The Prom
Writer: Marti Noxon Director : David Solomon
Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, Seth Green as Oz, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles, David Boreanaz as Angel.
Main guest stars : Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Danny Strong as Jonathan, Brad Kane as Tucker.
Original broadcast date : May 11, 1999
Picking up where Choices left off, the episode begins with Buffy waking up in Angel’s bed at the mansion; the two had come back for a post-slayage nap that lasted longed than it was supposed to She gets up and looks for a mirror to fix her hair, but Angel reminds her that there are none. Buffy rambles on a bit about the fact that they should make some improvements to the place, for example a drawer for her things, since she sleeps over often. Then, after reminding Angel that he has to dress up for Prom night soon, she opens the curtains to see what the weather is, and Angel is forced to jump back as the sunlight flows in
Outside Sunnydale High, Anya calls after Xander and clumsily asks him to be her date for the Prom. He mocks her for not being able to find a date, causing her to rant about how she used to punish men who scorned women, before finishing with: “All men are evil. Wanna go with me?” Anya, still a mere human being, asks Xander to the Prom. Since he¹s also dateless, he accepts.
Later, Xander is discussing his new date with Willow (who warns him Anya better not try to cross her), Oz and Buffy. Our Slayer mentions how excited she is about her dress, and how it¹s going to make Angel “lose it.” Meanwhile, at the mansion, Angel receives a visit from Joyce Summers, who lectures him about his having to make some “hard choices” concerning his future with Buffy
At the library, Giles and Wesley have discovered, from studying the pages Willow ripped out of the Books of Ascension, that the rite consists in the Mayor turning into a demon. However, they don¹t know what kind of demon he¹ll turn into. Giles is to chaperone the dance, and Wesley decides to join him especially after Cordelia tells him that he¹d look great in a tux. As for Buffy, she tells her friends that Prom night is their last chance to have a night of high school fun.
In a house somewhere, a wild dog kind of demon goes wild as someone plays a video for it
In the next scene, Buffy and Angel walk down the aisle, just married. As they get outside in the sun, Angel is obviously worried, but the one who catches fire is Buffy, looking pleadingly as she burns up at a horrified Angel He wakes up with a start in his bed in the mansion.
That night, he and Buffy are patrolling in the sewers when she notices that he¹s not himself. She urges him to talk to her, and he does. He tells her that the Mayor was right, that she deserves to try and have a normal relationship, with someone who can make love to her. She protests, asks him if he means he doesn¹t want to be with her, and he answers “No.” When she tearfully asks him how she¹s supposed to stay away from him, he tells her that he plans to leave after the Ascension.
Some time later, Willow is comforting Buffy in her room. While acknowledging that Angel may be right, Buffy tells her friend that she feels worse than horrible, and is just trying to keep from dying. She collapses, sobbing, in Willow¹s lap. Meanwhile, back in the unknown house, the wild dog monster breaks free and escapes
Xander spots Cordelia in a store, looking at a dress. Unable to resist the temptation, he goes in and taunts her again until Cordy¹s boss comes over and tells her to get to work. Resignedly, she tells an astounded Xander about her family¹s bankruptcy and how she can no longer go to any of the universities she was accepted to. The deal is, she¹s working to earn enough money to buy her prom dress. Before Xander can react, though, the wild dog breaks through the window and attacks a boy dressed in a tux. It then goes after a girl in a fancy dress, but then it leaps out, seemingly for no reason. Outside, a boy is working some kind of remote control
At the library, Giles, Wesley, Buffy and the gang are studying the video recording of the attack at the store, and recognize the guy outside as Tucker Wells. Willow hacks into Tucker¹s email and discovers a message he sent to another boy, saying that Prom night would be the last one for Sunnydale students Giles figures out that the Hellhounds (the wild dogs) must have been trained to attack people in formal wear. Willow, Xander, Cordelia and Oz freak out and talk of not going to the Prom, but suddenly Buffy won¹t have any of it. She tells them that they deserve to have a good time, and that she¹ll see to it that they get it. Until then, she dispatches them to investigate on the whereabouts of Tucker.
At the butcher shop, she gets the address of a “strange kid who always orders cow brains” (to feed the Hellhounds). Just as she¹s about to leave, she sees Angel taking delivery of his weekly ration of blood. She fills him in on the ongoing mission, but gruffly turns him down when he offers to help.
Meanwhile, at work, Cordelia gets a surprise: her dress has been paid in full for her, by someone else
At the library, Buffy orders her friends off to the Prom, and starts stocking up on weapons. Giles realizes that Angel is not taking her; after Buffy tells him that Angel is leaving town, he tries to comfort her, but she just shrugs it off, saying that slaying is comfort food. She goes to Tucker¹s house and confronts him, tying him up before he can release the hounds, but he tells her, smiling, that he¹s already unleashed his “three fiercest babies” on the Prom.
At school, the Scoobies at filing into the dance hall, looking quite dashing in their formalwear. Xander looks quite uptight, holding the arm of an unstoppably yapping Anya; he seizes an opportunity for a break by engaging in conversation with Wesley and Cordelia, who thanks him for the dress, a happy smile in her face. He tells her that she looks great in it, to which she responds jokingly, “Well, duh!”. It seems they¹ve finally made peace
Meanwhile, Buffy chases the Hounds to Sunnydale High. She manages to kill one and attract the other two away from the dance hall. Then, “Celebration” starts playing and the Hounds run back towards the Prom. An indignant Buffy chases after them, deploring that they would like that lame song. She finally succeeds in killing them both, and then goes to change into her Prom dress
After a few dances, class awards are given out. Xander is passed over for the Class Clown award, but then Jonathan steps up to the microphone and asks if Buffy Summers is in the room. As a thoroughly startled Buffy listens, Jonathan reveals how all the students knew that Sunnydale High was not a normal school, and how they were aware of Buffy protecting them. He then awards her the Class Protector award, a cute little toy umbrella.
Afterwards, couples start going to the dance floor for the slow, romantic songs, and Buffy walks slowly with Giles, umbrella in hand, telling him how sometimes people will surprise you. Giles spots someone just entering the room, agrees that effectively, people will surprise you, and gently takes Buffy¹s umbrella. She turns around to see Angel, stunning in a tuxedo. He tells her that it doesn¹t change anything to the fact that he¹s leaving, but he wanted her to have this night They dance, Buffy savouring this last moment.
Summary by OttsFiveByFive.
Episode Ratings
Mac -
“Reminds us all of our prom days. You know - putting on your outfit, dancing with your date, killing some hellhounds. Ah, to be back in those days.”
DJ Angelus -
“Touching ep before the end of HS.”
Quotes
Key: B=Buffy, G=Giles, X=Xander, W=Willow, C=Cordelia, O=Oz, A=Angel, J=Joyce, PS=Principal Snyder, WP=Wesley, F=Faith, M=Mayor Wilkins, An=Anya
B: Do I have funny bed hair or something? A: Or something.
A: Where you going? B: To go kill a cat on my head. A: No mirrors. B: You know, this place really isn’t girl-friendly. No mirrors, no natural light. A: I think you look perfect. B: Oh, yeah, I really look… okay.
B: Maybe we should think about getting a few mirrors. And maybe a drawer, you know, for some of my stuff. Because that’s what couples do – they have drawers.
A: The prom? B: End of high school rite-of-passage thingy. Think cotillion with spiked punch and electric slides.
B: Sorry. I guess it’s later than we thought.
X: So, now, how did that work? Women would wish horrible things on their ex-boyfriends, you’d show up and make it happen. An: That’s right. The power of the Wish made me a righteous sword to smite the unfaithful. X: Well, hey, good luck with that. Hope it works for you. An: You know, you can laugh, but I have witnessed a millennium of treachery and oppression from the males of the species, and I have nothing but contempt for the whole libidinous lot of them. X: Then why are you talking to me? An: I don’t have a date for the prom.
An: Men are evil. Will you go with me? X: One of us is very confused, and I honestly don’t know which.
An: Now I have all these “feelings”. I don’t understand it. I don’t like it. All I know is I rally want to go to this dance, and I want someone to go with me. X: Be still my heart. Oh, wait, it is.
An: Look I know you find me attractive. I’ve seen you looking at my breasts. X: Nothing personal, but when a guy does that, it just means his eyes are open.
O: Anya, huh? Interesting choice. X: Choice is kind of a broad term for my situation. See, it’s either Anya, or the sock puppet of love for this boy. W: Well, if Anya tries to get you killed, put me down for a big “I told you so.”
B: Well, at least we all have someone to go with now. Some of us are going with demons, but I think that’s a valid lifestyle choice.
B: Angel’s going to lose it. But, not his soul. I mean he’s going to lose it. His… *it*.
J: You don’t drink? Beverages, I mean. A: No, I do. It’s just the caffeine. It makes me jittery.
B: So it was blue and sort of short? W: Not too short. Medium. And it had this weird sort of fringey stuff on its arms. G: What’s that, a demon? B: A prom dress. That Will was thinking of getting. Can’t you ever get your mind out of the Hellmouth?
WP: So, it’s safe to say we shouldn’t waste any time on such trifling matters as a school dance. C: Well, that’s too bad, because I bet you would look way 007 in a tux. WP: Except, of course, on the actual night, when I will be aiding Mr. Giles in his chaperoning duties. G: What? Excuse me? Fine, fine, fine…
G: And I shall be wearing pink taffeta, as chenille will not go with my complexion.
B: But especially if we’re all going to vaporize or something on graduation day, we deserve a little prom-y fun. One night of glory, not too much to ask.
B: I always say a patrol’s not complete without a trip to the stinky sewers. A: I’m sure I saw him come down here. B: Couldn’t we just let this be the vamp that got away? We could say he was this big. A: What can I say? I need closure. B: You need clothes. You don’t have a tuxedo. A: Since when did patrolling go black tie?
A: We have more important things to think about right now than a dance, Buffy. B: Sorry, Giles!
B: What’s with the dire?
A: It’s nothing. B: No, you have a “something” face.
A: And children. B: Children? Can you say jumping the gun? I kill my goldfish.
A: I’m trying to think with my head instead of my heart. B: Heart? You have a heart? It isn’t even beating.
B: I want my life to be with you. A: I don’t. B: You don’t want to be with me?
W: Oh, he’s a fool. He’s just a big, dumb, jerk person. If you ask me. And he’s a super-maxi jerk for doing it right before the prom.
B: He’s 243 years old. He doesn’t exactly get the prom.
B: You don’t have to make him the bad guy. W: But that’s the best friend’s job, vilifying and grousing.
W: It must be horrible. B: I think horrible is still coming. Right now, it’s worse. Right now I’m just trying to keep from dying.
C: I’m considering things a little more carefully nowadays. I don’t want to get stuck with another dud. X: Well, this should work for you. It positively screams nympho. Girl: Is this a customer or a friend? X: Neither. Just stopped by for my daily helping of bile.
C: No dresses, no cellphone, no car. Everything has been taken away because Daddy made a little mistake on his taxes… for the last 12 years.
C: And now she has to wear a name-tag. Oh, I’m a name-tag person. Don’t leave that out.
C: The other part that totally weirded me out, that thing had good taste. He chucked Xander and went right for the formalwear. X: That’s right. He left behind his copy of Monster’s Wear Daily.
C: Very smooth lines. Until he was shredded.
W: She’s right. I mean, you’ve seen one big hairy bringer of death, you’ve seen them all.
O: Hey, pause it. X: Guys, it’s just a normal VCR, it doesn’t… Oh, wait. It can do pause.
WP: Let me guess. He was quiet, kept to himself, but always seemed like a nice young man. O: Well, he didn’t seem the murderous type, anyway.
X: Well, I just wanted to say that your impersonation of an inanimate object is really coming along.
O: Once again, the Hellmouth puts the “special” in special occasion.
B: I’m going to give you all a nice, fun, normal evening, if I have to kill every single person on the face of the earth to do it. X: Yay?
X: What’s the mission? B: See if anyone’s been in buying supplies to raise a hell hound. X: Gotcha. Or check and see who’s been stocking up on hell hound snausages. I hear those pups do anything for a tasty treat.
B: I mean, where did I think you get your blood, McPlasma’s?
A: How are you? B: Right as rain. Whatever that means.
B: I’m over the whole “Buffy gets one perfect high school moment” thing.
W: We can’t just leave you, Buff. G: Buffy, they’re right. You need- B: To see taillights. Hit the door. I have everything under control. O: Buffy, it makes sense to- B: Have. A. Nice. Time. W: Okay, then. X: See ya.
G: I don’t really know what to say. Um, I understand that this sort of thing requires ice cream of some kind. B: Ice cream will come. First I want to take out psycho boy. G: You sure? B: Great thing about being a Slayer? Kicking ass is comfort food.
An: She wished her husband’s head would explode, which was great, except we were standing three feet from him at the time. What a mess. Of course, you know, during the plague, it was always parts falling off, but… that got pretty old since really they pretty much were anyway…
WP: I must say, this is all rather odd to me. G: Oh, yes. Being at an all-male preparatory, we didn’t go in for this sort of thing. WP: No, of course not. Unless you count the nights you made the lowerclassmen get up as girls, and watched them– Dip is tasty, isn’t it?
WP: Salsa’s hot. Very hot.
W: We got in. Maybe we should dance before we get besieged, bedeviled or beheaded or something.
WP: May I say, you look smashing. C: It’s a start.
An: So then this one time, a girl wished that her ex would cannibalize himself. Even I had a hard time watching that one, let me tell you. X: Cordelia. Wesley. My god in heaven, it’s good to see you. How are you both? And details, please.
X: It looks good on you. C; Well, duh!
B: Sorry, new plan! The prom’s a go. And you’re pathetic.
B: Whatever. Every maladjust has his reasons. Luckily for me, you’re an incompetent maladjust.
Psycho: My three fiercest babies are on their way to the dance right now. You think formal wear makes them crazy, wait till they see the mirror ball.
B: Oh, come on, that song sucks.
O: Everything cool? B: Coolest. Devil dogs are history. How’s the prom? O: Strangely affecting. I got all teared up when they played “We Are Family”.
Jonathan: We’re not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t noticed you. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s no secret that Sunnydale High isn’t really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here. Zombies! Hyena people! Snyder!! But whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We’re proud to say that the Class of ’99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history. And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this. It’s from all of us, and it has written here: Buffy Summers - Class Protector.
WP: I’d like your opinion. While the last thing I wish to do is model bad behavior in front of impressionable youth, I wonder if asking Miss Chase to dance- G: For god’s sake, man, she’s 18! And you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about! WP: Right, then. Thanks for that.
G: You did good work tonight, Buffy. B: And I got a little fun surprise. G: I had no idea that children en masse could be gracious. B: Every now and then, people surprise you.
Credit: The Sunnydale Slayers