History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E8IRobotYouJane

* VillainousCrush: Moloch seems to develop some genuine feelings for Willow, in his own twisted way. Willow reacts to the whole thing with appropriate horror, but even she seems a bit wistful at the end, reflecting that the only guy who's ever fallen for her was an evil robot demon.

* SpotOfTea: Giles' cure-all for recovering from near-electrocution is tea.

* UnseenPenPal: Moloch uses the internet's chat rooms to bring Willow over to his side.

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/CharismaCarpenter is credited, but doesn't appear. Also, Angel doesn't appear.

* MailerDaemon: Moloch uses the internet's chat rooms to bring Willow over to his side.

* AbsenteeActor: Creator/CharismaCarpenter is credited, but doesn't appear.

* PostModernMagik: The crux of the plot is a demon accidentally being released onto the internet because the escape for its can was the book its sealed in being read. Turns being scanned into a computer counts as reading. Also Jenny reveals herself as a Techno-pagan and recreates the magic circle ritual the monks used to originally seal Moloch with fellow techno-pagans using laptops arranged in a circle as she types the incantation.

* YouWatchTooMuchX: When Giles suggests they upload a ComputerVirus.

* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Xander and Buffy tell Willow not to be too upset that her dream guy turned out to be a demon because Xander's crush [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet turned out to be a giant praying mantis]] and Buffy fell in love with Angel, who turned out to be a vampire. The three conclude that they have no chance of having a normal relationship, ever, and then start laughing...and then descend into awkward silence when they realize the sadly accurate significance of this conclusion. Cue credits.

* ShoutOut: The voice of the demon Moloch, when he's still trapped in the computer, is similar to the voice of HAl 9000 in ''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey''. Additionally, the main student with whom Moloch communicates is called Dave.

Corona, Italy. 1418. In a castle, a young Italian man named Carlo looks at a lizard-looking demon named Moloch. Moloch promises Carlo to give him everything he wants as long as Carlo gives him his love. As Carlos promises this very thing, Moloch kills him. In a church not far, a group of priests form the sacred Circles of Kayless to trap Moloch in a book. The book is sealed in a box with the head priest expressing his hope that the box will never be opened or Moloch will walk the Earth again.

Outside of school, Dave tells Buffy that Willow wishes to speak with her in the girl's locker room as a plot to electrocute Buffy. At the last moment, he changes his mind and along with Buffy's Slayer reflexes, his warning saves her. When Moloch hears of Dave's change of heart, he begins writing Dave's suicide note on the computer and gets Fritz to kill Dave.
Buffy, Xander and Giles meet up again in the library. Giles informs them of the times when demons were trapped inside books and were only set free if someone read the book. Together, they realise that Moloch has been set free into the internet; scanning being close enough to being 'read'. When Buffy tries to delete the 'Moloch' file, his face appears on the screen and tells her to stay away from Willow. It then clicks that Malcolm is actually Moloch.

At the library, Giles is surprised to learn that Ms Calendar understands the demonic side of the Hellmouth and that she identifies as a 'techno-Pagan'. Buffy and Xander rush to the CRD as they believe Moloch had Willow kidnapped. Buffy calls Giles to co-ordinate plans.
Inside the CRD, Moloch's robotic body is assembled and he is happy to see Willow. Moloch kills Fritz as a demonstration of his power. Buffy and Xander break into the CRD as Giles and Ms Calendar prepare a binding spell. The binding spell doesn't complete but it's enough to bring Moloch out of the internet and trap him inside his robotic body. Moloch crashes through a wall and backhands Xander. Willow hits him with a fire extinguisher. As Moloch tries to kill Buffy, he punches through an electrical power line and dies.

The next day, Buffy, Willow and Xander joke about how the Hellmouth is screwing with their love lives and laugh about how none of them will ever find true happiness. They then look decidedly unenthusiastic about the prospect.

* YouWatchTooMuchX: When Giles suggests they upload a ComputerVirus.

Buffy accuses Xander of being jealous which he adamantly denies, stating he's just worried for Willow. The scene cuts to Fritz who says 'I'm jacked in' and scars himself with the letter M.
Willow is late to her classes the following day and Buffy assumes it's because she's been up late talking to 'Malcolm'. When Buffy asks another computer classmate, Dave if he can help her find out Malcolm's real identity, he angrily blows her off. This causes Buffy to think Dave is actually Malcolm. When Buffy goes to Giles for help, he admits that he can't be much use as he finds technology intimidating. His only idea is for Buffy to follow Dave. As Buffy is following Dave around the CRD building, a security camera follows her. A message appears on a computer screen. Fritz is sat in front of it and reads 'Kill her'.

* PostModernMagik: ''Techno-pagan''.

* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration

* DeadpanSnarker / HistoricalLongevityJoke

* DefensiveWhat

* EverybodyLaughsEnding: Xander and Buffy tell Willow not to be too upset that her dream guy turned out to be a demon because Xander's crush [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet turned out to be a giant praying mantis]] and Buffy fell in love with Angel, who turned out to be a vampire. The three conclude that they have no chance of having a normal relationship, ever, and then start laughing...and then descend into awkward silence when they realize the significance of this conclusion. Cue credits.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: See above. Buffy, Willow and Xander laugh, then look dismayed, about how it's likely none of them will ever have a happy, normal relationship. Buffy [[spoiler: will date a vampire who turns evil when he has sex and who she sends to a hell dimension (temporarily), a demon hunting super-soldier who visits vampire brothels, and another vampire with whom she has a DestructiveRomance and who later dies (temporarily.)]] Willow [[spoiler: dates a werewolf who cheats on her, a witch who is murdered, which nearly causes Willow to destroy the world, and a Slayer.]] Xander [[spoiler: will go on to cheat on his first girlfriend with Willow, destroying both romantic relationships, and leave his ex-demon fiancée at the altar, who then ends up dying.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: A suicide in this. When Dave won't go through with Buffy's murder, Moloch prints out a [[GoodByeCruelWorld suicide note]] and has Fritz kill him. Buffy finds him hanging from the roof of the computer lab with the note attached to his chest.

* DeadpanSnarker:

* UnfortunateImplications: While this episode as a whole is just a metaphor for the dangers of [[AdultFear kids meeting strangers on the internet who want to do them harm]], the prologue with the very male Moloch mesmerizing a bunch of young men and telling them to profess their love for him, and then the monks calling him "the corrupter" comes across like a scene straight out of a 1950s "homosexuality is contagious / gay men are pedophilic predators" PSA.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: See above. Buffy, Willow and Xander laugh, then look dismayed, about how it's likely none of them will ever have a happy, normal relationship. Buffy [[spoiler: will date a vampire who turns evil when he has sex and who she sends to a hell dimension (temporarily), a demon hunting super-soldier who visits vampire brothels, and another vampire with whom she has a DestructiveRomance and who later dies (temporarily.)]] Willow [[spoiler: dates a werewolf who cheats on her, a witch who is murdered, which nearly causes Willow to destroy the world, and a Slayer.]] Xander [[spoiler: will go on to cheat on his first girlfriend with Willow, destroying both romantic relationships, and leave his ex-demon fiance at the altar, who then ends up dying.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: See above. Buffy, Willow and Xander laugh, then look dismayed, about how it's likely none of them will ever have a happy, normal relationship. [[spoiler: Buffy will date a vampire who turns evil when he has sex, a demon hunting soldier with artificial super strength who visits vampire brothels, and another vampire with whom she has a DestructiveRomance and who later dies (temporarily.) Willow dates a werewolf who cheats on her, a witch who is murdered, which nearly causes Willow to destroy the world, and a Slayer. Xander will go on to cheat on his girlfriend with Willow, destroying both romantic relationships, and leave his ex-demon fiance at the altar, who then ends up dying.]]