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| 103. After Life Original Air Date: October 09, 2001 Written by: Jane Espenson Directed by: David Solomon Guest Cast: Lisa Hoyle (Demon) Willow is convinced that Buffy must have gone home following her resurrection and her fight with the demon motorcycle gang. She leads Xander, Anya and Tara through the alleyways. A trio of demon riders shakes them up, but the demons are fleeing Sunnydale, since the Slayer has returned and killed their leader. Anya wonders if they messed up the spell and Buffy has returned brain-damaged, but Willow insists that Buffy is just suffering from shock due to her horrible experiences on the other side. Willow reminds her that they know that time runs differently in some dimensions. Buffy may have been trapped for years. Then Willow wonders if Buffy can ever recover from such an experience. Anya wonders if Willow shouldn't have thought of such things sooner and Tara wonders if Buffy is dangerous. Dawn stands with her restored sister in front of the Summers' home. Inside, Buffy notices that some things have changed. Dawn tells her that Willow and Tara live there now. Willow's computer paraphernalia rests on one end of the dining room table. Dawn takes Buffy upstairs and helps her clean up. Buffy can only stare at her reflection in the mirror. Buffy wanders into Joyce's old room, which is filled with Willow and Tara's things. Dawn wants to sit with Buffy and talk. Buffy wonders what else has changed, but hardly seems interested in the answer. Dawn tells her about Giles. Buffy jumps at a noise, but it's just Spike at the front door calling for Dawn. They come down the stairs and at first Spike thinks Buffy is a robot, but in a few seconds he realizes who she is and for once is speechless. He notices her injured hands and realizes how she hurt them, by clawing her way out of her coffin, because he's done it before. He quietly takes her into the living room and instructs Dawn to get some medical supplies. When she asks how long she has been dead, Spike tells her it's been 148 days. Buffy says that it seemed longer where she was. Dawn returns and the Scooby gang runs into the house. They are a bunch of questions, but Dawn stops them and asks them what they did. They confess to doing a spell to return Buffy. They are eager to help, but Dawn again overrules them and insists that Buffy will tell them what she needs. Buffy decides to sleep. Willow is overjoyed that they were successful, but Buffy doesn't seem happy. After she leaves the room, the others exchange looks of uncertainty. Later, as Xander and Anya leave, Anya doubts that everything is fine with Buffy. Xander tries to be optimistic. They notice Spike lurking behind a tree, smoking. The vampire wipes his eyes before coming out and seizing Xander. Pushing him up against the tree, Spike is angry that he treated them as allies and they kept their plan to restore Buffy a secret from him. Xander can't explain why, but Spike thinks he knows. He blames Willow. Spike knows that she kept him away because they might have had to destroy the results of their spell if it turned out horribly wrong. Willow was afraid that Spike wouldn't go along with that part of the plan. Xander can't believe that Willow would be like that, but Spike is certain of it. Xander challenges Spike to admit that he is the happiest he has ever been because of Buffy's return. Spike walks to the demon motorcycle he stole earlier and warns them that such magic always has consequences, before riding off into the night. In their room, Willow tells Tara that Giles promised to return soon as well. Willow is still sure that everything is all right. Tara encourages Willow to share what she is really thinking. They are lovers and Willow doesn't have to keep up a brave front with Tara. Willow is awed at what they have done and worried when she considers how animalistic Angel was when he first returned from his stay in a hell dimension. Tara thinks that they may just be anticipating trouble because they didn't believe it would work. But Willow thinks that if everything is fine then Buffy should be happy. Tara thinks that Willow is looking for some gratitude for saving her friend and Willow admits to some desire for recognition. Buffy hasn't gone to bed yet. She looks at her collection of photographs of her and her friends. Suddenly, all the faces in the pictures, fade into grinning skulls. The effect only lasts a few seconds. The sound of something breaking wakes Willow and Tara. Buffy stands in the shadows at the foot of their bed and angrily accuses them of being children. She seems to be talking to Willow when she tells them that their hands smell like death and asks with surprising detail about the sacrifice that Willow made of the deer without enough to give it away to Tara. Buffy picks up a crystal ball and hurls it with shattering force against the wall over their heads. She tells Willow that she is stained because of her actions. Willow manages to reach a light switch, but with the light, Buffy has vanished. There are no glass fragments from the broken crystal. They find Buffy asleep in her bed. Back in their room, Tara wonders about the things that the Buffy vision said to them. Willow denies knowing what the accusations were about. A bulge suddenly moves across one wall of the room. Willow decides to call Xander for help. Anya is trying to get a sleepy Xander to stay up and keep her company during her sleeplessness. The ringing phone instantly has Xander awake. Willow tells him about what has happened while Anya goes to the kitchen. When she returns, her eyes are totally white, she is laughing maniacally and she is using the knife to cut deep gashes in her face. Xander drops the phone and grabs her, but she collapses and there is no evidence of the cuts on her face. A bulge in the floor moves away from her. The next day as they meet with Willow and Tara, Xander is still upset over the bloody vision. Anya wonders if some entity may have found a way to follow Buffy into our world, which sometimes happens with dimensional travel. Surprised by this new bit of information, Willow suggests that their problem is as simple as killing the hitchhiker. Buffy overhears talk of killing. Anya abruptly tells Buffy that she may have brought a monster into the world. Willow is all smiles as she tries to trivialize the danger and Tara supports her. Buffy tells them about the pictures changing into dead people. Everyone tries to convince her that this is a minor problem and it's still worth it to have her back. They tell her how happy they are to be with her again, but she doesn't take the hint and instead of joining them in happiness, decides its time to do the research. After some time they have five suspect demons. Dawn has joined them at the Magic Box's round table. Willow is unsure how they should focus their research and Buffy suddenly tells them that she misses Giles. Willow tells her that he will return and that they can cope without him. Buffy decides that she wants to patrol alone for a while. Dawn calls after her that she will stay with the others where she is safe, but Buffy doesn't seem to notice her. Dawn's eyes are pure white and she has an evil smile. As Buffy walks through a cemetery, Anya returns to the Magic Box after a coffee run. When she offers Dawn hot chocolate, Dawn faces them and calls them idiots and children. She can smell the death on the group. She roars and a jet of flame shoots from her mouth. Everyone manages to dive out of the way and the only casualties are a couple of the books. Dawn then collapses. As they rush to her, the bulge moves across the floor. When Dawn revives, she cannot recall what happened. Everyone assumes that the demon has left, but Anya wonders where to and tells them that despite the old saying, evil doesn't have idle hands. Spike is pacing the underground beneath his crypt and drives his fist into the wall. His hand bleeds in a fashion similar to Buffy's and it makes him laugh ironically. He hears someone in his home above and is surprised to find Buffy. After a few awkward moments, he jokes that Willow is too powerful for even the dead to get any rest. He offers her a seat and brags about how he has furnished the mausoleum. Buffy is silent for a time and Spike tries to fill the silence with his guilt. He tells her that he failed to protect Dawn as he promised and that's why Buffy had to die. Since then he has replayed it in his mind every day, over and over. It's dawn and the gang is still working. Xander talks to Tara about whether Spike was right about the spell having dire consequences. He wonders if Tara knew of the danger ahead of time. She denies knowing. When he presses, she knows that Xander is really asking about Willow and Tara defends her. Xander quickly backs down and appears to try another approach, but he is interrupted by Willow's cry of discovery, "Thaumogenesis". Willow has found that by performing the spell they created a demon - it's a negative side-effect to balance out the mystical scales of successfully raising Buffy. Xander is disturbed by the idea that now they are creating monsters. Willow believes that the creature hasn't fully crossed over into our world, so it can only manifest by possessing people. Willow thinks that if they destroy it, then the spell that brought Buffy back will be reversed. Dawn is horrified at the idea of losing Buffy again and will allow no talk of such a thing. Willlow is happy to find that the being will eventually return to the other side. The only way it can stay in our world permanently is if it manages to kill the subject of the original spell - Buffy. Xander's eyes are totally white as he thanks them for telling him how to save himself. Xander then collapses as the demon leaves his body. Buffy returns home, followed by a misty cloud with a roughly-formed face. The cloud confronts Buffy in her room upstairs. Buffy swings but cannot make contact with the form. But the cloud can hit her, knocking her about. The cloud engulfs her and begins to squeeze. Xander, Anya and Dawn race to Buffy's rescue, but the women nag Xander to drive faster. He reminds them that their hope really lies with Willow and Tara, back at the Magic Box, trying a spell to make the demon physical so Buffy can fight it. Dawn is still scared at the prospect of losing Buffy. Willow and Tara, face each other, sitting on the floor, chanting a spell in unison. Buffy manages to break free of the cloud. As the witches' spell continues, the mist in a gravelly voice says that Buffy is the one that lives on the earth as if she were a cloud, not allowing it to touch her and giving no indication of her passing through it. Xander, Anya and Dawn arrive, but Buffy immediately tells them to take Dawn away to safety. A light shines down on Willow. Tara releases her hands. After a moment, Willow opens her eyes and the pupil and iris have merged into one large black dot. With a word, "Solid.", the spell is complete. Buffy fights with an axe from under her bed. After a brief struggle, she manages to cut the demon's head off. Dawn is disgusted and knows now why they are always trying to hide this stuff from her. The next day, Dawn is happily surprised to find that Buffy is managing to cope with life to the point of making her sister lunch. They hug and Buffy warns that the next person to ask her if she is okay is going to have to pay a fine. Dawn tells her that things were terrible without her and everyone just wants to see Buffy happy. As she walks away, Buffy's face is thoughtful, but definitely not happy. At the Magic Box, Buffy tells Willow, Xander, Anya and Tara that she is grateful to them for saving her from hell. She felt lost and abandoned before they saved her. Tara is quick to give Willow credit. Buffy thanks them and tells them that they will never know how much what they did means to her. Willow and Xander do the group hug with Buffy and welcome her home. Leaving through the back door, Buffy finds Spike in the shadows of the alley. He was headed to the magic shop, but overheard the group scene inside and decided to pass. When he wonders why she isn't inside still hugging, she confesses to wanting to be alone. Taking the hint he tries to leave, but is stymied by the sunshine. Buffy sits on some boxes, obviously sad and depressed. She tries to put on a brave face, but even Spike can tell something is wrong and offers any help he can give. He offers to share some stories of torment and Hell, but Buffy suddenly says that she was happy before she came back to Earth. She had made the world safe for her sister and friends; she had no more battles to fight; she was at peace. Even though she can't describe it fully, she believes that she was in Heaven - her final reward for fighting evil and living a good life. She was pulled from that place and brought back to our world - a world full of strife, conflict and sadness. From her point of view, her friends have condemned to a life in the Hell that is our world. It's all she can do to go on living, knowing what her afterlife was like. Before she leaves, she tells Spike that her friends must never find out the truth of what they have done. Summary by: OBCooke at EpisodeGuides.com |