Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996–2003): Season 2, Episode 21 - Becoming: Part 1 - full transcript

There's moments in your life that
make you, that decide who you're gonna be.

Sometimes they're little... subtle moments.

Sometimes... they're not.

I'll show you what I mean.

We'll be back when we've found a bit
more cash money! Keep the girls warm!

Let's go.

Come on. We'll sneak in
and take some of me father's silver.

He'll never miss it.
He eats with his hands, the pig!

Why don't you rest right here?

So...

..I'd ask myself, "What's a lady
of your station doing alone in an alley...



..with a reputation that this one has?"

- Maybe she's lonely.
- In that case, I'd offer myself as escort...

..to protect you from harm
and to while away the dull hours.

- You're very gracious.
- It's often been said.

Are you certain you're up to the challenge?

Milady, you'll find that,
with the exception of an honest day's work...

..there's no challenge
I'm not prepared to face.

Oh...

..but you're a pretty thing.

- Where are you from?
- Around.

Everywhere.

I never been anywhere myself.
I always wanted to see the world, but...

I could show you.

- Could you, then?
- Things you've never seen.



Never even heard of.

- Sounds excitin'.
- It is.

- And frightening.
- I'm not afraid. Show me.

Show me your world.

Close your eyes.

Nice try.

I want you to get a message to Angel.

Tell him I'm done waiting.
I'm taking the fight to him.

You got that?
Need me to write it down for ya?

All right, I'll tell him myself.

I'm good. Don't worry about me.

You don't have to patrol with me.

I had that guy under control
until he resorted to fisticuffs.

What is that? Five vampires in three nights?

Yep, but no Angel.

Are you that anxious
to come up against him?

- I want it over with.
- I hear that.

Oh, we'd better go.
I haven't even started studying for finals yet.

Oh, yeah! Finals! Why didn't you let me die?

Look on the bright side. It'll all be over soon.

Yes, my love.

It will.

Careful now! Concentrate in this area.

There ya go.

Hello?

- Rupert Giles?
- Yes.

- Doug Perren. Thanks for comin'.
- I was flattered to be asked.

I spoke with Lou Tabor and he told me
we had the best authority on obscure relics...

- ..right here in Sunnydale.
- Well, he may have exaggerated a little.

- Ah, this is the...
- This is our baby.

Construction workers dug it up outside
of town. Don't have a clue what it is.

Any ideas?

A few... but none I'd care
to share until I can verify.

- You have carbon-dated it?
- Results will be back in a coupla days.

I'll go out on a limb and say "old"!

Erm... it certainly...

..predates any settlements we've read about.

- May I?
- Yeah, sure.

I assume you've...
you haven't tried to open it?

Open it?

I'll be damned! I figured it was solid.

- What do you think is in there?
- I don't know.

- Well, we won't know until we open it up.
- Could I ask... erm...

Would you wait? I'd...

I'd like to translate the text.
It might give us an indication of...

..what we'll find inside.

- You don't wanna be surprised?
- As a rule, no.

All right. You're the expert.

- But I'm pretty damn curious, though.
- Yes.

Yes, so am I.

- "Tell Angel I'm gonna kill him."
- "No, wait. I'm gonna kill you!"

"Die!. Die!. Die!."

"Mother?. "

- Is that it?
- That's it.

- Scene?
- That's exactly how it happened.

I thought it was riveting. I was
a little unclear about some of the themes.

The theme is, Angel's too much
of a coward to take me on.

And the other theme was "Buy American"
but it got buried.

- Are you ready to fight Angel?
- I wish people would stop asking me that.

Yes, I'm ready. I'm also willing and able.
It's the one test I might actually pass.

Don't say that!

You'll pass everything.
I'll get you through if I have to sweat blood.

Do you think you're likely to?
Cos I'd like to be elsewhere.

- It was only metaphor blood.
- I think you'd sweat cute blood.

After my computer class
we'll rock on chemistry.

- Ready to rock.
- Willow, you've got the teaching bug.

- Taking over computer class, tutoring...
- I love it, I really do.

It's great to do that before
you fail in the real world.

That way you're not falling back on
something. You're falling... well, forward.

And almost 65% of that was actual
compliment. Is that a personal best?

What are you gonna teach
when you fail in life? Advanced loser-being?

I will teach...

- ..ze language of love.
- Don't! You have fish hands!

- Come! Let me touch!
- Stop it!

That's enough of that!

And you... Are we having a chair shortage?

I didn't read anything about... Oh. I get it.

Displays of affection
are not acceptable in my school.

- This isn't an orgy. It's a classroom.
- Yeah! Where they teach lunch.

Just give me a reason to kick you out,
Summers. Just give me a reason.

Because you're a tiny, impotent Nazi...

..with a bug up his butt the size of an emu?

- Sums it up.
- Don't you think?

You wanna come by
my house tonight and study too?

Maybe. I do have to patrol.

Again? Do you really expect
Angel to turn up tonight?

No, I don't expect him to.
But that's usually when he does.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
It's been two days since my last confession.

Father?

That's not very long.

Oh, Father, I'm so afraid.

The Lord is very forgiving.

- Tell me your sins.
- I had...

I've been seeing again, Father. Yesterday,
the men were going to work in the mine.

I had... a terrible fright.

My stomach all tied up
and I saw this 'orrible crash.

My mummy said to keep my peace,
it didn't mean nothin'.

But this morning... they had a cave-in.

- Two men died.
- Go on.

Me mum says I'm cursed.
My seeing things is an affront to the Lord.

That only He's supposed to
see anything before it 'appens.

But I don't mean to, Father, I swear!

I swear!

I try to be pure in His sight.

- I don't want to be an evil thing.
- Hush, child.

The Lord has a plan for all creatures.

Even a devil child like you.

- A devil?
- Yes, you're a spawn of Satan.

All the Hail Marys in the world won't help.

The Lord will use you
and smite you down. He's like that.

- What can I do?
- Fulfil his plan, child. Be evil. Just give in.

No! I want to be good. I want to be pure.

We all do, at first.
The world doesn't work that way.

Father... I beg you...

Please, please help me!

Very well.
Ten Our Fathers and an act of contrition.

Does that sound good?

Yes!

Yes, Father, thank you.

The pleasure was mine.

- And, my child...
- Yes?

God is watching you.

Nice walk, pet?

I met an old man.

Didn't like him. He got stuck in my teeth.

But then the moon started whispering to me...

..all sorts of dreadful things.

- What did it say?
- Oh, look who's awake!

What did the moon tell you?

Did you have a vision?

- Is something coming?
- Oh, yeah!

Something terrible. Pss, pss, pss.

- Where?
- At the museum.

A tomb... with a surprise inside.

- You can see all that in your head?
- No, you ninny. She read it in the paper.

Oh, my!

That's what's been whispering to me. Sssh!

Oh, yeah.

Don't worry, though.

Soon it'll stop.

Soon it'll scream.

Waah! This doesn't make any sense!

Sure, it does. See...

- Oh, no, this doesn't make any sense.
- It's senseless!

It is, but at least you know that,
so you're learning.

Yay me! It doesn't matter. I mean...

..when am I ever gonna need chemistry
or history or the... English language?

- OK, I see your problem.
- I'm a moron?

Will you stop that?

You're not stupid.
You've just had a lot on your mind.

You can learn this easily, but if you're
gonna give up, then don't waste my time.

- Wow! You are a good teacher.
- OK, look at this.

A covalent bond,
which means these two atoms are linked by...

Oh! Hold that thought.

- OK, I'm Learn Girl.
- OK, so see here...

- D?j? vu.
- Really?

Yeah.

I have this perfect memory of the pencil and...

Oh, hey...

You dropped this.

It's not mine.
It might be something of Miss Calendar's.

- This feels kinda morbid.
- I've seen most of her files already.

Does that make it less morbid
or you really morbid?

I had to. To teach her class.

Relax, Will. I was making with the funny.

- Does that say "restoration"?
- It's one of her spells, I think.

She wasn't a practising witch, but...

Willow!

Oh, boy!

Oh, boy!

Oh, boy!

It hurts, yes?

Good. It will hurt more.

- Where am I?
- You don't remember...

..everything you've done for 100 years.

In a moment, you will.

The face of everyone you killed,..

..our daughter's face...

..they will haunt you
and you will know what true suffering is.

Killed?

I don't...

No...

No...

No...

- What are you saying?
- The curse.

This is it.

Looks like Miss Calendar was trying
to replicate the original curse.

To restore Angel's soul again.

- She said it couldn't be done.
- Well, she tried anyway.

- It looks like it might've worked.
- So he killed her...

..before she could tell anyone about it.
What a prince, huh?

This is good, right?
I mean, we can curse him again.

Erm... Well, this erm...

..certainly points the way.
But the ritual itself...

..requires a greater knowledge
of the black arts than I can claim.

Well, I've been going through her files
and researching the black arts for fun...

..or educational fun,
and I may be able to work this.

Willow, channelling such potent magics
through yourself...

It could open a door
you may not be able to close.

I don't want you
putting yourself in any danger.

And I don't want danger. Big "no" to danger,
but I may be the best person to do this.

Hi! For those of you who've just tuned in,
everyone here is a crazy person.

So this spell might
restore Angel's humanity?

Well, here's an interesting angle.

- Who cares?
- I care.

- Is that right?
- Let's not lose our perspective here, Xander.

I'm Perspective Guy. Angel's a killer.

Xander...

- It's not that simple.
- What? All is forgiven?

- I can't believe you!
- Xander has a point.

For once I wish you'd support me!
And I realise now that you were...

..so I'm gonna get back to the point,
which is that Angel needs to die.

- Curing Angel was Jenny's last wish.
- Yeah? Well, Jenny's dead!

- Don't you ever...
- Can't you hear what I'm saying?

Stop it! Stop it!

What do you wanna do?

I don't know.

- What happened to Angel wasn't his fault.
- But what happened to Miss Calendar is.

You can paint this any way you want.

But I think you wanna forget
about Miss Calendar's murder...

..so you can get your boyfriend back.

Hello?

I'll have one of these to go.

Dru?

Save me some.

I'll do a coupla sweeps and then I'll stop by.

Yeah, Xander was pretty much being a...

Willow! Where did you learn that word?

My God!
You kiss your mother with that mouth?

I don't know.

I don't know what I wanna... do.

I'll... I'll see you in a little while, OK?

Polite people call
before they jump out and attack you.

Just wanted to test your reflexes.

How about testing my face-punching?
It's improved.

I was on my way to your house,
saw you walking, couldn't help myself.

Which begs the question, and don't think
I'm not glad to see you, but...

..why are you here? Wait, no, let me guess.

Your watcher informed you that a very
dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale.

- That's about it.
- Great. Any idea what this dark power is?

It's a big rock.

I can't wait to tell my friends.
They don't have a rock this big.

Spike, boy, you never did learn your history.

Let's have a lesson, then.

Acathla the demon came forth
to swallow the world.

He was killed by a knight
who pierced the demon's heart...

..before he could draw a breath
to perform the act.

Acathla turned to stone,
as demons sometimes do...

..and was buried where neither man
nor demon would want to look.

Unless they're puttin' up low-rent housing.

Boys...

He fills my head! I can't 'ear anything else.

Let me guess.
Someone pulls out the sword...

Someone worthy.

..the demon wakes up and wackiness ensues.

- He will swallow the world.
- Every creature on this planet will go to Hell.

My friends...

We're about to make history...

..end.

I've been on the phone to the museum.

The artefact is missing
and the curator has been murdered.

Vampires.

You're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?

Acathla. And the information provided
by Kendra's watcher seems conclusive.

Somebody explain the whole
"he will suck the world into Hell" thing.

That's the part I'm not loving.

Well, the demon universe exists
in a dimension separate from our own.

With one breath,
Acathla will create a vortex, a kind of erm...

..whirlpool that will pull everything
on Earth into that dimension...

..where any non-demon life
will suffer horrible and...

..eternal torment.

That would be the literal
kind of "sucked into Hell"?

Neat!

Willow, you should try the curse.

I tend to side with Xander on this one.

Angel should be eliminated.

Oh, I'll fight him. I'll kill him if I have to.

But if I don't get there in time, or if I lose...

- ..then Willow might be our only hope.
- I don't wanna be our only hope.

I crumble under pressure.
Let's have another hope.

We have.

Blessed by the knight
who first slew the demon.

If all else fails, this might stop it...

- ..I tink.
- Ooh, may I?

Thank you.

Well, let's hope all else doesn't fail.

How close are you
to figuring out the curse ritual?

I need about a day.

And...

..an orb of Thesulah, whatever that is.

A spirit vault for rituals of the undead.
I've got one.

I've been using it as a paperweight.

This means I can't help you study
for tomorrow's final.

Ah, I'll wing it.

Of course, if we go to Hell by then,
I won't have to take 'em!

Or maybe I'll be taking them for ever.

Angel must also perform a ritual before he
can remove the sword and awaken Acathla.

With any luck, it should take some time.

Spike?

Spike, my sweet, the fun's about to begin.

I will drink.

The blood will wash in me...

..over me, and I will be cleansed.

I will be worthy to free Acathla.

Bear witness...

..as I ascend...

..as I become.

Everything that I am...

..everything that I have done...

..has led me here.

God, are you disgusting!

This is an unforgettable smell. This is
the stench of death you're givin' off here.

And the look says "Crazy Homeless Guy".
It's not good.

Get away from me!

What are you gonna do? Bite me?

Horrors! A vampire!

But you wouldn't bite me,
on account of your tortured soul.

It's so sad - a vampire with a soul.
So poignant.

- Who are you?
- Let's take a walk.

What are you eating?
Like, a rat once a month?

Hey!

You're skin and bones!

Butcher shops are throwing away
more blood than you could stand.

- If you lived in the world a bit, you'd know.
- I wanna know who you are.

- And I wanna know who you are.
- You already do.

Not yet. But I'm lookin' to find out.

Cos you could go either way here.

- I don't understand you...
- Nobody does. That's my curse.

Dog me. Mustard.

My name's Whistler.

Thanks.

Anyway, lately it is.

You're not a vampire?

A demon. Technically.
I mean, I'm not a bad guy.

Not all demons are dedicated
to the destruction of all life.

What do you mean, I can go either way?

You can become an even more
useless rodent than you already are...

..or you can become someone. A person.

- Someone to be counted.
- I just want to be left alone.

You've been left alone for what,
90 years already.

And what a package you are. The Stink Guy!

- What do you want from me?
- I want you to see something.

We'd have to leave now.

You see, and then you tell me
what you wanna do.

Where is it?

So, I'm like "Dad, you want me to go to
the dance in an outfit I've already worn?"

Is Tyler taking you?

Where were you when I got over Tyler?
He's of the past.

He'd have to crawl on his hands
and knees to go to the dance with me.

Which he's doing after practice, so I'll wait.

OK. See ya later. Bye.

- Call me. Call me. Call me.
- I will.

Buffy Summers?

Yeah. Hi! What?

I need to speak with you.

You're not from Bullock's, are you?
I meant to pay for that lipstick.

There isn't much time.
You must come with me. Your destiny awaits.

I don't have a destiny. I'm destiny-free.

Yes, you have.

You are the Chosen One.

You alone can stop them.

- Who?
- The vampires.

Huh?

Oh, not the heart!

You see?

You see your power?

- Why didn't you call?
- I'm sorry. I didn't know it was so late.

- Tyler and I were talking...
- That boy is irresponsible.

No, Mom, it's not his fault.

You know we worry, that's all.

Dinner's in ten minutes.

Yeah.

- Did she say where she was?
- With Tyler.

I don't want her seeing him any more.

- You're overreacting, dear.
- Don't talk to me like I'm a kid!

I don't. Just forget it.

Because you can't discipline her,
I have to be the ogre.

I am not having this conversation again,
all right?

She's gonna have it tough, that slayer.

She's just a kid.

A world full of big, bad things.

I wanna help her.

I want...

I wanna become someone.

God, jeez, look at ya!

She must be prettier than the last slayer.

This isn't gonna be easy.

The more you live in this world, the more
you see how apart from it you really are.

This is dangerous work. Right now you
couldn't go three rounds with a fruit fly!

I wanna learn from you.

All right.

But I don't wanna dress like you.

Again, you're annoying me.
You're lucky we need you on our side.

I have strayed.

I have been lost.

But Acathla redeems me.

With this act...

..we will be free.

# Someone wasn't worthy

Dammit!

This is so... disappointing.

There must be something I missed.
The incantations, the blood! I don't know!

- What are we going to do?
- What we always do in a time of trouble.

Turn to an old friend.

We'll have our Armageddon, I swear!

Tonight, sundown, at the graveyard.

- Excuse me?
- You will come to him.

You will come to him or more will die!
Tonight!

His hour is at hand!

She said more would die. I have to go!

- Then I should go with you.
- No! I need you here, just in case.

I can take care of myself.

And as long as Angel's fighting me...

..then he can't do
this end-of-the-world ritual thingie.

What do you think?

- I just wanna crosscheck...
- We don't have time.

If this is gonna work, it has to work now.

OK. Then I need maybe half an hour
once we're all set up.

Which means you just have to hold Angel off.
Don't let him close on you.

If the curse succeeds, you'll... you'll know.

What don't you wait here to find out
if it worked? See if he phones.

I can't risk him killing any more people.

I'd better go.

Be careful.

- I will.
- Here!

In case the curse does not succeed,
this is my lucky stake.

I've killed many vampires with it.

I call it Mr Pointy.

- You named your stake?
- Yes.

Remind me to get you a stuffed animal.

Thanks.

Watch your back.

Hello, lover.

I wasn't sure you'd come.

After your immolation-o-gram?
Come on, I had to show.

Shouldn't you be pulling a sword out
of Al Franken or whatever his name is?

There's time enough.
I wanted to say goodbye first.

You are the one thing in this dimension
I will miss.

This is a beautiful moment.
Can we please fight?

I didn't come here to fight.

- No?
- I was hoping we can get back together.

What do you think? Do we have a shot?

All right! We'll fight.

"Quod perditum est, invenietur, "

"Not dead, nor not of the living."

"Spirits of the interregnum, I call."

Come on, Willow!

"Let him know the pain of humanity, gods."

"Reach your wizened hands to me.
Give me the sword."

Get out! Go!

Go!

Jeez, is it me or is your heart not in this?

Maybe I'll just go destroy the world.

Mr Pointy will have
something to say about that.

Come on, let's finish this.

You and me.

You never learn, do you?
This wasn't about you.

This was never about you.

And you fall for it every single time!

Enough!

Look at me, dearie.

Be... in my eyes.

Be in me.

Night-night.

Let's get what we came for, dears.

Bottom line is,
even if you see 'em comin....

..you're not ready for the big moments,

No one asks for their life to change, not really,

But it does.

So what are we? Helpless? Puppets?

No,

The big moments are gonna come,
you can't help that,

It's what you do afterwards that counts,

That's when you find out who you are.

Freeze!

You'll see what I mean.