When She Was Bad

Everyone returns from summer vacation with unresolved issues that they're just itching to uncover. Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) flirtatiously eat ice cream together, and after Xander licks ice cream off Willow's nose -- perhaps about to kiss her -- they are rudely interrupted by a vampire who wants something other than sweet treats. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who spent the summer with her father, saves them from the attack, the first such attempted biting since the Master's death. The trio's happy reunion is short-lived though, as Buffy is clearly distant, irritable, and wanting to get on with her Slayer training. She is overly mean to Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), blows off Angel (David Boreanaz), and seductively slow dances with Xander at The Bronze, making everybody uncomfortable. Her bad attitude is exacerbated after having a nightmare in which Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) attacks her while Willow and Xander idly watch. This all karmically leads up to the disappearance of the Master's bones. Giles researches a revivification rite, suspecting that someone might be trying to resurrect the Master. Giles accidentally mistranslates the text and he, Willow, Cordelia, and Jenny (Robia La Morte) are taken by the Anointed One (Andrew J. Ferchland) and his new minion Absalom (Brent Jennings) to complete the ceremony. Buffy comes to save them, and in doing so, cathartically takes a sledgehammer to the Master's bones. This episode is the first in which Angel was listed as an official cast member.