Doomed (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Buffy and Riley finally talk. As much as Riley wants to tell Buffy who he really is, he can't, but Buffy is able to guess based on the evidence of the past several weeks. Riley is amazed by her talents and abilities, but when she confesses that she's the Slayer, he doesn't know what that is. An earthquake hits and although it is mild, the memory of the last earthquake in Sunnydale disturbs Buffy.

As Xander cleans up some of the earthquake damage, he tells Spike that if he's living there he'll have to do some of the housework. Willow checks in with Buffy and informs her of the aftershock party that is taking place in one of the dorm buildings that lost power. Buffy goes to Giles, fearing that the world is going to come to an end, but he dismisses her worry, thinking that the earthquake was just a normal California occurrence.

Riley pumps Forrest for information on the Slayer, which Forrest thinks is just a myth that monsters made up. A demon goes berserk and attacks Riley and Forrest. They manage to subdue it and wonder at the strange activity their demonic captives have been exhibiting since the earthquake.

At the party, Willow sees Percy, whom she tutored in high school. Laurie, Percy's date, objects to his talking with Willow and suggests that they go somewhere else. Meanwhile, a guy mixing drinks in one of the dorm rooms has his throat slit by a large demon. Willow overhears Percy trying to soothe Laurie by describing Willow as an "Egghead" and "Captain of the Nerd Squad". Depressed, Willow goes into one of the dorm rooms to lie on a bed, but when the lights come back on, she finds herself next to the body that was mutilated by the demon.

Returning home, Xander finds Spike wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts because he shrunk his own clothes. When Spike tries to threaten him, Xander quickly loses his temper and tears Spike down verbally, harshly informing him that no one is scared of him anymore and that he's not even worth the effort to pummel.

Riley shoots baskets with Forrest and broods about Buffy when Graham walks in and tells them about the murder. Riley orders the others to report to Professor Walsh, while he checks the situation out for himself.

Willow fills everyone in about the body she found, and about Percy talking badly about her. After she shows everyone the symbol carved into the student's chest, Giles says it is definitely the end of the world again. Buffy hunts down this demon, and finds it at a mausoleum where it is collecting the bones of a small child. She fights with the demon, but it escapes and she runs into Riley. He tries to convince her to give a relationship between them a chance, but because of all the pain in her past, she tells him no. Research leads them to find that the demon needs the blood of a man, the bones of a child, and the Word of Valios to perform a ritual called the 'Sacrifice of Three', which will destroy the world. Riley talks to his team and sends them out to find and kill the demon.

Willow and Xander walk in on Spike trying to kill himself by falling on a stake. Their appearance makes him miss the stake. Pitying him, Willow insists that they take him along, and Xander reluctantly agrees.

Out on patrol, Buffy runs into Riley again and they resume their earlier conversation. He tells Buffy that she needs to be more positive, to not look for the bad in the situation. He tells her he doesn't care about her past and begs her to just take a chance on him, but she continues to refuse.

Later, instead of showing appreciation for their efforts, Spike taunts Willow and Xander about things ranging from their love lives to their "uselessness" to Buffy while they make their way to Giles' apartment. Though Willow and Xander protest his words as untrue, Spike clearly strikes a nerve.

Giles discovers that the Word of Valios is actually a talisman that he has in his possession. The demons have already made their way to his apartment and they beat him up badly before taking the talisman. The gang finds Giles and they head off to the remains of Sunnydale High School after he informs them that the ritual is to open the Hellmouth. The gang makes it to the remains of the library where three demons are performing the ritual. A fight breaks out, and then one of the demons jumps into the Hellmouth, revealing that they are the sacrifice for the ritual.

A second demon attacks Spike, and after several hits, he finally hits back. He realizes he can hurt demons without the chip hurting him. Ecstatic about being able to fight again, Spike promptly beats the demon senseless, and proceeds to throw it into the Hellmouth. While the rest of the gang escape the tottering building, Riley shows up to help Buffy fight. The third demon makes its way into the Hellmouth and Buffy goes in after it. Thanks to a cable and hook Riley attached to her belt, Buffy is pulled out of the Hellmouth along with the third demon. The world is saved again.

Afterwards, Riley tries to keep up his secret identity, but Buffy's friends pretty much know who he is by his clothes, while Spike evades detection by posing as a "friend of Xander's" with a bad American accent. The next day, Buffy goes to Riley's dorm, where he says how upset he is at himself for allowing her and her friends to find out about him. Telling him that everything will be okay, she kisses him.

Back in Xander's basement apartment, Spike is eager for another brawl and tries to persuade Willow and Xander to go out for some more demon-hunting rather than watching television, but they are disinclined to do so.

Starting with this episode, Marc Blucas appears in the title credits, after Alyson Hannigan, recognizing his increasing importance to the season and to the show in general with his character Riley Finn becoming Buffy's love interest as well as being a field leader for The Initiative.

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• "Doomed" at IMDb
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