History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad

* MeetTheNewBoss: The Anointed One is now in charge of the Master's surviving followers.

* TheDragon: Absalom, for all intents and purposes, serves as this to the Annointed One.

* MeetTheNewBoss: The Annointed One.

-->'''Giles''': Punishing yourself like that is pointless.
-->'''Buffy''': It's entirely pointy.

-->'''Buffy''': 'Come to the Bronze before it opens, or we make her a meal.'
-->'''Xander''': [[FauxHorrific They're gonna cook her dinner?!]] ''(gets looks from everyone)'' [[CantBelieveISaidThat I'll pretend I didn't say that.]]

* DropTheHammer: Vampires have exhumed The Master's skeleton as part of a ritual that involves messing with Buffy's mind. Absalom's hammer presents a perfect opportunity for her to work out her remaining issues while making him DeaderThanDead.

* TookALevelInJerkass: A decidedly unkinder, ungentler Buffy, as hinted in her first scene when she snits at having to go face Giles.

"No, it's not," mutters Xander.

* AchillesInHisTent: Buffy comes back from her summer in L.A. still steaming with issues from being killed for a minute in the Season One finale. When the Master's men steal the Master's bones with the intent to resurrect him, Buffy explodes at Giles and blows off the Scooby Gang's attempts at consoling her. This lasts until Willow, Giles, Cordelia, and Miss Calender are captured by the vampires for the resurrection ritual. In this case, the prompt for her glorious return is less that she realizes that she's needed and more that it's brutally spelled out for her by Xander, who basically gives her an "[[WhatTheHellHero As a result of this mess I'm completely over indulging your self-pity; get over yourself and do what you should have done in the first place]]" speech.

* CallBack: The Master's defeat in the previous season, and Buffy's heart stopping momentarily.

* CensorshipBySpelling: Willow asking why Buffy is acting like such a "B-I-T-C-H." Giles thinks they're too old to be spelling out words.

* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: "Man, your timing really doesn't suck."

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Buffy leaves Giles, Willow, and Xander alone in the library to confront the Order of Aurelius at the Bronze, insisting she can handle things herself. As it turns out, she walked into a trap, and Giles and Willow are kidnapped by the Order to be used as {{Human Sacrifice}}s while Buffy's away. When she realizes the trick and goes back to find the library ransacked and Xander beaten and bloody, Xander wastes no time calling her out and invoking this trope:

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: "Your day is done, girl. I'll grind you into a sticky paste, and hear you beg, before I smash in your face."

* DecoyDamsel: "That's not Cordelia." Of course not -- the only way to make Cordelia cry is to cut up her credit cards.

** Snyder saying that he can just smell delinquency, "like a sixth sense."

* DidISayThatOutLoud: Buffy confessing that's she been having weird dreams. Willow blurts that the other night she dreamt about Xander-- she backpedals, "It wasn't Xander. In fact, it wasn't me. [[IHaveThisFriend It was a friends' dream]]... and s-she doesn't remember it."

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Shortly after Buffy leaves for the Bronze, seemingly walking into a trap set by the Order, Giles finishes translating the revivification ritual and discovers that "closest" to the Master actually means those who were physically present when the Master died[[note]]Willow, Cordelia, Ms. Calendar, and Giles himself[[/note]]. Giles doesn't even finish his sentence before he realizes what this means. A double dose of this trope follows when he sees vampires crowding into the library behind Willow and Xander, and realizes the "trap" was actually meant to lure Buffy away so the Order could capture them without interference.

* ExcuseQuestion: "Guess That Movie Quote". Willow leads with "Use the Force, Luke," to which Xander rightly responds with an EyeTake. Willow then complains that it's a [[SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring dumb game]].

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Buffy's been sullen, moody, bitchy, and lashing out at people because she's traumatized over her temporary death at the Master's hands. By the time Giles and Willow get captured by vampires due to her refusal to cooperate with them, Xander's beyond caring why she's acting that way and tells her point-blank he'll ''kill'' Buffy if anything happens to Willow.

* HumanSacrifice: The revivification ritual requires the blood of those who were physically closest to the Master -- Giles, Willow, Cordelia, and Ms. Calender -- when he crashed into the library and was impaled. This proviso is obviously meant for the person responsible for slaying the Master; unluckily for the Scoobies, Buffy kicked him into a skylight beforehand.

* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Angel insisting Buffy's not as strong as she thinks, eliciting the response, "Think you can take me?" She goes on that he must have thought about what would happen if they ever fought, and the subtext here is obvious. "C'mon..." she says invitingly, "''Kick my ass''."

** Giles wondering whether Snyder made the wrong career choice, and Snyder countering that someone has to keep an eye on the kids. "Every time a pretty girl walks by, every boy turns into a gibbering fool." On cue, Miss Calendar slinks up to Giles...
* IronicEcho: Buffy tries to help up the wounded Xander, but he shrugs her off. "Vampires," he reports. "[[IWorkAlone The ones you could handle yourself]]."

* KilledMidSentence: Absalom intoning, "For the Old One. For his pain. For the dark." The vamps join in a rousing chorus of "For the dark," except that Buffy dusts one of them in the middle of "da--".

* LaymansTerms: Giles suggests that Buffy "may simply have what you Americans refer to as 'issues'." Only he pronounces it "Iz-yous."

* LoveTheme: This is the first recognizable appearance of the melody that will become "Close Your Eyes," Buffy and Angel's love theme. It begins as Buffy smashes the Master's bones and continues over Angel comforting Buffy.
* MagneticPlotDevice: The vampires don't return until Buffy does. "It's like they knew I was coming back."

* NotSoDire: Cordy commiserating with Miss Calendar about how awful their ordeal was. "It stays with you forever. No matter what they tell you. None of that rust and blood and grime comes out. I mean, you can dry clean till judgment day, you are ''living'' with those stains."

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Buffy is acting out due to the trauma of having been NotQuiteDead. Buffy's attitude problem causes her to get baited easily by the vamps, leaving her friends unprotected so that Willow, Cordelia, Giles, and Miss Calendar get kidnapped by the vampires working for the Anointed One. Xander, normally Buffy's biggest fan, lays it out for her:

* OhCrap: "It ''is'' a trap." ''(looks up and sees vampires are surrounding them)'' "It just isn't for her."

* QuitYourWhining: Cordelia tells Buffy that whatever she's dealing with, "Get over it". Or soon "you won't even have the loser friends you have now."

* RightBehindMe: Giles suggesting that Buffy may have residual trauma from her bout with the Master, just in time for Buffy to appear in the doorway. Xander: "It's a very interesting point about [[LastSecondWordSwap trout]], you just brought up now." Nice save, Derek Jeter.
* RomanceInducingSmudge: Xander touching his ice cream cone to Willow's nose. At the Bronze, Willow tries in vain to recreate the moment while Xander anxiously cranes his neck for Buffy. "You got somethin' on your nose."

* SideBet: Willow and Xander betting on how long it will take Giles to "consult his books." Everyone smiles at Giles. He [[TheUnsmile fake-smiles]] in return.

* SmugSuper: Willow tries to defend Giles on the revivification matter, but Buffy snaps that she'd like to "have a little less from the civilians."
* SnubByOmission: Buffy asking if the Scoobies had any fun without her. Simultaneously, Willow says "yes" and Xander says "no." Aw. Poor Willow.

-->"Look, Angel, I'm sorry if I was supposed to spend the summer mooning over you, but I didn't. I moved on. To ''the living''."
* ThatCameOutWrong: Giles giving Buffy a verbal pat on the back, saying her actions this week were "hardly the worst mistake you'll ever make." At Buffy's horrified look, he says he meant that to be more comforting.
* TooMuchInformation: Willow asks if Xander really doesn't miss Buffy, and he admits that maybe he does a little, as he has "certain needs." Willow says she doesn't want to go there.

* UnwillingSuspension: A pulley above the Master's bones, from which Willow, Giles, Cordy, and Miss Calendar sway upside-down.