Welcome to Slayerfest 2002


Welcome to my Buffy Episode Guide. Here you can find details regarding every episode of Buffy from season 3 to season 6. This page was last updated May 19, 2002.

#35 Anne (Season III Premiere): School is back in session and Buffy's friends are fending off vampires without the help of the Slayer. Buffy, on the other hand, is in Los Angles with a new name and identity but when an old acquaintance by the name of Lily remembers her, Buffy is drawn into a plot to drain teenagers of their youth. Buffy tries to help Lily find her missing boyfriend and ends up getting both of them sucked into a demon dimension. Fighting her way out, Buffy saves Lily and many others, closing the gateway permanently. Having been reminded of her real identity, Buffy heads back home. ** out of 5

#36 Dead Man's Party: When Buffy comes home from Los Angeles, she finds that things aren't exactly as she left them. In Buffy's eyes, it seems that her friends have moved on and Buffy doesn't seem to fit in their lives anymore. To show Buffy they care, her friends throw her a party, which manages to alienate her even more. After hearing her mom comment on the difficulty of having Buffy back home, she decides to run away again. When Willow catches her packing, a loud argument erupts between the gang. The argument is interrupted when a Nigerian mask in Joyce's room calls forth an army of zombies who crash the party. Buffy saves the day and the gang begins to make amends. *** out of 5

#37 Faith, Hope and Trick: Buffy is still having dreams about the love of her life, Angel. Meanwhile, Scott Hope, a boy from school, is showing interest in her. Buffy has little time to think about this, as she meets Faith, a new Slayer with a lot of secrets. Faith has been followed to Sunnydale by two deadly vampires, Mr. Trick and Kakistos, the latter having killed her Watcher in Boston. After coming to terms with her fears, Faith stops Kakistos from killing herself and Buffy, and Buffy finally accepts Scott's date invitation - unaware that Angel has returned from Hell. **** out of 5

#38 Beauty and the Beasts: There's been a brutal killing in the Sunnydale woods and Oz is the prime suspect. Buffy, however, has just learned that her lover, Angel, is back from Hell in an animalistic state - making Buffy fear that he's the killer. Both are in the clear when the gang figures out that the bad guy is an abusive boyfriend named Pete. The gang and an escaped Oz head after Pete, who kills his girlfriend before anyone can find them. He then tries to kill Buffy but a slightly more human Angel saves her by choking Pete to death. ** out of 5

#39 Homecoming: Competition is in the air at Sunnydale High, where winning the Homecoming crown seems to be the most important thing on the agenda. After Cordelia makes fun of Buffy, she unleashes the Prom Queen within, prompting Buffy to run against her for the Homecoming Queen title. Buffy seeks the help of her friends but Xander and Willow are helping Cordelia out of guilt for having secretly shared a kiss. On the night of the Homecoming Dance, Buffy's friends put Buffy and Cordelia in the same limo, hoping they'll make up. Instead, Cordelia ends up in Faith's place in Mr. Trick's Slayerfest 98, where the two Slayers are to be hunted down for sport. After realizing this, Buffy and Cordelia work together to stop Slayerfest, only to return to school and find that there was a tie for Homecoming Queen - between the other two contestants. **** out of 5

#40 Band Candy: Snyder pressures the gang into selling bars of chocolate to raise funds for the school marching band. Meanwhile, the Mayor and Mr. Trick are planning to give tribute to a demon. The sweets are a raging success, and soon Giles and Joyce, along with the rest of the adult population of Sunnydale, are chowing them down like fat pigs at a gluttony contest. Soon after, the gang notices that the adults are suspiciously frisky, and we discover Ethan Rayne is back in town. It turns out that the candy is cursed, bringing on teenage exuberance and the total lack of responsibility that entails. Joyce is hit hard, and spends the time in Giles' arms, while he has reverted to the Ripper of old. Willow and Xander find themselves drawn to each other but resist. Buffy and the gang discover the source is a factory downtown and that the tribute is a bunch of infants for a baby-eating sewer-dwelling demon called Larconis (the candy was cursed to distract the adults). Buffy finds the demon in the nick of time and burns it to death with a handy gas main. ** out of 5

#41 Revelations: Faith finds herself in possession of a new Watcher, the spectacularly English Gwendolyn Post. Angel is slowly recovering from his time spent in Hell, and Buffy is helping him heal, but is troubled by her continued love for him, and the fact she has kept his return secret. Gwen Post informs them that a demon called Lagos is in Sunnydale, looking for the Glove of Mynhegon, a big spiky gauntlet number that gives the wearer some hardcore naughty magic powers. Willow and Xander study in the library to help, during which they kiss for the second time. To alleviate his guilt, Xander goes to the glove's location, where he sees Angel take the glove back to his mansion, and Xander spots Buffy and Angel sharing a kiss. Xander tells Faith that Angel is still alive, and she goes to the mansion to kill him. Gwen Post turns out to be a renegade evil Watcher, who is trying to take the glove for herself. She convinces Faith that Angel and Buffy are working together for the greater bad, and an enormous fight between the two Slayers ensues. Post manages to get the glove on, but Buffy cuts her hand off, and she is killed by the power released. ***** out of 5

#42 Lover's Walk: Spike's return causes Buffy and her friends to re-evaluate their relationships. Recently dumped by Drusilla, Spike returns to Sunnydale seeking revenge on Buffy and Angel. However, after encountering Willow in the magic shop, Spike decides that he would rather use witchcraft to win Dru back. He then kidnaps Willow and Xander and enlists Buffy and Angel's help in obtaining the ingredients necessary for Willow to perform a spell that will make Dru love him again. In witnessing their behavior towards each other, Spike realizes that Buffy and Angel are still in love and calls their attention to it. At the same time, Oz and Cordelia find the captive Willow and Xander in a compromising situation, and Cordelia sustains injuries when running from the scene. Oz dumps Willow, Buffy decides not to see Angel anymore, and Spike heads after Drusilla, to torture her until she wants him again. *** out of 5

#43 The Wish: Cordelia's pain over Xander's betrayal summons Anyanka, a demon who grants wishes to women scorned by the deeds of men. Blaming Buffy for everything that has gone wrong in her life, Cordelia wishes that the Slayer had never come to Sunnydale. This wish allows Anyanka to create an alternate reality where The Master rose, Willow and Xander are vampires, Angel is their slave, and Giles, Oz, and Larry work alone to fight evil. When Cordelia informs Giles that Buffy should have been in Sunnydale, he summons her and she battles The Master, but, without the help of her friends, Buffy is killed. Luckily, Giles manages to destroys Anyanka's life-force, restoring the real world. ***** out of 5

#44 Amends: As Buffy and the gang each prepare to spend Christmas vacation alone, Angel's dreams are haunted by images of people he's killed during his reign as a vampire. A mysterious force called the First Evil takes on the form of Jenny Calendar and tries to convince Angel to kill Buffy. Believing that he isn't strong enough to fight his evil nature, Angel waits outside for the sun to rise and kill him. Buffy finds him and tries to convince him not to die, but just as she is giving up, it starts to snow - a first in Sunnydale - thus preventing Angel from being burned by the sunlight. ** out of 5

#45 Gingerbread: Joyce Summers joins her daughter on a nightly patrol and discovers the bodies of two dead children. After Giles concludes that the children were killed as part of a cult sacrifice, Joyce organizes a group of parents dedicated to ridding Sunnydale of witches and other evildoers. Their first act is to tie Buffy, Willow, and Amy to stakes and set them on fire, along with as many of Giles' occult books as they could get their hands on. Giles and Cordelia rescue the girls by revealing that the dead children are actually a demon that feeds on communal fear. Unfortunately, they arrive too late to stop Amy from turning herself into a rat to escape the angry mob. *** out of 5

#46 Helpless: Buffy finds herself weak and powerless, and begins to worry. Giles, we find out, is drugging her to make her lose her powers. It turns out that the Watcher's Council has a little test for Slayers on who turn 18 - they have to fight a vampire without their powers; if they survive, then they pass. The plan goes awry when the vampire gets loose and kidnaps Buffy's mom. Even without her powers, Buffy kicks some ass and saves her mom. As Buffy tries to deal with Giles' betrayal, he gets fired from the Council for his obvious fatherly love for Buffy, which the Council deems a bad thing. **** out of 5

#47 The Zeppo: After being told by Cordelia that he's the Zeppo of the gang, Xander decides that he needs to find his thing. His thing turns out to be his Uncle Rory's car, which gets him a date with a cute girl, who's unfortunately only interested in his car. He then ends up driving the school bully (Jack) around in his car, helping to raise Jack's friends from the dead. When it turns out that Jack, too, is dead - and that they want Xander to join their little dead-gang - Xander takes off. He runs into Faith, who seduces him and then kicks him out. Afterwards, he realizes that Jack and Co. were planning a bomb, figures out that they're going to blow up the school, and heads there, managing to save the day in the nick of time. All this time, Buffy and the gang have been preventing the world from ending, while trying to keep Xander out of trouble. The next day, Xander keeps quiet about his own adventures, and his newfound confidence allows him to ignore Cordelia's jabs. *** out of 5

#48 Bad Girls: Buffy and Faith's stodgy new Watcher, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, sends the Slayers in search of an ancient amulet. After finding it, they discover Balthazar, a demon Wesley had informed them was dead. In order to fight Balthazar, they break into a sporting goods store, where Faith explains her "Want, take, have" philosophy. Buffy and Faith are caught by the police, but use their Slayer-strength to escape. While hunting for Balthazar the next night, Faith accidentally kills a human, the Deputy Mayor. Faith disposes of the body and tries to wash the blood off her hands, but when Buffy tries to talk to her about what she has done, Faith informs her that she doesn't care. ***** out of 5

#49 Consequences: Buffy struggles with Faith's lack of remorse over last week's incidents, confessing to Willow and then Giles. When the gang tries to decide how to get through to Faith, it comes out that she and Xander had sex, which upsets Willow. When Xander tries to talk some sense into Faith, she tries to kill him. Angel then takes his turn, but is interrupted by Wesley, who attempts to take Faith to England. She escapes easily, and then proceeds to kill Mr. Trick right before he makes a meal of Buffy. The gang thinks Faith can be saved, but while they discuss it, she's offering her services to the Mayor. ***** out of 5

#50 Dopplegangland: Anya asks Willow to help her with a spell, trying to get her necklace back from the alternate universe created in "The Wish". It goes wrong, though, instead bringing Willow's vampire doppelganger into the Buffyverse. After attempting to take over Sunnydale, and grossing Willow out by being a bit too friendly, Vampire Willow is captured and sent back to the alternate universe, where she pops in just in time to die the same death she died in "The Wish." ** out of 5

#51 Enemies: Faith tries to seduce Angel in order to rob him of his soul, but it's a no-go, so the Mayor finds another way - a sorcerer who does the deed. Faith and Angelus team up, capturing Buffy. While giving Buffy a hard time, Faith spouts a few details about the Mayor's Ascension, at which point Buffy and Angel reveal that the whole thing was a hoax. Faith takes off, and Buffy tells Angel she needs some time after having had to watch him pretend to be Angelus and kiss Faith. ***** out of 5

#52 Choices: Since Faith's turn to the dark side seems to have ruined Buffy's chances of ever getting out of Sunnydale to go away to college, Buffy decides to launch an offensive and shut down the Mayor's plans for Ascension, ending up putting Willow in danger. Meanwhile, plans for the future are the order of the day, as Willow tries to choose among a bevy of college acceptances, Xander decides to take a summer road trip, and Buffy and Angel refuse to face the insurmountable obstacles to a successful life together. ***** out of 5

#53 Earshot: When Buffy makes contact with a demon, she becomes infected with an aspect of it - its ability to read minds. She finds it cool at first, but soon no one wants to be around her, and eventually it becomes uncontrollable. Before she becomes incapacitated from her new "gift," she telepathically overhears an unknown voice threatening mass murder at the school. While Angel, Giles, and Wesley race to save Buffy from insanity, the rest of the gang races to save the school. In the end, Angel saves Buffy, and Buffy stops both a suicide (Jonathan's) and, with the help of Xander, a mass murder (attempted food-poisoning by the lunch lady). *** out of 5

#54 The Prom: Angel decides to do the right thing (after a talk with Buffy's mom) and break up with Buffy, as they can never have a real life together. Buffy, of course, doesn't feel like it's the right thing, but she must put her pain aside when some Hellhounds with a fetish for formal clothing threaten the Prom. Determined to let her friends, at least, have a happy Prom, Buffy saves the day in the nick of time. Buffy's night doesn't turn out so bad after all, as she receives the Class Protector award, and Angel stops by for one last dance. ***** out of 5

#55 Graduation Day (Part I): The Mayor prepares for his Ascension, as does the gang, with the help of Anya. In an effort to distract Buffy from the Ascension, Faith poisons Angel. When it turns out that the only cure is the blood of a Slayer, Buffy decides to sacrifice Faith. They fight, Buffy stabs her with Faith's knife, and Faith jumps off the balcony rather than save Angel. She lands on a moving truck, and Buffy can only watch as she rides away, possibly dead. **** out of 5

#56 Graduation Day (Part II) (Season III Finale): Since Buffy's attempt to feed Faith to Angel failed, she forces him to feed off of her to save his own life. Once he does, he rushes her to the hospital, where the gang berates him. Nonetheless, they all work together to stop the Mayor from feeding on the seniors by waiting until he ascends, luring him into the library, and blowing him (and the school) to smithereens. Meanwhile, Faith lies in a coma, from which the doctors don't expect her to ever wake. Angel walks off into the shadows. *** out of 5

#57 The Freshman (Season IV Premiere): Trying to adjust to the rigours of college life at the University of California, Sunnydale proves to be harder than Buffy imagined. She moves into a dorm, must contend with a less-than-stable roommate and the complexities of dating college men. On campus, Willow is overly enthused about college life and her ongoing romance with Oz, and Xander unexpectedly returns from his self-discovery adventure. Elsewhere, Giles seems to be enjoying his life away from being a librarian and a Watcher.

REVIEW: Not a bad start to the new season but hardly riveting either. It appears Buffy is undergoing a massive overhaul and the loss of Angel, Faith and Cordelia are more than abundant. Buffy appears to have lost her superpower-fighting abilities too - as evidenced by the whipping she gets in this episode. ** out of 5


#58 Living Conditions: Dorm life proves to be quite an adjustment for Buffy when her room-mate drives her crazy with her idiosyncrasies even invading Buffy's dreams and the gang must come together to find a way to get her to move out. Away from the dorm, Buffy meets Parker Finch, a handsome older classman who is the first guy Buffy has been attracted to since her break-up with Angel.

REVIEW: Joss Whedon decides to emulate Ally McBeal and the results are mixed - the most obvious success being the humour laced sequences where Buffy annoys her roommate. So far, it is two for two and the season is starting to look bleak. ** out of 5


#59 The Harsh Light of Day: Spike returns to Sunnydale in search of the vampire version of the Holy Grail, a mythical relic that supposedly engenders the wearer with unimaginable powers and it's up to Buffy to stop him. Meanwhile, Buffy is distracted by dating issues as she deals with her feelings for a new boy who happens to not be a blood-sucking vampire but is equally as difficult to understand. Xander has romance issues of his own when his prom date from last spring, Anya, can't get the X-man out of her mind.

REVIEW: Normally episodes Spike appears in are outstanding and really worth watching but this one lagged and just never regained the pace. Watch this - and then look at how great he was seen to effect in the spin-off series "Angel." ** out of 5


#60 Fear, Itself: Buffy reluctantly agrees to join Willow, Oz and Xander at a Halloween party where they stumble into a real-life house of horrors masquerading as an innocuous fraternity. Meanwhile, Giles is called upon to help out the college crowd when all he wants is to get into the spirit of the holiday.

REVIEW: The most entertaining episode of the season to date but given the competition, that is not saying much. This episode, while good in part, read more like a second rate "Nightmares" and that is never a good thing. It appears Buffy is starting to rehash the old themes as it struggles for its identity this year. *** out of 5


#61 Beer Bad: When Buffy is befriended by a group of upperclassmen who convince her to drown her sorrows with them, bartender Xander becomes suspicious when Buffy and her new friends return to their primordial roots. Back at the Bronze, Willow is aware of Oz's attention being turned to a new performer, the sexual and charismatic Veruca.

REVIEW: Beer Bad. Story Bad. Acting Bad. Oh my! Just what were they thinking? This would have to be the most embarrassing episode that the series has produced to date and one has to feel for Sarah Michelle Gellar to be given such an awful script. * out of 5


#62 Wild at Heart: Buffy does her best to console Willow when Oz is undeniably drawn to another woman, Veruca. Even after it is discovered that his attraction stems from the fact that she is also a werewolf, his powerful primitive instincts may be too innate to ignore.

REVIEW: Now this is more like it. While the episode was not fantastic, it was definitely a notch above the previous episodes. The main fault I have with this one is that it was basically a reversal of the Angel/Buffy doomed love quest and while I like Willow and Oz, they are just not that compelling as a couple to pull off the material. Overall, not great but given the menu so far this season, I'll take it. *** out of 5


#63 The Initiative: Unbeknownst to Buffy and the gang, Spike is captured by a commando squad for the Initiative, a mysterious underground laboratory beneath the streets of U.C. Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Buffy's Psyche T.A., Riley, has a major slayer crush and turns to Willow for advice on ways to woo.

REVIEW: Wow. That's what I thought when I first watched this. This is without a doubt, the best episode of the season to date. Why? The story was original, fast-paced, complex and entertaining to watch. The story moved on so many different levels and that is always a good thing in my book. Pity they cannot be all this good! ***** out of 5


#64 Pangs: Unbeknownst to Buffy, Angel lurks in the shadows of Sunnydale trying to protect her and keep her safe, while her perfect Thanksgiving feast is disrupted by an army of Chumash Indians, the original inhabitants of Sunnydale, whose spirits have come alive to recreate the wrongs that were done to their people.

REVIEW: While not as fantastic as "The Initiative" this gets my vote for the second strongest episode of the year to date. It was great to see a truly ensemble piece and that everyone - sans Cordelia had something to do. I thought the plotting of Angel lurking in the shadows and protecting Buffy was true to the nature of their relationship and that the episode moved along amiably - without rehashing too many of the previous story threads. *** out of 5


#65 Something Blue: Buffy is only one of many who must bear the repercussions of a spell gone awry when Willow, pining over the disappearance of Oz, tries to imbue herself with the power to have her will done. The fallout includes Buffy falling in love with Spike and planning to marry him, Giles going blind and Xander becoming even more of a demon magnet. *** out of 5

#66 Hush: A silence falls over Sunnydale when residents lose the power of speech and Buffy and her friends find themselves up against an enemy who must steal human hearts in order to survive. Meanwhile, Riley gets his first clue to Buffy's slayer side when they have a fight with the outside visitor and Willow attends a wicca group that's not all she had hoped. **** out of 5

#67 Doomed: While Buffy and Riley grapple to come to terms with what they now know about each other, the reopening of the Sunnydale Hellmouth sends Buffy and the gang back to high school to prevent the impending apocalypse. Meanwhile, Spike has lost all will to live without the ability to kill but he grows heartened by the approaching end of the world. ** out of 5

#68 A New Man: Buffy and Riley explore the extent of each other's powers as they become more romantically entwined. Feeling left out these days, Giles turns to his old buddy Ethan Rayne for camaraderie but Giles must rely on an unlikely source when he is transformed into a demon and mistakenly hunted down by an unknowing Buffy. *** out of 5

#69 The I in Team: Buffy's friends become hurt and concerned when her involvement with Riley and the Initiative becomes more intense. Meanwhile, Professor Walsh sends the slayer on a mission that brings her close to revealing a dangerous secret. **** out of 5

#70 Goodbye Iowa: Buffy and Riley's relationship is put to the test when she investigates Professor Walsh's death and comes up against the Initiative's secret weapon. While Buffy is trying to find a way to save Sunnydale from rogue warrior demons on the loose, Riley becomes paranoid and delusional and challenges Buffy when he discovers that his mentor has been killed. Elsewhere in town, Spike finds he has become the outcast among demons since he has taken up with the Scooby-Doo Gang. ***** out of 5

#71 This Year's Girl (Part I): Buffy is preoccupied with catching the creature that attacked Riley but her problems are just beginning when she learns that Faith has awakened from her coma and has gone seeking revenge to the only home in which Faith remembers Buffy living. Meanwhile, Faith receives a mysterious gift left behind from the Mayor. ***** out of 5

#72 Who Are You (Part II): Buffy battles to escape the clutches of the Watcher's Council special operation team, who plan to send her to England, while Faith continues to wreak havoc in the lives of Buffy's family and friends. Meanwhile, it's Willow and Tara who figure out Buffy's whereabouts but not before Faith has done some serious damage to Buffy's relationship with Riley. ***** out of 5

#73 Superstar: Buffy, still reeling from the discovery that Riley was intimate with Faith, must put aside her personal emotions and summon the strength to uncover why the entire town thinks that former high school nerd, Jonathan, is Sunnydale's newest version of a superhero. ** out of 5

#74 Where The Wild Things Are: Buffy and Riley unleash a powerful supernatural force that awakens during a Lowell House fraternity party and causes everyone's hormones to kick into overdrive, threatening the very lives of Buffy and Riley. In order to free them, the gang must battle the spirits of children from the 1950's who have come back to avenge past abuses. ** out of 5

#75 New Moon Rising: Willow and her friends are stunned when Oz returns to Sunnydale claiming he still loves Willow and has his full moon frolics under control. Meanwhile, Willow tries to sort out her feelings for Oz and finally tells Buffy about her new relationship with Tara but when the moon sets, a transformed Oz is captured by the Initiative and Riley breaks his alliance to come to the rescue. **½ out of 5

#76 The Yoko Factor (Part I): The key to Adam's plan for humanity's demise is to make Buffy vulnerable by separating the slayer from the Scooby gang - her safety net of friends. He joins forces with Spike, who invents a scheme to play the pals' insecurities against one another. In return, Adam promises to remove the antiviolence chip from Spike's brain, which prevents the vampire from attacking humans. Meanwhile, Angel returns to Sunnydale to offer his aid and is confronted by Buffy's new love, Riley. ***½ out of 5

#77 Primeval (Part II): Buffy's estrangement from her friends and Giles threatens to keep the group from stopping Adam's plan to design a master race of human/demon hybrids. Elsewhere, Riley is captured by Adam and learns that before Professor Walsh died, she implanted him with a chip that would bond him to Adam forever. **** out of 5

#78 Restless (Season IV Finale): A primordial animal spirit haunts the dreams of Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander, making them face their innermost fears. *** out of 5

#79 Buffy Versus Dracula (Season V Premiere): Still searching for a normal life, Buffy must deal with the greatest vampire of all - Count Dracula - when he decides to pay the Slayer a visit in Sunnydale. While Buffy is powerless under Dracula's thrall, Xander becomes the dark one's emissary and leads his friends into peril. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Buffy, Giles is seriously contemplating returning to England as he feels Buffy no longer needs his help.

#80 Real Me: While Buffy and Giles heat up the training, Buffy and Dawn’s sibling rivalry gets them into trouble when a new gang of vampires targets the slayer. Meanwhile. when the magic shop in town is ransacked and the owner killed, Giles thinks he may have found a new hub for the Scooby gang.

#81 The Replacement: When a crafty demon out hunting Buffy catches Xander in his sights, a mysterious Xander double is born. Two Xander's aren't better than one as the evil double quickly takes over Xander's identity, fooling everyone including Buffy, and starts living Xander's life with a flourish.

#82 Out Of My Mind: Buffy is in a race against time when the side effects from The Initiative's test results endangers Riley's life. When Riley stubbornly refuses help and goes into hiding, Buffy reluctantly turns to Spike for help - who takes advantage of her situation for his own plot to rid his life of the slayer once and for all.

#83 No Place Like Home: An unseen evil comes to Sunnydale that helps Buffy discover more about her newly arrived little sister Dawn and the girls are distressed and confused when their mom suddenly becomes ill.

#84 Family: Willow feels betrayed when Tara’s family makes a surprise visit to Sunnydale for her birthday threatening to reveal a shocking secret that could endanger all of their lives. Meanwhile, Buffy and Giles secretly try to learn more about the new evil that is hunting her and her family.

#85 Fool For Love: In an effort to learn about other slayers' final battles, Buffy forces Spike to recount how he killed two slayers. His flashbacks reveal his first meeting with his one true love, Drusilla, and how lovers Angel and Darla joined them.

#86 Shadow: In order to protect her sister Dawn, Buffy must face a beast that has been conjured by a powerful demon called Glory to help seek out "The Key."

#87 Listening To Fear: As Buffy and Dawn help their mother prepare for brain surgery, a creepy extra-terrestrial demon becomes fixated on an increasingly disoriented Joyce and infiltrates the Summers' home.

#88 Into The Woods: Spike disrupts Buffy's one moment of peace after her mom's successful operation to expose Riley's late nights spent in the arms of a vampire, sending an upset and bewildered Buffy into a tailspin and putting their relationship in turmoil.

#89 Triangle: While Buffy recovers from losing Riley, emotions are charged between Willow and Anya when they are left in charge of the magic shop and Willow accidentally conjures an enormous troll that will force them to deal with their less than perfect friendship and their feelings towards Xander.

#90 Checkpoint: The Watcher's Council arrives in Sunnydale demanding Buffy pass an exhaustive review of her slaying skills or they will withhold critical information about Glory and have Giles deported back to England.

#91 Blood Ties: As Buffy and friends celebrate her 20th birthday, Dawn is traumatised to learn she is "The Key" and runs away - leaving a frantic Buffy who tries to discover her whereabouts before Glory does.

#92 Crush: Buffy confronts Spike about his suspected crush and is appalled by his admission of love. Unfortunately her brutal rejection sends him back into the clutches of Drusilla - who has returned to Sunnydale intent on returning Spike to his killer ways.

#93 I Was Made to Love You: Buffy must stop a heartbroken young woman who was manufactured to be the perfect girlfriend from destroying the city and then finds herself comforting the creation over the loss of love in both of their lives.

#94 The Body: Buffy and her friends are overwhelmed with grief and their lives are changed forever when they must deal with the loss of someone close to all of them.

#95 Forever: A grieving and confused Buffy falls into the loving arms of Angel who comes back to Sunnydale after he gets word about the death of her mother. Meanwhile, a distraught Dawn takes it upon herself to perform a magic spell to bring her mom back to life. .

#96 Intervention: Buffy travels to a sacred location on a solemn quest guided by the first slayer with the hopes of uncovering why she has become emotionally paralyzed and to help regain her focus towards slaying. Back in Sunnydale, unable to have the real thing, Spike builds a Buffy robot, who is a picture-perfect replica and so devoted to the rogue that it leaves the Scooby gang reeling and Glory's minions convinced he is the Key.

#97 Tough Love: Buffy must step up as the authority figure for Dawn Michelle Trachtenberg now that their mom is gone, all the while fearful that Glory is closer to discovering the Key when a member of the Scooby gang is her latest victim.

#98 Spiral: Buffy explodes into action and takes the gang on the road once Glory discovers that Dawn is the Key. While on the run, things happen fast as Giles and Spike are wounded, Dawn learns she has the power to destroy the universe, and Willow stays close to an incoherent Tara.

#99 The Weight Of The World: Buffy slips into catatonia after Glory kidnaps Dawn and prepares to bring about the end of the world, so Willow uses her wicca talents to reach Buffy deep inside her innermost secrets and subconscious fears.

#100 The Gift (Season V Finale): Another imminent apocalypse is at hand in Sunnydale. Buffy must square off against a true God when Glory prepares to use Dawn to break down the walls between the dimensions and unleash all Hell on Earth. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Anya, Tara and Spike go to battle with the knowledge that they may not all survive.

#101 Bargaining (Season VI Premiere): Several months have passed since Buffy sacrificed herself to save Dawn, her friends and the world. The Slayerettes are doing their best to keep the demon population down and Willow has repaired the Buffybot so the world remains unaware of the Slayers death. Unfortunately a vamp discovers the truth and escapes to tell his friends. With no Slayer to watch, Giles makes preparations to return to England and leaves Anya in charge of the magic shop. Willow, Tara, Anya and Xander secretly perform a powerful spell at Buffy's gravesite to resurrect the Slayer, but the spell is interfered with by a group of demon bikers and the Slayerettes flee, not knowing if the spell worked or not.

#102 Bargaining (Part II): The Scooby Gang run from Buffy's gravesite and her resurrection goes unnoticed. When she does get back above ground, she is confused and disoriented and wanders around looking at the carnage caused by the demon gang. The demons damage the Buffybot badly and notice the real Buffy wandering around. They chase her and she eventually runs into the Slayerettes, who realize that she has been traumatized by having to dig out of her own grave. When the demons arrive for a final fight, Buffy, still very confused, returns to her Slayer ways and defeats them all; but runs away from her friends after. The Buffybot stays "alive" long enough to tell Dawn of the real Buffy's return. Dawn finds Buffy at Glory's tower, and she wants to jump off again. As the tower begins to collapse Dawn manages to coax Buffy down and they land just as the tower crumbles around them. Buffy and Dawn hug, but the Slayer is still not herself.

#103 Afterlife: The first repercussions of the resurrection spell has the Scoobies battling with a demon ghost and Buffy realizes she was happier with the peace of the afterlife but cannot bring herself to tell her friends. She finds a sympathetic ear in someone else who knows a little about an afterlife: Spike.

#104 Flooded: With Joyce gone, Buffy finds herself trying to contend with burst pipes and home-improvement loans. She seeks out the advice of a just-returned Giles who expresses his concern over Willow's attitude toward brining Buffy back. While trying to get a loan, Buffy's meeting is crashed by a demon, dispatched by a trio of bored, twentysomething would-be sorcerers who want to cause mischief (and to hypnotize Buffy and make her their love slave). The demon makes its way to the Slayers home and Buffy begs him not to break anything, and winds up drowning him in a pool of water formed by her plumbing leak.

#105 Life Serial: As Buffy tries to 'normalize' her new life as a parent and return to college and attempt numerous jobs, she again comes up against the Troika, a group of would-be sorcerers, who test the Slayer by casting spells on her which make her experience time distortions, magically appearing demons and a strange "Groundhog Day" time loop.

#106 All The Way: When Dawn lies to Buffy and spends Halloween night joyriding and partying with boys, Buffy finds herself having to assume the role of parent/disciplinarian. Meanwhile, after Willow and Tara have a fight about Willow's abuse of magic, Willow casts a spell on Tara to make her forget the fight.

#107 Once More With Feeling: A mysterious force causes everyone in Sunnydale to reveal all of their innermost thoughts and feelings in song. Buffy tells the gang the truth about where she was when she was dead and they are devastated, none more than Willow. Tara sings a love song to Willow professing all her love, but does Willow feel the same way? Dawn confesses that she has been stealing, and finally, Giles decides to return to England for good.

#108 Tabula Rasa: After the gang finds out about Buffy's true afterlife, Willow does a spell to make her forget that she was actually in heaven. Unfortunately the spell goes awry and the gang all wake up with amnesia, forgetting everything about their lives including the existence of vampires and the Slayer. Because of their British accents, Giles and Spike ("Randy") think they are father and son, Giles and Anya think they are engaged, Willow and "Alex" think they are dating, and due to the absence of ID, Buffy names herself Joan. When a demon loan shark comes to collect a long overdue loan from Spike, "Joan" and "Randy" discover their true nature when they are forced to fight, while Dawn, Willow, Tara and "Alex" head out to try and restore their memories. At episodes end when they get their memories back the gang goes through some changes, with Tara breaking up with Willow and Giles finally leaving Sunnydale behind forever.

#109 Smashed: After breaking up with Tara, Willow successfully de-rats Amy and the two witches begin hanging out and having fun with magic. Meanwhile, Spike notices that his chip doesn't kick in when he hits Buffy but it only works with her, leading him to believe that she is not entirely human.

#110 Wrecked: When they finally 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 warlock who's brand of magic quickly has Willow hooked. While looking after Dawn, Willow decides to get another quick fix and leaves the warlock's place looking very high and not at all in control of herself. To escape a demon Willow and Dawn steal a car but Willow seems it better to drive using magick, not her hands, resulting in them crashing. Willow breaks down and seems truly sorry for what she has done, but her actions further enrage Buffy who is now convinced that Willow is completely out of control and may need to get help.

#111 Gone: Buffy and Dawn clear the house of magic items to help Willow and Buffy has a surprise visit from a social worker checking on Dawn's home life. The meeting doesn't go well and in a fit of rage afterwards, Buffy cuts off her hair. Meanwhile, the Geek Trio have built an invisibility ray and accidentally hit Buffy with it, who takes advantage of her new situation by paying Spike a visit and messing with (deserving) people. Willow is really trying to stay away from magic but Xander confronts her, assuming she has cast an invisibility spell on Buffy, leaving her even more upset. The Geek Trio kidnap Willow and contact Buffy for a trade, and she and the Geeks have an invisible fight in an arcade until Willow returns them to normal and Buffy finally discovers who they are, before they make a hasty (and rather geeky) escape.

#112 Doublemeat Palace: Buffy gets a job in a fast food resturant, and when co-workers start ending up in pieces, the mystery behind the meat comes into question. Willow works on staying clear of magic, but Amy gives her an unwanted gift and Willow is forced to make a big decision. Buffy tries to ignore the temptation that is Spike, but fails. A little sexual taunting and innuendo turns into much more. A vengeance demon friend of Anya's visits and Anya's life as a demon and her relationship with Xander is questioned and reconsidered by the soon-to-be-wed couple.

#113 Dead Things: The Troika's latest escapade to make Warren's ex-girlfriend Katrina their willing slave goes horribly wrong when she is accidentally killed. The trio use magical and demonic forces to make Buffy think that she has killed Katrina - and it works. With finding out the truth about her resurrection and believing she killed an innocent girl, Buffy's world begins to fall apart.

#114 Older and Far Away: Old and new friends gather at the Summers home for Buffy's 21st birthday party and it goes off without a hitch - mostly. Feeling neglected by Buffy and the Scoobys, Dawn's wish to keep people from leaving her is answered by a demon friend who binds the attendees of the party to the house - with the demon inside also, of course.

#115 As You Were: Riley pursues a demon to Sunnydale and seeks Buffy's help in killing it. He also comes with a surprise... he is married. His wife, fellow demon hunter Sam, befriends the enitre Scooby Gang and gets along quite well with all of them, but Buffy's own "relationship" with Spike comes into question when her ex's perfect romance shows her just what she doesn't have.

#116 Hell's Bells: The day of the wedding has finally come and Xander and Anya are preparing for the hoards of "guests" to arrive. While Xander's screwed up human family go head to head with Anya's mostly non-human friends, a special guest approaches Xander to warn him that his life with Anya may not turn out to be the married bliss he has hoped for.

#117 Normal Again: After being poisoned by a demon, Buffy comes to believe that she is confined to a mental hospital, her mother is alive and her parents are still together and that her life as a Slayer was all an hallucination for the past six years. Deciding that she prefers this 'normal' life with her parents a whole lot more, Buffy attempts to kill the things that tether her to the 'fantasy' life of the Slayer: the Scoobies.

#118 Entropy: Having accepted the offer to become a vengeance demon again, Anya attempts to curse Xander for the pain he caused her... but she can't do it herself. Instead, she enlists the help of some old friends but it doesn't go how she expected. Buffy spends some quality time with Dawn to make up for her violent actions in "Normal Again", but Dawn's idea of time well spent is the dangerous world of patrolling; while Willow and Tara go on a coffee date and begin to mend their troubled relationship. The gang discover that the Troika have been watching their every move with hidden cameras. The cameras are traced to the trio's lair and what is seen on video proves to be devastating for all of them.

#119 Seeing Red: Willow and Tara are well on the road to recovery but love lives are not as good for Xander and Anya or Buffy and Spike. The Troika move full swing into their biggest plan ever: stealing a pair of mystical orbs which imbue the bearer with super strength and invulnerability. They attempt to rob an armoured van but Buffy crashes the party resulting in a battle between her and SuperWarren. Buffy is all but finished until Jonathan reveals the secret to Warren's power. Buffy manages to defeat him but he escapes by use of a rocket pack and Jonathan and Andrew are arrested. Buffy heads home to await the next encounter but it comes all too soon. A crazed Warren proves he is evil enough on his own and shoots at Buffy. She takes a bullet in the shoulder but a wild shot fatally hits a Scooby.....

#120 Villains: Willow is consumed with rage following Tara's death and she wants revenge in the worst way. She runs to the magic shop and draws the dark power from the books into her causing her hair and eyes to turn black. After saving Buffy by magically removing the bullet from her shoulder she heads out to find Warren. Warren knows Willow is after him and he seeks out Rack for help but is told that nothing can stop the vengeance of a witch. Willow finds Warren and unleashes her full power on him, torturing him with the ghost of Katrina and eventually ripping the skin off his body.

#121 Two To Go: After exacting revenge on Warren for Tara's death, an extremely powerful and vengeful Willow now vows to go after the other two members of the trio, Jonathan and Andrew, forcing Buffy into the unlikely role of nerd-villain protector due to her belief that it is wrong to kill humans. At the Magic Box, Willow catches up to them all and takes on Buffy and Anya. Things are looking bad until Giles comes back to join the fight. Meanwhile, after getting his heart broken by Buffy, Spike is in search of a soul and undergoes a fiery test given by an African demon in order to win it.

#122 Grave (Season VI Finale): Buffy vs Willow in the ultimate showdown.