
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Doublemeat Palace"
Episode #: 6ABB12
Running time: 43:32
Previously: Buffy and Spike's sex-fest in the collapsing building,
the discovery of the supervillians by Buffy and Willow, Amy de-ratted,
Amy and Willow's magical escapades, Willow's car crash, Willow's
apologies to Dawn and admitting she needs help, Buffy learns she's
broke.
Over a bowl of popcorn at the Summers household, Xander, Anya, and Willow talk of tres supervillians. Xander expects it of Warren, but not of Jonathan: "And I've never even HEARD of the other guy." Willow tells them what Buffy found when she went to check out their "secret lair."
The supervillians had already cleared out, but left behind
tons of stuff, including spell books, charmed objects, rare magic
things (where we see Willow start to drift off at the thought
of magical items, but then she snaps to), razor scooters, "pictures
of that Vulcan woman on Enterprise."
Anya then starts a rant about why she, as a former vengeance
demon, actually EARNED her money with hard work and was appropriately
compensated while the supervillians are evil for not earning it.
"The workers are the tools that shape America." She
says very patriotically, to which a newly appearing Buffy answers
"Good to know I was kinda feeling like a tool! And now I
know why" She stands in the hallway, clad in a very obnoxious
looking fast-food uniform!
Opening Credits: Nothing new.
Buffy sits in an office at the Doublemeat Palace watching a
promotional new employee video which shows her the "process"
of how they prepare their meat supplies and looks sick. Later,
the exciting ending of "washing your hands" wraps up
the video as "Manny the Manager" flips on the light.
Manny questions Buffy as to why she wishes to work for DP. She
starts to ramble about needing money, but then gets the drift
and says she wishes to be part of the "Doublemeat experience."
On a tour of the Doublemeat Palace, Buffy meets her fellow
"less than enthusiastic" employees, who remark that
yet another new person has arrived with the disappearance of another
one. Buffy is given a locker (still containing the items of a
former employee). "We have a high turnover rate here."
Manny quips.
The entire scene is slightly surreal, with dreamy background
organ music and over-amplified sights and sounds. Manny shows
her around the back area, where silent employees work almost like
robots preparing the food. She is told where she "doesn't"
need to be, making things seem weird and a little suspicious already.
She is then "encouraged" to eat their prize offering:
The Doublemeat Medley. Buffy remembers the training video and
is not thrilled, but dives right in and then asks what the "secret
ingredient" is? "It's a meat process" Manny smiles.
Buffy then talks with a nicer, more animated employee, Gary,
at the front counter as he waits on a customer. Gary is trying
to take his job seriously and tells Buffy not to joke around as
she makes a few funny comments about Manny's lack of personality.
An elderly woman, a regular, comes up and orders a small coffee
and cherry pie. Gary rings her up and we get a shot of the cash
register, complete with little pictures of food on the buttons!
While he gets elderly woman's food, the woman smiles at Buffy,
saying that she thinks Buffy will be around a while, not like
all the other employees who disappear. Gary then returns, gives
the woman her food, and let's Buffy have a whirl with ringing
up the next customers, which is a large family. Of course they
proceed to order several large, complicated items which leaves
Buffy standing helpless.
Sitting in a booth, Buffy eats a burger on her break and looks
sick.
Exploring the back room, Buffy is startled by Manny, who is
suspicious of her snooping.
In walk Xander, Anya, Willow, and Dawn to the front counter where
Buffy is. She's happy and surprised they showed up to show their
support! She immediately starts to tell a tale of how strange
things are around the DP, with Manny acting all weird, not knowing
what the secret ingredient is, and employees disappearing. Xander
chalks it up to her being paranoid, looking for demons where there
are none. The food-ish talk make Xander hungry and he orders a
delicious "medley meal", which Buffy goes to get, her
treat! While she's gone, Anya starts talking about food for the
wedding, which quickly turns to an Anya-ish rant about how Willow
was "expected" to help out with the wedding preparation
after she through the whirlwind engagement party for the couple.
"Hey, standing right here!" Willow remarks.
Buffy returns with Xander's meal, saying "I doublesized
it for ya, and cut way back on the cat." Xander, burger already
in mouth, stops cold. "Cat?"
That night, Buffy stands at an empty front counter. She turns
and talks to "Gina" about how slow it is, just as a
customer shows up. Spike stands there, a slight smirk on his face.
He makes small talk, asking what's in the Doublemeat nuggets,
letting his eyes adjust to the bright florescent lights, which
he says some demons love. Makes the skin twitch. "Is that
the kind of demon you are, love?" he asks. Buffy says sternly
that she's NOT a demon, even though she can't explain why he can
hit her. Spike wonders if that's why she took this job? "To
prove yourself? A normal job for a normal girl?" He suddenly
becomes serious and concerned, saying she doesn't belong there.
It isn't her. She is upset and turns away as he says "This
place will kill you!"
Outside in back of the DP, Gary recognizes someone hiding behind
the garbage cans, who then attacks the surprised man!
The next day, clad in that really ugly uniform, Buffy punches
in her timecard (complete with the doomsday sounding "kaCHUNK"
reverberating from the time clock). Manny surprises her, saying
Gary didn't arrive today, which moves "Timothy" to counter,
and Buffy to Grill.
Timothy (a real winner of an employee) explains the weird process
of grilling. "You put the beef on the grill, press the button,
then it beeps. You flip the beef, hit the other button, then it
beeps. You put it on the bun there's not a button for that"
The automation eliminates variety! Buffy asks about the secret
ingredient, where she gets the same answer: It's a meat process.
Timothy then starts to describe how grease has formed plugs in
his ears "You wanna look inside my ears?"
Manny "rescues" Buffy, only to inform her that because
of Gary not showing and a grinder guy now late, she has to work
a double shift. Just then a HUGE new shipment of meat is slapped
down on the table beside her.
Xander gets off the phone at his place, yelling to Anya that
Buffy's gonna have to work a double shift, just before BAM! A
female vengeance demon appears in front of him talking in a terrifying
voice and threatening him with torcher! Anya walks calmly in as
a terrified Xander points to the new arrival, to which Anya smiles:
"Halfrek?" "Anyanka?!?" Halfrek answers smiling
(and in a completely non-threatening girlish voice). The two are
giddy and hug as Anya says she didn't summon her to punish anyone,
she invited her to the wedding! A slightly confused, awkward Xander
excuses himself to leave the two friends alone. "So, um you're
marrying that man with the large upper arms? Why?" Halfrek
already starts in with the questioning to Anya.
Staring at the bubbling vat of French fry grease, Buffy is
told she can go on break, just as she looks out of the far window
to see Spike walk by and glance in at her.
In the manager's office of the DP, Spike grinds into Buffy
up against a wall, both fully clothed, but Buffy has a far-off
vacant look in her face. The tone is that it's simple emotionless
sex to her.
Sitting on her bed, Willow hears someone knock and in walks Amy! She has come to get her former "home", the rat cage. She is nice and friendly and the two talk about Willow's going cold turkey from magic use. Amy is a bit sarcastic as Willow describes how hard it is but that she is coping. Grabbing her cage, Amy starts out of the room, but glances over at Willow and says "Potestus." Swirling waves of magic surround Willow and her eyes suddenly become that "spooky black" again. "What?" Willow asks, confused, as her hands crackle with magical energy!
She touches a vase, it peals apart like a banana! She touches
a lamp, it dissolves! Willow questions Amy, who says that she
just gave her a present Magic that came from her, NOT from within
Willow. "Enjoy" says Amy as she exits, leaving Willow
alone, confused, and a bit frightened.
Ground beef pours out of a meat grinder as Buffy watches the
swirling blades rotate. She then spots something in the meat,
reaches down, and plucks out a finger! She runs to Manny's office
and shows him the finger! He's thrown and nervous as Buffy questions
and accuses him of grinding up Gary! She runs out to warn others
and Manny follows in hot pursuit. Buffy runs up to the customers,
knocking the food out of their hands, saying "you can't eat
it! Don't eat it! It's people! It's people!" She is dragged
in back by two employees as the elderly woman from earlier asks
"What about the Cherry pie?"
In the back room of the DP, Buffy easily throws off Manny and
other employees that rush at her. "What are you DOING? I
thought you were part of the team! You are FIRED!" Manny
announces. Buffy turns and storms out.
Halfrek relaxes on a couch drinking coffee and asks Anya to
tell her about Xander. Anya speaks very highly of her fiancé,
but Halfrek twists her words. Reminders become accusations, suggestions
become berating comments. Halfrek starts to make Anya question
Xander's true feelings towards her by constantly answering Anya's
questions with more questions.
Xander plays "go fish" with Dawn at the Magic Box.
Buffy has called an emergency meeting of the Scooby gang, but
upon her arrival, only Xander and Anya have shown up. Buffy slams
down a wrapped burger on the table, saying there's trouble, then
asks where the others are? Dawn says Willow is nowhere to be found,
and Xander informs them that Anya's entertaining her demon-friend.
Xander remarks on Halfrek's looks. "Buff, did you ever see
Anya as a demon? Because if that's it... Whoa!" Dawn wonders
if Buffy has been demon fighting because she smells. Buffy smells
her hair the DP stink has followed her home!
Buffy then shows Dawn the finger and mentions the missing Gary.
She thinks the "secret ingredient is people and says they
have to analyze the burger. "What?" says Xander, turning
with a mouthful of finished Doublemeat Palace burger inside. "People?"
He asks? "Xander, you ate the burger?!?" Buffy is pissed!
"Well first you say it's cat, then you come in and hand me
a burger blah blah blah, five minutes later, oh by the way it
happens to be hot delicious human FLESH!?!"
Willow rushes in, a bit nervous. She apologizes for being late
and wants to jump right into whatever is wrong. "You missed
the Garyburger" says Xander, looking sick. Unseen, Willow
picks up a pencil, which goes all "limp" in her hand
as a flash of residual magic energy flashes over it. She hides
the pencil as she turns her attention to Dawn who informs Willow
that the Doublemeat Medley is probably made of people, which makes
Xander look even sicker. Buffy goes on to describe how there's
Doublemeat Palaces all over the place and that not only are they
getting free meat from the high turnover ratio of employees, they're
helping to dispose of the bodies! How sick is THAT?!? (Xander
shows how sick it is by becoming more nauseated at the conversation.)
Buffy says they've got to analyze the meat to see if people are
inside. Willow, still nervous, says she can do it using science
"and not mag..." She then mentions Xander ate the burger.
Dawn suggests analyzing the meat scrapings off the wrapper as
Buffy runs off to investigate the DP because they're closed. Dawn
asks Willow if she's ok. Willow says she's just worried about
Buffy.
At a darkened Doublemeat Palace, Buffy lurks around searching.
She finds traces of blood and then hears a noise. Going to investigate,
she slips on something and comes up with a shoe, with the foot
still inside!
"Don't use magic don't use magic" Willow repeats
over and over again as she pours liquids from one test tube into
another. Dawn and Xander talk nearby about Buffy and her future
employment, and Dawn is sad on how limited her sister's choices
are because she's the Slayer, while Dawn can be anything. Willow
suddenly announces she's got it. "Those aren't potions, are
they?" Xander asks? Willow answers a little defensively and
still nervous "No! No, not potions, it's chemistry you can
tell by how damn SLOW it is."
Anya rushes in all excited, wondering what's up? Xander questions
Anya about how she used to look when she was a vengeance demon.
Anya is a little defensive about the answer, asking what was wrong
about how her friend Halfrek looked? Anya then counters with a
comment about how Xander's upper body is too big and he's always
criticizing her.
Willow looks into a microscope and says that there's no reaction.
The sample doesn't contain people! Anya asks if it contains demon
meat and becomes concerned. Willow answers she's not sure what
she's seeing in the microscope. Something is weird.
Carrying the severed foot, Buffy spots something else unusual a wig! She picks it up and remembers that it belongs to the elderly woman who frequents the joint! "Wiglady?" "I don't care for that" says the elderly woman out of nowhere! "I mean, I have to do something to hide this" the top of the now bald woman's head splits open and out comes this big snake-like thing which screeches and hisses! Buffy looks grossed out as the snake thing rears it's head at her and then sprays a mist in her face! Buffy winces and tries to move, but the mist has started to slow her down and paralyze her!
Buffy falls for cover as elderly lady walks slowly towards her,
the large snake screeching and jabbing at her. The paralysis is
spreading upward and Buffy is slowing down. The elderly lady continues
to talk about how easy Doublemeat Palace employees go down.
Buffy can't stand now and she starts to crawl away. Outside,
Willow peers through the windows of the DP looking for Buffy.
Snake-woman stalks Buffy as Willow's voice is suddenly heard over
the drive through monitor! Buffy struggles to get away as Willow
says that the Doublemeat Burger isn't people but is instead a
vegetable substitute! She then starts to admit that "something"
happened earlier with Amy and how she forced magic about her.
She talks as if she's a druggie looking for a fix. Buffy still
struggles to crawl away from snake-woman but is finally trapped!
The snake strikes from above and bites Buffy in the shoulder as
Buffy knocks pots over with a loud crash! Willow hears!
The Snake strikes again as Willow comes up behind. She gets
the snake woman's attention and the snake sprays it's mist at
Willow, who dives safely for cover. Snake woman then returns her
attention to Buffy as Willow appears with a large knife and WHOPPS
the snake from the woman's head! The woman falls dead as the snake
continues to attack Buffy, who stabs it. Willow grabs the snake
and throws it into the meat grinder! The snake-creature can be
heard screeching and screaming in pain as Willow helps Buffy to
her feet slowly. Both look inside the meat grinder to find something
really gross "Eewwww"
Amy walks happily up to the Summers house where Willow greets
her at the door coldly. Amy wants to borrow some detergent, but
Willow says she can't come in and doesn't wish to see her anymore.
Amy is shocked, wondering if she enjoyed her present, saying it
was a real cool spell. Willow says she didn't want it and says
it makes everything "harder." But Amy remarks that she
notices Willow wasn't denying she had fun. Willow is defensive
as Amy jabs at her with a remark about having to sit around waiting
to be turned from a rat.
Willow has had enough. "Amy, if you really are my friend,
you better stay away from me, and if you aren't, you'd better
stay away from me." Amy is hurt. She turns and storms off
down the street.
Buffy knocks on the "new" managers office, as it
seems that Manny has "disappeared." The new lady manager
is a little more friendly and "human" than Manny. Buffy
arrived to return her uniform to the company and hands the folded
clothes to the new manager. She turns but before she goes, she
asks about the Double Medley's secret ingredient: vegetables?
The manager looks shocked and asks Buffy to close the door for
privacy. The secret ingredient is actually a vegetable compound
mixed with, yes, Beef. Buffy hints that this is a "valuable"
secret. Blackmail? The manager starts to get worried, but Buffy
just says that she wants her job back. The manager says she doesn't
want anymore "practical jokes", remembers that Buffy
is trained, and gives her her job back! The manager then says
that Buffy should strive for a goal. She points to a "five
year" pin on her chest. Buffy smiles awkwardly as the surreal
music starts to swell up in the background again.
Grrr... Arrrg...
Thanks to Leoff
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