Faith and Buffy are slaying vampires in the cemetery while having a conversation about whether or not Buffy and Xander ever 'did it'.  Buffy keeps saying she never has, but Faith is curious.  They finish off a final vamp that attacked them with a sword and a knife, but when they go look for the weapons they're missing.  Cut to the weapons, that Mr. Trick has brought before Mayor Wilkins.  They speak of an upcoming 'dedication', which is the final step before his 'ascension', and worry that the owners of the weapons will cause trouble.  The mayor informs Mr. Trick to let any info he hears about the bad guys trickle on down to the Slayers, and hopes that they might kill each other.  The next day at school, in the lounge, Xander is intimidated at all of the early admission packets Willow has been receiving from really good schools (see best line below), and doesn't think he'll get in anywhere.  Willow and Buffy make a study date that night to help Buffy pass her Chemistry test the next day.  In the library, Giles is barely containing his distaste for the new Watcher, Wesley Whyndom Price.  He's younger, but almost a mirror image of Giles.  HE immediately rubs Buffy the wrong way, but she eventually tells both Watchers of the previous night's activities.  After hearing about the swords, Wesley tells them they belonged to a vampire duelist cult, who used to be under the leadership of some guy named Balthazar, who's dead now.  Apparently he had an amulet, which was taken by a wealthy landowner named Glees.  Wesley thinks the vamps Buffy and Faith encountered are looking for the amulet.  Faith comes in, takes one look at the new Watcher, then leaves.  Buffy goes after her, and tries to get her to go back, but Faith's pretty much all "We can do whatever we want".  She gets Buffy to admit that she kind of likes Slaying, and then leaves without going to help Buffy get the amulet.  At the Glees family crypt, Buffy finds the amulet, but before she can take it some more of the duelist vamps come in.  She quickly hides in a tomb until they leave.  When she comes out Faith's there, and makes her go with her to take on the six vamps, against Buffy's protest.  Back in the library, Wesley has gotten to Giles's section in the Watcher's Diaries.  He reads aloud the first entries where Giles describes Buffy as willful and insolent, but Giles remarks that you have to get to know her.  While Wesley is fascinated with the diaries, Giles is worried that Buffy's not back yet.  Down in the cavern Buffy and Faith followed the vamps into, the slayers are drastically outnumbered.  They fight off most of the vamps, and Buffy wins after one of them tries to drown her (her exact words are "I hate it when they drown me." Nice tribute to Prophecy girl, first season).  They take the amulet back to the library, where Giles is the only Watcher to ask if she's okay.  She kind of gets on Wesley for not warning her that there were so many of these cult guys still running around, and tells Giles they 'need to talk'.  Wesley tells her she doesn't need to concern herself with Giles anymore, but she repeats herself to Giles, and he says "of course."  Wesley tells Giles he's not helping, but Giles doesn't seem to care.  In class the next day, Buffy wonders why every time she mentions Faith's name, Xander's eye twitches.  Just as they're taking the chemistry test that Buffy didn't go over to Willow's to study for the night before, Faith shows up and gets Buffy to cut with her, saying that she's found a vampire nest that they can go raid since it's daylight.  We see scenes of them kicking ass in the nest, then going wild on the dance floor at the Bronze.  Angel arrives and sees her and Faith dancing with a bunch of guys, and almost leaves before Buffy sees him and goes to him.  She pretty much hangs all over Angel, who tries to maintain his distance.  He tells her that Balthazar may not be as dead as they think, and that he might be looking for the amulet.  Buffy tells him that Wesley has it.  Speaking of which, Wesley shows up at the Bronze, having finally tracked Buffy down.  Angel asks him where the amulet is, but Wesley doesn't even know who Angel is, much less trust him.  Buffy reaches into Wesley's jacket and finds the amulet, giving it to Angel, who's going to take it somewhere safe.  Buffy goes to do recon on Balthazar.  Wesley is confused, because Balthazar is dead.  Kissing her goodbye, Angel leaves.  In a warehouse nearby, a really disgusting blob of flesh (that kind of looks like that big blobby monster in Blade) with a head sits in a huge tub of water.  Minions surround him ladling water all over his skin.  He is pissed because he doesn't have his amulet, which will return his strength.  Buffy and Faith, spying in the window, see Balthazar and lament that they have no weapons with them.  Faith spies a weapons shop across the street, and they break in.  After a little coaxing from Faith, Buffy similarly vandalizes and steals stuff.  They're both surprised, however, when two cops arrest them.  The cops are taking them away when they manage to make the cop car crash, and run away.  The next day at home, Buffy scans the paper for any sign of their lawbreaking the night before, but doesn't see anything.  Cut to the mayor's office, where Mayor Wilkins opens his liquor cabinet to find one of the duelist vamps rushing out to try to kill him.  Mr. Trick disables him, and they lock him up.  At the warehouse, Balthazar sends the rest of his minions out to get the Watchers.  At Buffy's house, Willow has made a protection amulet for Buffy, who thanks her but won't let Willow let her come with her and Faith to confront Balthazar.  On their way, they're attacked by some more duelist vamps.  Some more minions also go to the library and kidnap Giles and Wesley.  In the alley, Faith and Buffy get so caught up in killing vamps, that when the Mayor's sidekick Alan jumps up out of nowhere Faith stakes him.  As Buffy watches helplessly, Alan dies.  Faith drags her away, and they get separated.  Buffy runs into Angel, who questions her as to why she's got blood on her hand.  She doesn't answer, and he tells her they got Giles.  Cut to Faith, who has returned to the scene of the crime.  Inside the warehouse, Giles and Wesley are brought before Balthazar, who wants to know who's got the amulet.  Angel and Buffy show up, and take on the duelist vamps.  Buffy and Giles, working with almost a psychic connection, arrange their fighting so that Buffy just whirls around and slices his bonds, then continues to fight.  (Demonstrating how well they work together as a team).  Giles frees Wesley, and starts killing some vamps while Wesley cowers.  Angel gets captured by Balthazar, and he's about to be killed when Buffy destroys Balthazar by dropping an electrical wire into the big tub of water he's sitting in, and electrifying him.   Not quite dead yet, he says "Slayer, you think you've won.  When HE rises, you'll wish I'd killed you all".  Cut to the Mayor's office, where Mayor Wilkins performs a ritual, with Mr. Trick and the captured vamp watching.  Afterward, Mayor Wilkins wonders why Alan missed the ceremony, then orders Mr. Trick to open the cage.  He does so, and the vamp jumps out, splitting Mayor Wilkins's head in two.  Much to everyone's shock, his head heals right back up, and Mr. Trick kills the vamp.  The mayor is now invincible until his 'ascension'.  At Faith's motel room, Buffy argues with her about what they should do about the death of Alan.  Faith tells Buffy she weighted the body and dumped it, and says that she doesn't care that she killed a human.  FLAWS:         Okay, Balthazar's sitting in a huge tub of water.  Balthazar has water all over him, from where his minions keep him wet.  Balthazar is holding Angel, trying to kill him.  Buffy drops an electric current into the water.  Angel should have been killed by this, or at least convincingly fried a bit. THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE:       Not too bad of an episode.  We get lots of groundwork lain for the straying of Faith, the Mayor's ascension, and the whole 'new watcher' thing.  I don't like Wesley much, but that's probably just because I like Giles so much.  While I did kind of like watching them bicker in their british way, I hadn't realized before now just how used to Giles's I'd gotten.  Anthony Stewart Head portrayed really well, I think, the evolution of his character since the beginning of the series.  In the beginning, he was all stuffy and british.  I didn't NOTICE him changing, but several times in this episode I kept thinking, 'man, Buffy's really rubbed off on him'.   : ) BEST LINE:     Xander:  "Willow, what are these?" (reads off the names to some really prestigious schools that want her) "Is anyone else intimidated? 'Cause I'm just expecting thin slips of paper with the words 'No Way' written in crayon." Here's another: Wesley:  "Buffy you will go to the crypt tonight and retrieve the amulet." Buffy:  "I WILL?" Wesley:  "Are you not used to being given orders?" Buffy:  "Whenever Giles sends me on a mission he says please.  And afterwards I get a cookie."

"Bad Girls"