Sunnydale High. Wood sits at his desk, doing paperwork. Buffy clomps up to the doorway and leans against the jamb, simpering to him, "You look better." Arggh. Buffy's shirt is hanging out below her jacket -- I can't STAND that. Of all the sins she has committed, this is the worst! Wood says he'll be okay if Buffy refrains from beating him up. And she actually jokes that she considered it and made "doodles." She then says they're "on even ground," and I cannot even imagine what sort of self-control Wood must have not to get up and slam the door in her sanctimonious little bitch face. She reiterates that she doesn't "have time for [his] vendetta." As if he was going to forget that message. She does leave out the part about having her vampire minion kill him this time, though. Then she tells him she wants him on her side in the fight, and asks if they're "good." Wood agrees that they are and then tells her, "You're fired." Thank you! I cannot imagine how much of princess Buffy must be to think she could tell her boss she'd be party to his death and still show up to work her next shift. Joyce left some serious holes in this girl's education, let me tell you. Buffy: "You're firing me? I just refrained from kicking your ass!" Bitch, please. Wood diplomatically refrains from reminding her what a shitty counselor she is, and doesn't even bring up her repeated threats of violence towards him. Instead, he says that "there's nothing here for [her]." He references the unseen phenomenon of many people leaving town and kids not bothering to show up for school. Excuse me, what? Why are people leaving town? Is the First doing something we haven't even heard about? Is Buffy helping these people? Why are kids not showing up for school? They closed the Seal of Danzig, so why are there still problems? And more importantly, if Sunnydale is suffering from some sort of mass panic or problem that actually BREAKS THROUGH the citizens' years of WILLFUL blindness, shouldn't we be SEEING that something? Was the budget to hire extras all used up on the Junior Misses? I'm baffled that ME thinks that throwing out a vague reference to chaos in Sunnydale every fifth episode constitutes valid storytelling. Wood and Buffy discuss the upcoming war against the First. Buffy frets about the Junior Misses dying, and Wood recommends that she "test them" in battle. Buffy changes the subject by trying to cutesy her way back into her job. Wood fires her again and reminds her, "The mission is what matters." Buffy looks crestfallen, because she's supposed to be the one with the cutting rejoinders.