Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sunnydale High is holding its annual talent show, and Giles is the reluctant organizer. Potential participants are scattered about the stage; a ballerina, a musician, a magician, and a ventriloquist. Cordelia is singing an off-key rendition of "The Greatest Love of All," as Giles cringes in the audience. Fed up, he finally cuts her off mid-sing, much to Cordelia's annoyance. "But I didn't do the part with the sparklers," she whines.

Buffy, Willow and Xander take seats next to Giles in the auditorium, mocking and teasing him about his role in the production. Giles tells the group that his hand was forced by the new school principal, Mr. Snyder, who is the exact opposite of Mr. Flutie: Snyder is like a deadly piranha to Flutie's cuddly puppy. Giles suggests that it would be nice if they would sign on to help. They laugh at the idea, instantly dismissing the ridiculous notion. Unfortunately, the new principal, Mr. Snyder, hears their teasing and forces them to perform; using their missed afternoon classes as leverage. "Can I just mention that detention is a time honored form of punishment," Xander says, with a last ditch effort to escape performing. It doesn't work and the three friends sink into their seats.

On stage, the ventriloquist takes center stage with his dummy. Buffy shudders when she sees it, explaining to Willow her deep seeded, irrational fear of puppets. Morgan starts to perform and he is clearly terrible, his mouth moving obviously as he "speaks" for the dummy. Giles closes his eyes, unable to watch the spectacle. But then Morgans performance signficantly improves as the dummy appears to talk on its own, mocking Morgan's ridiculous attempts at jokes. Morgan's lips aren't moving even a little bit. The audience starts to laugh and Giles's eyes open in relief. Even Buffy is laughing – maybe the talent show won't be such a disaster after all.

In the locker room, the ballerina is changing into her regular school clothes. She shuts her locker door and as she does, hears a strange noise. Walking tentatively through the darkened locker, she peeks around a corner, trying to see if someone is hiding there. Suddenly something sneaks up behind her! She screams loudly and a disembodied voice says "I will be flesh!"

Later, the stage is crowded with students practicing; jugglers, dancers, musicians and clowns all struggle for space as they practice. Off in a corner, Buffy, Willow and Xander attempt to practice a dramatic reading. Xander grows frustrated and sits down on the steps. The three try to think of other talents they could do but come up with nothing. Suddenly, Morgan's dummy starts flirting with Willow. "Once you go wood, nothing's as good!" Buffy tells Morgan that enough is enough, and to cut the horny dummy act out. "Unless you want your prop ending up as a dura-flame log," she says meaningfully. Morgan and his dummy look at each other, eyes widened.

Later, Giles informs the Slayer and her friends that the ballerina, Emily, was killed; her heart removed from her chest. Xander is horrified. "I hate this school," he says vehemently. Buffy notices the police putting a knife into an evidence bag. Buffy points out that demons don't need knives: their teeth and claws are more than sifficient. The group comes to the conclusion that a human must have committed this atrocity. "Did I mention that I hate this school," Xander says again.

But Buffy isn't convinced. They do live on a hellmouth after all, she says. Giles agrees that some investigating is in order. He suggests that she talk to her fellow talent show compatriots, as one of them may have been the last to see her alive. The friends talk to a variety of talent show participants, who all say that Morgan is the most likely suspect.

Buffy comes into the auditorium and sees the dummy sitting alone on the stage. The dummy is talking but he's not cracking jokes. Morgan walks out on the stage to answer him, but stops when he catches sight of Buffy. "I was just working on throwing my voice," he explains hurriedly. They have a strange conversation, in which Sid the puppet constantly interrupts, which throws Buffy for a loop. Morgan is acting very strange, and she is determined to find out why.

In the library, Buffy and the gang quickly find that all clues point to Morgan. But Buffy still thinks something demon-ish is going on. Giles tells her that further investigation is warranted, but it is being somewhat hampered by the talent show they are being forced to produce. Buffy indignantly points out that his priorities need to be checked; a murder investigation is far more important than a talent show. But Giles tells her that Principal Snyder is watching them all very closely, and Buffy's identity as the Slayer cannot afford to be discovered by the meddlesome principal. "We will find this murderer, but in the meantime the show must go on," he says. Buffy is annoyed but agrees. Giles tells her to investigate Morgan and to check his locker for any clues.

After school, Buffy sneaks down a school hallway. Sensing something, she whirls around but sees nothing. Shrugging, she heads to Morgan's locker. After looking around to make sure no one is watching, she smashes the lock on Morgan's locker, and examines the contents. Just as she is reaching towards the shelf, a hand reaches out and grabs her wrist! She turns to see Principal Snyder glaring at her. He won't tolerate students loitering after school, he tells her. Buffy makes an excuse and quickly leaves. From an open doorway, Morgan and Sid watch.

In the auditorium, Morgan is talking to his dummy, arguing with him. The dummy is telling him that he has to do something... something that will free the doll. Morgan refuses, so the dummy says fine. If Morgan won't, then he will.

That night, Buffy awakens to the sound of quick footsteps. Something scuttles under her bed and she leans over to look. When she comes back up, Sid the puppet is staring at her. Buffy screams, knocking him off the bed. Her mother comes rushing in and they both look in the bed covers. But Sid has already run away. Her mother thinks she just had a nightmare and at first Buffy thinks she might be right. But when she sees the open window she knows it wasn't a nightmare. That window had been closed when she went to sleep.

The next day at school, Buffy tells the gang that she thinks Sid was in her room last night, trying to attack her. Giles postulates that the possible culprit might be a particularly nasty type of demon who takes the form of a young human. Every seven years these demons must harvest a brain and heart to maintain its humanity, or it reverts back to its slightly less appealing demonic form. Buffy stares over at Morgan thoughtfully.

In history class, Mrs. Jackson lectures about the Monroe Doctrine. Buffy watches Sid as he turns his head around to stare at her intensely. Buffy averts her eyes, completely freaked. Mrs. Jackson notices Morgan and Sid whispering to each other and confiscates the puppet. She places Sid in a cupboard and tells Morgan he can have it back after school. "I'm still watching you," Sid says from inside the cabinet, to the delight of the class.

After school, Morgan heads to Mrs. Jackson's classroom to retrieve his dummy. Mrs. Jackson tries to talk to Morgan about his problems in school. Morgan is growing more and more agitated by the conversation, and grabs his head with both hands. He finally interrupts her, and asks for his doll. But when she opens the cabinet, the puppet is gone! The teacher is confused: she put the doll right in there. Morgan is freaked. "What did you do with him? Where is he," the boy cries.

In the library, Xander has Sid. Buffy offers to find Morgan, telling Xander to keep an eye on the dummy. Xander places Sid in a chair and sits down to do some homework. Meanwhile, Willow and Giles head to the demon section of the library to do research. Willow finds a book about mystically possessed toys (such as dolls and mannequins) that have acted on their desires to become human, by harvesting human organs, such as a heart and brain. Both Willow and Giles are sure that Sid is their culprit.

Xander gets up to grab a reference book. When he gets back to the table, Sid is gone. Xander yells and climbs on the table in fright. Giles and Willow come running and Xander tells them that the doll has disappeared.

Buffy goes backstage to find Morgan. It's quiet and empty and her footsteps echo eerily as she walks farther into the shadows. Just then, she stumbles across Morgan's body lying on the floor, his brain removed. Distressed, Buffy backs up until she hears a snapping noise from above. She looks up just in time to see a falling chandelier come crashing toward her. Buffy is knocked to the ground, unconscious. As she wakes up, she finds that it is too heavy for her to lift. She looks back and sees Sid with a knife and turns her head just in time to avoid being stabbed. Finally able to lift the chandelier, she scrambles out, as Sid attacks her from behind. Buffy slams him into a wall, knocking his knife clear across the floor. "Now you'll never be human," she says. "Yeah well neither will you," he says. Buffy is confused. "What?" they both ask in unison.

Buffy brings Sid to the library. The group sits stunned as Sid reveals that he was once a human demon hunter, but an evil curse forced his spirit into the body of a dummy. Because of her preternatural strength, he thought Buffy was the demon. Sid killed six of the seven demons who cursed him. If he can kill this last one, the curse will be lifted, and he can return to human form. Sid is sure that now that the demon has what he wants (the heart and brain) he will be moving on. Therefore, if he and Buffy can figure out who is missing from the talent show they may find their demon.

Giles gives a surprised start when he realizes the talent show is starting and he is supposed to be there. Giles rushes off to the auditorium. Buffy instructs Willow and Xander to get the addresses of all the students in the talent show. If they don't find them at school, then perhaps they can catch them at home later.

On the catwalk, Buffy and Sid talk about Sid's condition. He tells the Slayer that his freedom really means his death; after all, his body is nothing more than dust and bone. He admits that this is what he wants. He is tired of being stuck inside the body of a doll. It's time for him to die. But, he says, if Buffy wants to snuggle before he dies... Buffy is appropriately disgusted. Removing his hand from her thigh, she says, "So that horny dummy thing really isn't an act, is it?" Nope, the dummy replies.

In the auditorium, Giles gathers all the students into a power circle. The students arrange themselves in a circle and hold hands. From the rafters, Sid and Buffy scan the group for any missing kids, as does Giles. They are all there. He lets everyone go and is confused, since no one is missing. Buffy drops down from the catwalk to talk to Giles. They decide that the demon must not be part of the show. Giles tells Buffy that he doesn't know what else to do, but they really must get the show running. Buffy agrees. She looks back into the rafter and notices that Sid has disappeared.

Backstage, Buffy stops next to a workbench and notices something dripping from above. She goes to see what it is and a brain falls into her hands. She screams and the brain drops to the floor, jiggling. Buffy walks into the library, examining her hands in disgust. Buffy, Willow and Xander try to figure out why the demon rejected Morgan's brain, considering he was the smartest kid at Sunnydale. Willow hacks into the school records and discovers that Morgan had brain cancer. The demon needs a healthy, smart brain. Buffy and Xander get worried when they realize that with Morgan dead, Willow is the smartest person in school; a perfect target for the demon's master plan.

Backstage, Giles helps Marc set up with his magic act. He has a pair of weights in his hands, helping Marc with the calibrations. Marc notices that his hand is turning grey and scaly. He hurriedly tells Giles to lie down on the guillotine.

Back in the library, Buffy is desperately trying to figure out who the demon behind the attacks is. Willow reminds them that they found Marc's brain after they gathered all students on stage. That means the demon could still be a part of the talent show after all. Buffy starts to worry about Giles. Xander tries to put her mind at ease. "Giles can handle himself. I mean he is really... smart." They all figure it out at the same time. Buffy tears out of the library towards the auditorium, with Willow and Xander hot on her heels.

Meanwhile, Marc slides the head restraint down onto Giles' forehead; locking it with a padlock. Giles belatedly realizes this isn't a magic trick. Marc grabs a hatchet and swings at the rope, which when broken will release the guillotine's blade. By the third swing, the rope is almost cut. At the last minute, Buffy lunges at him, tackling him to the floor.

As they fight, the rope stretches and snaps, causing the blade to fall! Giles yelps and closes his eyes shut. Just as the blade is about to slice through Giles's scalp, Xander grabs the rope, stopping the blade. Willow rushes to undo Giles's restraints, using the hatchet to hack away at the lock.

Buffy backs away as Marc comes toward her, now fully reverted into the demon. He grabs her by the neck and slams her against a wall, strangling her. Willow breaks the lock and helps Giles up. Sid jumps on the demon's back and repeatedly stabs him with his knife. "I found you," he shouts triumphantly. Buffy kicks the demon to the guillotine and Xander releases the rope. The blade slices downward, decapitating the demon. Buffy and Willow cringe while Xander stares in morbid fascination. Sid tells Buffy that decapitating the demon wasn't enough: if they don't get the heart, the demon will come back. Moments later, Sid ceremoniously plunges the knife into the demon's heart. The demon is now officially dead and so is Sid.

Buffy picks up Sid, who is now nothing more than a dummy. She carries him to the center of the stage just as someone opens the curtains. The audience takes in the strange tableau. Buffy, front and center, sadly holding a puppet; Willow clutching an axe, wild eyed; A decapitated demon lying on a guillotine; and Xander and Giles in varying states of shock.

"I don't get it," Principal Snyder says, confused. "What is it? Avant-garde?"