Original Air Date: May 5, 1997
Written by Dean Batali & Rob Des Hotel
Directed by Ellen Pressman
Summary
Giles has been roped into supervising Sunnydale's talent
show. When Buffy, Xander and Willow stop by to tease him
about it, the new principal punishes them by insisting they
come up with an act.
One of the dancers in the show is found dead, with her
heart removed. The last person she was seen talking to was
Morgan, a strange, awkward student who is a ventriloquist in
the talent show with his dummy, Sid. When Buffy tries to
question Morgan, he gets nervous and rubs his head. Sid seems
to have a mind of his own, and Morgan talks to him as if he
were real. Still suspicious, Buffy goes to check out Morgan's
locker, but finds only the empty puppet case. When Buffy goes
to sleep that night, Sid is outside her window. She feels him
enter the room but when she screams and turns on the light,
he's gone.
The next day, Giles tells Buffy, Xander and Willow about a
brotherhood of demons who need human organs to maintain their
humanity. Although this sounds like Morgan may have killed
the dancer for her heart, these demons have super strength,
while Morgan has been growing weaker. Willow discovers a book
which says that dolls and mannequins are capable of becoming
human by harvesting organs. Buffy, looking for Morgan in the
prop room, finds him dead, with his brain removed. A light
rig suddenly comes crashing down on her, and Sid is next to
her with a kitchen knife. They have each mistaken the other
for a demon. Sid explains that he was a human, but then was
cursed, and he thinks the demon who cursed him is in the
talent show. If he can kill that demon, he'll be free.
Backstage at the talent show, Morgan's brain falls from the
catwalk -- apparently the demon has rejected it. Willow
researches Morgan's records and finds out that he had brain
cancer. This means the demon is still going to be looking for
a healthy, intelligent brain.
We find Giles in the auditorium, innocently helping Marc,
a student performing a magic act in the talent show. Marc
convinces Giles to fill in for his assistant and lie down in
a guillotine. Just as Giles realizes he's about to get his
brains removed, Buffy runs in to save him. Marc changes into
a demon, and Sid finally stabs him in the heart. Now that the
demon is dead, the animated Sid turns back into a normal
puppet. Suddenly, the curtain opens as a stunned audience
attending the talent show looks at the dumbfounded gang on
stage.
Miscellaneous Info
-Willow's running off in terror at the end
of the episode, midway through the drama piece that she,
Buffy and Xander are performing was not part of the script.
-The drama piece was later edited from the episode.
-As Xander is trying to convince Buffy and Willow that Sid is
just a piece of wood, he operates the dummy's mouth and cries
"Redrum! Redrum!". The reference to Stanley
Kubrick's The Shining was added by actor Nicholas
Brendon and was not in the original script.
Quote of the Week
Principal Snyder: That's the kind of
woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to getting eaten.
My Rating
5/5
Cast
