Buffy has a nightmare in which she tries to escape the murky
water while the murdered Finch pulls her down by the ankle. Finally
reaching the surface, Buffy sees Faith, who immediately pushes her fellow
Slayer back underwater. After waking up, Buffy wanders down to the family
room, where her mother is watching a news report about the discovery of
Finch's body.
At the library, Wesley orders Buffy and Faith to investigate
Finch's murder. During their discussion, Cordelia enters the library to
check out some books for an assignment. She takes an immediate interest
in Wesley, who doesn't realize how old she really is until Giles and the
others fill him in. After heading out, Buffy tries to convince Faith into
coming clean and confessing their crime. Faith reminds Buffy that they
were both involved, so if she goes down, she's taking Buffy with her.
Buffy then spots Willow and tries to talk to her. However, Willow is
still stung by Buffy's recent behavior. Meanwhile, Mayor Wilkins shreds
all of Finch's files that contain anything related to their dirty work.
Mr. Trick listens as Mayor Wilkins wonders if Allan Finch was conspiring
against him somehow.
Later that night, Buffy and Faith sneak into Finch's office
at City Hall to see if they can find any info that might explain why he
was in the alley that night. They notice that almost all of his files are
gone, which leads Buffy to believe that a cover-up may be in the works.
Just as they're heading out, Mayor Wilkins and Mr. Trick enter the
building on the opposite end of the hallway. Seeing them together, Buffy
and Faith duck back into Finch's office, waiting for the Mayor and Mr.
Trick to pass by before running for the exit. Outside, Buffy expresses
her concern over Faith's apparently guilt-free conscience. She doesn't
believe that Faith is perfectly okay with murdering a man, but Faith says
otherwise. Faith believes that their nightly deeds as Slayers should put
them above the law.
When Buffy returns home, she is greeted by her mother and Detective
Stein, who has come to ask her a few questions about the night of the
murder. Buffy lies and pleads ignorance to everything related to the
murder. Detective Stein leaves and visits Faith at her motel room, where
he gets a similar story. Meanwhile, Buffy tells Willow the truth about
everything that happened. Willow advises Buffy to go to Giles. When
Buffy arrives at the library, she finds out that Faith has gotten there
first and pinned the murder on Buffy. Buffy tries to convince Giles
otherwise, but he sends her to his office to deal with her later. After
Faith goes home, Giles assures Buffy that he's aware of Faith's lies.
While Giles tells Buffy that he has no intentions of involving the
Watcher's Council in this matter, Wesley overhears the whole conversation
from outside the office. Soon afterwards, he calls the Council in Britain
to alert them of the crime.
The next morning, Buffy talks with Xander, Willow, and Giles
about what they should do with Faith. Feeling he has a special connection
with Faith ever since the night they slept together, Xander volunteers to
talk to her.
In no time, Buffy, Willow, and Giles figure out what happened between the
two of them. While Xander heads towards Faith's motel room, Willow cries
over the revelation that her first love has had sex with another girl. At
the motel room, Xander tries to help Faith see that what she did was
wrong.
With no intentions of hearing any more of this, Faith shoves Xander onto
the bed and jumps on top of him. Unlike last time, however, Faith's
desires are much deadlier. She wraps her hands around Xander's neck and
tries to squeeze the life out of him. Before she can kill him, Faith is
distracted by a sound at her doorway. She turns her head just in time to
see Angel swing a bat right into her face. Later, Faith regains
consciousness in the mansion. Noticing that she's all chained up, Faith
tries to come on to Angel. He leaves her there alone momentarily while he
goes to talk with Buffy in another room. Angel believes that Faith is
more dangerous than ever, now that she's experienced murder by her own
hands. After Buffy leaves to patrol, Angel returns to the main chamber to
talk to Faith. He tells her how he can relate to her sinful desires.
Unfortunately, Faith has no interest in his attempts to help her.
Suddenly, Wesley and several other men crash into the mansion. The men
subdue Angel while Wesley unlocks Faith's chains. Immediately after
unlocking the last chain, Wesley restrains Faith with his own cuffs,
informing the Slayer that she will be brought to Britain to face the
Council. In the truck, Faith tricks one of the men into getting closer.
She then beats him to the ground and threatens to snap his neck unless
Wesley frees her from the restraints. Wesley follows her orders. As soon
as she's freed, Faith knocks Wesley to the floor and jumps out the back of
the truck.
Buffy returns to the mansion to find Faith gone and Angel
immobilized on the floor. Shortly, Giles, Xander, and Willow arrive at
the mansion. When they try to formulate a plan to save Faith, Willow
interrupts with her own objection to the idea of saving a guilty murderer
who has just tried to kill Xander. At that moment, a bruised Wesley
arrives at the mansion and tells them that Faith has escaped. Having an
idea of where she might be, Buffy goes to the docks. Sure enough, Faith
is on one of the boats, ready to flee the country. Buffy tries one last
time to turn Faith around and get help. They argue again, but this debate
is cut short by a surprise ambush. Mr. Trick and several of his vampire
cohorts knock Buffy to the ground with a large crate. With Buffy down for
the moment, Faith attempts to fight the vampires by herself. As Buffy
recovers, Mr. Trick takes advantage of her weakened state to try and kill
her once and for all. After dusting the last of the vampire henchmen,
Faith sees Mr. Trick about to bite into Buffy's neck. Quickly, Faith
rushes over and stakes Mr. Trick's heart from behind, bringing him to a
dusty end.
At the library, Buffy talks to Giles about Faith's heroic
act. They believe that there may still be hope for Faith. Little do they
know that Faith plans on exploring her newly expanded horizons. Mayor
Wilkins gets a visit from Faith at his office. With Mr. Trick out of the
picture, Faith wants the available job. Intrigued, Mayor Wilkins lets her
into the office, shutting the door behind her.
Episode Summary by: Alan Hufana