First Date

"First Date" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the one hundred thirty-sixth episode altogether. It was written by Jane Espenson and directed by David Grossman. It originally broadcast on February 11, 2003.

Principal Wood asks Buffy out to dinner, to which she accepts partly because she likes him and partly because she is intrigued as to what he really is. Xander also agrees to go out at night with Lissa, a girl he meets at a tool demo somewhere in Sunnydale. Things go very differently for them. Buffy finds out Robin Wood is in fact the son of a Slayer, while Xander's date turns out to be a demon. Willow receives an SOS text message from Xander and she and Spike round up Buffy and Wood to rescue Xander. Wood finds out Spike is a vampire. Later, The First shows itself to Wood in the guise of his dead mother and tells him it was Spike who killed her.

Synopsis
Giles reveals that he was able to save himself from the Bringer in Robson's flat because the Bringer's shoes squeaked, alerting him to his presence. Buffy discusses the removal of Spike's chip with Giles; Giles doesn't believe that it was the right thing to do while Buffy is convinced that it was.



At work, Buffy tries to hunt for clues about whether Principal Wood is good or evil in his office. When she is about to open a cabinet, Principal Wood finds her in his office and asks her out to dinner. Back at the house, Buffy expresses mixed feelings about the date, and is unsure over whether she is interested in him. Willow suggests that it would be good for Buffy to "move on." Xander enters and reveals that he too has a date that evening. Upstairs, Buffy is getting dressed for dinner when Spike appears in the hallway, and tells Buffy that he feels fine about her having a date with another man, although Buffy tells him he doesn't have to be noble. The two are on friendly terms with one another.

On Buffy's date, she and Wood are jumped by a group of vampires. Buffy slays most of them, and thinks that Wood has set her up until she sees him take out two of the vampires. At the restaurant, Wood reveals that he is a "freelance" demon hunter, and tells her about his mother -- that she was the Slayer and was killed when he was four years old, after which he was raised by her Watcher. Buffy is struck by the idea that it is possible for a Slayer to have children. Meanwhile, Xander's date appears to be going well until he learns that she is a demon who has, like other demons, been motivated to work for The First. She ties him up to the wooden structure over the seal in the school basement and sticks a knife between his ribs.



Throughout the episode, the First again appears to Andrew in the form of Jonathan, and attempts to get him to kill the Potential Slayers staying in the house, using the gun that Willow brought to the house in "The Killer in Me", while she was Warren. There is a mislead in which the viewers are led to believe that The First has successfully persuaded Andrew to kill the girls. However, it is revealed that Andrew is committed to helping Buffy and her friends, telling the First, "I'm good now." In the second scene with Andrew and the First, Andrew is wearing a wire that Willow has set up and the others are listening to his conversation with the First through Willow's headphones. Andrew shows the First the gun and asks it questions about its intents and potential weaknesses. The First discovers that Andrew is wired and is not pleased, but not before telling Andrew that it isn't time to use Spike again for the First's purposes. The First appears to Willow, Dawn, Anya, and Kennedy in the guise of a horribly maimed Jonathan, threatening them before disappearing.

Immediately after the First leaves, Willow receives a text message with a help code from Xander. Spike offers to go fetch Buffy. He finds her at the restaurant with Wood in a slightly romantic moment, and they all rush out to rescue Xander, driving in Wood's car, the three of them awkwardly together with Spike in the backseat. When they get to the seal beneath the school, they fight and kill the demon woman and find Xander not too badly hurt. They prevent the seal from opening again, but during the course of the fight, Wood finds out that Spike is a vampire and that Buffy cares about him very much, making him uneasy.

Back at the house, Spike tells Buffy that as The First is not ready to use him yet, he will leave town. Buffy tells Spike not to leave because she isn't ready for him not to be there. In the final scene of the episode, The First shows itself to Wood in the guise of his dead mother, who is the Slayer seen in the 1977 flashback in "Fool for Love", and tells Wood that it was Spike who murdered her.

Continuity

 * When Buffy and Anya talk in the bathroom, Anya described a red stain on Buffy's shirt ("It [the shirt] says 'I sometimes get blood on my shoulder'...or it might be pizza."). Dawn previously spilled pizza sauce on one of Buffy's tops.


 * When Giles and the Scoobies were walking in the graveyard, there was a gravestone clearly marked "Snyder". Since Snyder was swallowed by The Mayor in demon form, it may or may not belong to the former principal.


 * As Xander himself points out, Lissa was only the latest of several demonic women who have been drawn to him. Her predecessors included Natalie French, Ampata Gutierrez, Faith, and Anya. Even Xander's Sunnydale High girlfriend Cordelia Chase ended up becoming part demon (although the Scoobies may not have been aware of this).


 * The flash cards Giles shows Chao-Ahn are similar to the ones he used to communicate information about the Gentlemen.


 * Spike claimed that Anya said Giles was the First. Anya and the rest of the Scoobies later disproved the theory, but apparently neglected to update Spike.


 * Spike's painless attack of Giles revealed to the rest of the Scoobies that Buffy decided to have his chip removed.


 * Andrew was setting up a new microwave in the Summers house kitchen. The microwave was destroyed in when Dawn was visited by her mother's ghost. Andrew had previously wondered about getting a new one when he wanted to make popcorn.

Production

 * K.D. Aubert portrays Nikki Wood in this episode (and in "Lies My Parents Told Me"). Nikki was originally portrayed by April Weeden-Washington in "Fool For Love".

Deleted Scenes

 * Wood confirms that he grew up in Beverly Hills:
 * Buffy: "In Beverly Hills."
 * Wood: "See now, that detail takes the edge off my Little Orphan Robin story, but yeah, that was true."


 * Xander asked Lissa a very logical question:
 * Xander: "Did you hatch out of a praying mantis egg in the old high school?"

Pop Culture References

 * During Xander's monologue about turning gay, he makes a reference to fantasizing about Scott Bakula. Andrew then dreamily remarks, "Captain Archer..." a reference to Star Trek: Enterprise, which was also airing on UPN at the time.


 * Buffy says she'll be home watching a reality show "about a millionaire," which could be a reference to "Joe Millionaire," a reality show that was airing at the time of the episode's broadcast. The show was similar in format to "The Bachelor," with a man choosing a potential future wife from among a number of women, but the twist was that the man was presented as a millionaire despite having only a meager job.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

 * Principal Wood expressed surprise when Spike was revealed to be a vampire. Earlier, while driving, he seemed to glance at Spike in the car's rear-view mirror. This appears to be a production oversight, as it is established earlier in the series that vampires, even with souls, cast no reflection. It could be possible that Robin was confused by Spike's lack of reflection, but didn't want to let Buffy and Spike in on it, as Buffy and Wood were not yet sure if they could trust each other.


 * Buffy mentioned Giles picking up Chao-Ahn from China in "Potential." Since Giles had returned by "The Killer in Me," he had presumably already brought her back, so she was likely on the desert retreat with the other potentials. Thus, he remark about her to "take note" seems to come a bit late.


 * Spike claimed that Anya said Giles was the First, but no such discussion was shown and very little time passed between the original suspicion and when it was disproved.

Music

 * Patty Medina - "Still Life"
 * Trembling Blue Stars - "Ammunition"