ACT I
It begins with Buffy just standing there looking over the ledge {remember Faith just jumped off the balcony to her apartment after Buffy stabbed her. She jumped so that her blood won't save Angel which defeats the whole purpose of the battle. No one won that fight}. Buffy leaves the knife and climbs over one of the walls and scales the building down. Just as she slips out Joss shows the Mayor through the broken window. He is with some of his worker vampires. He's talking about Faith & why would Faith take the fight outside--oh yeah his Faith doesn't like to be couped up. One of the vamps asks about getting ready for the ascension and the mayor screams at him to just find Faith. Then he starts comforting himself with: "She'll be alright. My Faith can handle anything they can throw at her. She'll be alright. She'll be alright." Cut to opener/theme.
ACT II
Giles and Xander in library. Talking about finding info about the demon the Mayor is going to become. Cordelia walks in angry. She wants to know what happened with Wesley- he called her & was very upset, he was going back to England. Giles says "Buffy's quit the council. She doesn't need a watcher anymore." Note that I'm not going to give every detail about conversations. Xander asks Cordi to help them & Cor mumbles about "Such a Buffy thing to do, she's always thinking of herself." Cut to Angel in bed, still sick. Willow is caring for him. He comes out of a trance & says "You been watching over me?"... he takes her hand & starts kissing it. Will says "well, we've been taking turns". Angel goes into "I can't live without you. I was wrong, I need you" & Will says "Oh, you mean you need Buffy". He comes out of it "Willow?"... Willow exits & goes out to where Oz is waiting. Oz asks about Angel's condition then Will says that he thought she was Buffy & Oz says "you too, huh". Then Will goes into how she feels guilty because so many bad things are happening & yet this is the happiest night of her life. Her & Oz kiss. Buffy comes in. Will & Oz seperate & Will says "I just checked on him just now" in her wily Willow way. They ask about Faith & Buffy just doesn't answer. She goes into see Angel... Angel says he is ready to die. Buffy tells him that he is going to live. "I can cure you... Drink. Drink me." Angel gets up even though he is so sick. Buffy follows him. She tells him the only thing that will cure him is the blood of a slayer. He says "Faith". She says "I tried. I killed her". He says "Then it's over". She straightens him to face her "It is never over", she says, "I won't let you die- drink". Then she hits him. She hits him again. & then again. Her plan works, his face contorts. She pulls her shirt down to expose her neck & he starts drinking her. It's a huge disturbing scene. Joss gets some great camera angles here & Chris Beck's got some wicked music playing. Buffy is in a lot of pain. She crushes a vase with her hand & kicks a bench while they are on the floor. He's still sucking on her. Finally he gets off her & she kind of pushes him away as he does push himself away. His face changes back to human, his wound disappears. He turns to Buffy. She is unconscious.
ACT III
"I need some help"- Angel yells as he comes into a hospital with Buffy in his arms. He says she's lost a lot of blood, "just get her some blood". The doctor starts about "does she have any allergies". Angel who was resting his arm on a door handle pulls the metal door handle off. "Just help her", he says. The doctor goes into "have you two been doing drugs" he says she's clean ya da ya da ya da. They ask him to wait outside. He goes to call the Scooby Gang. Joss moves the camera to follow Angel to the phone, but doesn't stop at Angel- goes on to another hospital room. There is the Mayor, doctors are talking to him. "The damage to the kidneys were repairable, but the head trauma is just too severe... It's a wonder she's even alive with the blood loss. I'm sorry, there's almost no chance she will ever regain consciousness". It's Faith in bed, of course, in a coma. (What this all means is that Buffy didn't really kill Faith, even if she ends up dying, because the stab was repairable, it's when Faith jumped into the truck & hit her head that did her in. Therefore, there's no chance of Buffy becoming a killer like Faith did when she first killed; & also a new slayer won't be called just now.) The Mayor puts his hand on Faith's cheek & says "It's you day."... A nurse comes in & says "we've got another young girl, severe blood loss." The Mayor hears this... He goes into Buffy's room, she is still unconscious. He puts his hand over her mouth, depriving her of air. A nurse comes in & tries to push his hand away, she can't & goes to get help. The Mayor is dragged away by Angel. "Don't do that", Angel says. Now, this is the first time we see the Mayor actually angry. The closest we've come is when they stole the box of Gavrock. But just now he is furious. He calls Buffy a murderous fiend, then Angel says he won't be weeping over Faith & the Mayor says he is going to give him (Angel) a lot of pain. A whole lot of pain & weeping for him & his whore. Angel hits the Mayor, throwing him across the room. The Mayor reverts back to form. He laughs, "Looks like somebody's been eating his spinach" (referring to Angel's heightened state upon drinking a slayer). Then he says there will be a short intermission, but Angel doesn't want to miss the second act. As he leaves, Angel cryptically says "I'll be there". Angel goes out to the gang. They inquire about what happened. They think Faith did it. Angel says Faith's out of the picture, Buffy put her in a coma. They realize what has happened between Buffy & Angel. "Buffy cured me. Made me...". "You feed off her", Giles says. Xander is back to his Angel-hating form. "Well, it's good to know that when the chips are down you'll feed off the girl who loves you to save your own a$$". Giles tells Angel he better leave before the sun rises. He leaves. The gang says they are going in to see Buffy. Cut to Buffy in Faith's apartment. It's a dream. This scene is my new favorite Buffy scene of all time. Buffy looks around, boxes are everywhere. A cat jumps up on the bed & meows. "Who's going to look after him", Buffy says. "It's a she, & aren't these things supposed to take care of themselves"-Faith. "Is a higher power guiding us?"-Buffy. "I'm pretty sure that's not what I meant"-Faith. Faith walks over to the window, a light shines on her face- I'd like to mention that she is dressed in pants & a pink tank top that covers her- she's no longer in her bad girl clothes. "There's something I'm supposed to be doing"-Buffy. "Oh yeah, Miles To Go. Little Miss Moffit counting down from 7-3-0"-Faith. "Great, riddles"-Buffy. "Sorry, it's my head, lotta' new stuff"-Faith. The camera angel is on Faith looking out the window, but you can also see the bed. The cat is still on it & just now there is a quick flash from the cat to Faith laying on her hospital bed, then back to just the cat. "They're never gonna fix this are they"-Faith, looking at the broken window. "What about you?"-Buffy. "Scar tissue. It fades, it all fades"-Faith. Buffy looks down at her hand. There is a quick flash of the knife that the Mayor gave to Faith that Buffy used to stab her, equip with Faith's blood still on it. "You wantta' know the deal", Faith starts, "Human weakness. Never goes away. Even His". "Is this your mind or mine?", Buffy asks. "Beats me", Faith says, laughing. They share a slight laugh. "It's gettin' towards that time"-Faith. Buffy looks at the boxes, "how are you going to fit all this stuff". "I'm not gonna"-Faith, "It's yours". "I can't use all of this"-Buffy. "Just take what you need"-Faith, "You ready?". She reaches for Buffy & Buffy awakens. She gets up & walks to Faith's room. She bends down & kisses a battered, bruised Faith. She goes out to see everybody, now dressed. They are surprised to see her. "Where's Angel... get him, get everyone"-Buffy. "What's going on?"-Giles. "I'm ready"-Buffy. "Ready for what?"-Willow. "War."
ACT IV
Eerie angles of graduation area. No one is there yet, it's just Snyder with diplomas in hand, waiting. Cut to library. Everyone is there- Cordelia, Angel, Xander, Willow, Oz, Giles, & Buffy. "So do you think I'm crazy?" Buffy has just stated her plan. They say some witty stuff. The converstion continues. "Xander, you're the key figure here." (because of his military experience). It has not been revealed what the plan is yet. Buffy says that Faith told her to play on the Mayor's weakness. They figure the weakness is Faith herself. Buffy says she can do that. Someone comes into the library- it's Wesley. "The council's not welcome here", Buffy says. "I'm not here for the council. Just tell me how I can help." Cordi goes into how classy that is. Buffy tells him that there are chores for everyone. He's on board. Cut to the Mayor. The next scenes go back & forth from the library to the Mayor's office. All discussing their plans. The Mayor has a group of vampires ready to contain people so they don't run away when he changes. It is revealed there will be a solar eclipse. "Remember, (to kill) fast & brutal". One cool scene here is where Xander is saying how he's the key guy & Angel's not. Angel & Xander spit some puns each other's way & Buffy says "You guys are like little old ladies". Cut to Wesley & Cordelia researching in the library. Wesley says he is leaving after all this, unless he has a reason to stay... they kiss. But it's really akward. They stop. Then kiss again. Obviously the chemistry is not there. They stop & are just like: "So, I'll drop you a line sometime." "That'd be great." Cut to Xander pulling Harmony aside to talk to her. Cut to Willow pulling Percy aside. Cut to Larry & Jonathan transporting white bags from Oz's van. Willow & Oz are then left alone. "How long to graduation"-Will. "A little while"-Oz. & you can guess what happens. Cut to Buffy & Angel preparing in Giles office in the library. Out of blue he just says "I'm not going to say Good-bye". She stops, then looks at him, "When we get through this, I'm just gonna go. Do you understand? There's just too much to...". She puts a hand up for him to stop. He does, then leaves. She contemplates for a moment. Then focuses her attention to what's in her hand. The Knife. She's ready. Cut to graduation. All the students are there. Snyder is up at the podium, givin' 'em some Snyder, as I like to call it. "Spit out that gum... I saw that, you see me after graduation." Willow & Oz arrive late (um hum). The Mayor gets up to make his speech. He begins. He tells them that this is the 100th anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale. Buffy & Willow exchange this witty play. "My god," Buffy says, "he's gonna do the whole speech." "Just ascend already," says Willow. "Evil", comments Buffy. The Mayor goes into the subject of graduation. "You ascend to a higher level...What is a journey? Distance Traveled? Time Spent?... at the end of a journey, you're not the same... Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing." The eclipse happens. It seems to weaken the Mayor. He continues with his speech, then cries out in pain. "My destiny, it's come a little sooner than I thought. I had this whole part on civic pride. Guess we'll skip straight to the big finish." He then contorts into the huge, dark, green, snake-like demon. It, to say the least, is quite a scene.
ACT V
Panic. Everyone is screaming. Then the vamps arrive. "Now"- says Buffy. EVERYONE in the senior class takes off their robes to reveal that they all have weapons. It's a huge & triumphant scene. "Fire Unit", Buffy shouts. The first row of students shoot fire with flame throwers at the Snake-Mayor. "First wave."- Xander (key guy). The second row of students reveal a crossbow type weapon & shoot it at the huge beast. Synder starts, "This is not orderly... this is my school...". The Mayor eats him. (yum, guess that's the Mayor's idea of paid in full). I can't exactly explain this scene- you got to see it. It's dark & like an actual war. Everyone huddled & fighting. The vamps attacking. Fending off the Mayor. Larry is either knocked out or dead- it is unclear. Harmony gets bite by a vamp. I assume she dies. Cordelia slays a vampire. Wesley is on the floor: "can I get some help here?" Then we got Buffy. "Hey, (to the Mayor-snake) remember this (The Knife). I took it from Faith & stuck it in her gut. Just slide in her like she was butter. You want to get it back from me... Dick?" He chases her into the school. She runs through doorways, he follows smashing all walls around the doorways with his size. They get to the library. She runs through an exit door there. The Snake stops. The bookselves are empty. Explosives are everywhere. "Well, Gosh."- it says. Just as Giles, next to Buffy, pulls down one of those bomb switch thingies. Sunnydale High School's library branch blows up. They win. Cut to ambulances & cop cars, it's night. Wesley is being taken away by an ambulance: "could I get something for the pain. It's really a lot of pain. Aspirin? Something?". Buffy is walking with Xander. She is looking around. "He survived the fight," Xander says interpreting her actions, speaking of Angel, "guess maybe he took off after." Xander leaves. Giles & Buffy talk. He congratulates her on her victory. She says her mind isn't really working on the higher level just now. "It's basically: fire bad, tree pretty." He says he doesn't know if this will interest her, but he managed to find this through the wreckage. Her diploma. Giles goes into the dramatic irony of the situation: "There's a certain dramatic irony, attached to all this, synchronicity that borders on predestination one might say." Buffy just says "Fire bad, tree pretty". Giles says, "Oh, yeah, sorry". Then he says he needs to see if Wesley's still wimpering. A moment passes. Then Buffy looks off. Angel is standing by some ambulances. White mist surrounds him. They just look at each other for a spell. Glad to know the other is safe. It is their last moment. Angel's face is really intense. This wasn't him giving her a last chance to see him. This was someone looking for the last time at his greatest love who he knew he'd never see again. You see his face go from sadness to determination.
Angel moves. For a second it looks like the direction he's moving is towards her. But he's turning away. He walks until his figure is consumed by the mist. Cut to Willow, Oz, Cordelia, & Xander at a bench by the school (mind you that the place where they usually have these closing scenes, the library, is now gone forever.) "Well, that is the most fun you can have without having any fun."-Cordelia. "What about the part where we kicked some demon a$$, I didn't hate that"-Will. "Here, here."-Xander. Buffy joins them. "You guys wantta take off? I think we've pretty much done everything we can"-Buffy. "I'm for it."-Cor. "Are you OK?"-Will to Buffy. After a while, showing she really meant her answer, Buffy says, "Yeah, I'm OK. I could use a little sleep though. If someone could just wake me when it's time to go to college that'd be great." "Guys, take a moment to deal with this,"-Oz-, "We survived." "It was a heII of a battle."-Buffy. "Not the battle, High School."-Oz. They take a moment. "We're taking a moment."-Oz. Then Will & Buffy get up, "& we're done."-Oz. Everyone gets up & turns around to go. (Voices trail off) "School's done. Well, Cool. "-Xa nd er. "Why do demons even come here. I mean don 't they k now that..."-Willow. They walk off. The camera goes to a Sunnydale High yearbook. Sunnydale High School: The future is OURS Fade to Executive Producer- Joss Whedon.
When the little Grr Arg demon comes across the screen with the Mutant Enemy logo the demon is wearing a graduation cap.
