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.

As You Were

• Buffy still works at the Doublemeat Palace.
• It’s still depressing.
• On her way home, she’s confronted by a vampire who judges her for working at the Doublemeat Palace.
• He doesn’t want to bite her when she’s been eating that stuff.
• She still slays him.
• Spike is waiting for her when she gets home.
• Buffy says no… you know… ’cause Dawn is home and there’s the whole not letting anyone know thing.
• He winds up getting a make out session with her… at least as far as we can see.
• Spike’s getting worse at taking no for an answer…
• Dawn and Willow head out to the Bronze… where Xander and Anya are doing some last minute planning for next week’s wedding.
• Because a noisy teenage nightclub is where you’d go to put those finishing touches on your big day.
• The next day, Buffy sleeps late, forgetting to take the trash out.
• And then she finds a rejection letter from UC Sunnydale, where she’d hoped to restart classes next semester.
• Don’t wanna be cleaning grease traps at the Palace your whole life, right?
• Back at work, Buffy’s assigned to the register and helps the next customer.
• Who just happens to be ex-boyfriend, Agent Riley Finn.
• He’s tracked something bad to Sunnydale and he needs the Slayer’s help.
• She leaves with Riley…
• Does that mean she quit her job?
• I mean, it can’t be a good thing that she left without a word.
• This nasty demon is more than she and Riley can handle when it shows up downtown.
• Riley manages to tag the demon, but it still gets away.
• Riley’s sudden appearance reminds Buffy of a simpler… dare I say, happier… time.
• I’m sure this only further exasperates Buffy’s current state of misery… working at the Doublemeat Palace, getting rejected from college, sleeping with Spike…
• They track the demon to the dam (since when does Sunnydale have a dam?).
• Sam catches up to them.
• Who’s Sam, you ask? Oh, that’s Mrs. Riley Finn.
• Surprised? So is Buffy.
• But Buffy manages to kill the demon and calls it a late wedding present.
• Except they didn’t want the demon dead.
• They get back to Buffy’s house and are all polite in greeting Dawn, Willow, and Xander.
• Willow tells Buffy she’s okay to hate Sam as much as she needs her to.
• Turns out, they needed to track the demon to its nest so they could destroy the eggs before they hatch.
• Apparently these demons are killers from the moment they hatch.
• But wait… they’re not worried about the eggs hatching.
• Word is a foreign enemy wants to get their hands on the eggs.
• There’s a demon playing the black market in Sunnydale, calls himself “The Doctor.”
• But not the kind who travels through space and time.
• Sam teams with Buffy trying to find the nest.
• She’s actually pretty cool… and she finds Buffy crazy intimidating.
• When the conversation turns to Buffy’s current relationship status, Buffy gets uncomfortable and suggests they split up.
• Buffy goes to Spike for info on the Doctor.
• She really wants more than info…
• Thing is… Riley had the same idea about going to Spike for info.
• And he catches Buffy with him all kinds of inappropriately.
• Except, no, he’s not there for information on the Doctor.
• He’s there for the Doctor.
• Of course Spike is the Doctor.
• And they find the Suvolte eggs below Spike’s crypt.
• The eggs begin to hatch, so Buffy and Riley escape into the crypt.
• Buffy grabs Riley’s belt of grenades, pulls a pin, then drops them into the hole to explode all the baby demons.
• Buffy and Riley have a good heart to heart in the aftermath.
• He helps her see that she is more than her current set of circumstances.
• Mr. and Mrs. Agent Finn are airlifted out of Sunnydale, on their way to Nepal.
• Buffy returns to Spike’s underground lair, which is all but destroyed.
• She tells Spike it’s over… he doesn’t buy it.
• She admits, aloud, that she’s using Spike to just feel something.
• Buffy cannot love Spike.
• She’s being selfish and it’s killing her.
• “I’m sorry, William.”
• Wow… using his real name.
• The last scene is hugely symbolic as Buffy walks out into the sunlight.
• Body count: Vampires – 1; Suvolte Demons – 1 (and all the babies)