Dead Man's Party
Buffy has returned home, and Joyce is trying to make everything turn back to normal. The two are still trying to work things out and get past Buffy's running away. As Buffy asks her mom if she can go find Xander and Willow, her mom is putting up and ancient mask on her bedroom wall. Buffy leaves to reunite with her buds (that's what I wanted to see!) but sees a mysterious man walking down an alley. Ready to slay, Buffy notices that it's Xander. A vamp comes and the rest of the scooby gang runs in to slay it. Buffy is VERY surprised to see her friends slaying for her.
Willow and Xander are happy, but surprised to see Buffy. Buffy wants everything to be exactly like it was before she left, but finds that everyone is leading a different sort of life. Buffy makes plans with Willow, but Willow stands her up, etc.
When Buffy returns home, she meets one of her mother's new friends, Pat. Joyce asks Buffy to go into the basement to get something (hehe, i forget what) and Buffy finds a dead cat! The two bury the kitty, and thats that. The next morning Buffy opens the front door and in runs the cat-the dead cat! Buffy calls Giles, and he comes and gets it with plans to study the animal. While trying to find the kitty, Giles remarks on Joyce's ancient mask.
Buffy and Joyce go to the high school to try and get Buffy re-enrolled. Unfortunately, Snyder is holding to the expulsion and won't let Buffy back.Meanwhile, Giles is trying to find out why the cat came back to life.
To try and do something nice for Buffy, Joyce invites all of Buffy's friends over for dinner. Not really excited about it, Buffy pretends as to not hurt her mother's feelings.
Buffy's friends decide that they are going to through a big welcome home party for Buffy at her house, after Joyce invites them. Dingoes Ate My Baby is going to preform and everything.
The night of the party, Buffy finds out that Joyce has also invited Pat. When Buffy's friends arrive, Buffy is surprised to see so many people she doesn't even know. Buffy feels so left out,(Xander and Cordy are all over eachother; Willow being Oz's groupie) that she goes to her room to pack and run away again.
Meanwhile, Giles is still at the library and finds out why the cat came back to life. It was the mask on Joyce's wall! The ancient mask brings dead people back to life, and if one of the zombies puts the mask on they become possessed by the evil spirit. Quickly, Giles drives to Buffy's house to warn her, but on the way he encounters a parade of the zombies. He dodges them, and continues to Buffy's.
Well, Willow finds Buffy attemping to run away again, and they get into a fight. Joyce walks in to find Buffy packing, and is really upset. Buffy tries to leave, but Joyce stops her in the downstairs hallway. Not caring about the number of people, Joyce starts yelling at Buffy for running away. Instead of backing Buffy up, Xander and Willow start critizing Buffy as well. Suddenly, a pack of zombies invades the house. Not knowing what kind of demon they are, the gang tries to slay them, but that doesn't work. The zombies kill some of the people at the party, while the rest split up and run for their lives.
Buffy, Joyce, Willow, Xander run upstairs with Pat, who was hurt by a zombie. Once they get to Joyce's room, followed by zombies, they discover that Pat is dead!
Downstairs, Oz and Cordy hid in a closet. When they came out, they find that all of the zombies have gone upstairs. As they walk around, Giles runs in.
Meanwhile, the gang upstairs are trying to fight off the zombies, when Joyce notices that Pat isn't dead. Happy that her friend is alive, Joyce runs to Pat only to be throw across the room. Pat is now a zombie! Before anyone else can notice, Pat puts on the mask and becomes the evil demon. Buffy tries to fight Pat, but is instantly blinded by a brilliant bright light. Pat hits Buffy hard. Trying not to look in her eyes, Buffy attempts to throw Pat out the second story window, but ends out falling out as well.
Downstairs, Giles tells Oz and Cordy what is happening and tells Oz to warn Buffy that the only way to kill the demon is through its eyes. Oz runs outside to tell Buffy, but is blinded by the light. Inspired, Buffy drives a shovel through Pat's eyes and the demon, along with all the zombies, disappears.
Later, we find Buffy and Willow at a coffee shop. Buffy is apologizing for everything she did and they become best friends again. Aahh.
Questions
What was the purpose of the character Pat?
Why would all the guest at the party stay to watch Joyce yell at Buffy?
Scenes I'd Like To Have Seen
Buffy and Joyce finish their discussion/fight.
Buffy apologize to everyone.
Buffy and Xander reconsiliation.
Flubs
When Buffy goes to her bedroom and starts to pack her bag again, she leaves the door slightly open. After the commercial break, when Willow finds Buffy there, that crack in the doorway is now twice as big. It's doubtful that Buffy intentionally opened the door wider while she was getting set to run away again.
When Buffy stakes the zombie to see if it is a vampire, the zombie raises its left arm in reaction to the attack. In the very next reverse-angle shot, the zombie's left arm is still resting on the floor.
During the scenes in Joyce's bedroom, notice the wallpaper pattern and memorize it. After Buffy pushes Pat through the window, the camera angle switches to outside the house. After Buffy and the demon clear the window, you can see the walls inside the bedroom. Notice that the wallpaper is different in this shot.
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