Original Air Date: November 17, 1998

Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by James A. Contner

Summary

After Dingoes Ate My Baby finishes its set during a particularly crowded night at the Bronze, Oz joins Willow, Xander, and Cordelia at their table. Hoping to divert attention away from her and Xander's uneasiness around each other, Willow brings up the topic of Buffy acting differently as of late. Cordy suggests that Buffy might have found a new man. Buffy stops by briefly before heading off with Faith towards the cemetery for a rendezvous with Giles. In no time, Buffy and Faith are battling two newly-risen vampires while their Watcher observes. After successfully vanquishing the vampires, a woman arrives on the scene. She criticizes Buffy and Faith's performance, then identifies herself as Mrs. Gwendolyn Post -- Faith's new Watcher.

      Upon returning to the library, Gwendolyn Post informs Giles, Buffy, and Faith that she has been sent by the Watchers' Council to serve as Faith's Watcher, as well as report back to the Council about the situation in Sunnydale with Giles and Buffy. In addition, Gwendolyn has information regarding a demon named Lagos, who has come to Sunnydale in search of a deadly weapon called the Glove of Myhnegon. It's apparent from the start that Gwendolyn doesn't have a great deal of respect for Giles' abilities, as she mocks both his resources and his efficiency. After Faith leaves with her newly appointed Watcher, Buffy goes to the mansion for her own training session with Angel. In the heat of the moment, they nearly kiss before Buffy pulls back at the last second. As she leaves, Buffy casually mentions Lagos' name, which brings a look of concern to Angel's face.

      Back at the library, Giles' frustration steadily grows due to his difficulty in finding any relevant information on Lagos. He vents that frustration on Xander, demanding that he either help with the research or leave. Xander joins an exhausted Willow in the search through the books, and they settle down behind one of the stacks. One thing leads to another, and Willow is soon madly kissing Xander. Completely lost in their passion, neither of them realizes that Giles is merely a few feet away. His voice breaks them out of their spell and brings them to their feet. Luckily, the librarian is too focused on the book in his hands to notice what Willow and Xander were doing. Giles tells them that he discovered the possible location of the Glove of Myhnegon: inside the Von Hauptman family crypt in Restfield Cemetery. Xander immediately volunteers to go to the cemetery and check out the crypt. Meanwhile, Buffy and Faith decide to call it a night and postpone the rest of their patrol through the numerous cemeteries of Sunnydale. While Buffy heads home to sleep, Faith passes through Shady Hill Cemetery, where she finds the demon Lagos rummaging through a tomb. Faith engages the demon, but she quickly ends up on her back with the wind knocked out of her. She can only watch as Lagos gives up his search through the tomb and walks away. Finding the glove is the only thing on Lagos' mind. Over at Restfield Cemetery, Xander arrives at the Von Hauptman crypt just in time to see somebody walking out of the entrance. To his surprise, Xander recognizes the person as Angel, who is carrying a wrapped object in his hands. Without being noticed, Xander follows Angel back to the Crawford Street mansion and witnesses yet another surprise through the window: Buffy, with her arms wrapped around Angel... kissing him. After Xander leaves, Buffy and Angel break their kiss and regain control of themselves. Angel brings Buffy over to the object which he took from the crypt, then unwraps it to reveal the Glove of Myhnegon. Angel stops Buffy from touching it, warning her that the glove cannot be removed once you put it on. At Giles' apartment, Gwendolyn Post relaxes while Giles locates an illustration of the Glove of Myhnegon in one of his books. As they take a tea break, Xander bursts in with an urgent announcement concerning Buffy for Giles' ears only.

      Buffy enters the library the next morning with good news about the glove, only to find Giles and all of her friends sitting around the table with serious looks on their faces. After she sits down, Giles tells her that her secret about Angel is officially out in the open. Buffy tries to defend her stance, emphasizing the fact that Angel is no longer the uncontrollable murderer that he became after his fateful "moment of happiness". However, her friends refuse to accept Buffy's excuses, especially Xander. Fed up with his accusations, Buffy grabs Xander by the arm and questions his motives for wanting Angel dead. Giles stops the debate and sends everybody back to class before things get out of hand. Buffy follows her Watcher into his office and reassures him that Angel got the glove before Lagos could find it. Giles, however, doesn't want to hear any more of Buffy's excuses. He reminds her of how Angel tortured him months ago. Giles then acknowledges the fact that Buffy was wrong to keep Angel's return a secret from her Watcher, and she has gravely disrespected him by doing so. Meanwhile, Gwendolyn pays a visit to Faith's place. While assuring Faith that her intentions are pure, Gwendolyn alludes to Giles' secret meeting with Buffy and her friends. Faith is not pleased to be left out of that equation. Back at Sunnydale High, Buffy finds Willow at her locker and asks if everything's all right between them. Preoccupied with her own secret, Willow does not hesitate to pardon Buffy for keeping Angel's return under wraps. Buffy then tells her friend that she plans to wait in front of the Von Hauptman crypt and kill Lagos when he arrives.

      Later that night, Faith finds Xander at the Bronze, shooting pool by himself. Xander fills Faith in on the news that Angel's back in town, the Glove of Myhnegon is in his possession, and Buffy has no problems with any of this. Faith decides to kill Angel, and Xander is eager to tag along. As they head towards the library, Gwendolyn enters Giles' office and finds out that the Glove of Myhnegon has been found and is currently in the mansion on Crawford Street. Giles then surprises her with a spell he discovered that can destroy the glove. The spell creates a living flame, which can incinerate the Glove of Myhnegon. After Giles turns around, Gwendolyn picks up a statue and bashes him in the head twice, sending him to the floor, unconscious and bleeding. At Restfield Cemetery, Willow is about to divulge her secret to Buffy about her new relationship with Xander when Lagos suddenly appears. After a rough fight, Buffy grabs the axe from Lagos' back and uses it to chop his head off. As they head back to the library, Faith and Xander arrive to collect a few weapons from the armory in the bookcage. On their way out, Xander hears a moan coming from Giles' office. He finds Giles on the floor, quickly losing a lot of blood. Faith believes Angel did this, but Xander points out the lack of bite marks. Faith doesn't care about that detail, and she leaves for the mansion while Xander calls for an ambulance.

      Aware of the method for destroying the glove, Angel completes the spell for the living flame. He then turns around to see that Gwendolyn Post has entered the room. She concocts a lie to convince Angel that the living flame can strengthen the glove if the spell was miscast. As Angel turns his back to her, Gwendolyn picks up a shovel and strikes the back of the vampire's head, knocking him to the floor. Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow arrive at the library, where paramedics are in the process of bringing Giles out to the ambulance. Before he is taken away, Giles tells Buffy that she must destroy the glove with living flame. Xander tells Buffy that Faith is already on her way to the mansion, convinced that Angel needs to die. Buffy tells Willow to find the spell for the living flame, then dashes towards the mansion, where Gwendolyn is trying to open the locked chest which contains the glove. Back at the library, Xander and Willow finish the preparations for the spell and head to the mansion. Before Gwendolyn can open the chest, Angel hops to his feet, his face morphed to its vampire state. Gwendolyn breaks the shovel handle in half and tries to stake Angel, but he easily knocks the weapon away and throws Gwendolyn into the wall. As he moves in to grab her, Faith arrives and sees her new Watcher about to be murdered by a vampire. Faith overwhelms Angel and is about to finish the job when Buffy arrives and stops the stake's descent. Buffy tries to convince Faith that Angel is not the enemy, but Gwendolyn urges her Slayer to do her job. Faith and Buffy begin to fight each other. Their battle takes them crashing through a window and into one of the outside courtyards. Xander and Willow arrive in the midst of the fight. Xander tries to stop them, but Faith tosses him aside and continues the fight. Using the Slayers' distraction to her advantage, Gwendolyn opens the chest and pulls out the glove and knocks Willow to the floor with it, then puts on the Glove of Myhnegon, which latches itself to her arm. As she raises the glove above her head and chants in Gaelic, thunder begins to rumble over the mansion. The loud thunder stops Buffy and Faith, and they turn their attention towards Gwendolyn. As they watch on, Gwendolyn screams a command which causes lightning to strike the glove from the sky, then fly out from the glove towards its target. Buffy and Faith dodge the blast, but just barely. As Willow gets up from the floor, Gwendolyn turns and fires a lightning bolt in her direction. Angel runs in and pushes Willow out of the way of the bolt. Faith runs around the room to draw her fire away from Buffy, who picks up a shard of the broken window and throws it at Gwendolyn's gloved arm. The glass cuts right through her arm, causing it to fall to the floor by Gwendolyn's feet. The dismemberment causes the glove to fire again, but since it is now beneath her, the lightning flies down from the sky and strikes Gwendolyn, burning her into oblivion.

      The next morning, Oz, Willow, Xander, and Cordy talk in the lounge about Buffy and Angel, as well as destroying the Glove of Myhnegon with the living flame. Xander concedes that having Angel around again will be fine as long as Buffy doesn't repeat the same mistakes that led to the lifting of the curse. Buffy arrives and makes peace with Xander. Giles then walks into the lounge and tells the group that Gwendolyn Post was kicked out by the Watchers' Council a couple years ago. After school, Buffy visits Faith's place. She tells Faith to not worry about trusting her, but Faith still feels betrayed and is not in the mood for conversation. As Buffy turns to leave, Faith begins to tell her something, but decides to keep it to herself for now.

Miscellaneous Info

-The name Lagos might have come from the Greek word Lagos meaning rabbit.
-Apparently, Sunnydale has twelve cemteries.

Quote of the Week

Buffy: Interesting lady. Can we kill her?
Giles: I think the council might frown upon that.

My Rating

4/5

My Comments

Wahoo! Nice episode! At first I thought that all those different story lines (Faith's new Watchers, a demon looking for a weapon in Sunnydale, Angel returning, everyone hating Angel, Buffy & Angel getting together) just wouldn't all fit together, but the writer (forgot who wrote it right now) did a wonderful job of meshing everything together, though I felt that Cordelia and Oz were hardly used or needed at all. I'd like to see a little more of that wonderful Oz humor please! Buffy and Angel HAVE to get back together, isn't this season's motto "Love Is Immortal"? They have to. Oh! Oh! Oh! Buffy wore her knee high boots once again! I am eternally happy, they're her trademark, she has to wear them. Okay, is it just me, or is anybody else noticing that Xander now likes 3 girls: Cordelia, Willow and Buffy. I really don't like Xander, could he please just pick ONE girl? Oh and do please stop bringing up the fact that Angel killed Jenny. The snide remark is SO over. Okay and for my last comment: I have one really big beef to pick with Jeff Pruitt (the stunt coordinator): Sophia Crawford is getting WAY too noticeable! Sarah Michelle Gellar hardly does her own stunts any more! It's very frustrating, it's gotten to the point that I don't even have to play my tape in slow-mo to check for Sophia! Sarah Michelle Gellar is able to do most of this stuff! And, laid before all to see, is my major problem with this season. Eliza Dushku, did appear to do most of her own stunts. Thought the fight scenes in Revelations was really nicely choreographed.

Cast