Slum house. The demon breaks out of its cage and escapes.

April Fools. Xander walks by, and sees Cordelia admiring a dress. He walks in and accosts her, asking how long it takes her to buy a dress. She counters that she doesn't want to get stuck with another "dud." A female co-worker of Cordelia's comes up and outs her as an employee. Xander is floored. Cordy explains that she's trying to buy a dress. Xander: "But don't you already have all the dresses?" Heh. Cordy snits that she has nothing, and that all her possessions are gone because her father was busted for tax evasion. She asks him if he's happy, and goes on that she can't afford to go to college now, and she can't stay home either because they no longer have one. All Xander can manage is, "Wow." Cordy: "Yeah! Neat-o! Now you can run along and tell all of your friends how Cordy finally got hers! How she has to work part-time just to get a lousy prom dress on layaway! And" -- she pulls open her jacket -- "how she has to wear a name tag. I'm a name tag person. Don't leave that out! The story just wouldn't have the same punch!" On cue, the demon crashes through the storefront window. Xander shoves Cordy out of the way, and I hope she feels bad for all the things she said in "The Zeppo" about his cowardice. The demon starts to attack Xander, but notices a dude in a tux, and goes after him instead. I'm a sucker for a guy in a tux too. The demon looks like he's having a slap fight with the guy, but I guess it's got sharp claws or something. Finished with Tux Guy, the demon looks around, but then we see a geeky-looking kid holding some sort of remote control, through which he's ostensibly controlling the demon. It runs out, past the terrified people in the store.

The Scoobs, in the library, review the security tape of the incident. It's of course completely implausible that they would have the tape instead of, let's say, the police, but I have bigger fish to fry. Giles notes that Xander and Cordy claim the demon "just stopped" its attack on Xander. Since they just watched that part of the tape, I'm not sure what he's unclear on. Cordy points out that the demon "chucked Xander and went right for the formalwear." So I suppose Xander in a tux would represent a classic approach-avoidance dilemma. They rewind the tape again, but Buffy says she doesn't want to watch. Giles says she should study the creature some more. Perhaps they should stop showing the same two-second segment. Wesley chimes in that the creature in question is a hellhound. Why not a Devil Dog? Because I loved those as a kid. Then again, perhaps naming a fierce killer after a tasty snack food wouldn't inspire the correct level of fear. Now, if they named it a Pork Rind, that would be appropriately scary. I went off on that tangent to try not to comment on the fact that Wesley actually knew something relevant, but I couldn't pull it off, since Giles confirms that Wesley is correct. Giles says that the hellhound is a sort of "demon foot soldier," and that it feeds off the brains of its victims. Well, half this crew should be safe, then. Wesley, out of nowhere and completely inappropriately, asks Cordelia what she was doing at the store with Xander. As Cordy fumbles for an answer, Xander covers for her. Cordy looks surprised and pensive. Oz notices the kid with the remote. Xander: "Hello, hellhound raiser!"