A Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode written by Joss Whedon and transcribed by Joan the English Chick (pisces@englishchick.com).
Original Air Date: February 27, 2001
Transcriber's Notes:
Note: "Previously on Buffy" was not shown at the beginning of this episode.The episode opens with a rollback to the end of "I Was Made To Love You." Buffy enters her home.
BUFFY: (calling) Hey, Mom.She turns, sees some flowers on the table beside the door.
BUFFY: Ooh.
She opens the card that came with the flowers. Shot of the card, which reads: "Thank you for a _lovely_ evening. See you soon? Brian."
BUFFY: (to herself) Still a couple of guys gettin' it right.
She turns to call up the stairs, putting down her jacket.
BUFFY: (calls) Hey. Flower-gettin' lady. Want me to pick Dawn up from school?
In the background, on the living room sofa, we can see someone or something, but it's out of focus; the focus is on Buffy in the foreground.
Buffy frowns, looks down the hall toward the kitchen.
BUFFY: Mom?
She turns and looks in the living room.
BUFFY: What are you doing?
She walks into the living room, stops.
Shot of Joyce lying on the sofa. Her eyes are open, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. One arm hangs loosely over the edge of the sofa. She does not move or blink.
BUFFY: (quieter) Mom? (even quieter) Mom? (very quietly) Mommy?
Wolf howl. Opening credits.
Guest starring Randy Thompson, Amber Benson as Tara, and Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.
Act I
NOTE: There is no background music at all in this episode.
Open on the Summers dining room. Christmas lights are lit around the walls and candles are burning all around. On the left side of the table are Buffy, Anya, and Xander. On the right are Dawn, Willow, and Tara. Giles sits at one end, Joyce at the other end. As the scene opens, Buffy and Joyce stand up.
JOYCE: I think we're just about ready for pie. (She and Buffy begin clearing dishes)
XANDER: Then I'll be pretty much ready for barf.
BUFFY: Xander!
XANDER: No, no, (to Joyce) barf from the eating. 'Cause all was good, and too much goodness...
JOYCE: I'm taking it as a compliment.
GILES: Yes, uh, everything was delicious. (stands to help clear)
ANYA: Yes, I'm going to barf too.Joyce smiles wryly as she carries a pile of dirty dishes past Anya toward the kitchen.
JOYCE: (sarcastic) Everyone's so sweet.Joyce, Giles, and Buffy exit. Xander looks to see if Joyce is angry, then turns back to the table.
XANDER: How you doing there, Will, are you in the vomit club too?
WILLOW: (groaning) I had too much nog.
TARA: (sympathetic) Oh, baby, want me to rub your tummy? (to the others) She likes it when I ... (pauses, quietly) stop explaining things.
DAWN: My nog tastes funny. I think I got one with rum in it.
WILLOW: That's bad.
XANDER: Yeah, now Santa's gonna pass you right by, naughty booze hound.Tara and Dawn giggle.
WILLOW: Santa always passes me by. Something puts him off. Could be the big honkin' menorah.
TARA: (to Dawn) Oh, did you write him a letter?
XANDER: What'd you ask for?
DAWN: Um, guys, hello, puberty? Sorta figured out the whole no Santa thing.
ANYA: That's a myth.
DAWN: Yeah.
ANYA: No, I mean, it's a myth that it's a myth. There is a Santa Claus.Everyone looks surprised.
XANDER: The advantage of having a thousand-year-old girlfriend. (turns to Anya) Inside scoop.
TARA: There's a Santa Claus?
ANYA: Mm-hmm. Been around since, like, the 1500s. He wasn't always called Santa, but you know, Christmas night, flying reindeer, coming down the chimney -- all true.
DAWN: (smiles hopefully) All true?Buffy re-enters and begins clearing more dishes.
ANYA: Well, he doesn't traditionally bring presents so much as, you know, disemboweled children, but otherwise...
TARA: The reindeer part was nice.The camera follows Buffy as, smiling, she carries dishes into the kitchen. We see Giles doing something by the counter and Joyce taking something out of the oven.
JOYCE: Damn it! I hate this oven. It burnt.
She puts a pie on the kitchen island.
BUFFY: Oh, no, it's just blackened, you know, it's, it's Cajun pie.
Giles turns and we see he's holding a bottle of wine.
GILES: (to Joyce) Shall I open another?
JOYCE: Oh, do you think we dare?
BUFFY: As long as you two stay away from the band candy, I'm cool with anything.Joyce and Giles look embarrassed. Giles clears his throat, grabs the bottle opener and moves off, out of the picture frame. Buffy begins examining the burnt pie.
JOYCE: (quietly to Buffy) You are a demon child.
BUFFY: I live to torment you, is that so wrong?
JOYCE: A daughter's duty, I suppose. (kisses Buffy on the forehead)
BUFFY: Look, all we have to do is just cut off a little bit of the burnt...
As she begins trying to cut the pie, it falls off the island and onto the floor.Cut back to present day. Shot of Joyce's face as she lies on the sofa, her eyes open and unseeing.
Buffy rushes over and begins shaking Joyce by the shoulders.
BUFFY: Mom! Mom! Mom Mom Mom-
She repeats the word many times and then shouts it in Joyce's face, getting no reaction.Buffy gets up, panting and sniffling. The camera follows her into the kitchen where she picks up the phone and dials 911. She fidgets anxiously while it rings.
911 OPERATOR: 911 emergency.
BUFFY: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: Do you have...
BUFFY: My mom, she, she's not breathing.
911 OPERATOR: Is she conscious?
BUFFY: (moving back into living room) No. I-I-I can't, she, she's not breathing.
911 OPERATOR: OK, I need you to give me your address.
BUFFY: What?
911 OPERATOR: I'm gonna send an ambulance over.
BUFFY: Si-Sixteen thirty Rivelo, it-it's a house, Rivelo near Hadley.
911 OPERATOR: I'm sending a unit right away. Are you alone in the house?
BUFFY: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: Well, did you see what happened, did she fall?
BUFFY: No, no, I-I came home and she-what should I do?
911 OPERATOR: Do you know how to administer CPR?
BUFFY: (upset) No, I don't remember.
911 OPERATOR: Okay, it's very simple. You wanna tilt your mother's head back. Cover her mouth with yours, and breathe into her mouth.The operator continues talking but Buffy drops the phone to her side and moves toward Joyce.
BUFFY: I know this. I know this. God.She puts the phone down and takes hold of Joyce's legs, pulls Joyce down across the sofa so that she lies flat.
BUFFY: I can do this. Okay. Okay.
She tilts Joyce's head back, opens her mouth, pinches Joyce's nose shut and breathes into Joyce's mouth twice. Then she begins chest compressions.BUFFY: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...
She makes a face, does two more breaths and resumes compressions.
BUFFY: One, two, three... (We hear a cracking noise) Oh! Oh god.
She reaches for the phone.
BUFFY: I, are you there? I, I broke something.
911 OPERATOR: Hello?
BUFFY: It cracked.
911 OPERATOR: Is she breathing?
BUFFY: No.
911 OPERATOR: Paramedics should be there in a moment. You might have cracked a rib. It's not important.
BUFFY: (putting her hand on Joyce's) She's cold.Beat.
911 OPERATOR: The body's cold?
BUFFY: No, my mom! Sh-should I make her warm?
911 OPERATOR: No ... if she's not responding to CPR, the best thing is to wait for the paramedics, okay?
BUFFY: (angry) When will they be here?
911 OPERATOR: They're very nearby.Buffy drops the phone to her side and looks up at the window, stands up. Bright sunshine streams in the window. It's totally quiet except the faint sound of the 911 operator's voice. Buffy brings the phone back up to her ear.
BUFFY: (very quietly) I have to make a call.
She presses the hang-up button.
Lingering shot of the telephone number pad.
Buffy hits a speed dial button. We hear it dialing, ringing.
GILES: (on phone) Hello?
BUFFY: (softly) Giles. You have to come.
GILES: (on phone) Buffy?
BUFFY: She's at the house.She turns the phone off, turns to look over her shoulder. She walks to the front door, opens it and looks out. We hear a siren and the sound of the ambulance coming to a stop. Buffy goes back inside, leaving the door open.
Buffy walks back into the living room.
Zoom in on Joyce lying on the sofa.
Zoom in on Buffy staring at her as we hear the ambulance doors close and footsteps approaching.Pan down Joyce's torso. She wears a knee-length skirt but it has bunched up a bit and her slip is showing.
Buffy glances anxiously toward the door, goes over and pulls Joyce's skirt down to cover the slip. She turns and goes back to the doorway separating the living room from the foyer.
BUFFY: She's in here.
Two male paramedics enter, carrying equipment. Buffy watches anxiously as they put their stuff down and check Joyce. The first one puts his hand on Joyce's throat.
PARAMEDIC 1: I'm getting no pulse.
PARAMEDIC 2: Let's lay her out.They lift Joyce onto the floor. Paramedic 1 has a stethoscope and a flashlight.
PARAMEDIC 2: (to Buffy) How long's she been like this?
BUFFY: I found her, a-a few, few minutes.Paramedic 1 checks Joyce's eyes. Paramedic 2 attaches some wires to Joyce's chest.
PARAMEDIC 2: Was she conscious?
BUFFY: No.
PARAMEDIC 1: I'm bagging her.
BUFFY: What?
PARAMEDIC 2: We're gonna intubate. Just trying to get her to breathe, all right?Buffy nods. Paramedic 1 reaches for more equipment.
PARAMEDIC 2: This your mother?
BUFFY: Yes.
PARAMEDIC 2: She have any serious physical health problems, any history of heart disease?
BUFFY: No.Pan across Paramedic 1 by Joyce's head, to Paramedic 2 by Joyce's waist, to the EKG machine showing a flat line.
BUFFY: I mean, there, there was a tumor, (Paramedic 1 inserting a tube in Joyce's mouth) a brain tumor, but she had an operation and she's fine now. She, she's been fine.
Shot of Joyce's face with an oxygen mask covering it. Paramedic 1 holds the mask in place while Paramedic 2 is doing chest compressions. The machine makes a rhythmic breath-like sound.
Paramedic 2 checks Joyce's wrist for a pulse, resumes chest compressions.
Suddenly Joyce begins to cough and gasp. Paramedic 1 removes the mask.
PARAMEDIC 1: I got her! My god, we got her!
PARAMEDIC 2: Let's get her on the truck now. I'm calling ahead.The two paramedics stand up as Buffy rushes forward. Joyce opens her eyes and looks at her.
PARAMEDIC 1: (faintly in background) Never brought one back this stiff.
JOYCE: Buffy.
BUFFY: I'm here.Shot of the top of an ambulance, lights flashing, siren wailing as it rushes down the street.
Cut to Buffy and Joyce in the ambulance with the paramedics.
PARAMEDIC 1: It's a miracle. That's what it is, a beautiful miracle.
Cut to Joyce in a hospital bed, Dawn sitting on the bed beside her, Buffy and a doctor standing next to the bed.
DOCTOR: Good as new.
JOYCE: Buffy, thank god you found me in ti-
Zoom in on Buffy as Joyce says this.Cut back to the living room as we realize this was all in Buffy's imagination. She is still standing there watching the paramedics work. Utter silence except the sound of Paramedic 2 continuing CPR.
Shot of the EKG machine still showing flatline.
Paramedic 2 stops CPR and turns to Paramedic 1.
PARAMEDIC 2: She's cold, man.Shot of Buffy staring wide-eyed.
PARAMEDIC 2: Call it.
Paramedic 1 looks grim, begins to pack up his stuff. Buffy's lower lip begins to tremble.
Paramedic 2 stands up slowly and walks toward Buffy. He appears blurry (from Buffy's perspective).
PARAMEDIC 2: I'm sorry.
BUFFY: (OS) Wha-what do we do now?
PARAMEDIC 2: I'm sorry, but I have to tell you that...Buffy staring up at him wide-eyed.
PARAMEDIC 2: (OS) ...your mother's dead.Buffy stares.
PARAMEDIC 2: It looks like she did die a good while before you found her. There's .. nothing you could have done.
In the background we see Paramedic 1 packing up, removing the wires from Joyce's chest.
BUFFY: W-what...
The camera shows Paramedic 2 from around the nose area to mid-chest; his eyes and the top of his head are off the top of the screen.
PARAMEDIC 2: I'm guessing it must have been a aneurysm or some clotting. Some complication from surgery. She probably felt...
Buffy staring at him with tears in her eyes.
PARAMEDIC 2: ...very little pain. I'm gonna call it in. The coroner's office will come by and take her in, and they'll determine the cause of death conclusively.Buffy continues to stare at him. We hear the ambulance radio.
RADIO: Dispatch 7, we have a 206, what's your status?
PARAMEDIC 1: We're moving.
RADIO: Location is Beaumont and 9th, your gig is on the street, go now.
PARAMEDIC 1: Okay. We gotta fly.
PARAMEDIC 2: All right. (to Buffy) I'm gonna call this right away.All of this takes place offscreen while the camera focuses on Buffy's stunned expression. Now it switches again to the shot of the paramedic's lower face.
PARAMEDIC 2: Now the coroner's office may take a while. In the meanwhile, I think you should sit. Have a glass of water, and try not to disturb the body.
Buffy still staring up at him.
PARAMEDIC 2: Do you need anything, is there someone you can call?
BUFFY: (softly) Someone's coming.In the background Paramedic 1 walks to the doorway carrying his stuff.
PARAMEDIC 1: Let's go.Paramedic 2 turns to pick up his stuff, turns back to Buffy.
PARAMEDIC 2: I'm very sorry for your loss.
BUFFY: Thank you.He exits, leaving the front door open. Buffy walks to the door, still holding the phone, and looks out.
BUFFY: Good luck.
Sound of the ambulance doors closing, engine starting, driving away.
Buffy turns and walks back inside, still holding the phone, still looking dazed. She looks toward Joyce. We hear the ambulance siren starting up.
Buffy turns and walks toward the kitchen, putting down the phone on a table. She gets to the back of the living room just before the kitchen door. Suddenly she falls to her knees and vomits on the floor. We hear the sound of wind chimes over the retching noises. Buffy is at the very bottom of the screen with the majority of the picture showing the wall, a small side table, and the open window in which the wind chimes are hanging.
Buffy stands up slowly, her back to the camera. She puts a hand on her stomach, walks through the kitchen to the back door, opens it and looks out. We hear birds singing, distant voices, ordinary city noises. Closeup on Buffy's face, sweaty and pale. She stand there for a moment, then turns back inside, leaning on the door for support. She looks at the kitchen island, goes over to it and takes a bunch of paper towels off the roll. Leaving the back door open, she goes back into the living room and puts the paper towels over the spot on the carpet where she vomited.
Lingering shot of the paper towels on the carpet as the moisture begins to seep through.
GILES: (OS) Buffy!
Buffy turns. Giles stands in the front door, panting.
GILES: What is it? Is it Glory?
BUFFY: (stands) I'm waiting. The, the coroner's coming.
GILES: What? (takes a few steps inside)
BUFFY: (looks down, thinking) I have to tell Dawn. She's at school. (looks up) I'll go there.
GILES: I'm not sure...Giles looks to his left and sees Joyce for the first time.
GILES: Oh god.
He rushes toward her, out of the frame.
BUFFY: No. No. Don't. No, it's too late.
The camera moves down the hallway (Buffy's POV) as she rushes after Giles.
GILES: (OS) Joyce?
BUFFY: They're, they're coming for her, no, no, we're-Buffy rounds the corner and finds Giles bending over Joyce, shaking her.
GILES: Joyce!
BUFFY: (desperate) We're not supposed to move the body!Giles turns to look at her. Buffy looks aghast, puts her hand to her mouth as she realizes what she said.
Giles gets up quickly, goes over to Buffy and puts his arms around her. Buffy stares in shock past Giles's shoulder at Joyce.
Shot of Joyce lying on the carpet. Her eyes are still open.
Blackout.
Act II
Open on overhead shot of Joyce being zipped into a body bag. We only see the hands of whoever's doing it. They pull the zipper up over her face.
Cut to: Dawn leaning against a wall, crying.
DAWN: Oh, god. I can't believe it.
GIRL: (OS) It's not that bad.
DAWN: (disbelieving) How can you say it's not that bad?
GIRL (OS) I just don't think it's that big a deal.Sound of a toilet flushing.
DAWN: Kevin Berman called me a freak in front of everybody. (shrugs) No, that's no big deal.
A door behind her opens. We see that she's standing in a bathroom. The door that opened was a toilet stall door. Another girl (Lisa) comes out of the stall and walks forward.
LISA: He didn't say you were a freak.
We see that it's actually a mirror behind Dawn; Lisa is in front of her, reflected in the mirror. Lisa goes over to the sinks, which Dawn is standing next to, and begins washing her hands.
DAWN: Forget it.
LISA: He just said you were ... freaky. Which, you know, freaky can be ... sort of cool.
DAWN: Oh yeah. Real cool. (teary) I'm a suicidal head-case.
LISA: You know it was Kirsty. She was telling people how you were into cutting yourself, and how you-
DAWN: That's such a lie! I got cut. By accident. One time.Dawn walks into the toilet stall and takes some toilet paper to wipe her face. Lisa takes some paper towels from a dispenser to dry her hands.
DAWN: Now Kevin thinks I'm a-
LISA: Well, that was when you were wigging out about your family, and of course Kirsty's gotta turn everything into a story.Dawn comes out of the stall wiping her eyes. We see her reflected in the mirror next to Lisa.
LISA: She was telling people that you were adopted.
DAWN: What a prima bee-yotch. I swear, if I could make her head explode using only the power of my mind? That's what I'd be doing right about now.Lisa nods. Dawn wipes her eyes more and sighs.
DAWN: (teary) Great. Now I look like a wet rat.
LISA: Yeah, you know you can't go out there looking all cry-faced. That'll just give Kirsty more ammo.A bell rings.
DAWN: You know? My big sister could really beat the crap out of her. (Lisa nods) I mean, really really. (Blows her nose) Okay. What do you think? (Turns to face Lisa) Can I show my face?
LISA: You're good to go. We're gonna be late anyway.They walk off.
Cut to: the two girls coming out of the bathroom, backpacks on their shoulders. Shot of a typical school hallway full of kids.
LISA: Kirsty alert.
They pass a couple of blonde girls who smirk at them.
KIRSTY: (sweetly) Hey Dawn.
DAWN: Hey.
KIRSTY: How you doing, you okay?
DAWN: Good, thanks for asking.Dawn and Lisa continue walking, rolling their eyes.
DAWN: (sotto voce) Bee-yotch.
A bell rings again.
Dawn and Lisa enter a classroom. The walls are glass from the ceiling to about three feet off the ground, so we can see into the room from the hallway. It's an art classroom with rows of easels set up. Dawn stares wide-eyed. Shot of a cute boy (Kevin) at the back of the classroom.
TEACHER: Okay. Remember, we're not ... drawing the object.
Dawn and Lisa go to the back and take easels on either side of Kevin. Dawn looks nervously at him. TEACHER: We're drawing ... the negative space ... around the object.
We see the teacher standing beside the model, which is a 2- or 3-foot high statue of a naked woman.
The students begin to draw as the teacher's voice continues.
KEVIN: (not looking at Dawn) Hey.
DAWN: (trying to be cool) Oh. Hey Kevin.
TEACHER: ...and then give me a sense of the spaces around ... the space in-between.
KEVIN: What's goin' on?
DAWN: Um, negative space. (nervous smile)
KEVIN: (smiles) Yeah, what's that all about?
DAWN: (scoffs) Yeah.
KEVIN: (looks at her paper) That's pretty good.
DAWN: (smiles) Thanks.Behind Kevin, we see Lisa holding up her pad of paper, on which she has written "HE WANTS YOU!" Dawn gives her friend a scolding look, then turns back to her drawing.
KEVIN: So I heard you, like, had a freak-out and cut yourself.
DAWN: Uh, no, not even. It was a whole ... it was so not...
KEVIN: I've felt like that before. (Dawn looks surprised) Things get so crazed, you know, you just feel like you wanna do something ... extreme.
DAWN: Yeah. I just ... I had a lot of intense stuff going on. (Kevin smiles, returns to his drawing) A lot of people don't understand that. Pain.
KEVIN: Yeah.
DAWN: Then Kirsty's gotta blab it everywhere, 'cause she's-
KEVIN: Kirsty, man. It's like she thinks, "I'm so hot, everybody should just bow down before me." And I'm like, whatever.Dawn smiles and laughs. Behind h