"" is the sixth episode of season 6 of the
Television Series ''
Buffy The Vampire Slayer ''. See also
List Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes .
It's
Halloween , and the Magic Box has enjoyed its busiest day ever, to
Anya 's delight.
Xander realises that it is finally the right time to announce his engagement to Anya, and the group make their way back to
Buffy 's house to celebrate.
Back at the Summers' home,
Willow decides to use magic to conjure up some decorations for
Anya , but
Tara now shares
Giles 's concerns about Willow's abuse of her power. When Tara confronts Willow, she brushes off her concerns, asking why Tara is always complaining about her using "magic that couldn't harm a fly".
Dawn lies to Buffy and tells her that she is going to her friend Janice's house for Halloween, but really meets
Janice Penshaw and two older boys for some Halloween fun. Dawn becomes attracted to one of the boys, Justin, without realising that he and his friend are both vampires.
After receiving a call from Janice's mother, Buffy and Giles realise that Dawn has tricked them, and the group splits up to find her. Willow and Tara visit The Bronze, where Willow attempts to use an extremely risky spell to locate Dawn. Tara expresses horror at the idea, and a major argument between the pair ensues.
When she shares a kiss with Justin, Dawn realises the truth about her new love interest. Luckily, Buffy is quickly on the scene to rescue her, but the task of staking the vampire is left to Dawn.
The gang return home, where Buffy is quick to leave the job of chastising Dawn to Giles, who is unhappy about how Buffy is relying on him so much. Meanwhile, Willow casts a spell on Tara to make her forget their fight.
The Magic Shop is filled with the Scooby Gang and people shopping for Halloween and Anya is enjoying every minute of it. Anya is dressed as one of Charlie's Angels while Xander is a classic pirate. Her focus elsewhere, Willow drops a talisman and Dawn secretly takes it. Buffy encounters Spike down in the basement and he offers to patrol with her, but she's not really interested. After a chat with Giles upstairs, Buffy reconsiders the patrolling idea, but ultimately decides to stay at the shop.
In his house, an old man sharpens a knife while humming a tune. At the magic shop, the business day has ended and Anya counts up the money while Willow suggests using magic to clean up the mess. Giles and Tara both don't like that idea or that Willow has been using magic so freely. Xander and Anya finally announce their engagement and a party is immediately put together at Buffy's house. The magical decorations provided by Willow don't sit well with Tara and they argue about it.
After asking permission to get a tattoo and getting a negative response from Buffy, Dawn leaves to sleep over at her friend Janice's house. Of course, instead of a sleep over, Dawn and Janice meet up with a couple of older boys. Janice and Zack are together while Dawn and Justin hook up. The teens go to the house of the old man with intentions of typical teenage pranks. The old man catches Dawn trying to smash one of the jack-o'-lanterns, the old man opens the door and invites them all inside. After some talking about the collectable toys he owns, he receives the aid of Justin in the kitchen to prepare the treat he has for them. As he grabs a knife to cut into a pan of rice crispy treats, Justin vamps out and kills him.
Claiming he only stole the man's wallet, Justin and the rest of the gang run for it and then the guys secretly talk about their plans to kill or turn the girls. While Justin and Dawn talk about stealing and Justin gives Dawn his letterman's jacket, Zack car jacks a woman and leaves the body behind. At the house, Anya discusses her future plans with Xander, which seems to be too much for him and he goes outside to talk with Buffy. She then decides to find Spike and patrol, demons or no demons.
A call from Janice's mother informs Giles that Dawn and her friend are not where they said they'd go and the whole gang splits up to find them. Meanwhile, Zack and Janice play tag while Justin and Dawn make out in a car. Willow and Tara check out the Bronze for Dawn and almost get over their fight, but Willow uses magic again, which sets Tara off. The two witches fight again and Tara runs off with Willow following.
After informing Spike about Dawn, Giles searches for the young teen himself and finds Zack and Janice. Zack is able to bite Janice, but Giles impales him on a tree branch before he can kill her. Dawn screams as Justin reveals himself as a vampire and suggests making her a vampire. Giles arrives on the scene, ready to slay, but more vampires arrive along with Buffy and Spike. Buffy lectures Dawn about getting involved with a vampire before the fight breaks out and all of the vampires are properly disposed of, except for Justin. He's chased after Dawn into the woods and just when he thinks he's got another meal, she stakes him with a pencil.
Back at the Summers house, anger remains strong as Dawn is mad with Buffy and Tara still angry with Willow. Buffy blows off her parental duties on Giles for Dawn's punishment, which infuriates Giles and makes him even harder on Dawn. Tara isn't interested in forgiving or forgetting the fight between her and Willow. Willow secretly casts a spell that makes Tara forget all about their fight and the two peacefully go to sleep.
In this episode,
Giles sees that
Buffy is becoming too reliant on him; this leads to his decision to leave
Sunnydale in the next episode.
This is one of the first times that we see
Tara challenging
Willow . Many fans noticed that Tara becomes more confident and independent as this season progresses. Willow erases Tara's memory in this episode, which will influence her decision to end her relationship with Willow over the next two episodes.
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
