ReVamped: Season 4, A New Man

68. A New Man

Original Air Date: January 25, 2000
Written by: Jane Espenson
Directed by: Michael Gershman

Guest Cast:
Marc Blucas (Riley Finn)
Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne)
Amber Benson (Tara)
Emma Caulfield (Anya)
Lindsay Crouse (Professor Walsh)

Buffy and Riley are doing some heavy kissing, while fully clothed on her bed. Buffy tells him that Willow is not supposed to return to the room for hours. As his hand moves under her shirt, Willow rushes in, to tell them of a fire-breathing something that just crashed into the rec. room.
Buffy draws a stake and Riley takes her crossbow around the back as they approach the darkened room.
Suddenly, the lights come on and Buffy's friends, along with some others, shout out, "Surprise!"
As partygoers mingle, Buffy and Riley manage to hide their weapons, but Buffy teases Willow that she will not escape Buffy's wrath.
As the party continues, Anya's rude reaction to Giles' story-telling, irritates him mightily. Xander coaches her in some manners, but Giles dismisses them, anyway.
Later, a bored Giles is approached by Willow, bearing cake. Buffy joins them and after Giles congratulates her on her 19th birthday, she introduces Riley Finn, as her boyfriend.
Willow wanders off and Buffy interrupts a surprised Giles before he can begin a full interrogation of Riley. Instead, Buffy volunteers that Giles used to be the High School Librarian.
Riley asks about his current job and it leads to an awkward moment because Giles has been a gentleman of leisure, since they blew up the High School.
Buffy makes an excuse to send Riley for more cake. She tells Giles that she is pleased with the party, but he admits he didn't recommend a surprise party.
Buffy quotes Psychology Prof. Maggie Walsh about surprises and then demolishes Giles ego, by calling Walsh the smartest person she's ever met and commenting that Walsh has more important things to do than attend a kid's party.
At Xander's, the next day, Anya reads a comic book, as Xander tries to speed up Spike's packing. When Xander catches Spike trying to steal his radio, Spike reminds Xander that he is, after all, evil. Spike says he is maybe looking for a crypt brighter than Xander's basement apartment and with a better smell.
Anya's attempt to learn human traditions has her offering Spike one of Xander's lamps, as a house-warming gift. Xander reminds her that gift giving is restricted to friends and Spike ridicules her for thinking a crypt would have electricity. When he thinks about it, he realizes that he has grown used to more comfortable surroundings and asks Xander for enough money for a hotel room. Xander threatens to sic the Slayer on him. When Spike wonders why Buffy has not made an appearance, Xander tells him that she is facing a scarier foe.
Just then, Riley is introducing Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Prof. Maggie Walsh. Walsh realizes now why Buffy the Student has never reached her full potential. Walsh contrasts, in an almost mocking tone, the state-of-the-art methods of the Initiative to Buffy's sharp stick approach. Walsh seems eager for Buffy to become involved with the Initiative. She thinks Buffy will find their work impressive, such as Riley's 17 kills (11 vamps, 6 demons).
Buffy pauses a moment before explaining exactly how many monsters she has killed.
Meanwhile, Giles is dusting his bookshelf when he suddenly remembers something. A quick check of one of the books and he is alarmed enough to take action. He is already gathering tools, as he calls Willow to tell her and Buffy that demon prince Barvain is rising tonight.
Buffy and Riley are walking the campus, as he is trying to absorb the routine carnage and danger that is Buffy's life. He struggles to understand the immense power of the monsters she has fought and the odds she has overcome to save the world on numerous occasions. He thought that preventing apocalypse with her once was a rare opportunity.
When she reminds him that she has more experience because she started at the age of 15, this fact also stuns him. And, of course, her Slayer powers make it all possible. When he wonders if he can tackle her physically, she playfully encourages him to try.
Giles has gone to Prof. Walsh in his search for Buffy. Giles starts a compliment to Walsh's influence on Buffy, but ends by comparing her teaching to an introductory textbook. Walsh thinks Buffy has the potential but needs more encouragement, while Giles feels that she will learn best if given the freedom to discover knowledge on her own. Walsh is not impressed with Giles viewpoint, she does not see independence as a plus. She thinks Buffy suffers from no strong male role models, which, of course, amounts to a personal attack on Giles.
She then dismisses him with a promise to tell Buffy he is looking for her.
That night Giles, Xander and Willow are late in searching for Barvain due to Giles wanderings on the campus.
When they reach their destination, the crypt shows no trace of a demon having risen. Willow and Xander casually discuss the possibility that Riley and the Initiative have already dealt with the demon prince and covered up their tracks.
Giles is initially confused. They all soon realize that Giles is totally in the dark about Riley and their growing knowledge of the Initiative. Giles is astonished to find that even Spike knows more than he does. He is further horrified to know that Prof. Walsh is in charge of the commandos.
In disgust he sends a willing Xander and Willow away. After waiting a few moments, Giles decides to go home as well, convinced that there will be no danger arising tonight.
As he leaves, Ethan Rayne emerges from the shadows. Rayne was an old friend of Giles during their youthful days of dabbling in dark rituals and he has occasionally been involved in mischief in Sunnydale. In the dark crypt, he begins to foretell that Giles is very wrong if he thinks nothing is going to happen.
Suddenly, Giles opens the door to the crypt again, surprising Rayne in the middle of his bad-guy-mysteriously-threatening-the-hero-behind-his-back scene.
Considering how his day has gone, Giles is looking forward to committing some violence on Rayne, but Rayne stalls by offering to share what he knows about an immanent danger.
                                     They retire to a bar to discuss it, over pints of dark beer.
                                     After some initial verbal parrying, Rayne tells him that a new threat to
                                     demons, known only as "314", has them so scared, they are considering
                                     drastic measures.
                                     A balance of terror between the forces of evil and our world has been
                                     disrupted which could lead to escalating violence by the underworld
                                     creatures.
Buffy and Riley are sparring in a small gym. When Riley kids her that he is holding back to avoid hurting her, she throws him. He then challenges her to an all-out contest. They parry a rapid series of punches with none landing, until Buffy takes him down with a tripping move. She recovers first and as he regains his feet she lands a side kick flat on his chest that knocks him about 15 feet across the room and into a padded wall. She rushes to him apologizing, as he slowly sits up, with obviously soreness in his chest.
Giles is crying in his beer and a few empty shot glasses. He is certain that the Initiative is behind this 314 and they are having more impact on evil in six months than he has in twenty years.
As he complains, a drunken Giles lets slip to an alert Rayne not only the existence of the paramilitary group, but that Prof. Walsh is their leader.
The waitress brings more beers and shots, and while Rayne gives the woman his phone number, Giles continues to bemoan how his life has turned out. Rayne assures him that things are going to change for Giles, because Rayne has poisoned him. After a few tense seconds, Rayne breaks up laughing, telling Giles it was all a joke. Even Giles laughs and they drink a toast to magic.
Willow is at Tara's and they are conjuring. Tara draws a sign on the floor and they join hands. Willow plans an exercise to practice synchronizing their powers to achieve a precise task levitating a rose and plucking its petals, one-by-one. A bright light shines on the design and they succeed in floating the rose.
They take a moment to wonder at what they have done, but before they can begin removing its petals, the rose begins to fly wildly around the room. The women duck as the flower and stem dives at them and falls back on top of the design, smoke coming from where its petals should be.
Giles reluctantly wakes to a buzzing alarm clock and goes downstairs.
Looking in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs he is shocked to find that he is now a demon. His skin is red and splotchy; his face is unrecognizable. He has bony spurs rising from the tips of his shoulders and ram-like horns that curve around the sides of his head.
Unaccustomed to demon strength, he damages the wall and snaps off the banister post. Realizing that Ethan Rayne must be behind this, he grabs the phone and crushes it. He even destroys a favorite shirt while trying to dress, before hurriedly throwing a blanket over his shoulders, tearing the door from its hinges and striding off into the bright morning.
At breakfast, in the cafeteria, Willow is enjoying Buffy's lighthearted attitude now that she's involved with Riley. Buffy asks about Willow's evening and Willow tells her about the incident with the rose - but she does not tell Buffy about her new friend. She does tell Buffy that she sensed a new, dark and powerful force interfering with the spell.
Buffy debates whether they should tell Giles or Walsh first and Willow votes for Giles. She tells Buffy about how he feels left out and learns that Buffy thought she had already told Giles everything. Buffy has plans with Riley, but she tells Willow she will make it up to Giles tomorrow. Then, she tells Willow about drop-kicking Riley. Buffy is worried that it may have been a bad move for their relationship, but Willow reminds her that she promised not to hold back, to do so would be lying. Buffy sheepishly admits that she still didn't hit him as hard as she could have.
It's 10:30am when demon Giles arrives at Xander's, only to find him still sleeping. Giles patiently explains to a waking Xander that Raynes has turned him into a demon. Xander awakes to a horned demon standing over him, talking a gibberish demon language.
Terrified, Xander leaps from his bed and finds some skillets stacked on a shelf to throw at the persistent demon. Giles persists in trying to talk to Xander, until he tires of having things thrown at him. He flees into the street, scaring women and children, who raise the alarm.
Xander is giving Buffy, Willow and Anya a description of the demon, when they arrive at Giles'. Of course, the damage convinces them that the demon attacked Giles and may have taken him. Except for Anya, based on the torn shirt, she thinks the demon ate him.
Demon Giles is trudging through a cemetery, when he runs across Spike.
Spike is delighted to find a creature that he can kill without the chip that the Initiative planted in his head causing him pain.
Demon Giles laments that this is the perfect ending to a perfect day.
Spike is surprised to find that Giles is a Fyarl demon. Giles is surprised to find that Spike understands him, understands Fyarl, that is.
Giles tries to elicit Spike's help, but he reminds Giles that he is, after all, evil. Giles tries threatening him. They finally agree on $200. Giles intends to find Rayne, get cured and kill Rayne, without Buffy finding out that anything happened.
At Giles' house, the gang is pouring over his books trying to find a reference to the demon Xander saw. They hear a creaking outside and Buffy goes, stake in hand, to investigate. Before she reaches the door it busts open and Riley arrives. He came because the Initiative intercepts 911 calls about strange occurrences and that among the callers; Giles' neighbors reported a disturbance. Unfortunately, Buffy and friends have nothing to show for their efforts. They reflect on what a valuable resource Giles is to the team.
Spike is driving and grinding down the gears on Giles' old Citroen.
Spike laughs at Giles' speech, because it is so highbrow and the Fyarl
demons are very primitive.
Giles tries to find out more about the creature he has become and
Spike tells him that they are strong and can fling a cement-like mucus
from their nostrils. Giles can't be sure if he is kidding.
Giles is beginning to feel demon-like impulses, which he struggles to
control, so he can conduct himself like a civilized person.
He instructs Spike to stop and he sneaks up on an unsuspecting Maggie Walsh, so he can wave his arms, growl and send her running down the street screaming. He then gets back into the car and they proceed on their way.
Xander finally finds the Fyarl demons in a book.
Willow reads the description of a grunt-like henchman, with strength and mucus. A silver weapon can kill it.
Just then, Riley is phoned with the report of Prof. Walsh's demon. From the description, they realize that the demon is in Giles' car, but none of them understand this demon-as-car-thief twist.
They speculate that someone controlling the simpleminded Fyarl demon may, have caused the magical disturbance that Willow felt. Buffy and Riley will go to the Magic Shop, while the others wait by the phone. Before she leaves, Buffy selects a letter opener from Giles' desk.
Spike is questioning the waitress about the phone number Rayne gave her. She tells him that Rayne is staying at the disreputable Sunnydale Motor Inn.
Riley chides Buffy when she breaks in the door to the Magic Shop, because he has a key to every shop on Main Street. They begin searching the store's records for clues and Buffy quickly finds a receipt for Ethan Rayne.
Riley calls it in and tells them to search hotel records for Rayne. While they wait for results, Riley tells Buffy that Walsh has given him orders that Buffy is not to be in on the capture. She leaves no doubt that she intends to kill this demon for harming Giles.
Feelings of rage are welling up in Giles.
Spike notices a military vehicle is following them. They have no hope of outrunning it, especially when another vehicle joins the chase. Giles promises Spike another $100, so Spike lets him jump out and then acts as a decoy to draw them away from Giles.
Raynes is packing his bags, when Giles busts through the door. He tosses Rayne across the room once, before Buffy and Riley arrive.
Rayne tells them that the demon killed Giles. Buffy kicks the demon off its feet, as she demands answers from it about what happened to Giles.
Meanwhile, Spike uses some sharp cornering moves to shake the Humvees off his trail. Unfortunately, while looking back to taunt the soldiers, he drives straight into a short cement block wall.
Demon Giles pushes Buffy back, but she continues to attack. Riley is forced to fight Rayne to keep him from escaping.
                                                Buffy knocks Giles around the room, but he only hits her once, by
                                                accident. She leg-trips him and straddles him. She raises the letter
                                                opener and uses both hands to plunge it into the beast's chest. In
                                                the very next second, she looks into the demon's eyes and realizes
                                                that she has stabbed Giles. She begs him not to die and it seems
                                                that he won't.
                                                Buffy thinks that maybe the letter opener wasn't really silver.
In the aftermath, Rayne is regretting his tendency to stick around after he sets a scheme in motion, which always leads to him getting caught.
Giles is restored, except for having to wear some of Rayne's clothes. When he asks how Buffy figured out that he was the demon, she says that one look into his eyes were enough for her to know the truth.
Rayne expects to be leaving, since Buffy cannot simply kill him. Riley solves the problem by taking Rayne into custody. He will be rehabilitated at a secret Nevada site. Gleefully, Giles goes outside to watch Rayne being hauled off.
Buffy thanks Riley for his help, she is not sure she could have saved Giles without him. Riley still marvels at her "Spiderman"-like strength and take-charge attitude. He likes it all, but thinks he can beat her one of these days.
The next day, Buffy continues to apologize for not keeping Giles informed, while he replaces his broken phone.
He cautions her about Rayne's vague warnings of 314 and Giles' belief that it involves the Initiative. When Buffy assures him that she trusts Riley and that Giles may just hate Walsh. Giles agrees her that he does hate Walsh, but they still have a lot to learn about the Initiative.
Meanwhile, Walsh is cautioning Riley about Buffy's undisciplined approach and he is assuring her that Buffy will work out and make them proud. Walsh says that he's probably right.
After he leaves her, she uses a keycard to open a metal door. She crosses the room and a use a keypad and keycard combination to open the next door which is labeled, 314.

Summary by: OBCooke at EpisodeGuides.com

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