Episode guide
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
144 episodes · 7 seasons · 1997–2003 · WB/UPN
Season
Season 1
12 episodes
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S01E01 Welcome to the Hellmouth Buffy Summers, a high school sophomore, faces her destiny as a slayer of the undead.
Pilot note — From the desk: Buffy the Vampire Slayer opens its catalog run with “Welcome to the Hellmouth” (1997-03-10). Genre TV literacy, found family, and online fan culture acceleration. Set power dynamics and later reckoning with the creator's reputation.
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S01E02 The Harvest Buffy and her friends encounter a powerful vampire bent on opening a portal to a dimension inhabited by demons.
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S01E03 Witch A witch attempts to eliminate Buffy from a cheerleading competition.
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S01E04 Teacher's Pet Buffy's biology teacher is killed by a giant praying mantis that assumes the form of a beautiful substitute teacher.
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S01E05 Never Kill a Boy on the First Date While Buffy awaits the arrival of a warrior vampire, she dates a boy who is attracted to her exciting lifestyle.
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S01E06 The Pack Xander and several other students are possessed by the spirit of a demonic breed of hyenas that wreak havoc at the high school.
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S01E07 Angel Buffy discovers Angel's horrifying secret.
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S01E08 I, Robot... You, Jane Willow unwittingly unleashes a powerful demon that takes refuge on the Internet.
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S01E09 The Puppet Show Buffy suspects that a ventriloquist's dummy may be harvesting organs from classmates performing in a talent show.
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S01E10 Nightmares Buffy and her friends discover that their worst nightmares have become reality.
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S01E11 Out of Mind, Out of Sight As the queen election approaches, an invisible force attacks Cordelia's closest friends.
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S01E12 Prophecy Girl Giles discovers an ancient book foretelling Buffy's death at the hands of the Master.
Season
Season 2
22 episodes
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S02E01 When She Was Bad Buffy returns from summer vacation sporting an attitude and suffers from recurring nightmares involving the Master. Meanwhile, the Anointed One and his followers plot their revenge.
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S02E02 Some Assembly Required Two science club nerds use body parts to create the "perfect girlfriend" for a teenager who has been brought back from the dead.
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S02E03 School Hard Buffy's mother and friends becomes trapped inside Sunnydale High School when a vampire named Spike launches an attack against the Slayer.
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S02E04 Inca Mummy Girl A beautiful Inca princess who was buried alive in a tomb 500 years ago is brought back to life.
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S02E05 Reptile Boy Buffy and Cordelia attend a frat party where they are offered as human sacrifices to a reptile-like creature.
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S02E06 Halloween On Halloween, Buffy and her friends patronize an unusual costume shop where customers turn into whatever costume they are wearing.
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S02E07 Lie to Me Buffy is lured into a trap by a group of undead wannabes who hope that Spike will make them vampires in exchange for giving him the Slayer.
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S02E08 The Dark Age Giles's past comes back to haunt him as a demon he and Ethan Rayne summoned in their wild youth seeks them out in Sunnydale.
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S02E09 What's My Line?: Part I Spike brings in three professional bounty hunters to eliminate Buffy while she ponders on what her profession might be if her fate wasn't already sealed.
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S02E10 What's My Line?: Part II Buffy joins forces with another Slayer in hopes of saving Angel from the clutches of Spike and Drusilla.
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S02E11 Ted Buffy's mother brings home Ted, her new boyfriend, who is not what he seems.
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S02E12 Bad Eggs Buffy and her friends encounter even more trouble than expected when the eggs they are given in health class turn out to be prehistoric parasites that take over their lives.
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S02E13 Surprise To give Buffy a surprise on her 17th birthday, Drusilla and Spike bring together the body parts of a dismembered demon who cannot be killed.
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S02E14 Innocence Buffy and her friends battle the judge and face unexpected danger from Angel, who has lost his soul after experiencing a moment of true happiness.
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S02E15 Phases Buffy and her friends discover secrets about themselves as they battle a werewolf, its hunter, and their own emotions.
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S02E16 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered As Valentine's Day approaches, Xander tries to improve his love life through witchcraft and finds himself with too much of a good thing.
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S02E17 Passion Angel steps up his torment of Buffy and her friends as Jenny searches for a way to restore his soul.
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S02E18 Killed by Death While hospitalized with a severe case of the flu, Buffy battles a demon that sucks the life out of sick children.
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S02E19 I Only Have Eyes for You Sunnydale High School is haunted by the ghosts of a former student and teacher who reenact their tragic romance through the bodies of the school's current inhabitants.
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S02E20 Go Fish When several members of the Sunnydale High swim team are mysteriously skinned alive, Buffy and the gang take it upon themselves to protect the remaining members, which results in Xander revealing a side of himself rarely seen.
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S02E21 Becoming: Part I Angel plots to revive an ancient demon bent of sweeping everything on earth into hell itself.
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S02E22 Becoming: Part II Spike strikes an unlikely alliance with Buffy to keep Angel from destroying the world.
Season
Season 3
22 episodes
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S03E01 Anne Buffy -- living on her own in a big city -- assists a girl whose boyfriend has mysteriously vanished. Back in Sunnydale, Buffy's friends do their best to battle the forces of evil.
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S03E02 Dead Man's Party A Nigerian mask reanimates the dead, forcing Buffy to battle a horde of zombies.
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S03E03 Faith, Hope & Trick A charismatic Slayer visits Sunnydale and wins over many of Buffy's friends. Meanwhile, two powerful vampires plot an attack.
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S03E04 Beauty and the Beasts Oz becomes the prime suspect when a series of animal-like attacks occurs in Sunnydale.
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S03E05 Homecoming As Buffy and Cordelia vie for Homecoming Queen, a group of killers gathers to participate in SlayerFest '98.
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S03E06 Band Candy Adults throughout Sunnydale behave like immature teenagers after they eat cursed candy.
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S03E07 Revelations With some help from Faith's new watcher, Buffy seeks to destroy a weapon-like glove before it falls into the hands of a demon.
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S03E08 Lovers Walk Spike returns to Sunnydale and kidnaps Willow in hopes of creating a magic spell that will make Drusilla love him again.
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S03E09 The Wish Cordelia's wish for a Buffy-free Sunnydale comes true, plunging her into a world where vampires have control of the town.
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S03E10 Amends As the Christmas holiday approaches, Angel is tormented by evil apparitions who want him to eliminate Buffy.
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S03E11 Gingerbread After discovering the corpses of two young children bearing a symbol linked to the occult, Joyce spearheads a campaign to rid Sunnydale of witches.
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S03E12 Helpless As her birthday approaches, Buffy loses her slayer powers and must do battle with a vampire who is not only extremely powerful but also quite mad.
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S03E13 The Zeppo Xander experiences an adventure of his own when he encounters a group of reanimated corpses out to construct a bomb. Meanwhile, Buffy and her friends battle the forces of evil when the Hellmouth reopens.
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S03E14 Bad Girls Faith convinces Buffy to live on the wild side, with fatal consequences.
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S03E15 Consequences A homicide detective closes in on Buffy and Faith as he investigates the deputy mayor's death.
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S03E16 Doppelgangland While casting a magic spell, Anya and Willow accidentally summon Willow's evil double from an alternate universe.
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S03E17 Enemies Faith uses a shaman's powers to take away Angel's soul.
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S03E18 Earshot Buffy fears she will descend into madness after she acquires the ability to read minds.
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S03E19 Choices The Mayor takes Willow prisoner after Buffy and her friends steal away a box containing demonic energy needed for Ascension Day.
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S03E20 The Prom After Angel breaks off their relationship, Buffy single-handedly battles three fearsome hell hounds so that her classmates can enjoy their senior prom.
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S03E21 Graduation Day: Part I In an effort to distract Buffy from the Ascension, the mayor instructs Faith to poison Angel.
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S03E22 Graduation Day: Part II On Ascension Day, Buffy and her friends prepare for the ultimate battle as they face off against the mayor and a hoard of vampires.
Season
Season 4
22 episodes
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S04E01 The Freshman As Buffy adjusts to college life, she notices that classmates are mysteriously disappearing.
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S04E02 Living Conditions Buffy finds herself at odds with her new roommate and is troubled by a series of disturbing dreams involving a soul-sucking demon.
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S04E03 The Harsh Light of Day As Buffy gets to know a charming student named Parker, Spike searches for a ring that, according to legend, makes the wearer invincible.
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S04E04 Fear, Itself On Halloween, Buffy and her friends find themselves trapped inside a haunted frat house complete with real bats, zombies, and a terrifying demon.
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S04E05 Beer Bad Xander finds employment as a bartender at a pub where some of Buffy's friends turn into terrifying Cro-Magnon creatures.
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S04E06 Wild at Heart Oz finds himself unable to control his attraction to Veruca, a sexy singer who just happens to be a werewolf.
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S04E07 The Initiative Spike finds himself targeted by a group of commandos after he escapes from a military lab underneath the Sunnydale campus.
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S04E08 Pangs On Thanksgiving, Buffy encounters the spirit of a Native American warrior whose people were wiped out by settlers. Meanwhile Angel silently returns to Sunnydale after Doyle's vision of Buffy in danger.
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S04E09 Something Blue One of Willow's spells causes her statements to become reality, with consequences both entertaining and life-threatening.
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S04E10 Hush A group of murderous creatures called 'The Gentlemen' straight out of a fairytale steal the voices of Sunnydale.
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S04E11 Doomed As Riley comes to terms with Buffy's revelation, a trio of demons attempts to reopen the Hellmouth.
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S04E12 A New Man Ethan Rayne returns to town and transforms Giles into a demon. Spike is the only one who can help.
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S04E13 The I in Team Buffy joins the Initiative, but her self-reliant and curious attitude doesn't mesh well with the military's chain of command.
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S04E14 Goodbye Iowa Tension erupts between Buffy and an ailing Riley as they pursue Professor Maggie Walsh's killer.
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S04E15 This Year's Girl Faith awakens from her coma and seeks revenge against Buffy.
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S04E16 Who Are You? Having switched bodies with Buffy, Faith enjoys freedom. Meanwhile, Buffy finds herself at the mercy of the Watcher's Council.
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S04E17 Superstar Buffy senses that something is amiss when Jonathan becomes a hero to everyone in Sunnydale.
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S04E18 Where the Wild Things Are Buffy and Riley's passionate lovemaking energizes supernatural elements inside a frat house.
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S04E19 New Moon Rising Oz's return to Sunnydale leads to his incarceration by the Initiative and complicates the relationship between Willow and Tara.
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S04E20 The Yoko Factor After joining forces with Adam, Spike drives a wedge between Buffy and her friends. Meanwhile, Angel's return to Sunnydale leads to a violent confrontation with Riley.
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S04E21 Primeval Having gained control of Riley's mind, Adam sets in motion his plot to create an army of unstoppable soldiers and destroy the Initiative.
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S04E22 Restless Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles experience dreams in which they are pursued by a mysterious figure.
Season
Season 5
22 episodes
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S05E01 Buffy vs. Dracula Buffy finds herself pitted against the legendary Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula.
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S05E02 Real Me As Harmony and her vampire gang plot Buffy's demise, Dawn adjusts to life with a Slayer.
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S05E03 The Replacement When a demon creates a Xander double, the real Xander must convince his friends of his true identity.
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S05E04 Out of My Mind While Riley's health begins to deteriorate, Spike and Harmony force a surgeon to remove the behavior modification chip embedded in Spike's brain.
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S05E05 No Place Like Home Buffy learns more about Dawn after she discovers a mysterious orb linked to a group of monks being pursued by an incredibly powerful force.
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S05E06 Family When relatives arrive in Sunnydale, to celebrate her birthday, Tara uses a magic spell on her friends to keep them from learning her "secret." Meanwhile, Glory unleashes a hoard of demons to hunt down Buffy.
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S05E07 Fool for Love After being bested in a fight by an ordinary vampire, Buffy asks Spike to explain how he killed two Slayers many years earlier.
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S05E08 Shadow Glory transforms a snake into a terrifying monster in her quest to find the Key; Joyce is hospitalized after being diagnosed with an illness.
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S05E09 Listening to Fear Buffy and her friends investigate when a meteorite transports a deadly creature to earth.
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S05E10 Into the Woods After Buffy catches Riley in the clutches of a vampire-junkie, Riley makes an important decision regarding their relationship.
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S05E11 Triangle While Giles is in England meeting with the Watcher Council, a bickering Anya and Willow mind the magic store and inadvertently conjure up a fearsome troll.
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S05E12 Checkpoint The Watcher Council travels to Sunnydale to review Buffy's skills as a Slayer; meanwhile, Glory puts her search for the Key into high gear.
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S05E13 Blood Ties When Dawn learns her true identity, she runs away - only to encounter Glory.
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S05E14 Crush Buffy learns that Spike has a crush on her - a situation made all the more dangerous by Drusilla's return to Sunnydale.
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S05E15 I Was Made to Love You Buffy and her friends encounter an incredibly strong female robot with only one thing on its mind - love.
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S05E16 The Body Buffy, Dawn, and their friends deal with the aftermath of Joyce's death.
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S05E17 Forever With some help from Spike, Dawn attempts to bring Joyce back from the dead.
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S05E18 Intervention A weary Buffy seeks to regain her focus by embarking on a quest with the Primitive; Spike cavorts with his very own "Buffybot"; and Glory instructs her minions to spy on Buffy's friends in the hopes of ascertaining the Key's true identity.
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S05E19 Tough Love When Tara falls victim to Glory's incredible power, Willow embraces dark magic and launches a counterattack.
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S05E20 Spiral Buffy and her friends flee Sunnydale when Glory closes in on Dawn.
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S05E21 The Weight of the World When Buffy lapses into a catatonic state, Willow uses magic to find out why; a tug-of-war erupts between Glory and Ben over Dawn's ultimate fate.
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S05E22 The Gift As Glory prepares Dawn for a bloodletting ritual that will open a portal to another dimension, Buffy and her friends prepare for battle.
Season
Season 6
22 episodes
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S06E01 Bargaining - Part 1 Buffy is dead, and the Scooby Gang must do the best they can without her. But concern about the way she died leads Willow to believe that she may have been pulled into a hell dimension. Unable to bear the thought of their friend enduring eternal torment, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara decide to perform a resurrection spell that will bring Buffy back from the dead.
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S06E02 Bargaining - Part 2 As a gang demon bikers attack, the Scooby Gang is chased away from Buffy's grave thinking that the resurrection was a failure. They do not realize that the Slayer is alive... right where they left her. Buffy is awake but disoriented and afraid as she must claw her way out of her own grave. Buffy may be alive again, but the trauma she suffers is far from over.
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S06E03 After Life As Buffy and the Scoobies adjust to her resurrection, they find themselves dealing with a mysterious spirit-demon brought back with her.
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S06E04 Flooded Buffy's life is further complicated by mounting financial problems, a flooded basement, and a warrior demon out for her blood.
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S06E05 Life Serial The Geek Trio begin their plans by testing Buffy's abilities and subsequently ruining her attempts at employment.
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S06E06 All the Way Dawn lies to Buffy and goes out with a boy on Halloween, but when the boy turns out to be a vampire ignoring the Halloween-no-killing rule, Buffy and the guys must save her...again.
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S06E07 Once More, with Feeling Sunnydale is alive with the sound of music as a mysterious force causes everyone in town to burst into full musical numbers, revealing their innermost secrets as they do. But some townsfolk are dancing so much that they simply burst into flames, and it becomes clear that maybe living in a musical isn't so great after all.
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S06E08 Tabula Rasa Willow tries to solve too many problems with magic, accidentally making herself and the others forget who they are just as a demon loan shark and his boys come looking to collect a debt from Spike.
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S06E09 Smashed Both Buffy and Willow are following their own paths to demon behavior: the Slayer finds a new way to slay a vampire, the Witch finds that omnipotence is cool. Rat-witch Amy is finally restored.
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S06E10 Wrecked When they return home from their nights out, Buffy is ashamed of having slept with Spike and Willow is exhausted from casting spells all night. Amy takes Willow to a sorcerer named Rack whose particular brand of magic quickly has Willow hooked. Later, Willow and Dawn decide to go out for a movie, but Willow's recklessness with magic puts Dawn's life in danger.
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S06E11 Gone The Three Geeks mistakenly turn Buffy invisible. The Slayer takes some advantage from going unseen. Willow has to do the detective without using magic, while Xander finds Spike doing some weird physical training.
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S06E12 Doublemeat Palace When Buffy gets a job at the Doublemeat Palace, a local fast-food restaurant, she begins to believe that disappearing co-workers and the secret ingredient to the restaurant's hamburger may be connected.
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S06E13 Dead Things After Jonathan, Andrew, and Warren accidentally kill Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina, they set Buffy up to make her believe it was she who killed the girl.
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S06E14 Older and Far Away After Dawn talks to a guidance counselor about her feeling lonely, she accidentally puts a spell on Buffy and her friends, trapping them inside the Summer's house with a sword-wielding demon.
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S06E15 As You Were Buffy's ex-boyfriend, Riley Finn, returns to Sunnydale with his new wife Sam to track down a nest of demons which threaten the future of the town.
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S06E16 Hell's Bells It's the day of Xander and Anya's wedding. Emotions are running high with Xander's disfunctional family clashing with Anya's demon friends. The ceremony is disrupted when an old man claiming to be the future Xander shows up.
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S06E17 Normal Again After Buffy is stung by a demon, she begins to have vivid day-dreams about a mental asylum. She gradually begins to believe that she is a crazy girl back in L.A and that Sunnydale and all her friends are just a figment of her imagination.
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S06E18 Entropy Anya returns to Sunnydale, bent on revenge for Xander leaving her at the altar. She has since become a Vengence demon again, but ends up hurting Xander in a way she never expected.
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S06E19 Seeing Red Willow and Tara wallow in their togetherness, but things aren't as happy everywhere else. Buffy has to face both Xander and Spike, whilst tracking Warren and Company to foil their next move.
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S06E20 Villains Enraged after Tara's death at the hands of Warren, Willow turns to the Black Magics to exact her revenge.
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S06E21 Two to Go After killing Warren, Dark Willow tries to track-down Andrew and Jonathan. Meanwhile, in Africa, Spike battles against a numerous amount of foes to try to get his chip removed.
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S06E22 Grave The Scoobies continue to try and stop Dark Willow, who is now intent on destroying the world. After Dark Willow neutralizes Buffy, though, Xander is the only one left who can save the day. Meanwhile, in Africa, Spike completes the demon trials and gets his reward.
Season
Season 7
22 episodes
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S07E01 Lessons Sunnydale High is re-opened, with a new designed campus and a new principal, Robin Wood. It is Dawn's first day at school there and Buffy accompanies her to class, only to discover evil spirits lurking in the basement.
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S07E02 Beneath You A giant worm-like creature begins stalking a young girl. As the gang begin to investigate, they realise it's appearance in Sunnydale may be linked to Anya.
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S07E03 Same Time, Same Place Though they seem to be in the same places at the same time, Buffy, Xander and Dawn are unable to find Willow when she returns from England. Shortly after returning to Sunnydale, people start turning up skinned alive. As Buffy and Xander worry that this could be Willow's work, Willow sets out to find the creature that did it.
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S07E04 Help Buffy begins a new job as school counsellor at Sunnydale High. On her first day she encounters a troubled young girl who is convinced she is about to die.
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S07E05 Selfless Anya grants a young woman's wish, and the violent and deadly act of vengeance leaves everyone stunned. Buffy must put aside her feelings for her friend and take action before more people die. Meanwhile, flashbacks depict how Anya became a vengeance demon, and Willow returns to college.
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S07E06 Him Dawn's simple crush on Sunnydale High's star quarterback RJ starts to become obsessive, leading Buffy to investigate the boy herself. When Buffy, along with all the other women who see RJ, also fall in love with him, Spike and Xander must team up to discover the source of this attraction. But first they have to keep the women from doing anything crazy in their competition for RJ's affection.
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S07E07 Conversations with Dead People Buffy has a conversation with a vampire who once went to Sunnydale High, and learns something interesting about Spike. Joyce materialises to Dawn in the living room. The ghost of Cassie brings a message to Willow from beyond the grave. Meanwhile, Andrew and Jonathan have returned to Sunnydale on a mission to save the town
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S07E08 Sleeper The Scooby Gang fear Spike may have turned evil again when people begin mysteriously disappearing around town. Giles makes a cataclysmic discovery.
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S07E09 Never Leave Me Spike is held captive in the Summers home while the Scoobies ponder their options in the aftermath of his murder spree. Willow finds Andrew buying blood and decides to take him prisoner also. While they try to decide what to do next, the gang are interrupted by the mysterious hooded figures called "Harbingers"... the minions of the First Evil.
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S07E10 Bring on the Night Giles returns to Sunnydale with three potential slayers, whom Buffy must protect from The First. Meanwhile, a ferocious Uber-vampire is released from the Hellmouth and Buffy must kill it before it kills one of the potentials.
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S07E11 Showtime Buffy teaches the Potential Slayers a valuable lesson as she faces a final fight with the Uber-vampire. Meanwhile, Giles and Anya enter another dimension to find a demon which holds the answer the defeating The First. What they find out is very disturbing.
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S07E12 Potential Buffy takes the Potentials to a demon bar and then to Spike's crypt, in order to teach them the art of slaying. When Willow casts a spell to seek out the next Potential, the spell leads them to believe that Dawn may be a future slayer.
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S07E13 The Killer in Me After Willow and Kennedy share their first kiss, Willow is transformed into Warren, the man she killed last year. When she sets out to find help, she bumps into an old friend. Meanwhile, Buffy searches for answers when Spike's chip causes him great pain, and the gang suspect that Giles may really be The First.
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S07E14 First Date Buffy accepts an invitation to dinner from Principal Wood, and the secrets of his past are revealed. Xander impresses a beautiful girl with his knowledge of knots, and she seems to be interested in tying him up. Meanwhile the First contacts Andrew in another attempt to destroy the Potentials, and Giles finds himself tongue-tied with the new Potential, Chao-Ahn.
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S07E15 Get It Done The Scoobies use a spell to transport Buffy into a shadow world, where she meets the men who created the first slayer. However, in order for her to return home, the gang must find and slay a ferocious demon.
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S07E16 Storyteller Andrew creates a documentary called "Buffy, Slayer of the Vampyres", a record of the current situation in Sunnydale to show to future generations. He manages to capture many important moments, and to annoy almost everyone in the house. But Buffy needs to tear him away from his filmmaking because the Seal of Danzalthar is active and Andrew may hold the key to closing it before it destroys the town.
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S07E17 Lies My Parents Told Me Robin Wood seeks revenge on Spike for killing his mother nearly 30 years ago, whilst everyone else tries to find out how The First has control over him.
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S07E18 Dirty Girls Faith returns to Sunnydale just as a new villain, Caleb, arrives and sends Buffy a message in the form of a badly beaten Potential. Buffy leads the rest of the girls to Caleb and The First's lair, with devastating consequences.
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S07E19 Empty Places After their horrifying loss at the vineyard, the gang turn against Buffy and begin to follow Faith instead. Meanwhile, Spike and Andrew travel to an old church to question a priest about Caleb.
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S07E20 Touched Faith and the Potentials search underground for a weapon, whilst Buffy confronts Caleb at the vineyard.
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S07E21 End of Days Buffy has a powerful new weapon, but the gang cannot find any information about the origins of the mysterious scythe. Eventually the Slayer goes herself in search of knowledge, and finds a new ally, an old friend, and great danger.
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S07E22 Chosen After killing Caleb, Buffy conceives a plan to defeat the First once and for all. Willow invokes a magic spell that alters the ancient Slayer spell and gives Buffy the allies she needs to fight the Uber-Vamp army. An epic battle ensues and several good friends are lost. At the end, Buffy faces a completely new problem - one she's glad to have.
Finale note — From the desk: The guide closes on “Chosen” (2003-05-20) — a series bookend worth the package context. Set power dynamics and later reckoning with the creator's reputation.