Nighttime. The Summers home. Dawn tells babysitter Spike that the 'Bot was a smash at Parent-Teacher Day. He suggest that it was because the robot is predictable, and snarks a little about schools being "factories spewing out mindless little automatons." He then tries to blackmail Dawn into going to school by saying, "Buffy would want you to." I wonder if they've used that a lot on poor Dawn the past few months to keep her in line? I feel sorry for her. As a teenager, being guilted like that would have made me want to do the opposite of whatever was being suggested. Spike gets up to get cards for a game, but Dawn tries to get him to leave. She insists she's not in danger, because either she's not the Key or she doesn't open anything anymore if she is. Have they tested that out? How do they know that? Seems like a big assumption to make, and I'm betting they haven't done any rituals to make sure. Spike slams the cards down on the table, hard, and grimly insists that he's not leaving Dawn alone. Yeesh, Spike's babysitting science isn't so tight. He's still feeling guilty about not protecting Dawn on the Pylon of Perdition and is also still honoring his word to Buffy. "I'm not leaving you to get hurt. Not again." Dawn silently acquiesces and reaches for the cards. Wait. Who was watching Dawn during the opening scene of this episode? You know, the one where nobody in the gang, including Spike, was at home with her?

A random young woman walks down a dark Sunnydale street. She looks around suspiciously and hurries along. She's attacked by a vampire, but then the 'Bot comes to the rescue. Saving random people. Haven't seen that for a while on this show. The 'Bot and the wussy vampire fight; it looks like she's winning, but the vamp manages to hit her in the head with a bottle. Uh oh. The 'Bot is damaged. Blue electricity zaps across her forehead. Hee! The vampire is wearing a Hanson shirt. That's funny. Anyway, the vampire realizes that the Slayer is a machine and runs away as the 'Bot repeatedly bumps into a stack of barrels. Ha ha. Not. When are we going to deal with the emotional repercussions of Buffy's death? Why are we getting third-rate physical comedy in the place of real dramatic tension?

Aerial shot of Sunnydale. Night. Xander's apartment. Willow holds a small urn, which looks a lot like the props department picked it up in Tijuana. Apparently, though, it's the very last Urn of Osiris, which Anya purchased off eBay (along with a "limited edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox" for Xander. Hee.) Willow says it's time. Time for their plan that they're keeping from Giles. The witches have collected almost everything for whatever it is these wacky kids are preparing to do. Which is "raising the dead," according to Xander. Thank God they finally said it so I can stop pretending I didn't know. Willow wants to raise Buffy tomorrow night, but Xander is alarmed; he's worried about the big bad mojo they're planning to work.