Season 5 Episode 11 - Triangle

While in bed, Anya and Xander discuss Riley's departure and wonder how Buffy's dealing with it. Cut to a convent where a vampire attacks a nun, then Buffy attacks and kills the vampire. After asking the nun if she's all right, Buffy inquires about the nun lifestyle.

Buffy is training with Giles in her training room behind the Magic Box. He's going to England to seek the Watchers Council's help in gaining more information about Glory. He promises Buffy that although he will tell them Glory is seeking the Key, he will not mention Dawn. Buffy is adamant about protecting Dawn, even from the Watchers Council. Giles, now sitting with Buffy, mentions that if the Initiative still existed, he'd seek their help, but with Riley gone, they don't have any contact to that former source. Giles then apologizes to Buffy for bringing up Riley, but she insists that she's dealing, even managing to joke with Giles a bit.

Upon hearing the news that Giles is going to be gone from the Magic Box, Anya is ecstatic, especially because she believes she will be in charge. While Giles realizes that Anya is good with the inventory and the money, her people skills are less than desirable. Willow offers to help, but that only makes Anya angry. The two verbally spar, and poor Xander is literally in the middle of their battle. He changes the subject by asking Buffy about her slaying. When the Slayer mentions that after she staked a vampire at a convent last night, a nun let her try on a wimple, Xander becomes frightened.

On Joyce's bed lies her powder blue bathrobe. She is fully dressed in actual clothes and a fetching scarf around her head. When Buffy notices, she calls Dawn to witness their mother's improvement. They make fun of the fuzzy bathrobe Joyce wore, thus lightening their mom's spirits. Buffy goes to her bedroom and reads on her bed. Dawn follows. Dawn notices that Buffy has taken down all of Riley's pictures and comments that he was gone so fast. Buffy states that everyone else noticed that he left gradually, and that she hurts. She admits that she's mad at him, and herself, and she can imagine a lot of ways she could have prevented it. Dawn lies on the bed with her head in Buffy's lap and asks if it will get better; Buffy strokes her hair and says it will soon. Maybe he'll come back, and she can say all the things she didn't get to say.

In his crypt, Spike is bearing a box of chocolates before the mannequin he has set up to look like Buffy. He practices an apology to her for leading her Riley at the vampire den, but then he imagines her giving him flak for it and he becomes angry and slams the chocolates over the dummy's head, knocking it to the floor. He picks up the dummy, straightens her hair, picks up the chocolates, and tries again.

Willow and Tara are gathering items from the shelves of the Magic Box to perform a spell to create simulated sunlight, which Buffy could use to fight vamps. Anya tries to assert authority and stop them, claiming that they're stealing. Willow tempts her by offering to teach her magick, but Anya declares that as peer pressure. "Any second now you're gonna make me smoke tobacco and have drugs." Xander enters, and of course Willow and Anya immediately put him in the center of their argument. Xander refuses to get in the middle again, and leaves in a huff. When Tara sees that they're about to put her in the middle, she also leaves. Willow pours ingredients into a cauldron as Anya tallies up the cost of the ingredients being used. Willow angrily tells Anya to stop distracting her. Once the sensitive spell begins, any non-ritual word can disrupt it. Of course Anya disturbs the spell, and the two women fight. During their argument, a very large troll is conjured out of the cauldron. He screams at the frightened girls, destroys some displays, and stomps out of the shop.

Tara and Buffy collect syllabi from the professor of the class the two are taking together. Buffy needs to take this course because the alternative was a course on Central American Geopolitics. If Buffy hears the word jungle, she thinks of Riley. Tara uses a quote from Willow to comfort Buffy, who suggests they pick up Willow and go for a hamburger. Tara states Willow is at the Magic Box, and tells Buffy about the spat Willow and Anya had that resulted in Xander leaving the shop. Buffy completely misconstrues the whole leaving part and becomes hyper-emotional, thinking Xander and Anya are breaking up.

Anya and Willow uses Giles' red convertible to chase after the troll, who is leaving a distinct trail of destruction to follow. Willow is desperately searching for a reversal spell as Anya drives. Willow suggests putting the top back up, but Anya doesn't know how yet — she just figured out the pedals. That's when Willow realizes that Anya doesn't know how to drive. The two argue more. Anya goes faster, and Willow loses some of the pages out of the spell book she is searching.

Xander bumps into Spike at the Bronze. The vampire taunts the human and realizes that Xander is upset. Spike digs for information on Buffy to determine if she holds a grudge against him. When Xander demands to know what Buffy has to do with this, Spike realizes that Buffy is not mad at him and covers by saying, "I'm sure she's merrily slaying some pals of mine, having a grand old time."

Buffy and Tara see the mess at the Magic Box and realize that Willow and Anya are gone. The two rush off after the trail of destruction.

The troll torments some Sunnydale residents until he smells ale and goes off for a drink.

Spike and Xander are shooting a game of pool together as Xander laments about Anya and Willow putting him in the middle of their fights. Spike asks what the Slayer thinks of all this friction in the ranks, then he goes off on a rant about the Slayer until the troll bumps into him. Spike begins to pick a fight, but thinks better of it. The troll grabs and drinks an entire half-barrel of beer and demands stronger ale and some plump, succulent babies to eat. Xander tries to calm him as Willow and Anya enter. Anya warns Xander of the troll, and Willow wishes for Buffy. Buffy enters. Willow wishes for a million dollars, just in case. Buffy demands to know from where the troll came. Spike sheepishly says hello to Buffy. Anya interrupts to tell Buffy that Willow released the troll, but they can stop him if Willow does another spell. When Willow starts to speak the ritual, the troll interrupts and tells Anya, "You seem determined to put an end to all my fun, just like you always did when we were dating." Everyone in the Scooby Gang, except Willow, is surprised that Anya dated a troll. Anya declares that he wasn't always a troll — she changed him into one after she caught him cheating on her. After his transformation, a coven of witches trapped him in a crystal. The troll declares that all must die and is about to attack. Buffy orders Willow to do the spell, but when Willow tries, nothing happens. The troll is amused, and Buffy attacks him. He tosses her with his hammer, and she falls on Spike, who cops a feel. The troll knocks down the support beams for the loft, which falls to the main floor.

Buffy is not injured after the loft falls on her, but the troll is gone. She gets up and gives orders: Xander is to find the troll, and Willow and Anya are to go the magic shop and find a spell that will stop the troll. Those who were on the loft when it fell are injured, and Buffy is surprised to see Spike trying to make one of the victims comfortable. He asserts that he's only trying to help; he's not sampling their blood because he knows Buffy wouldn't like it. Buffy is disgusted that Spike wants credit for not feeding off of bleeding disaster victims, and Spike is disgusted that he can't satisfy her.

Even though they're trying to work together to find a solution to the current problem, Anya and Willow still fight. Finally it comes out that Willow is worried that Anya is going to hurt Xander either by exacting vengeance on him or in some other way. Anya protests that she would never hurt Xander, and besides, she doesn't even have those powers now. Willow is the magical one, as is proven by D'Hoffryn offering her Anya's old job of being a vengeance demon. Maybe Xander should be afraid of Willow. Now it's Willow's turn to protest that she would never hurt Xander, as he's her best friend. Anya brings up Willow kissing Xander which ultimately led to his break up with Cordelia. Willow says that won't happen again: "Hello, gay now!" Finally they both admit that neither one of them is going to hurt Xander. Then Olaf the Troll bursts in to kill them. Xander rushes in and tries to fight Olaf to protect Willow and Anya. Although he's no match for the troll, Xander's willingness to fight impresses the troll, and Olaf offers Xander a reward: only one of the women will die, and Xander shall be the one to choose.

Xander, of course, refuses to choose between his girlfriend and his best friend. After commending Xander's loyalty, Olaf takes him by the wrist and breaks it. Xander still refuses, and Olaf is about to kill Xander for his unwillingness to choose. Anya tells Olaf to kill her but not to harm Xander. Willow tries another spell, but only the cash register disappears. Buffy and Tara enter, and Buffy fights Olaf. Anya distracts him while Willow does a spell, which rips the hammer from Olaf's grasp and sends it flying. Olaf makes a comment about how difficult Anya is and that her love with Xander will never last. Wrong thing to say — Buffy pummels him. Anya and Willow tend to Xander because they both love him, though, as Anya points out, Willow is not going to break them up because she's gay. Willow then performs a spell to send Olaf to an alternate universe full of trolls. Buffy is happy that Olaf is gone, and that she has his nifty hammer, which she sets on a glass display that shatters under the hammer's weight. Buffy is also happy that Xander and Anya are still together — so happy that she starts crying again.

In the dining room of the Summers home, Buffy, Giles, and Joyce discuss the Watchers Council and their search for information on Glory. Buffy asks about the Key, wondering if the council knows that it's Dawn. Giles is concerned about discussing this in front of Joyce, but she explains that she figured out the basics on her own and that Buffy filled her in. Dawn comes downstairs and hears their voices; she stops to listen. The Watchers Council has their theories, but they don't know about Dawn. Buffy is worried about what they'll do if they figure it out. Dawn, not knowing everything but aware that something is wrong — and it involves her — is disturbed.

— Synopsis written by Lori Ann Curley