Bargaining (Part 1)

Writer: David Fury Director : David Grossman

Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Emma Caulfield as Anya, Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers, James Marsters as Spike, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg.

Main guest stars : Amber Benson as Tara, Franc Ross as Razor, Geoff Meed as Mag, Mike Grief as Klyed.

Original broadcast date : October 2, 2001

In the cemetery, Xander and a weak and very disappointed Willow make off to the woods, aiming to get back to the Magic Box where Anya and Tara will be waiting for them. Meanwhile, the BuffyBot is taking quite a beating at the hands of the bikers. Worried about being close to a systems failure, the bot says to herself that she has to find Willow, and fast.

Back in the cemetery, the real Buffy, freshly brought back to life tries to scream but can summon only a dry rasp. Terrified, she tries to fight her way out of the coffin; she punches the top until some dirt starts streaming in.

Lost in the woods, Xander and Willow stop for a break. Willow realizes that the spell really failed, and she breaks down in tears, knowing Buffy isn¹t ever coming back.

At the Summers house, Dawn peeks out the window, wondering what all the ruckus is about. Spike angrily draws her back, then prepares to leave the house for a safer location. Meanwhile, at the cemetery, a hand jerks out of the ground; Buffy clambers up to open air, then gets up and stumbles a few feet away. Peering back at the grave, she notices the headstone and her eyes widen in a look of pure, abject terror.

In the streets of Sunnydale, a lone, dishevelled Buffy, in her funereal black dress, walks slowly amidst the debris and burning cars, confused by it all and not having fully recovered her eyesight yet. Meanwhile, at the Magic Box, Tara and Anya barricade themselves in and overhear some of Razor¹s thugs, outside, planning to visit some stores. Anya is worried sick about Xander, but Tara gets an idea ­ she sits on a table and closes her eyes in meditation, planning to guide Willow and Xander magically. In the woods, just as they think they¹re lost, Willow and Xander see a tiny blue light floating towards themŠ It¹s Tara.

Still bewildered and disoriented, Buffy leans against a car, which make the alarm go off. The owner of the car comes out of his house with a gun and tells her to go away, but she looks at his fuzzy shape, not understanding him. A disorientated Buffy bumps into a car, setting off the alarm and causing the owner to threaten her with a shotgun.

In front of the Summers house, Spike knocks a biker off his motorcycle and claims it for himself. He tosses a helmet to Dawn, and they set out for a safer place. Meanwhile, at the Magic Shop, Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara assess the situation outside and decide that without Buffy, they¹re Sunnydale¹s only hope.

Still wandering, Buffy approaches a gang of bikers forming a circle around what she sees as a blurry individual - it¹s the BuffyBot, her limbs tied by chains to four motorcycles getting ready to drive off. For a moment, the two Buffys¹ eyes meet and widen in recognition. As the motorcycles drive off, tearing the bot apart, Buffy screams “Nooooo!”, attracting attention to herself. Razor suggests that she may be their next toy, and she runs off, chased by the biker demons.

In a dark alley, the Scoobies, armed, are preparing themselves for combat, while discussing why their attempt to revive Buffy failed. Suddenly, a form lands in a crouch in front of them. They groan as they recognize what they think is the BuffyBot, but Willow, mesmerized, realizes this is the real Buffy. Calling her name, they scare her away, and they chase her to a corner where she cowers, her eyes darting to and fro, like an animal¹s, looking for an escape route. Willow and Xander try to get through to her, but then Xander realized what they¹ve done ­ revived her but left her to claw her way out of her coffin.

This lovely reunion is interrupted by Razor and his bikers, eager for a fight. Willow tries to tell them off with magic, but Razor just knocks her out of the way. Which causes something to click in place within BuffyŠ When Razor asks who wants to go next, she steps up to him, looking focused for the first time. He rejoices at the fact that the Slayer would be the one to confront him, and hits her. She feels the blood trickling from her lip with her finger, and snaps into Slayer mode, long enough to fight Razor and his bikers, leaving many dead and Razor himself unconscious. The gang is happy that Buffy seems back to normal, but she gets scared again and runs off. In the distance, she sees Glory¹s tower, and runs towards it.

On the “borrowed” bike, Spike and Dawn arrive at the town square where the BuffyBot¹s head and torso lay. While Spike goes to look for the matching limbs, the bot snaps to life one last time, long enough to wonder where “she” went, “the other Buffy”Š Dawn takes off before Spike gets back, and spots clues of the fight with the biker demons, leading her to start thinking that maybe, just maybeŠ

In the alley, the Scoobies are still stunned by Buffy¹s departure, but their attention is needed elsewhere when Razor wakes up. With various weapons, sticks and magic, they fight him and eventually succeed in overwhelming him and killing him.

Atop Glory¹s tower, a very confused Buffy advances towards the voidŠ Flashes of what happened here come back to her ­ Dawn pleading with her not to jump, herself saying (eyes closed, she whispers the words) “Dawny, I have toŠ” Then, Dawn arrives behind her and timidly asks if it¹s really her. Buffy doesn¹t want to acknowledge her sister, she just wants to stay in her memories and jump, once again. Dawn pleads that she speak to her, and finally, Buffy, in a the small voice of a confused little girl, says her first words: “Is thisŠ Hell?” Dawn answers that it isn¹t, then asks her sister not to jump, admitting, in a touching scene, how much she needs Buffy.

Then the unstable tower starts jolting severely, and Dawn urgently asks Buffy to walk toward her. Buffy is torn, but when the platform gives and Dawn screams, she realizes with alarm the danger they¹re in, and goes to save her. Grabbing hold of a rope on a pulley, she lowers both of them to safety, while the tower collapses around them.

Realizing that Buffy is now alive and safe, Dawn drags her into a hug, sobbing and telling her sister she¹s home. But Buffy¹s eyes just stare into the distance, in a mix of confusion and dismayŠ

Summary by OttsFiveByFive.

Episode Ratings

Mac -

“The 2nd hour was more fast-paced, but still dragged in areas. Even with the dragging, it’s a formidable opener.”

Quotes

Bargaining I Key: B=Buffy, G=Giles, X=Xander, W=Willow, S=Spike, A=Anya, T=Tara, D=Dawn, BB=BuffyBot

S: I’m never gonna get anything killed with you lot holding me back. T: I thought the big ones were supposed to tire more easily. S: No, that’s the over-the-hill shopkeepers. G: I’m fine. I just need to die for a minute.

T: It’s sorbis root. It was supposed to confuse him, but it just kind of made him peppy. It’s not supposed to mix with anything - do you think he might be taking prescription medication? S: Yeah, that MUST be it. G: Good god, I hope he doesn’t try to operate heavy machinery.

W: Try to drive him toward the Van Elton crypt. T: Is that the one with the cute little gargoyle?

BB: Big, fast and dumb. Just the way I like ’em.

X: Great googly moogly, Willow. Would you quit doing that? W: I told you I was going to get the lay of the land. X: But not the lay of my brain. A: It’s kind of intrusive. You could knock first or something.

X: I know, I know, I don’t have to talk when I answer you. But I saw “The Fury” and that way lies spooky carnival death.

W: What are you doing? Help him! S: I did. [vamp goes up in flames] G: You might have let me in on your plan while he throttled me. S: Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cup of tea, cup of tea, almost got shagged, cup of tea?

BB: That’ll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo! S: What’s with the Dadaism, Red?

W: I was trying to program in some new puns, and I kind of ended up with word salad.

W: And I got her off those knock-knock jokes. BB: Ooh, who’s there? X: You know, if we want her to be exactly… S: She’ll never be exactly. X: I know. T: The only really real Buffy is really Buffy. G: And she’s gone. BB: “You know, if we want her to be exactly, she’ll never be exactly, the only really real Buffy is really Buffy, and she’s gone” who?

W: I think there’s a clog-eating monster under the bed. It’s really those lesser-known monsters that make living in Sunnydale so hard.

T: You doing okay? W: Besides terror about today and a general feeling of impending doom? Swell.

X: House of chicks, relax. I’m a man, and I have a tool. [pause] Tool. Lots of plural tools, in my, uh, toolbox.

W: And you’re her sweet cookie-face. X: I go by many names.

W: Buffy-Bot is about to face her most dangerous challenge ever… [Sign: Parent-Teacher Day]

A: You’re taking the Ramadan effigy? G: It’s not inventory, it’s my personal collection. A: Uh-huh. Aren’t you Mr. dicey semantics?

A: Give it! G: No, you give it! Ow! Ow!! X: Okay, when *I’m* marveling at the immaturity, be scared.

A: It’s just… he keeps saying he’s going, and then he doesn’t. And I keep almost being in charge, but then I’m not. And maybe he shouldn’t even be going at all, but we can’t talk about that. And it all just leaves me with this stress and bossiness stored up, and it just leaks out.

A: I was being patient, but it took too long.

S: She responded to Buffy-Bot because a robot is predictable. Boring. A perfect teacher’s pet. That’s all school’s are, you know. Just factories, spewing out mindless little automatons. [slight pause] Who go on to be very valuable and productive members of society, and you should go.

S: I’m not leaving you to get hurt. Not again.

BB: You can run away now. Not you!

BB: Vampires, beware.

T: You found the last known Urn of Osiris on eBay? A: Yeah, from this desert gnome in Cairo. He drove a really hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited-edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox for a… X: [coughs] A: A friend.

X: It’s time? Like, TIME time?! With the.. timeliness?

A: Tomorrow? X: I don’t know. A: Discovery Channel has monkeys. And our tape machine’s all wonky… W: Nobody’s changing their minds, period. X: Excuse me? Who made you the boss of the group? A: You did. T: You said Willow should be boss. A: And then you said “let’s vote,” and it was unanimous. T: And then you made her this little plaque that said “Boss of Us” and you put little sparkles on it… X: Valid points all.

X: Scenario: We raise Buffy from the grave. She tries to eat our brains. Do we A: congratulate ourselves on a job well done…? W: Xander, this isn’t zombies. A: Zombies don’t eat brains anyway, unless instructed to by their zombie masters. Lot of people get that wrong.

BB: I think my feet are broken.

S: She wanted to go out and look for you again, but I figured there were enough things in Sunnydale that go bump in the night.

BB: Sorry I questioned you, Spike. You know I admire your brain almost as much as your washboard abs.

W: He just gets cranky. The way vampires do.

A: You know, she’s not the descendant of a long line of mystical warriors. She’s the descendant of a toaster oven.

G: Yes, I was a perfect Watcher. I did what any good Watcher would do - got my Slayer killed in the line of duty.

Biker Demon: You’re lying to me. Vamp: I swear on all that’s unholy!

Biker Demon: Nowhere like the Hellmouth for a party.

Credit: The Sunnydale Slayers