Original Air Date: October 24, 2000

Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by David Solomon

Summary

It's two months in the past and three members of a bretheren try to perform a ritual while a mystical force tries to stop them. Now it's the present and Buffy is fighting a huge vampire in the parking lot of a warehouse. A guard stops her after she's dusted the vamp and tells her that the rave, that he thought she was there for, was called off. She's about to leave when the guard picks up a glowing orb and hands it to her, thinking that she dropped it, but Buffy has no idea what it is.

The next day Buffy makes breakfast for her mom who is still having headaches. Buffy wants to take her mom to the hospital but Joyce insists that Buffy to go Giles' grand opening of his store. She goes, taking Dawn with her. Unfortunately Giles doesn't have any customers yet, even though he's been open for 2 hours. Willow and Riley show up and Buffy pulls out the glowing orb, but none of them can figure out what it is. Riley wants to patrol to see if there's more of them but Dawn opens her mouth and says that Buffy said he couldn't patrol because he's weak. Buffy can't believe Dawn just said that so she grabs Dawn and they leave, but not before Dawn accidentally breaks something fragile. At home, Buffy's mom is still feeling sick so Buffy goes out to pick up her mom's prescription pills at the hospital pharmacy. There, she runs in to an intern named Ben that she's seen there before. He's got a crazy patient on a stretcher who keeps convulsing and spouting nonsense. He grabs Buffy's hand and tells her that they'll get to her though her family and it'll make her family sick. Buffy recognizes him as the security guard from her patrol the other night. Buffy begins to realize what's wrong with her mom.

In some warehouse a monk is praying when suddenly a woman dressed in red knocks down a huge steel door and informs him that she's been looking all over for him. Meanwhile at Giles' shop Willow is researching the orb when Buffy bursts in and tells them about the nightguard and that they have to locate whoever is hurting her mom. Back at the warehouse, the woman has tied up the monk. She tells him that she's so sick of this whole mortal world and she wants to know where they key is but he refuses to tell her anything. She starts to go crazy and then sticks her fingers into a security guard's head. A bright light emanates from the guard's skull. She pulls her fingers and feels much better.

Giles' shop is now bustling with business and he's somewhat franctic about all the customers. Buffy is still researching her mother's sickness when Anya tells her to try a french spell that reveals other spells. It requires going into a trance and Giles is somewhat fearful for her. Buffy gets the supplies and sets up the sacred circle in her bedroom. Daw interrupts her just as she's about to get started. She gets Dawn to leave and then resumes her spell. She goes in to her trance and then wakes up in a different conscious state in her house. She walks around the house and notices a picture of her mom and herself with Dawn. But Dawn's image is flashing in and out of the picture. She heads to Dawn's room where the entire room flashes and Buffy realizes that Dawn isn't her sister. Buffy awakens from her trance and brutally tells Dawn to stay away from her mother but Dawn doesn't understand what's going on. Giles calls Buffy and tells her the orb, called a Dagon's Sphere, is a protective device that fends off primordial evils that which cannot be named. Buffy decides to go back to the factory where she found the orb. She tells Giles the spell didn't work. She leaves her house and finds Spike hiding behind a tress outside her house. He awkwardly makes fun of her and then leaves. At the warehouse Buffy searches around until she finds a monk chained to a chair. She's untying the man when the lady in red appears and tosses her across the room, shocking Buffy.

At Giles' shop, it's closing time and all the customers have left. The gang is exhausted but Anya keeps babbling on about the business so Giles offers her a job.

Buffy is fighting the lady in red and losing because the woman has some serious strength. Buffy she can't win against this woman in red/Beast so she grabs the man and jumps out the window. The woman is furious and stamps her foot on the ground, causing the beams holding the building up to fall and splinter. Outside, the man is dying and tells Buffy that the key is energy and it's a portal. Until recently it had no form at all until they had to hide it. They created Dawn and sent her to Buffy so she could protect the key. They built Buffy's and her mom's memories. Dawn is now human and has no idea that she is not Buffy's sister. The man dies and Buffy returns home unable to believe that all of her memories of Dawn don't even exist. She goes up to Dawn's room and apologizes for how she acted. Buffy doesn't really know what to say after she apologzies so she sits there looking at her and stroking her hair.

Summary written by Nika

Quote of the Week

Spike: The whole crowd-pleasing threats-and-swagger routine. How stunningly original. You know, I'm just passing through. Satisfied? You know, I really hope so, 'cause god knows you need some satisfaction in life, besides shagging Captain Cardboard, and... and I never really liked you, anyway, and... and you have stupid hair.

My Rating

4/5

Nika's Review

Well I liked this episode. I gave us a hell of a lot info and revealed what may possibly be the "big bad" for this season. I liked the Woman in Read/Beast/Glory or whatever you want to call her. I think she'll make for a really interesting villain. And it's about time they had a kickass badass as a female. We don't know all that much about her though... but I found on some web site that she's called Glory... guess we'll have to wait and see if that is actually her name. I thought she was an evil that couldn't be named though. So Dawn's a they key, or a key... But to what? Another dimension? And why did they give it a human form? Okay, to hide it but now it's vulnerable and not to mention really young. Why didn't they make the key into a muscle bound woman who could kick anyone's ass? That way they wouldn't really have to worry about the key. I'm liking this storyline though. Dawn is somewhat of a spaz and that's kind of annoying but I also think her character is written way too young for a 14 year old. 14 year old are a lot more grown-up than Dawn is acting. I don't know if it's Michelle Trachtenberg's acting or the way the character is written but it's too young for her. Anyway, my theory for this whole Dawn thing is that she'll end up being sacrificed at the end of the season in some big glorified way. I don't think I could deal with another season of Dawn though. I like the way she is now but anything more than a year could make me a little crazy. I think she'll die at the end of the season and it'll be something huge but it won't open the portal, it'll be to shut it instead. Well next episode we're supposed to find out what's up with Tara. Let's hope they make it good. I've been disappointed with some of these big "revelations" before and I hope this one doesn't disappoint.

Niki Bartl's Review

So the mystery is finally partially revealed. We know that Dawn is the key, but we don't know to what. I believe we have our antagonist for this season, or at least for half the season, although I don't really understand what she does, other than pass on her madness. Interesting. How cute was Spike, with his cigarettes and waiting outside her house? And his cute insults "you hair is ugly" or whatever he says. Aww, he's such a puppy dog! So cute, but where are they gonna go with this? Because Buffy would never agree to a thing with Spike, as cute as it would be. The scene at the end was sweet, that's what I want a sister for, because you can never have that kind of talk with a brother. Oh, and why are they not at school? I'm a little confused, as school was the huge deal last year and now suddenly it's home. I mean, Willow mentioned drama class and Buffy mentioned school, but I want to know how Willow's doing! They left Xander out last year a little, and now it's Willow left out, but they still have to explain "the dark side" of Tara! But I'm rambling. What I didn't really like about this episode is how neatly they made Dawn fit in. I mean, Buffy just accepts this and oh well? It seems like a sneaky way to make Dawn fit in... Oh, we changed all your memories, but go with the flow? Give me a break!

Cast