice that some of the employees vanish without a trace.
• Uh… this might be the most depressing episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ever.
• I mean, this tops the depression of Buffy sending Angel to hell at the end of season two.
• When the gang stops by to support Buffy, she fills them in on her suspicions.
• Xander points out that it’s fast food. She may be seeing demons where there’s just life.
• After sunset, Spike stops by, too.
• He points out to her that she’s better than this job.
• But she needs the money… and he offers to get her money. Probably not so much in a legal way, though.
• Spike points out that this place will kill her as she goes back to help a co-worker.
• Meanwhile, another co-worker is taking trash out the back and is attacked by someone he definitely knows.
• But we don’t get a glimpse of who the attacker is.
• At home, Xander is confronted by a vengeance demon.
• She thinks she’s there to rip Xander apart, but she’s actually an old friend of Anya’s, Halfrek. She wasn’t supposed to show up until the wedding, but the message was a little off.
• Halfrek sort of makes Anya question things a bit…
• Amy shows up at the house to visit Willow.
• She is not a good influence.
• Especially while Willow is clearly exhibiting signs of withdrawals.
• Amy somehow transfers some magic into Willow against her will…
• Back at the palace, Buffy finds a finger in the meat grinder.
• She confronts Manny… angrily.
• Then Buffy runs out into the dining area and goes all Soylent Green on the customers.
• I really hope everyone gets that reference.
• Buffy, of course, was fired.
• She enlists the help of the Scoobies to figure out what the meat really is.
• Then she returns to the restaurant after closing to investigate further.
• She finds Manny’s severed foot.
• Using chemistry, Willow discovers that the meat is not human. But that doesn’t mean it’s normal…
• Back at the palace, Buffy’s still carrying Manny’s foot when she comes across a regular customer’s wig.
• Then she comes across that regular customer.
• The wig is to hid the demon worm that grows out of her head, which can spit a paralyzing venom at its victims.
• Buffy discovers this the hard way.
• She tries to put up a fight, but really can’t move.
• Willow shows up and distracts the old lady/worm.
• Over the drive-through speaker, Willow confirms that the meat is actually ground up vegetables.
• Buffy introduced the world to the Impossible Burger decade ago!
• She also admits that Amy imbued her with magic.
• Willow manages to get into the restaurant and saves Buffy by cutting the worm off the lady’s head and shoving it into the meat grinder. Really sick.
• The next day, Amy come back to the house and Willow warns her to stay away from her.
• Seems that Amy is harboring some bitterness about Willow not returning her to normal for three years.
• Buffy returns her uniform to the new manager, but she also reveals that she knows about the secret ingredient.
• As long as she promises not to pull anymore Soilent Green practical jokes, she can have her job back.
• See? Depressing.
• Body count: Humans – 2; Worm ladies – 1