- Buffy feels like a fish out of water in her first year at college, but the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student puts her back in her element.
- When the Sunnydale High gang arrives on college campus, Willow and Oz, who even knows the site and people from his band, which has a cool house, take to academic life like a duck to water. Buffy is like a fish on land, miserable with a plain roommate she can't confide in, lost, making a fool of herself with one of the rough, demanding professors. Buffy literally bumps into charming teaching assistant Riley Finn, but he is clearly more interested in fellow psychology buff Willow. Another literally lost student, Eddie, seems nice, but disappears the next morning. Buffy smells vampires, indeed a group has formed a nest in one of the abandoned frat houses. Visiting Giles, she finds him with a scantily dressed visitor, Olivia, and is told to mind herself except in emergencies, not the case yet apparently, however he will reconsider later. The vampire leader is arrogant, hopefully enough to underestimate Buffy, who is greatly relieved to find Xander is back from his summer touring.—KGF Vissers
- Buffy joins U.C. Sunnydale, but she is feeling lost and confused in the new environment. Alone during her first night at the university, she meets Eddie (Pedro Balmaceda), another freshman in the same situation - they schedule to meet each other in the classroom the next morning. However, Eddie is attacked by a gang of vampires leaded by Sunday (Katharine Towne), and the group leaves a message at his room as if he had not like college and left. When Buffy sees that Eddie has vanished without his very precious and favorite book, she decides to chase the vampires. Later, she realizes that she cannot face the vampires alone and asks for help from Rupert Giles, Xander Harris, Willow Rosenberg and Oz.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Episode one of season four marks the first year of college for Buffy and the Scoobies where they attend the fictional U.C. Sunnydale campus.
The episode opens with Buffy and Willow on patrol in the cemetery discussing which classes Buffy should take for her first semester at college. They are so engrossed with this that they don't notice when the vampire they are waiting to awaken, quietly slips away when he sees they are carrying an arsenal of vampire killing gear.
The day before classes shows Buffy being handed flyers by the various campus groups, frats, and general student protesters. Buffy meets up with Willow and Oz and reveals that she feels overwhelmed and disoriented by the new experience. Willow, on the other hand, is very excited by the new surroundings and Oz is not fazed and even seems to know several people that walk by.
Buffy and Willow tour the library. During the trip they reveal that Giles is "unemployed" (since the Sunnydale High School library has been destroyed) and that Xander left Sunnydale for the summer to do a cross-country trip.
Buffy and Willow go to the campus bookstore for supplies. When Buffy tries to get the "Intro to Psychology" texts she knocks them off the shelf onto the head of Riley Finn. (This is Riley's first appearance in the series.) Riley introduces himself as a TA for Professor Walsh's Psych 105 "Intro to Psychology" class.
Buffy arrives at her new dorm room in Stevenson Hall. She has already moved in and her new roommate Kathy is in the process of doing so. Kathy tells Buffy that she can tell that she is cool and thinks the upcoming year will be "super fun". As she says this to Buffy she hangs a poster of Céline Dion, much to Buffy's chagrin. During the night, Buffy has trouble sleeping because Kathy snores, laughs, and smacks her lips in her sleep.
The first day of classes, Buffy gets humiliated in, and ejected from, a class by a professor when she tries to find out if there is still room to sign up for it. With Willow and Oz, she attends Psych 105 taught by Professor Maggie Walsh and TA'ed by Riley Finn.
That night she meets another freshman student named Eddie. They are both lost. Buffy and Eddie discuss their need of a "security blanket" in their unfamiliar surroundings. Eddie tells Buffy that his security blanket is the novel Of Human Bondage, which he has read ten times and keeps by his bed. Buffy and Eddie go separate ways and Eddie runs into a group of vampires. The vampires kill Eddie and turn him in to a fellow creature of the night. They also go to his dorm room, steal all of his belongings and leave a fake note supposedly signed by Eddie saying that he couldn't handle school and he had to leave.
The next day, Buffy looks for Eddie in psych class but does not see him. She goes to his dorm room to find the note and empty room. She notices that the novel Of Human Bondage is still in his nightstand. She knows that he would not leave that behind and suspects something is wrong.
Buffy visits Giles to find a half naked female visitor at his flat and David Bowie's "Memory of a Free Festival" playing in the background. The woman is Olivia who is visiting Giles (she refers to Giles as "Ripper" at one point). Buffy tells Giles of the mysterious disappearance and Giles is reluctant to help. Buffy tries to remind him that he used to be her Watcher, but he responds by telling her that officially she no longer has a Watcher and that while he will always be there for her, he feels she is old enough and experienced enough to handle it herself.
That night, Buffy runs into Eddie in a deserted part of campus. Eddie tries to attack Buffy and she stakes him without trouble. The group of vampires that turned Eddie are watching, though, and the leader of the group, named Sunday, attacks Buffy. Buffy is soundly thrashed by Sunday while the others watch. Her confidence shattered and arm injured, she runs.
Buffy is shaken by the fight and goes home the next day for some comfort from Mom and familiar surroundings. She finds her mother surprised to see her home so soon and is using Buffy's room to store some crates for her gallery.
When Buffy returns to her dorm room, she finds all of her belongings missing and a note similar to that found in Eddie's room. Buffy goes to the Bronze and mopes around, feeling even worse when she sees a man who reminds her of Angel. However, she gets a pleasant and welcome surprise when she meets up with Xander. Xander reveals that his car broke down in Oxnard and his tour of America didn't happen. He spent a month and a half washing dishes at the fabulous "Ladies' Night" club earning money for repairs (which came to a merciful end when one of the male strippers fell sick, although Xander won't go any further with the story). Xander also says that he now lives in his parents' basement and pays them rent. Buffy tells Xander that she is overwhelmed by the new college experience and wonders if she can hack it. Xander pumps her up by telling her of course she can and that she is his hero.
Buffy and Xander find the vampire lair, which is a condemned frat house. Buffy elects to watch the vampires while Xander rounds up Willow and Oz, but is discovered and is forced to fight. When Sunday breaks the Class Protector award she was given at her senior prom, Buffy is angered enough to regain her confidence and soundly trounces the vampires, taking out Sunday with a backhand throw of a broken tennis racket. Buffy collects up her belongings and the four leave, only to be met by Giles armed with weapons. He apologizes to Buffy for his earlier dismissal of her and tells her that they can hunt the evil and fight it together. Buffy simply tells him it's cool and the four walk away.
The episode ends with one of the vampires escaping Sunday's lair and being hit with a taser. Three masked men dressed in camouflage fatigues approach the vampire with guns of some sort. This is the first hint of the existence of the Initiative which plays an important role in this seasons' episodes. This vampire is not seen again until episode seven of season 4 The Initiative.
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