Killed by Death

Written by: Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali Directed by: Deran Serafian

Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, David Boreanaz as Angel, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Main guest stars : Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Richard Herd as Dr. Backer, Andrew Ducote as Ryan, Juanita Jennings as Dr. Wilkinson, Mimi Paley as eight-year-old Buffy, Denise Johnson as Celia, James Jude Courtney as The Kindestod. Original broadcast date : March 3, 1998 My one-line description: Beware of old bald guys with crooked noses and eyes that attach to your forehead. In the graveyard, Buffy is not in her best shape as she patrols with Willow, Xander and Cordelia’s help – she’s sick as a puppy with the flu. Angelus shows up, and quickly gains the upper hand on a weak Buffy. The others manage to stick crosses in his face, and he runs away. Buffy collapses. The gang rush Buffy into the hospital, where the doctors manage to stabilize her. Joyce comes in and is reassured to see all of Buffy’s friends there; Dr. Wilkinson comes out and tells Buffy’s mom her daughter is very feverish. Buffy is wheeled out into the hallway on a gurney, and the gang go to her; the delirious Slayer, however, wants them to take her home – she doesn’t want to stay at the hospital. Buffy begins to struggle, asking the doctor to let her go – she has to kill the vampires. Giles plays the condescending adult, indulging a delirious child’s fantasy – “That’s okay, Buffy. We’ll get those vampires some other time!” A nurse comes over and sedates Buffy, and Joyce explains that her daughter has always been terrified of hospitals since her cousin Celia died in one when Buffy was 8 – and Buffy was there to witness it when it happened. She then thanks Giles for looking after Buffy, and expresses her condolences for Jenny Calendar’s death. Meanwhile, Xander and Willow discuss the fact that Angelus can come into the hospital any time he wants – it’s a public place… That night, Buffy – still delirious with fever – wakes up to see a young boy perhaps 10 years old, looking at her. The boy stares and finally moves off, and another figure steps into Buffy’s sight – a tall man-monster, with long white hair and a crooked nose, all dressed in black. He looks at Buffy, and then moves away. Intrigued, Buffy gets out of bed and walks out of her room. She winds up in the children’s ward, where a dead child is being wheeled away. Dr. Wilkinson is arguing with a colleague, Dr. Backer, about the latter’s controversial methods. As Buffy eavesdrops, the young boy from her doorway – Ryan – walks up behind her and tells her that “he” comes at night; the grownups don’t see “him”, but “he” was with Tina – we’re assuming he means the dead child. Ryan adds that “he” will be coming back for them Buffy asks who “he” is; “Death”, Ryan replies. Xander is waiting outside Buffy’s room when he spots Angelus coming over with some flowers. Xander tells him visiting hours are over, but Angelus wonders if Xander thinks he or anyone else could stop him if he decides to walk into Buffy’s room. “You still love her”, he taunts Xander; “It must just eat you up that I got there first.” He gives Xander the flowers and asks him to tell Buffy he said hi. The next morning, Dr. Wilkinson examines Buffy and notes that her fever’s gone down. Buffy sits up, eager to leave, but Wilkinson isn’t ready to let her go just yet, even though she’s impressed with how fast she heals. It seems Buffy is condemned to stay… A few minutes later, the Scoobies arrive, bearing gifts. Xander has brought balloons (although he calls them flowers), and Willow has done Buffy’s homework. Buffy tells them about the girl who died the previous night, and the monster she saw – “Death”. Cordelia – always as full of tact as ever – asks whether this isn’t about Buffy being afraid of hospitals because her cousin died, and inventing a monster she can fight so she doesn’t feel helpless. Buffy replies that Ryan is afraid of something real, and as long as she’s stuck at the hospital, she’s going to find out what it is. Giles and Willow go to research the history of the hospital – bizarre incidents et al. – while Xander and Cordelia, at night, sneak into the archive room to look through the files and determine what Tina died of. A security guard interrupts them, and Cordelia deploys her charms to distract him, flirting with him while Xander searches for Tina’s file. Back in the hallway, Xander berates Cordy for her flirtatious behaviour, but she counters with his obsession of protecting Buffy. She comments that Xander is watching Buffy’s back alright – her butt, more precisely. She wishes he would watch her back for a change; as she walks away, nicely filling her skirt, Xander does just that. Meanwhile, Buffy goes to visit Ryan in the children’s ward; he’s drawing a picture of “Death”. She tries to reassure him, but he’s convinced no one can fight Death. Willow and Giles have found the profile of a Dr. Backer, who works in the children’s ward at the hospital. It would seem that Dr. Backer has a controversial record of unauthorized experimentations and mysteriously dropped malpractice lawsuits. They decide he could be the monster the children are afraid of. In his office, Dr. Backer is mixing up a cure for the fever the children have. He goes to the children’s ward with a syringe to test the cure; however, as he prepares to inoculate a child, “Death” creeps up behind him and attacks him. Dr. Backer can’t see his attacker, since he’s a grownup – “Death” slices him open, as Buffy watches in horror from the door. An invisible hand drags the body away. The next day, Buffy tells Giles about Dr. Backer’s demise, which eliminates him as a suspect (duh!). She shows her Watcher Ryan’s picture of “Death”, but they have to interrupt their discussion when Joyce shows up. She’s here to take Buffy home, but suddenly Buffy wants to stay – her symptoms are flaring up again, she says; she feels “all oogy”. After Joyce is gone, the gang sets down to work. While Giles and Cordelia go back to the library to look up the monster, while Xander searches the hospital for “Death” and Willow and Buffy sneak into Dr. Backer’s. There, they find that Dr. Backer was really trying to help the children – he thought injecting them with the virus would raise their temperature just enough to flush out the flu. At the library, Giles and Cordelia look through books, trying to identify “Death”. Cordelia, however, is more interested in asking what this demon or that demon does… “Ouch, wait, what does this one do?” she asks Giles for the umpteenth time. “It asks endless questions of those with whom it’s supposed to be working so that nothing is getting done”, Giles snaps impatiently. “Boy”, comments a clueless Cordelia, “There’s a demon for everything!” Tired of researching, she closes a book, revealing a profile with a crooked nose on the cover… Buffy receives a call from Cordelia, who tells her they’ve identified the monster as the Kindestod, a mythical creature which kills children by sitting atop them and sucking the life out of them. This strikes a bell in Buffy’s brain – flashback to another hospital room, where child Buffy is sitting by her cousin Celia’s bed. Suddenly, Celia starts screaming in horror and warding something invisible away from her. Back in the present, Buffy realizes Celia was killed by the Kindestod… Realizing that her fever allowed her to see the Kindestod, Buffy goes back to Dr. Backer’s office with Willow. She retrieves a viral sample from a fridge and goes to drink it, but Willow stops her – the sample is 100 % pure, and it would kill her in an instant. She puts two drops of viral sample in a glass of water, and Buffy drinks it. Moments later, they make their way down the corridor to the children’s ward, Buffy swaying slightly. They discover the children’s ward is empty… The children, led by Ryan, have gone down to the basement to hide. Buffy watches as the Kindestod appears in the empty ward and starts after the kids; but suddenly, our Slayer has other problems, as a nurse appears and asks her what she’s doing here. Willow creates a distraction for the nurse and the security guards, while Buffy gets away. Xander helps her down to the basement. Ryan is trying to convince the other kids they’re safe in the basement, but they’re not. The Kindestod appears, and goes for Ryan. He sits atop the kid, takes off his hat, and his eyes writhe out of his head and onto the screaming boy’s forehead. Suddenly Buffy appears and attacks, allowing Xander to take the children out to safety. However, she quickly weakens – because of the flu – and the Kindestod sits atop her. Again, its eyes writhe out, towards her forehead… but she reaches up and snaps its neck. The demon dead, the flu kicks in and Buffy grows faint… At the Summers home, Joyce is catering to Buffy (in bed) and Xander and Willow (on the floor beside her) as they watch TV. Joyce hands Buffy an envelope for her, and Buffy opens it. It’s a picture from Ryan – her killing the Kindestod… Summary by OttsFiveByFive.

Episode Ratings

Mac - “Ridiculously stupid villian. It gets one stake more than it should, because of the scene between Angelus and Xander in the waiting area. Oh man.”

DJ Angelus -

“Loved the Freddy Kruger look of the demon.”

Quotes

Key: B=Buffy, G=Giles, X=Xander, W=Willow, C=Cordelia, O=Oz, J=Joyce, PS=Principal Snyder, As=Angelus, S=Spike, D=Druscilla, Doc=Doctor

B: Nonvampire. Plus two. X: Man, Buffy. My whole life just flashed before my eyes. I gotta get me a life.

W: Buffy, you’re sick. B: No, I feel fine. I mean, the world’s spinning a little bit, but I like it. It’s like a ride.

C: We’re all concerned about how gross you look. B: I’m touched. Really.

W: Buffy, come on, one night of rest is not going to kill you. B: No. But it might kill somebody else.

X: Buffy, this is not the time to challenge Angel for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s at full strength. You’re only half a Slayer. B: Yeah, but I’m still the Slayer. And as long as I am, Angel’s not going to kill anybody else. As: Oh, come on. Just one more?

As: Not feeling well, lover? < smash, thud! > B: That helps.

As: You know, you being off your game’s kind of taking the fun out of all this. < bam! > Nope, still fun!

As: Uh-oh, this does not look good for our heroine.

X: Take a walk, overbite.

Doc: What happened? X: She fell. C: She fainted. W: The flu. X: The flu. Fainted.. and fell. She’s sick, make it better.

X: Hey, Buffy, we’re all here. B: Hey… here we are. It’s all of we. Are we taking me home? Doc: No, Buffy, you need to lie down, honey. B: Yeah? Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that’s not my bed. Doc: She’s still a little out of it. B: Shhh! Hospital zone - no singing.

B: Let me go! C: Maybe she wants to go.

B: Giles, tell them. The vampires… I need to kill the vampires! X: It’s gotta be the fever. W: Yeah, it’s made her delusional. B: They’re out there. G: Yes, we’ll get to those… vampires later. I hear it’s best to play along.

X: Do you think she’s gonna be okay in here? C: I don’t know. Lysette got her nose done here, and she came in looking for the Gwyneth Paltrow, and it looked more like the Mr. Potato Head. W: Buffy’s not in here for cosmetic surgery. C: No, but while she’s in here, she might as well get that thing done. You know, that thing on her face? You know that thing. W: Do you think Angel will attack Buffy in here? X: He can come in, it’s a public building. W: That’s true. C: Am I the only one that’s noticed that thing?

X: Visiting hours are over. As: Well, I’m pretty much family. X: Yeah, why don’t you come back during the day? Oh, gee, no, I guess you can’t. As: If I decide to walk into Buffy’s room, do you think for one microsecond that you could stop me? X: Maybe not. Maybe that security guard couldn’t either. Or those cops. Or the orderlies. But I’m kind of curious to find out. You game? As: Buffy’s white knight. You still love her. It must just eat you up that I got there first. X: You’re gonna die… and I’m gonna be there. As: Tell her I stopped by.

B: Power Girl to the rescue!

Doc: Good morning. B: Could have fooled me. Doc: How are you feeling? Looks like your fever’s gone down. B: Well, good. Thanks for having me. Let’s try and keep in touch. Doc: Not so fast. Hmmm. B: Good “hmm” or bad “hmm”?

X: Flowers for milady. B: I think they call them balloons. X: Yeah, stick them in water. Maybe they’ll grow.

B: Homework. W: It’s my way of saying get well soon. B: You know, chocolate says that even better. W: I did all your assignments. All you have to do is sign your name. B: Chocolate means nothing to me.

C: Nobody told me I was supposed to bring a gift. I was out of the loop on gifts. G: It’s traditional among… um, people.

B: This part I could get used to, W: Do you want me to go real fast? Not that I would…

B: You know, a girl died here last night. W: How? B: Well, the flu. X: The flu doesn’t exactly sound monsterrific.

B: Death. C: Death? W: _The_ Death? As in “it is your time”?

C: But you do know that you saw death? W: Did it have an hourglass? X: Ooh, if he asks you to play chess, don’t even do it. Guy’s, like, a whiz.

C: So this isn’t about you being afraid of hospitals ’cause your friend died. and you want to conjure up a monster that you can fight so you can save everybody and not feel so helpless? G: Cordelia, have you actually ever heard of tact? C: Tact is just not saying true stuff. I’ll pass.

B: As long as I’m forced to stay here, I’m going to find out what. X: So, is this the part where we say, what can we do to help? C: You had to ask that, didn’t you?

C: This is what happens when you’re compassionate towards sick people. They take advantage of you. X: Uh-huh. Buffy almost died just to put you out. C: I didn’t want to be the first one to say it.

W: So, where do we start? G: Oh, I don’t know, maybe look into the history of the hospital, bizarre incidents, that sort of thing. W: I’m sensing a little less than full committal here. G: Oh, I suppose so. Cordelia may be homerically insensitive, but she may also be right.

W: But, on the “we live on the Hellmouth” side, these kids may have seen a monster.

Guard: You know, most people think that security guards are just guys that failed the police exam. But that’s not me - this is my career. C: Stereotypes are so unfair. Guard: I did take the fireman’s exam, though. I didn’t do so good. C: Oh, well, you know, I think that security guards are way sexier than firemen. They’re all sooty.

Guard: I’m all the time restraining people. C: Mmm, how thrilling.

C: Do you ever get scared? Guard: Fear is for the weak. That’s my motto. Either that, or… live in the moment. I haven’t decided yet.

X: Could you make just a little more with the touchy-gropey? C: Jealous? X: Of Rogaine-boy? I don’t think so.

C: Oh, right, your obsession with protecting Buffy. Have I told you how attractive that’s not?

C: I’ve seen you watch her back. X: What is that supposed to mean? C: Well, I was using the phrase “watch her back” as a euphemism for looking at her butt. You know, sort of a pun. X: Oh, right. Hey! C: Well, you do. X: Jealous? C: Fine, watch my back.

B: Believe me, I’m not that grown-up.

G: Factor in Buffy’s observation that he gives her the, uh, wiggins…

B: It wasn’t Backer. He was clean C: What do you mean, clean? X: What do you mean, _was_?

B: But it’s real, which means I get to fight it.

J: Ooh, looks like I interrupted a secret meeting.

B: I think my symptoms are flaring up. W: She doesn’t look well. B: ’Cause I’m not well. I feel all oogy. X: Increased ooginess - that’s a danger signal.

B: I’ll check Backer’s office. See if I can find any post-it’s marked “why a monster might want me dead.”

W: I’m good at medical stuff, since Xander and I used to play doctor all the time. X: No, she’s being literal. She used to have all these medical volumes, and diagnosed me with stuff. I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was playing it wrong. W: Wrong? Why? How did you play doctor? B: I… never have.

G: We’ll call you if we, uh, know something. B: Know something soon.

G: I’d best head to the library. Research beckons.

X: Maybe I’ll get lucky with this Death guy. C: He’s invisible. X: Yeah, but if I see a floating pipe and a smoking jacket, he’s dropped.

X: Cordy, you should go with Giles. G: Why do I have to have…? Good thinking, I could do with a research assistant. C: Let’s go, Tact-Guy.

W: It’s weird going through his things. Look, he didn’t finish his coffee. Guess he won’t.

B: It’s too bad Angel didn’t put me in the hospital sooner. That’s something I never thought I’d hear myself say.

W: Hey, wait, I think I have something. B: Well, Sherlock!

C: Eww, what does this do? G: It extracts vital organs to replenish it’s own mutating cells. C: Wow! What does this one do? G: It elongates its mouth to engulf its victims head with its incisors. C: Ouch! Wait, what does this one do? G: It asks endless questions of those with whom it’s supposed to be working so that nothing is getting done. C: Boy, there’s a demon for everything.

C: ’Cause it would be looking at the children’s ward as basically an all-you-can-eat kind of thing, you know.

C: Oh, eww! Ohh, you should see this thing. The way it does it’s thing, I mean, eww! Why do I let you guys drag me into this stuff? G: Buffy, are you still there? B: Hanging on every eww.

W: Buffy, that’s 100% pure. It’ll kill you in an instant. B: Oh. They really should put that on the label.

W: Frogs, frogs! Get them off of me! Oh my god, frogs! Get them off of me! Please, help - get them off! Frogs! Frogs! Oh my god, they’re everywhere! Frogs! Doc: Not her, the other one! W: No more frogs.

X: You don’t know how to kill this thing. B: I thought I might try violence. X: Solid call.

X: Are you okay? B: Actually, I think I’m starting to feel better. Oh! X: He’s dead, right? I mean, I heard something snap. B: That would be his neck. X: You’re not going to yak on me, are you?

J: Here you go, honey, peanut butter and jelly, without the crusts, just the way you like it. B: And the juice? J: Two parts orange, one part grapefruit. B: That’s my drink. J: I measured it exactly.

X: Your mom’s trying to bogart the cheesy chips. What’s that all about?

B: It’s from Ryan. J: The boy from the hospital? Oh, he drew you a picture. How… nice.

Credit: The Sunnydale Slayers