Amends
As Christmas draws near, Angel begins to relive in his dreams the numerous
murders he has committed. One of his victims was a young man named Daniel,
whom Angel killed in Dublin in 1818. Unable to stay in bed any longer, Angel
ventures out onto the streets of Sunnydale and runs into Buffy, who's doing
some last-minute Christmas shopping. Angel's attention is soon diverted from
Buffy to a familiar face in the distance. Impossible as it may seem, Angel
recognizes this person as Daniel, the same man he killed 180 years ago.
After Buffy tells her friends about her encounter with Angel the next day at
school, Oz finally decides to give Willow a second chance at their
relationship. Later that night, Buffy and Joyce shop for a Christmas tree.
While looking around, Joyce suggests that Buffy invite Faith to their place
on Christmas Eve. Buffy notices a small group of dead trees that the
salesman can't explain. At the motel, Faith turns down Buffy's invitation,
explaining that she already has plans to attend a party. Meanwhile, Angel
shows up at Giles' doorstep in need of help. Giles invites him in, but not
before he grabs a crossbow to protect himself with. Angel wants to find out
how and why he returned to Earth, but he is soon distracted by the presence
of Jenny Calendar in the apartment. She is invisible to Giles, which adds to
his confusion when Angel suddenly runs out the door. Back at the mansion,
Angel dreams about another moment in time when he took the life of a servant
named Margaret. After drinking her blood, Angel looks up to see Buffy
watching the whole event. Angel suddenly wakes up... as does Buffy.
Inside the mansion, Angel is haunted by Jenny, Daniel, Margaret, and visions
of his many other victims. Buffy, meanwhile, tells Giles that she shared
Angel's dream the previous night. They decide to do some research in hopes
of discovering the reason for Angel's return to Earth. Xander and Willow
show up shortly to aid in the research. After a while, both Buffy and Angel
fall asleep and share another dream in which they make love in Buffy's
bedroom. Their romantic moment is interrupted by the vision of a man with no
eyes. Before Buffy can figure out what's going on, Angel bites into Buffy's
neck, effectively waking both of them up from their slumbers. Angel listens
to Jenny as she tries to convince him that losing his soul with Buffy again
and killing her will bring him the peace he desires. Giles shows an
illustration of three men with no eyes to Buffy, who recognizes the face
from her most recent dream. Called the Bringers, or Harbingers, these high
priests can summon The First. As Giles explains, The First is the name given
to Absolute Evil. Since it is not a physical being, Buffy cannot fight it.
Buffy and Xander visit Willy's bar, hoping to get some information on the
whereabouts of the Bringers. All they learn is that the Bringers might be
underground. Xander decides that they should go home and enjoy Christmas Eve
before resuming their search.
With her parents out of town for the evening, Willow invites Oz over to her
home to watch a few movies. When Oz arrives, he soon realizes that Willow
has made a small change of plans. Willow tells him that she's ready to sleep
with him, but Oz knows that she's only doing this as an extreme means of
redemption. He turns down Willow's offer, preferring to spend the night in a
simpler way, like kissing on the couch. Meanwhile, Faith shows up at the
Summers' front porch. Explaining that she thought twice about the party,
Faith gives a couple gifts to Buffy and Joyce. While Faith settles in, Buffy
goes upstairs to her bedroom to fetch their presents. She is surprised to
find Angel in her bedroom. However, he's a little out of it at this point,
staring longingly at her neck. Jenny stands behind Buffy, urging Angel to
take the final plunge, both symbolically and literally. Angel can't go
through with it, and he dives through Buffy's window. Back at the mansion,
Angel tells Jenny that he will end his own life, using the deadly rays of
the sun to do the deed. After entrusting Faith with her mother's safety,
Buffy goes to Giles' apartment in an attempt to find out where the Bringers
are. One of Giles' books contains a passage that indicates the inability of
life to grow above or below the Bringers. This leads Buffy back to the
suspicious group of dead trees she noticed a while ago. Using an axe, Buffy
breaks open a hole in the ground that she immediately enters. Underground,
Buffy finds the Bringers and makes short work of them with the axe. However,
Buffy isn't prepared to see the figure of Jenny Calendar standing before
her. Buffy listens as the vision of Jenny speaks for The First, boasting its
legendary might. Buffy has no time to entertain The First, which tells her
that Angel will die by sunrise. Buffy runs back to the mansion to find
Angel, but he is no longer there. She finally locates him at the top of a
hill which overlooks Sunnydale. Buffy tries to get Angel indoors before
sunrise, but Angel won't budge. He tells her that he can't go on living,
knowing that his very existence presents a threat to the woman he loves so
dearly. Buffy refuses to agree, expressing her love for Angel and the
self-hatred that goes along with it. Their stand-off is unexpectedly
interrupted by several flakes of snow falling from the sky. Soon enough, a
steady snowfall envelops Sunnydale for the first time ever, preventing the
sun's rays from reaching the ground below and ending Angel's life. Nobody
can explain it, but that doesn't matter to Buffy and Angel. Some higher
power, whomever or whatever it may be, has given Angel yet another lease on
life... on Christmas, no less.
