buffy8x19
Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
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TEASER
FADE IN:
1 INT. WILLOW'S APARTMENT. EVENING. 1
We're outside, looking at the apartment block that houses
Willow's little dwelling. A vicious storm is raging outside,
old school El Nino style - trees are bowing under the force
of the winds and the amount of rain lashing down,
thunderclouds rumble overhead and flashes of lightning streak
through the sky. The streetlamps flicker as the local power
tries to deal with the interference.
We pan down a little to the building's entrance, to pick up
XANDER and ANYA. XANDER is by his car parked next to the
kerb, trying to rapidly extract several large boxes from the
boot and getting drowned standing up in the heavy storm,
while Anya watches him from beneath an umbrella, safely
sheltered inside the building's entrance.
ANYA
(calls out)
Come on, Xander! All our things
will be getting wet!
Xander squints over to her through the downpour.
XANDER
Well aware of that, honey! Kind of
stuck with the only having two arms
thing..
ANYA
Well.. carry more at once or
something!
XANDER
You could always try helping me,
you know!
ANYA
No, I couldn't. I'd get wet.
Xander blinks. Her logic is wrong and yet perfectly
understandable at the same time. Xander sighs, shakes his
head to try and get rid of the pools of water gathering on
him and reaches back into the trunk of the car.
2 INT. WILLOW'S APARTMENT. EVENING. 2
Inside the apartment, looking out through one of the windows
at the storm trying to bust its way in. There aren't many
lights on inside, the gloom highlighted a little by a TV set
on some nondescript lifestyle channel in the background.
The camera pans slowly down and to the right to pick up
WILLOW, huddled up and lying down on the sofa with a thick
blanket wrapped around her. She stares vacantly at the TV,
oblivious to it and the rest of the world around her.
Doodles the puppy dozes on the floor beneath her. The
apartment looks a little untidy - as though someone just
didn't feel like washing up dinner plates or putting anything
back in its proper place for a few days.
There is a scraping sound off screen as someone tries to fit
a key into the front door lock, and then we hear the door
open and scuffled footsteps as someone stumbles inside.
Willow doesn't budge and Doodles only manages to look mildly
interested.
XANDER (O.S.)
(sarcastic)
Gee, An, thanks for getting the
door for me while my arms are
full..
ANYA (O.S.)
Why? I didn't open it.
Xander mutters something and walks into frame, a large box
loaded up to his chin which he manages to heave onto the
floor near Willow. Xander jumps slightly when he spots
Willow.
XANDER
Woah! Hey there, didn't see you
blending into the couch down there,
Will. You trying out for the
chameleon squad or something?
Willow still doesn't move or look up. Xander sighs and sits
down on the couch next to her. She shuffles slightly to let
him sit, and he tenderly strokes the side of her face,
folding her hair back behind her ear.
XANDER (cont'd)
How you holding up so far?
(beat; no reply)
Well, Anya and I are almost done
moving our stuff in now, so you
won't have to worry about being up
here by yourself for the time
being.
Willow looks up and into Xander's eyes, and manages a weak
smile. He smiles right back.
XANDER (cont'd)
That's my girl.
Anya walks into the room, still carrying nothing, and peers
out through the window.
ANYA
Xander?
XANDER
Yes?
ANYA
The trunk of your car is still
open. Everything's getting rained
on.
(beat)
And I think I can see some of your
comic books floating away, down the
street. They look very pretty!
XANDER
What colour box are they floating
out of?
ANYA
Um.. a beige kind of one.
XANDER
(thinks)
Ultimate Spider-Man. Eh, I can get
those again. At least it wasn't the
black one.
ANYA
Oh, some kids are taking that out
of the car now.
A beat as this sinks in, then Xander jumps up and joins Anya
at the window.
XANDER
What?!?
ANYA
Yes, they took this little blue box
first that I think had all your
action figures in it, and now
they're coming back for the black
box.
XANDER
Great. Perfect! What else could go
wrong with today?
With a crash of lightning, the power goes out. The apartment
is plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the
window and the only sound coming from the storm.
XANDER (cont'd)
Ah, heck.
BLACK OUT:
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
FADE UP:
3 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - BASEMENT. NIGHT. 3
We fade up on BUFFY, torch in hand as she stands in the
basement before the fuse box, clicking switches up and down
and frowning. She tries another switch.
BUFFY
Shazam!
(beat)
Nope, okay..
(tries another)
Alakazam!
(beat)
Huh. Alright, last one.
(tries another)
Flame on!
(beat)
Gah!
She bops the torch against the fuse box in frustration, but
that only succeeds in putting the torch out. There is a beat,
then Buffy sighs in the darkness.
BUFFY (cont'd)
Well, that just about sums things
up, really..
GILES (O.S.)
Buffy? Are you still down here?
BUFFY
Yeah, could you keep talking or
shine a light on the stairs or
something? I'm kind of lost in the
shadows at the moment.
GILES, standing in the doorway at the top of the stairs,
responds by holding his torch on the foot of the staircase.
Buffy trips over something on her way across, and we hear her
curse as she stumbles.
GILES
Is everything alright?
Buffy sighs in the darkness.
BUFFY
I'm fine, I just hit a.. thing.
She enters the light and starts to climb the stairs.
GILES
No luck, then?
BUFFY
Nope. The whole grid must be out.
We've got about as much energy as
an Oprah audience.
GILES
I take it that's not very much,
then.
BUFFY
(grins)
You really do need to watch more
TV!
4 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - FRONT ROOM. NIGHT. 4
Buffy and Giles walk back into the front room, the light
provided by an assortment of candles that ANDREW is busy
lighting and carefully arranging on various surfaces, as well
as a couple of torches held by MARIE, the new Watcher. Buffy
raises an eyebrow at Andrew's efforts.
BUFFY
That's funny, I didn't know we were
living in a medieval castle..
what's with all the candles?
She looks round - there are far more than needed. Andrew
stops lighting them and turns round sheepishly.
ANDREW
Um, I just thought that, given our
current powerless circumstances,
the place could use a little.. er,
enlightenment.
Buffy takes in the sheer amount of candles on display.
BUFFY
A little would have been good.
We've passed the fire hazard
barrier and are cruising towards
natural disaster at the moment!
ANDREW
(pouts)
Fine, well, um, I'll just start
putting them out then, seeing as,
you know, I've gone so out of my
way and all..
Buffy raises a hand and can't stop a smile at Andrew's peeved
reaction.
BUFFY
No, no, it's okay. Just make sure
you don't burn the place down,
alright? I'm just starting to get
used to this house..
GILES
Marie, shall we get back to where
we were?
MARIE
Oh, yes, yes of course.
The two of them head back towards the kitchen, and Buffy
watches them go with another grin on her lips.
BUFFY
(to herself)
Hmm..
ANDREW
So, uh, Buffy..
BUFFY
Yes?
ANDREW
Shall we, uh, do something to pass
the time? You know, till the power
comes back on, and to keep our
spirits up in these.. dark times.
BUFFY
(ignores the pun)
What did you have in mind?
ANDREW
Well, normally, I'd suggest a
Playstation tournament, but
because, ah, we don't have any
power, why don't we play..
He pauses, grinning, and Buffy starts to look pretty
suspicious..
5 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - FRONT ROOM. NIGHT. 5
Buffy and Andrew are sat either side of a table, looking down
at something on it. Andrew is wearing his little red Dungeon
Master cape, and Buffy looks bemusedly on.
As we pull back, we see the Dungeons & Dragons gameboard set
out, little miniatures all in place.
BUFFY
Okay. So. I'm just gonna march on
in there and swing at the big
dragon thingy with my magic sword,
then, okay?
ANDREW
(smirks)
Okay then, feeble human, try if you
dare to take on the might of
Drak'hoth-en, the Invincible One,
the mighty Demon prince on the
Seventh Layer of Hell, who is
feared throughout the-
Buffy rolls two dice. Her face lights up, and Andrew pauses
mid-sentence.
BUFFY
Alright! Two sixes. Is that good?
Without a word, Andrew lifts up the rulebook and leafs
through a few pages. He finds what he was after, looks at the
board, checks the rulebook again and then quietly removes the
figure representing 'the Invincible One.'
ANDREW
Lucky shot. Beginners luck. I mean,
there's no way most people would
take out Drak'hoth-en on their
first game, it's just statistically-
Buffy's mobile phone rings, and she answers it, cutting
Andrew off again. He frowns and re-reads the rulebook.
BUFFY
(into phone)
Hello? Oh, hi, Jackson. I was
wondering when you were gonna give
me a call! I thought you'd be
hiding under your bed because of
the thunder and lightning by now..
(beat; giggles)
Yes you would! You know you're
scared of lightning.. after, well,
you know, that thing that happened.
(beat)
Well, right now, I'm kicking
Andrews ass at D&D and waiting for
you to say you're coming over to
see me.
(beat)
Okay! See you in a minute then.
She tucks the phone away and turns her attention back to the
gameboard.
ANDREW
Um, you know what? Maybe we should
stop now, if, you know, Jackson's
coming over, I wouldn't want you to
lose your air of Slayer cool by,
um, being seen playing this..
BUFFY
(smiles sweetly)
Why, Andrew, are you afraid that
I'm going to beat you?
Andrew pauses, torn between two options, before sighing and
starting to move some figures around again.
ANDREW
Okay then, but no holds barred this
time. You want to face the hordes
of Hell, well now you got it,
sister!
Buffy leans back as Andrew works at the board.
6 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - KITCHEN. NIGHT. 6
Giles and Marie are poring over a heap of books spread out
over the kitchen counters, trying to read by torch and
candlelight but not having much luck. Giles takes off his
glasses and rubs his eyes wearily.
GILES
Oh, this is no good. I could barely
make head nor tail of these
translations when all the lights
were on, so it's next to impossible
in the dark like this.
MARIE
Really? I'm actually finding it
easier when I can't see them
properly.
She grins, and it takes Giles a moment to pick up on the joke
before he grins back.
GILES
Point taken. Would you like a
drink?
MARIE
I'd love one. Coffee, white, two
sugars, please.
GILES
I'm afraid we don't have any
electricity, remember?
MARIE
Oh yes.. Alright then, a glass of
whatever's still cold will be fine.
Giles smiles and nods.
GILES
Coming right up.
Giles stands and turns the kettle on.
Looking over Marie's shoulder, taking in the kitchen doorway,
there is a FLASH of lightning and DAWN is illuminated in the
doorframe, glaring menacingly at the two of them. The
lightning fades and she returns to the shadows, but we stay
with Marie.
We're creeping up silently on Marie, who is lost squinting at
a page full of particularly dense writing on the text before
her.
Dawn's hand reaches out towards Marie's neck, and we see
something metal glinting in her hands. Giles still has his
back to us, and Dawn's hand is getting awfully close, when:
Giles turns round and sees Dawn.
GILES (cont'd)
Oh, hello, Dawn, I didn't see you
there.
Marie turns, and Dawn steps backwards, trying not to look
suspicious. She smiles warmly, hands behind her back.
DAWN
Oh, uh, hello. I just thought I'd
come downstairs and see what you
were all up to.
MARIE
Not much so far, I'm afraid, as
Giles just said, this was slow
going when we still had the lights
on.
DAWN
Anything I can do to help?
Giles and Marie exchange a look, before Giles nods and
motions for Dawn to take his seat.
GILES
Help yourself. We're still trying
to find any kind of reference we
can to this Source we're looking
for.
Dawn sits down and pulls one of the books towards her. Marie
watches her as she begins reading, and Dawn notices and looks
up.
DAWN
Hmm?
MARIE
Oh, nothing, I've just.. you don't
see many girls your age doing this
kind of work.
DAWN
Well, I guess I'm just full of
surprises these days.
She smiles and Marie miles back, both returning to their
books. Dawn glances up at her and Giles to make sure neither
are watching her before she continues.
7 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - FRONT ROOM. NIGHT. 7
There is a knock on the door, and Buffy gets up from the
table, leaving a slumped and defeated Andrew face down in
front of a pile of figures laid on their side.
She goes to the door and opens it, to see JACKSON. They share
a grin and hug before he steps inside.
BUFFY
Hey, sweetie.
JACKSON
'Sweetie'? I'm getting worried
about you, you're starting to
soften up.
BUFFY
Must be a bad influence somewhere
in my life..
JACKSON
Well, I sure hope it isn't me..
The two smile again and kiss. Andrew gets up in the
background and they stop to turn to look at him.
ANDREW
Um, I'm gonna go upstairs and, uh,
leave you two to it. Maybe call
Jody or something.
BUFFY
Okay Andrew. You can have your
monsters back later. They belong to
me for now.
Andrew scowls at her and stomps off upstairs. Jackson throws
a confused look at Buffy.
JACKSON
Monsters?
BUFFY
Long story. I have, however, found
another thing I'm quite good at.
JACKSON
Oh yeah?
BUFFY
Yeah. But it can wait.
One mischievous smirk later, the two young lovers are quickly
heading upstairs.
8 INT. SUMMERS RESIDENCE - KITCHEN. NIGHT. 8
Dawn looks up at Buffy and Jackson dash past on their way
upstairs, frowning as she sees Jackson. She checks to see
what Giles is doing, then flips to a random page in the book
and lets out a little gasp of surprise.
DAWN
(surprise; pretending)
Oh! Here it is!
GILES
Here what is?
Giles and Marie head over and lean over to look down at
Dawn's book. She allows herself a small smirk before she
continues.
DAWN
This passage. I didn't recognise
the dialect at first, but then I
thought it could be proto
Malaysian, which has that funny
knack, you know, where..
MARIE
Where the subject and object of
each sentence are context
sensitive, yes. Makes it hard to
know who's doing what to who half
the time!
GILES
So what did you find?
DAWN
Well, this passage makes a direct
reference to the Slayer, which is
what made me notice it in the first
place, and then it starts talking
about foes and agents of the
Apocalypse that the Slayer must
face, yadda yadda.
GILES
Yes, we do see an awful lot of
those, don't we..
DAWN
And then, I spotted this.. Dawn
checks to make sure they're both
watching.
Her finger traces down the yellowed page, past some
indecipherable lettering and a sketch of a young girl holding
a stake with a huge shadow-like creature looming large behind
her.
DAWN (cont'd)
This section here refers to this
Source thing, and says that when it
is prophesised to return, it will
do so in the form of someone known
to the Slayer to disguise itself.
MARIE
Hmm, that's not good. That could
mean it was any of us!
DAWN
But then, it says that the person
won't be immediately known to the
Slayer, it'll be someone new,
someone who seems to be fighting
for their cause but is actually
just a shell for the evil to hide
in until the right moment, when
it'll strike.
Giles rubs his chin thoughtfully as Marie chews the end of a
pencil.
DAWN
Do all you Watchers have that?
GILES
Have what?
DAWN
You know, a thing. Something you do
when you're concentrating.
Giles always rubs his chin, I've
seen you chewing a pencil every
time you're thinking hard about
something.. If I'm going to do this
full-time, I definitely need a
thing. Maybe I can chew my hair or
something.
MARIE
Oh, you don't want to do that,
dear. It gathers in your stomach
over time, and you could end up in
hospital having a two-pound
hairball extracted if you're not
careful.
Dawn pulls a disgusted face as Giles stares down at the book.
He pulls it closer and holds a torch over it to look.
GILES
Well, I have to say, you're a
better man than I am if you can
read that, Dawn. I still can't make
out a damn word.
DAWN
I guess you must've skipped that
course at the Watcher's Academy.
She grins disarmingly and Giles smiles back.
GILES
So it would seem!
MARIE
Well, we need to start looking at
who this could make the Source,
then. New people in Buffy's life
who are on our side. There's that
Andrew boy out there..
GILES
Yes, and his, um, boyfriend, what's
his name?
DAWN
Jody. I doubt it's him somehow.
GILES
You can never be too careful.
Sherlock Holmes always used to say
'When you have eliminated the
possible then whatever remains, no
matter how improbable, must be the
truth.' In this case I think we
need to make a fully inclusive list
of suspects and work through it.
There was that mature Slayer woman
Buffy met, Ellen, and that little
girl who said she was the 'Oracle',
Emmily..
The two think over for another few moments.
MARIE
There's that demon woman you
mentioned, Tammazel, was it?
GILES
I think it's safe to say the only
side she's fighting on is her own
at the moment. That leaves..
Giles and Marie share a look.
GILES & MARIE
Jackson.
Giles and Marie look troubled, not noticing Dawn who wears a
triumphant grin on her face.
DAWN
Well, that's me done for the night,
I think. I'm just going to slip out
for a minute.
GILES
(distracted)
Right, right, yes.
Dawn stands and leaves the kitchen. Giles looks up and
notices the storm outside and turns back to where Dawn
disappeared to.
GILES (cont'd)
Oh, Dawn, what about the..
She's long gone. Giles rolls his eyes and looks back down at
the books.
BLACK OUT:
END OF ACT ONE
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Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.