Season 3 Episode 08 - Lover's Walk

The SAT scores are in, and Willow is upset over her 740 verbal score. Cordelia also did well, and surprisingly, so did Buffy, whose impressive 1430 combined score nevertheless has her somewhat down. She never had to think about her future before, she says. Cordelia says it's great, 'cause now Buffy can leave and never come back. "I mean that in a positive way!" she protests. "What kind of moron would ever want to come back here?" Apparently, that would be Spike, who once again drives his Desoto over the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign and screeches to a halt. He falls out of the driver's seat, clearly drunk.

It seems that Drusilla has left him, and Spike goes back to the ruins of the Factory in a snit. "Why did you do it, baby? Why did you leave me?" he wails as he vamps out and smashes Drusilla's burnt dolls. Meanwhile, Xander manages to convince Cordelia to take part in a double bowling date with Oz and Willow, and is happily surprised to discover that Cordy keeps pictures of him and her in her locker. Willow is also happily surprised when Oz presents her with a little witch-head Pez dispenser as a gift. But as he walks away, she looks troubled. Later, she complains to Xander that maybe the bowling isn't such a good idea, because something could happen and their respective significant others might find out about their mutual attraction. Xander concurs, wishing they could just make the attraction go away. In the library, Giles is packing for a retreat at a druidic ritual site in Breakers Woods, and echoes the opinion of Buffy's mother that perhaps going away to college is the best thing for Buffy. With Faith in Sunnydale to handle the Slaying duties, Buffy could have the chance to have a life. As Giles prepares to leave, he tells Buffy not to do anything rash with Angel. Buffy assures him they're just friends. That night, she and her mother have a similar discussion. "Is there anything keeping you here?" Joyce asks. At the mansion, Angel is reading, watched by Spike, who blames Angel for Drusilla's leaving. Still drunk, he then falls down and passes out. He's woken when the rising sun set his hand on fire. Resolving to do something, he heads for a magic shop to find a curse with which to take his revenge on Angel. Then Willow shows up to buy supplies for a de-lusting spell, and after she leaves, Spike kills the friendly clerk. "Forget the book," he says. "I just got a better idea."

The Mayor, amidst ramblings about his golf game and mixed metaphors, tells his deputy to get Mr. Trick to send a committee to take care of Spike. "This year is too important to have a loose cannon rocking the boat," His Honor says. At the mansion, Buffy discusses her college thoughts with Angel, who also advises her to leave and go to college. Despite her protestations that there's nothing keeping her in Sunnydale, Buffy is clearly hurt, and leaves. Willow, in the science room, has gotten Xander to show up on a ruse, but he quickly figures out that she's doing a love spell. Upset, he reminds her of his bad track record with such magic, but when he goes to turn on the lights, Spike grabs him. Knocking Xander unconscious, he takes the two teens back to the factory, where he orders Willow to do a love spell for him to get Dru back. She reluctantly agrees, but then says that she left some of the necessary supplies somewhere. Meanwhile, Buffy is in the library when Cordelia and Oz show up and report the disappearance of Willow and Xander. Surveying the mess in the science room, Buffy orders them to go get Giles at his retreat while she tracks down their missing friends. She heads back to the library for equipment, and the phone rings. It's her mother, wanting to discuss college some more. But as Buffy protests, she hears Spike's voice on the other end of the phone, saying, "Hello, Joyce."

Spike complains about his woman problems to an understanding Joyce, who makes him hot chocolate. A passing Angel sees Spike and Joyce in her kitchen and tries to rush to her rescue, but can't go into the house. Joyce is terrified of him, and Spike taunts him, but then Buffy shows up. Inviting Angel in, they subdue Spike and find out what he's up to. They head downtown to the magic shop to get the necessary supplies, but Angel's comments about Dru's fickleness provoke a confrontation. Spike blames them for his loss, and Buffy tells him how pathetic he is. "You're one to talk," Spike says, telling them they're fooling themselves if they claim to just be friends. "You'll be in love 'til it kills you both," he says. Meanwhile, Oz and Cordelia are on their way to the woods when Oz suddenly smells Willow. They make it to the factory just in time to see Willow and Xander, having made an exception due to their dire circumstances, kissing passionately. Hurt, Cordelia tries to leave but falls through the weakened stairway, and Xander is horrified to she she's been impaled with a twisted piece of metal.

Leaving the magic shop, Buffy and the two vampires find themselves surrounded by a horde of vampires led by Lenny, an old henchman of Spike's. A fight ensues, during which Buffy, Angel and Spike get trapped in the magic shop. Spike dispatches Lenny, and Buffy and Angel find a supply of holy water, which they use as bombs to scare the rest of the vamps off. "Now, that was fun!" Spike enthuses. "Really puts things in perspective." He says forget the love spell, he's going to get Drusilla back by once again becoming the man she loves. "Love's a funny thing," he grins as he leaves. The next day, Willow tells Buffy that she used to want everything, now she just wants Oz to talk to her again. Xander brings Cordelia flowers in the hospital, but she tells him to stay away from her. And Buffy goes to the mansion to tell Angel she won't be going to see him anymore, because Spike was right. "What I want from you I can never have," she tells him. Everyone is quite unhappy... except Spike, who speeds off to win his woman back.