Ridding Sunnydale of one slimy demon provides little distraction for Buffy,
Xander, and Willow, who are still coping with the aftermath of their relationship
woes. Cordy is taking it the hardest, ignoring the vast amount of answering
machine messages left by Xander while burning all the pictures of her
ex-boyfriend.
The next morning, Willow tries once again to patch up her relationship with
Oz. Unfortunately, he needs some space and time to make any decisions on
the matter. Cordelia arrives at school dressed to kill, but she soon learns that
all of her old friends still have no respect for her, even after Xander Harris has
left the picture. Harmony introduces Cordy to Anya, a new girl in town, before
harshly insulting her former best friend. Anya takes an immediate interest in
Cordy's personal troubles. Later th at night, Cordy and Anya go to the Bronze,
where Xander is also in attendance, along with Buffy and Willow. After getting
up to fetch a few drinks, Buffy notices Cordy abruptly exiting, so she follows her
into the alley. Before Buffy can get Cordelia to open up and vent her problems,
a vampire intervenes. The ensuing fight sends Cordy into a nearby pile of
trash. With the last straw exposed, Cordelia identifies Buffy as the source of all
of her troubles. As she explains to Anya the next day, none of the bad things in
Cordy's life would have ever happened if Buffy never came to Sunnydale. Anya
removes her necklace and places it around Cordy's neck. Cordy declares her
wish that Buffy never made that fateful trip. At this point, Anya reveals herself to
be not quite human and says, "Done." A bright light flashes, and suddenly the
Sunnydale High campus is much less crowded than it was a moment ago.
Cordelia quickly realizes that Anya must have granted her wish. However, this
new version of Sunnydale is not as ideal as she imagined it would be. There's
a city curfew that coincides with sunset. The Bronze is no longer the place to
be at night. And Xander and Willow, as Harmony tells her, are dead.
Night falls as Cordelia wanders the deserted streets of Sunnydale. She
encounters Xander and tells him that they have to get Buffy. Willow arrives, and
Cordy learns that they are now vampires. Before Xander can kill her, a familiar
van pulls up to the scene of the inevitable crime. Giles gets out, warding
Xander and Willow off with a cross. Behind him, Oz sits in the driver's seat with
a crossbow aimed at the vamps. Larry and a girl named Nancy get out of the
van and pull Cordy to safety. Giles get s back inside, and the van takes off.
Cordelia is brought to the library, which serves as the main base for the
resistance against the vampires. Meanwhile, Xander and Willow return to the
Bronze, which is now the headquarters for The Master and his mini ons. The
Master orders Xander and Willow to kill Cordelia before she can contact the
Slayer and interfere with his latest scheme. Back at the library, Cordy finally
comes to and tells Giles about her wish and that they need Buffy. Unfortunately,
neithe r of them realize that Xander and Willow have infiltrated the library.
Locked inside the bookcage, Giles can only hopelessly watch as Xander and
Willow sink their fangs into Cordelia, draining her of all of her blood. After the
vampires leave, Giles use s an axe from his weapons cabinet to bust open the
cage. Larry and Oz arrive, informing Giles that Nancy is now dead. As they
pick up Cordy's lifeless body to bring to the incinerator, Giles notices her
necklace and removes it.
The next morning, Willow plays around with Angel, who the Master has
locked up in the basement of the Bronze as punishment. At the library, Giles
discovers through his books that the necklace represents Anyanka, the "Patron
Saint of Scorned Women". He r ealizes that Anyanka must have granted a
wish that Cordy made which resulted in the world they're living in right now.
Giles calls Buffy's Watcher in Cleveland and leaves a message. While driving
down the streets later that night, Giles sees some vampir es packing a group
of humans into the back of a truck. He wards them off with the cross, enabling
the humans to escape. However, he is knocked down from behind. Before the
vampires can finish him, another challenger enters the fray. Giles watches the
vampires face defeat at the hands of this newcomer, then realizes that this new
girl is the one and only Buffy Summers. After taking her back to his apartment,
Giles informs her of what he's learned concerning Anyanka. In order to reverse
all of her wis hes and render her powerless, Anyanka's powercenter must be
destroyed. Buffy is clearly uninterested in this, and is more concerned with
taking out the Master.
Buffy goes to the Bronze, which is now deserted. In the basement, she finds
Angel locked up behind bars. While she doesn't recognize him, Angel knows
exactly who she is from all the time he spent secretly observing her in Los
Angeles. Angel leads Buffy to a factory where the Master has unveiled a
machine that will revolutionize the lifestyle of vampires everywhere. This device
can drain a person's body of all of its blood and dispense it into glasses and
cups in mere seconds. Buffy and Angel step in to put a stop to the festivities.
While Buffy fights the vampires head-on, Angel frees the human prisoners. In
the course of the battle, Angel, Xander, and Willow are dusted. While Buffy
continues to fight, Giles summons Anyanka and identifies her glow ing
necklace as her powercenter. As he rips it from her neck and prepares to
smash it, the Master overpowers Buffy and snaps her neck, fulfilling the
prophecy in the Pergamum Codex in this reality as well. Giles smashes the
necklace, and suddenly Cordel ia is standing in front of Anya again. Anya
realizes that she is no longer able to grant Cordy's wish. As Cordy walks off,
she passes by Buffy, Xander, and Willow, who are still alive and well.
Flubs
At the beginning of the episode, the last cut that Cordy makes to the
photograph is around Xander's chin level, if not straight through his neck.
However, the picture of Xander's head in the shot where it's burning includes
the rest of Xander's chest, as if that last cut were never made.
