Buffy teams with Riley after she is allowed access to the Initiative; Spike is targeted by commandos.

Having gained control of Riley's mind, Adam sets in motion his plot to create an army of unstoppable soldiers and destroy the Initiative.

After Dawn talks to a guidance counselor about her feeling lonely, she accidentally puts a spell on Buffy and her friends, trapping them inside the Summer's house with a sword-wielding demon.

After being stung by a demon, Buffy finds herself shifting back and forth between the Sunnydale she knows and a psych ward where she is told the last six years have been an elaborate hallucination. Struggling to make sense of either reality, she must decide which to believe.

Buffy accepts a dinner invitation from Principal Wood, and tries to figure out his true intentions. Xander goes out with a girl from the hardware store. The First tries to convince Andrew to murder the potential Slayers. Giles returns from China with a new Potential, but struggles with the language barrier.

Buffy conceives a plan to defeat the First once and for all.