A shriek and Dawn calling Buffy's name. Dawn is attempting to wake Buffy, who was screaming in her sleep. Buffy crinkles her brow, considering the dream that Dawn tries to confirm was "just" a nightmare. "From beneath you it devours," repeats Buffy. And just in case you haven't already memorized that handy little catchphrase, rest assured you will get a chance, as it will be repeated again and again (and again) in this episode. Some sharp-eyed viewers have suggested that Buffy has moved her bed into Joyce's room. If she hasn't, she did change the wallpaper and curtains in her room. As Buffy pulls back the sheet and gets out of bed she says there are more girls like Pinky "out there, somewhere." Aw, Dawn and Buffy both look incredibly cute in their tank top and pajama pants nighttime ensembles and I'm not just saying that because that's exclusively what I wear to bed. Buffy's hair is nicely rumpled too. Peering pensively out the window, Buffy says that other girls are going to die too. Oh, whee! Isn't season seven shaping up to be such a happy, happy season? Maybe Sep and I have finally flipped roles and I'll be the one catching all the most depressing episodes this season.

The camera pans down a quiet street, but then we hear rumbling. Some sort of force seems to be traveling under the ground, throwing up stones and shaking bushes as it goes by.

Ash: Ha! Crappy effects. Though I appreciate the low-techness of those fake bushes. I wonder which poor prop guy had to crouch down there and whip them all around?
Ace: C'mon! Buffy effects are much more sophisticated than that -- I'm sure the prop guy was actually yanking them with a rope from off camera.

The thing under the ground keeps traveling, leaving a trail of broken asphalt in its wake. Whatever. The roads in Tucson all look worse than that, with no wormly intercession at all.

Basement of Sunnydale High, I'm assuming. There's junk and old filing cabinets strewn about and water dribbles atmospherically. It seems a little hard to believe that all this would be left after a new school was built on the site, but then again, I work in a state-contracted building in which the water fountains were discovered to have originally been hooked up to non-potable water. In addition, one side of the building is unintentionally a foot and a half longer than the other, the tenth and highest floor is not located directly over the ground floor, and the huge plate glass windows on the upper stories tend to shatter unexpectedly and plummet to the ground. So perhaps I shouldn't be so skeptical that some Sunnydale contractors might do a crappy job on a city contract and leave an old basement behind. Spike, in dark clothes and still sporting his two-tone curly hair, stalks a fat brown rat; he's looking for dinner I presume, although I would guess the basement is a little short of cable and other amenities so perhaps he's just doing it for kicks. Am I wrong in remembering, however, that the chip is supposed to prevent him from harming any living thing? Hmm. That could mean no chip or no continuity. It's a toss-up. Spike babbles as he creeps up on the rat. This doesn't seem like a good hunting technique, but hey, he's crazy. He says it's not the right time for something, but "they" don't understand. He then complains about lack of manners and breeding. I agree. Rats today just aren't as well-raised as they used to be. The stupid rat just sits and squeaks as Spike babbles toward it. Then the basement begins to shake and rattle. Spike stands up cautiously, saying it's not the time and he's "not hardly ready." Something (perhaps peroxide withdrawal?) seems to be causing him great pain and he drops to his knees, screaming and holding his head.