Season 4, Episode 20

Written by Douglas Petrie

Directed by David Grossman

Original Airdate: 8 May 2000

"You never train with me anymore. He's gonna kick your ass."
Giles

REGULAR CAST

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

• Marc Blucas as Riley Finn

• James Marsters as Spike

• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

GUEST CAST

• Amber Benson as Tara Maclay

• Leonard Roberts as Forrest Gates

• Conor O'Farrell as Colonel McNamara

• George Hertzberg as Adam

• Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins

• David Boreanaz as Angel

CO-STARRING

• Bob Fimiani as Mr. Ward

• Jade Carter as Lieutenant

SYNOPSIS

• Colonel McNamara talks with a Lieutenant about plans for the Initiative, getting Riley back and dealing with Buffy. Spike tells Adam that Buffy is going to be a difficult challenge to defeat and he shouldn't underestimate her. Spike talks about killing two Slayers and not being able to kill Buffy, especially because of the chip now in his head. The two plan to separate Buffy from her Slayerette friends. Still upset about Angel, Buffy returns from L.A. to her empty dorm room. Xander brings Riley some rather colourful clothes to wear, and they talk about their mutual distaste for Angel. Not realizing he didn't know, Xander accidentally tells Riley about how pure happiness with Buffy is the trigger that sets Angelus' evil free.
  
  Giles practices his singing when Spike surprises him by showing up in his apartment. Spike talks with Giles about files inside the Initiative that he might be able to get for a very large price. Spike tells Giles that Buffy doesn't respect her former watcher anymore, and that upsets Giles. Willow and Tara play with their new kitten while planning their class schedule for next year. They also talk about future housing plans, but Willow hasn't talked with Buffy yet and isn't sure what she wants to do now that things have changed so much.
  
  Riley goes to Buffy in the funny clown pants Xander gave him to wear. Using a radio, he's tapped into the Initiative and is making sure he's aware of everything going on with the operation. She mentions that Angel upset her, but she doesn't want to talk about it and Riley leaves. Xander and Anya bring Spike fatigues to wear and a fake gun. Spike continues to tear apart the Scooby gang by making Xander feel even more unwanted by convincing him that the rest of the gang doesn't feel he's useful.
  
  Buffy goes patrolling and runs into Forrest, who is also looking for Adam. They argue as they go into a cave and find Adam. The three of them fight, Adam skewers Forrest and Buffy makes a run for it. Limping, she falls and slides down a hill, hitting her head on a rock. Pretending to have snuck into the Initiative and retrieved some disks with information, Spike charges into Giles's place. Giles continues to get drunk while Willow tries to decrypt the disks. Spike talks to Willow and Tara about their Wicca interest and how her friends don't seem to support it. Willow thinks that means that their friends aren't accepting their romantic relationship.
  
  Riley hears that there is trouble on the streets through his radio and goes to check it out. He finds that it is Angel fighting off the commandos, and Riley refuses to let Angel go see Buffy. The two have a brutal fight but both run off when a military truck comes down the street. Buffy returns to her dorm room and Angel shows up. As Angel tries to talk to Buffy, Riley barges in and raises a gun to Angel. Angel talks bad about Riley and the two come to blows again. Buffy separates them and wants to talk to Angel alone.
  
  Buffy goes off on Angel and then they laugh when Angel confesses that he came to make up. They both apologize for the things they said and did in L.A., and part on friendly terms. Angel leaves, stating that he doesn't like Riley. Spike reports back to Adam, happy to have split up the Scooby Gang. Riley is worried that Buffy has reunited with Angel, and confesses that he already knows about how Angel can lose his soul. They profess their love to each other and then Buffy brings him bad news. She tells him that Forrest is dead and he leaves quickly.
  
  The damage that Spike has done to the gang starts to become clear as they break out into a fight. While Tara and Anya sneak into the bathroom and hide, Buffy argues that she is going to take on Adam alone. Giles is incredibly drunk and makes funny comments in the background. Xander complains that his friends don't need him and Willow complains that Buffy doesn't accept Tara. While Giles goes to sleep the alcohol off, Buffy leaves, telling her friends that she doesn't need them.
  
  In Adam's lair, Riley shows up and is an expected guest.

TRIVIA

• This episode is named after Yoko Ono, who married John Lennon and was blamed for splitting up the Beatles. Spike's job in the episode is to split up the Scoobies and isolate Buffy. Yoko Ono's son, Sean Lennon, appeared at the Bronze as a member of the band Cibo Matto in When She Was Bad.

CROSSOVER

• After Faith appeared on Angel and attacked him, Buffy arrived in Los Angeles to aid him in Sanctuary. They left on bad terms and had a massive fight during which Angel hit Buffy. She left Los Angeles in a hurry, and he follows her back to Sunnydale in this episode.

CONTINUITY

• Spike finds a packet of blood in Giles's fridge, which he left there when he stayed there from Pangs to Something Blue.

• Xander mentions that Spike should have kept the military outfit from their latest attempt to infiltrate the Initiative, which occurred in the previous episode during Oz's escape in New Moon Rising.

• Adam asks Spike about the Slayers that he's killed, and Spike once again confirms that he's killed two, which we later see during flashback sequences in Fool for Love.

• The cat that Willow and Tara talked about in the previous episode has arrived and has been named Ms. Kitty Fantastico.

GOOFS

• When Tara and Anya are in Giles's bathroom, some of the muffled arguments seem to be from Pangs.

• When Spike goes to Giles's apartment, his reflection can be seen in a mirror behind Tara and Willow.

• Angel says that he needs an invitation to enter Buffy's dorm, but Sunday and her buddies didn't need one in The Freshman.

• When Buffy, Riley and Angel are arguing in Buffy and Willow's dorm room, Willow's laptop is on her desk, but Willow is supposed to have been decrypting the Initiative disks from Spike all day, on her laptop, at Giles's house.

The Freshman | Living Conditions | The Harsh Light of Day | Fear, Itself | Beer Bad

Wild at Heart | The Initiative | Pangs | Something Blue | Hush | Doomed

A New Man | The I in Team | Goodbye Iowa | This Year's Girl | Who Are You | Superstar

Where the Wild Things Are | New Moon Rising | The Yoko Factor | Primeval | Restless