Buffy vs. Dracula

"Buffy vs. Dracula" is the first episode in season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy faces the infamous Count Dracula (Rudolf Martin), come to Sunnydale to meet her and make her one of his concubines. In the process, he turns Xander into a Renfield of sorts and Giles performs the scene of the three sisters, much like Jonathan Harker in the original novel. However, after a brief spell during which Buffy is mesmerized by the Count and bitten in the neck, she regains her usual composure and kills him. He reforms from a mist, but is killed again. Attempting to reform yet again, Buffy reminds him that she's still there, and Dracula slips away in his mist-form.

Quotes and trivia

 * Dracula and Buffy face each other again, with much similar results, in the Dark Horse Comic Tales of the Vampires #3 "Antique" by Drew Goddard.
 * This is the third time that Buffy is bitten by a vampire. She was bitten by the Master in Season 1 and Angel in Season 3.
 * Excerpts from this episode appear on a television screen in the Russian vampire film Night Watch.
 * The Season Premiere attracted 5.8 million viewers.
 * Rudolf Martin played Sarah Gellar's love interest Anton on All My Children.
 * Rudolf Martin later played Vlad the Impaler (the supposed inspiration for Dracula) in a TV miniseries, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, released in the same year.
 * In the episode "Restless," Willow made a reference to the book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. In this book, there are four children, two boys and two girls.  If these children are "matched up" to Giles, Buffy, Xander, and Willow by order of age, then Xander is paired up with Edmund, who betrayed his brother and sisters.  Therefore, the reference Willow made could have possibly been a foreshadowing of Xander's "betrayal" (albeit his mind was under Dracula's control) of Buffy and the gang in this episode.
 * "As of this moment, it's over! I'm finished being everybody's butt monkey." -- Xander
 * This episode marks the first appearance of Dawn, Buffy's little sister.

Credits
This episode is the first to give Emma Caulfield first billing for playing Anya, as she now appears in the opening credits.

Recurring Characters
Dawn (first appearance)