Buffy Season 1, 2, & 3 Episode Guides

The Slayer, Buffy Summers, and her mother move from LA to Sunnydale, California. Buffy hopes to escape her destiny of fighting vampires & demons, but little does she know the small town sits on the Hellmouth, the center of mystical energy for the world. Buffy is befriended by class clown Alexander 'Xander' Harris & his shy but smart best friend Willow Rosenberg. Buffy also meets her new Watcher, Rupert Giles, who will guide her in her duties, & finds an enemy in snobby popular girl Cordelia Chase.

RATING: ***

On a warning from mysterious stranger Angel, Buffy & friends prepare for The Harvest, when the Master, the ruler & supreme vampire, who is trapped below ground, will try to break free. Banning together, they all save the day, and prepare for their next challenge as those who stand between the "earth & it's total destruction."

RATING: ***

Buffy & her new friends face their first non-vampire threat when Sunnydale High's cheerleaders are plagued by mysterious ailments. Tracing the trouble back to Willow's old friend Amy, who seems desperate to become a cheerleader & follow in her mother's footsteps, Buffy soon learns that Amy's mother has actually switched their bodies, & will let nothing come between her & her quest to relive her glory days.

RATING: ***/*

When a teacher at Sunnydale High mysteriously 'dissapears,' a beautiful substitute, Natalie French, arrives as his replacement. All the boys in school seem to be falling over each other trying to spend time with her, but this time, it's not hormones behind the attraction, it's pheromones! Ms. French turns out to be a giant praying mantis who's out to mate with, then eat, any willing male specimen, & Xander's volunteered as the next item on her menu!

RATING: ***/*

Buffy is torn between her supernatural obligations & her desire to be a regular teen when, on the night of her first date with gorgeous, poetry-loving Owen, she must stop the Annointed One, who is supposed to be crucial to the Master, from rising. Their date eventually ends up in the funeral home, & Owen sees Buffy's power, but she soon learns he is only interested in starting fights & lurking around in the dark of night, so Buffy breaks it off & continues in her lonely life.

RATING: **/*

Xander's acting weird, insulting people left & right, and hanging out with the school's tough kids. Is this normal teen behavior? Not when it's on the Hellmouth. Turns out Xander & his new friends had been possessed by hyenas while on a field trip to the zoo. Sure enough, Buffy eventually rescues him & turns him & the others back, but not before feelings are hurt, & the school's new mascot, Herbert the pig, as well as their beloved Principal Flutie, are eaten by the possessed students.

RATING: ***/*

Buffy finally learns the truth about Angel--he's a vampire - with a curse. Turns out he was cursed by Gypsies a hundred years ago, & now he has a soul. However, Buffy fears for her life, & isn't sure if she should trust him, but is torn because of her growing love for him. But sure enough, Angel proves himself by killing his sire Darla to save Buffy.

RATING: ****

While doing a scanning project in the library with Computer Science teacher Miss Calendar, Willow..um..befriends someone on the internet named Malcolm. But, this being the Hellmouth & all, Malcolm actually turns out to be Moloch the Corruptor, a centuries-old demon who was scanned onto the net. He's out to make Willow, as Xander once put it, "...[his] love slave." But, in traditional 'Buffy' fashion, the gang saves her just in time & they go back to their almost-normal lives.

RATING: *

It's the annual "talent-less show" as Buffy puts it, & not only has Giles been recruited to direct, but Buffy, Xander, & Willow have been forced into putting on an act. But, of course, something bad has to happen. When one of the girls in the show is murdered, Buffy & Co. start to suspect a strange kid with a stranger..dummy. Turns out the kid is dying of brain cancer, the dummy's alive, and is hunting demons, and the magician in the show is a disgusting monster that wants Giles's brain. Just another day...

RATING: ****

What's your worst nightmare? Can you even imagine those horrible things coming true? Well, that's exactly what's happening in Sunnydale this week, all thanks to a little boy in a coma. Cordy's fashion sense has gone out the window, and she's joined the chess club, and Xander shows up to class wearing nothing but his underwear, & is chased by his childhood nightmare, a scary birthday clown. Willow has to perform in public in her own opera, Giles can't read, gets lost in his own library, & sees Buffy's grave, showing he couldn't protect her & failed in his task. But worst of all are Buffy's nightmares. Not only does she imagine she's become a vampire, but has every child's worst nightmare--her father tells her she caused her parents' divorce.

RATING: ***

Marcie Ross was always ignored by the popular kids. In fact, it was so bad, after a while she just started to disappear-literally. Well, she's still here,& she's getting her revenge by going after Cordelia. After hurting her boyfriend & best friend, Cordy enlists the help of the Scooby Gang, & Buffy saves Cordy when she herself is kidnapped, & Marcie ends up sent to a special school, where we see that this is not the first time this has happened...

RATING: **

Earthquakes. Serpents. A boy born with his eyes facing inward. Giles finds out that all this is happening becuase Buffy is set to die at the hands of the Master, who is going to rise soon, on the night of the big dance. At first, Buffy is terrified, & gives up being a Slayer. But eventually she comes around, & is lead by the child known as the Annointed One, into "hell". But Buffy finds out that she is the key--her arrival & death frees the Master. But Xander, along with Angel, comes to the rescue, and revives the drowned Buffy. They all end up in the high school, where the Hellmouth itself opens right in the middle of Giles's precious library, but sure enough, Buffy kills the Master, & all of them, along with Cordy & Miss Calendar, who are now on board, go to party at the dance.

RATING: ****

Just as Willow & Xander begin to grow closer, Buffy returns from a summer in LA with her father. But all are soon back to their old ways when the Annointed One, along with a new vampire, Absalom, attempts to resurrect the Master. But to do this, they need those who were physically with him when he died, which means Giles, Willow, Cordelia, & Miss Calendar. After saving her friends & smashing up the Master's bones, Buffy can finally move on.

RATING: ****

A new something for the residents of Sunnydale. Graves are being dug up, but this time, it's not vampires rising, it's actually 2 Sunnydale High students trying to make their dream date. They've been digging up graves & cutting up bodies to find the best parts, but they're not being entirely selfish. One of the guys actually revived his brother after he died rock climbing, & now he needs a bride. But the bodies are decaying by the second, & they need something fresher. Does Cordelia sound fresh enough to you???

RATING: ***/*

Just when Buffy got some nice down time to do forced 'principal' (as in Snyder) labor, a new bad has come to Sunnydale. This year's threat is the Sid & Nancy of vampires, an insane pair named Spike & Drusilla. Spike decides he's gonna take the Slayer out, & picks Parent-Teacher night to seige the school. But just when Buffy thinks she's down on her luck, in trouble for being a bad student & desperately trying to ward off the evil forces in town, Buffy gets a little help - from mom, who smashes Spike over the head with an ax to save her daughter & praises her for her bravery.

RATING: **

Xander just has some luck with women. First it was a praying mantis, now it's a South American exchange student who's really a mummy that wants to suck the lives out of people. Willow's feeling down too, convinced that she'll never get Xander & that he cares more for everyone else than for her, but he comes through in the end, refusing to sacrifice Willow to his new love.

RATING: **/*

Still upset that her social life is going nowhere, & mad at both Angel for not supporting their relationship & Giles for monopolizing her time, Buffy reluctantly agrees to go to a frat party with Cordelia. Unfortunately, like all college guys, they too have an ulterior motive. But it's not quite what you'd think -- they actually worship a demon that gives them wealth & power, but this demon needs sacrifices, & Buffy & Cordy are next on the menu...

RATING: ****

Despite everyone's assumptions, Halloween is usually really quiet for demons. But this year's different when Giles's old friend, Ethan Rayne, comes to town & sells out costumes that transform the wearers into exactly what they're supposed to be. Trying to please Angel, Buffy dresses up as an 18th century girl, & loses all her Slayer strength, Xander becomes a real soldier, & Willow, dressed as a ghost, actually dies, and has to go around the whole night dressed in what was under her costume, a sexy biker chick getup. Eventually, Giles makes everything right again, but the threat of Ethan is not gone, & Giles awaits his return...

RATING: ***/*

Buffy is thrilled when her old friend from LA, Billy 'Ford' Fordham, comes to visit. All seems to go well, & Buffy is actually relieved when she finds out he knows she's the Slayer, but Angel has a bad feeling, which turns out to be right. Ford is actually dying of brain cancer, & wants to be made a vampire by Spike & Co. in exchange for giving him the Slayer & a bunch of his dumb followers to snack on. But of course, things don't go exactly as planned, as Buffy takes Dru hostage & forces Spike to let everyone go. Unfortunately, they have to leave Ford behind. Spike does indeed make him a vampire, but as soon as he rises from his grave, Buffy must stake him.

RATING: **

The gang is shocked when they learn some of Giles's old pals are back in town - dead. They get a peek into his past when he tells them about a demon he & his friends, including Ethan Rayne, created back in London. The demon has to find a dead or unconcious body to jump into when the time comes, & Giles's beloved Jenny just happens to be lying unconcious on the floor at the time. The demon posesses her, while Giles is distraught & Buffy has been captured by Ethan. But it's Willow who saves the day by coming up with the idea for Angel to take the demon inside him & have his vampire self fight it. The plan works & everyone is safe, but Jenny is traumatized & she & Giles are separated, for now.

RATING: ***/*

Fishy things are happening in the world of Sunnydale's vampires. Buffy sees a vamp steal something, & it turns out that Spike is mounting a plan to restore the weak Drusilla to health. To get Buffy out of the way, they send 3 assasins, part of the Order of Teraka, after her. Angel is also going around trying to find information, when he is locked up by what he believes to be another assasin. This girl then goes to find Buffy, leaving Angel to fry in a cage, & Buffy also thinks she's an assasin, but sure enough, she introduces herself as "Kendra. The Vampire Slayer."

RATING: ***

Buffy & Kendra agree not to kill each other, & go to see Giles, who confirms that Kendra is indeed another slayer. They figure out that she was activated when Buffy died for a few minutes the night of the Prom. Together, if reluctantly, they fight off the other assasins & learn that, for this ritual, they need Dru's sire, Angel. Meanwhile, Xander & Cordelia are still trapped in Buffy's basement after a run-in w/ an assasin, & start smooching under pressure, & Willow grows closer to the elusive Oz after they are both chosen by a computer company during the school's career week. Back in 'vamp land', Angel has been taken from the cage & brought to a church for the ritual. But the gang, including Kendra, shows up & stops them. Kendra goes home, & at the very end, we see that Spike & Dru have switched roles: she's been restored enough to be strong again, & he has been crippled.

RATING: ***

Buffy is horrified when her mother starts dating a seemingly perfect computer salesman/pizza-and-cookie-making wizard named Ted. Willow & Xander think he's perfect, & everyone starts spending lots of time together. Buffy has a bad feeling, but no one else seems to get it, until Ted finds out Buffy's secret & threatens her, & Buffy punches him & he falls down the stairs. She's horrified that she killed an actual person, but the guilt doesn't last long, because Ted comes back! Willow, Xander, & Cordy go to investigate, & find out Ted has had many other wives, dating back to when he should've been in preschool! Now he wants Joyce all for his own, thiking she's his wife. But Buffy saves the day, & the gang learns that the real Ted was dying & built a robot of himself to live in his place. Also in this episode, Jenny & Giles reunite after she accidentally shoots him with an arrow.

RATING: *

Buffy & her friends are given the classic high school assignment - they have to carry eggs around as babies. But nothing is normal on the Hellmouth - inside the eggs are creepy-crawly little demons, & they have posessed almost everybody, including Willow, Cordy, Giles, & Joyce. Buffy & Xander head to the school's basement & find that the egg babies' mother is in a huge nest, being dug up by all the posessed people. While trying to fight them off, Buffy must also deal with the dumb Gorch brothers, vampires from Texas. She kills one, along with the mother demon, & everyone is back to normal, but Buffy is still in trouble with mom for sneaking out, despite the fact that she just saved her life for like, the millionth time.

RATING: **

MORE COMING SOON!!!

Summer is quickly coming to an end, and we learn Buffy's family & friends have been searching for her for months, and everyone, especially Giles, is worried about her. We see that Buffy is in a big city, possibly LA, working at a diner under the name Anne, her middle name. Buffy is doing well for herself, and has an apartment, but sees many kids who are not so well-off, including a girl calling herself Lily, who Buffy knew as Chanterelle, one of Billy Fordham's followers she saved from being killed. When her boyfriend Ricky disappears, Lily asks for Buffy's help in finding him, but the 2 get sucked into an underground hell, where unwanted kids from the street are loured into a life of suffering, and after they work almost to death, get spit back out as old people. They discover that was Ricky's fate, but Buffy saves herself, Lily, and others from staying in hell, and goes home to her mom.

Rating: *

After returning to Sunnydale & spending time with her mother, Buffy tells the gang she's back. Though they're overjoyed to see her, all harbor resentment for her leaving without telling them where she was. Buffy also struggles with finding her place in school, now that Principal Snyder has kicked her out. On top of all this adjusting, Joyce brings home a tribal mask to decorate her room with, but it does way more harm than good, bringing the dead to life as zombies. The Scoobies plan a party to celebrate Buffy's return, but tensions are running high, and everyone's feelings erupt in front of all the party guests as Joyce, Willow, & Xander confront Buffy. But there's nothing like saving the world to bring the friends back together: after fighting, and defeating, the zombies, all are friends again, and Giles, realizing just how important Buffy's friends are to her, and how much she's had to deal with, threatens Snyder into letting Buffy back into school.

Rating: **/*