Season 5, Episode 6

Written by Joss Whedon

Directed by Joss Whedon

Original Airdate: 6 November 2000

"Um... that, that was funny... if you um, if you studied Taglarin mythic rights... and are a complete dork."

Tara

REGULAR CAST

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

• Marc Blucas as Riley Finn

• Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins

• Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers

• James Marsters as Spike

• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

GUEST CAST

• Mercedes McNab as Harmony Kendall

• Clare Kramer as Glory

• Charlie Weber as Ben Wilkinson

• Amy Adams as Beth Maclay

• Steve Rankin as Mr. Maclay

• Amber Benson as Tara Maclay

CO-STARRING

• Ezra Buzzington as Bartender

• Peggy Goss as Crazy Person

• Torry Pendergrass as Demon

• Megan Gray as Sandy

• Brian Tee as Intern

• Kevin Rankin as Donny Maclay

SYNOPSIS

• Tara tells Willow a story as Willow tries to drift to sleep. Tara wants to stay up and look at spells so she can be useful to the Scooby Gang, but Willow convinces her to sleep. Buffy tells Giles the truth about Dawn and they agree to keep this secret from everyone else. Glory escapes from the rubble of the collapsed building. Buffy has decided to move out of her dorm room because of her mother and Dawn, and the gang helps her pack. As Tara leaves the room, Willow reminds her friends about Tara's upcoming birthday and the party at the Bronze.
  
  In the hospital locker room, a Lei-ach attempts to attack Ben, but Glory grabs him, in need of a favour. Buffy and Xander research Glory, while talking about how little they know about Tara. In a crypt, Buffy and Spike fight viciously with each other, and then Spike wakes from his daydream to find himself closely involved with Harmony. Tara arrives at the Magic Box, shocked to see that her father, brother Donny, and cousin Beth have all come to visit for Tara's twentieth birthday.
  
  Buffy is overly protective of her sister and even stops her from going to a friend's house. Riley thinks something is up with Buffy but since she's not telling him everything, he leaves. Tara's father expresses his distaste for her witchcraft and informs her that she is going home with her family. Glory tells the Lei-ach demon she captured that she needs him and his friends to destroy the Slayer. At the magic shop, Tara casts a spell on the Scooby Gang.
  
  Riley gets drunk at Willy's bar and a vampire named Sandy tries to pick him up, but he's not interested. Harmony tells Spike about the plans for the Lei-ach demons to kill the Slayer and he goes to watch. Tara and Beth talk about Tara not going home with them and Beth realizes that Tara did a spell on her friends to keep them from seeing her demon. At the magic shop, the Lei-ach demons appear, but because of Tara's spell, none of the gang can actually see the demons.
  
  The Scooby Gang takes quite a beating from the demons they can't see. Spike shows up and when he realizes that Buffy is about to be killed, he saves her and helps kill the demons. Tara arrives in time to break her spell and allow Buffy to kill the rest of the demons. Tara's father explains that the women in their family are part demon and they need to be controlled. When Tara expresses that she doesn't want to leave, all of her friends stand in the way.
  
  Spike punches Tara and experiences pain, showing that she's not a demon. He concludes that her family only makes the females think that they're demons so that they can be controlled and kept as obedient women. The gang parties at the Bronze for Tara's birthday, showering her with gifts like a crystal ball and broomstick. Riley arrives late, but with a present. Willow and Tara slow dance and talk about how happy they are together, then they float off the ground, to dance in the air.

TRIVIA

• This is the final episode for the poor tragic Miss Kitty Fantastico. We later find out that she was shot accidentally by a crossbow from Dawn.

CONTINUITY

• The vampire, Sandy, that Riley talks to at Willy's bar, is the same one sired by Vampire Willow at the Bronze in the season three episode Doppelgangland.

• Buffy reveals that her father Hank is in Spain, with his secretary.

• The bar that Riley visits is Willy's, where Riley was last seen as a gun-toting madman in Goodbye Iowa.

• When Buffy says the gang are "family", both Joyce and Riley are missing. Both characters leave the show in this season.

GOOFS

• During Buffy's fight with the invisible demons, there are several mistakes when we see Buffy's point of view. The light above the door is low, but during the fight with the demons it's higher. The bench it's on the right, but during the fight it's in the centre.

Buffy Vs. Dracula | Real Me | The Replacement | Out of My Mind | No Place Like Home

Family | Fool for Love | Shadow | Listening to Fear | Into the Woods | Triangle

Checkpoint | Blood Ties | Crush | I Was Made to Love You | The Body | Forever

Intervention | Tough Love | Spiral | The Weight of the World | The Gift