Drusilla menaces a young boy in the playground, but Angel steps
in and saves him. Angel and Dru clearly know each other of old
— they exchange words, and Angel warns her to take Spike
and leave, "or it's gonna go badly." He tells her,
"This has to end," to which she replies, "No,
this is only the beginning." Buffy sees Angel and Drusilla
together and immediately leaps to conclusions which have her
glum and mopey all the next day, until her spirits are lifted
by the sudden appearance of an old and dear friend from Hemery,
Billy "Ford" Fordham. Ford seems like a great guy,
he fits right in and joins the gang at the Bronze that night.
But on the way home he sees Buffy slay a vampire and expresses
no surprise — he already knew she's the Slayer. Later that
night he heads to a basement club full of vampire-wannabes, and
he assures them that the plan is going well.
Angel stops by Willow's and
asks her to help him find out stuff about Ford on the 'Net, which
she does — apparently, there's no record of Ford being a
student at Sunnydale High like he said he is. The next night,
Xander joins them in visiting Ford's hangout, the Sunset Club,
where they find the vampire-wannabes (and Angel disses them).
Meanwhile, Buffy and Ford see a pair of vampires at Sunnydale
High. Buffy dusts one and Ford claims he killed the other, but
when Buffy summons Giles (saving him from the monster truck rally
Ms. Calendar had taken him to), the supposedly dead vamp appears
and makes off with one of Giles' books. The vamp delivers the
book to Spike, who is being offered a deal by Ford: if Spike
makes Ford a vampire, Ford will give Spike the Slayer.
Angel visits Buffy that night,
and she confronts him about Drusilla. Reluctantly, Angel explains
that when he became a vampire, he cruelly tormented Drusilla,
driving her insane and then making her a vampire. Hoping his
revelation has earned her trust, he warns her about Ford. The
next day, Ford invites Buffy for a special surprise that night
at nine, but Buffy gets suspicious and shows up at the Sunset
Club that afternoon, where she confronts Ford. She figures out
his plan, but it's too late. The doors close and Buffy is trapped
until the vampires arrive at sundown.
Never
one to accept defeat, Buffy tries to find a way out and to convince Ford's vampire-struck friends to
do the same. But it's a bomb shelter, there's no way out.
Buffy tries to talk some sense into Ford. "These people
don't deserve to die!" she says. "Yeah?" replies
Ford. "Well, neither do I." It seems that Ford has
terminal brain cancer and sees becoming a vampire as his only
hope of survival. Allowing the vampires to kill the innocent
club members is an acceptable price, he feels. Buffy disagrees
and tries to warn the clubbers of their impending deaths, but
Ford attacks her with a crowbar. The vampires arrive as planned
and start feeding on the club members, but Buffy subdues Ford
and leaps up to where Drusilla is watching the slaughter. Buffy
whips out a stake and threatens to dust Dru. Spike lets the clubbers
go, and Buffy follows them, trapping the vampires within. His
plan failed, Ford maintains that he held up his end of the bargain,
and demands his reward. The next day, Buffy returns to the deserted
club and finds Ford's body. Later, visiting his grave, Buffy
laments the increasing complexity of life — it isn't so
easy to know who to love or hate or trust. Giles comforts her,
telling her that's called growing up. "Does it ever get
easy?" Buffy asks. "What do you want me to say?"
Giles asks in return. "Lie to me," Buffy replies.
