History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E22GraduationDayPart2

* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Oz's requisite moment of silence.

* SeriesFauxnale: Like the other finales, there was no guarantee of a renewal when it was written. Our heroes defeat a giant monster and graduate high school (the setting of the last three years) all on the same day, then walk off triumphantly into the night.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: In the Buffy/Faith dream, Faith comments, "Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0", which roughly comes at 2 years (730 days) before [[spoiler:Buffy dies]].
** Actually, going by the date that the episode was ''supposed'' to air, and given the fact that the year 2000 was a leap year, it was ''exactly 730 days''.
** "Little Miss Muffet" also foreshadows the arrival of Buffy's [[spoiler:little sister, Dawn]]. In Season 5, the poem is quoted several times with regard to the Key, which Glory is furiously searching for.

** Harmony proves useless in the ensuing battle, getting munched on by a vampire. Guess that the Mayor's "no eating" rule is a wash. [[spoiler:Harmony returns as a vampire in Season Four. The circumstances of her siring is agreed by most to be a PlotHole]].
*** Maybe she just hadn't been killed [[spoiler: the first time, but was attacked again at some point]]
* TheMerch: A bona fide Sunnydale High yearbook was was released as a tie-in after this episode aired. It [[AllThereInTheManual reveals]] the surnames of some guest characters among other things.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Xander fetches Giles coffee, then wonders why Giles isn't drinking tea.

** Though Giles' expression reveals that he obviously hates it.
*** May be an ActorAllusion joke. Before Tony Head played Giles, he was widely recognized in Britain as "The guy from the Kenco coffee adverts."

-->'''Wilkins:''' Well, I'd get set for some weeping if I were you. I'd get set for a ''world'' of pain. Misery loves company, young man, and I'm looking to share that with ''you and your whore!''"
** It's short-lived, however, as the Mayor [[MoodWhiplash creepily shifts back]] to 'jolly' in no time flat.

* RealityEnsues: The Mayor completes his plan to ascend and become a full demon (almost every demon seen on the show is actually some flavor of low-powered half-demon or another). This also removes the immortality that he had benefited from previously, which leads to the Reality: [[spoiler: The heroes, knowing how big and strong he will become, bait him into a trap where they have laid a considerable amount of high explosives to blow him to giblets.]]

* RuleOfThree: Buffy punches Angel to get him to vamp out. Of course, she hits him once, twice, aaand the third time does it.

* TrashTheSet: Bye bye, Sunnydale High. [[spoiler:It'll be back.]]

%%* GraduateFromTheStory

%%* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday

%%* KillItWithFire: This ain't no science project volcano.

%%* BigBadassBattleSequence
%%* HitMeDammit: Buffy to Angel.

* VoluntaryVampireVictim: Without Faith available as an unwilling donor, Buffy offers herself. Angel takes a [[TalkToTheFist bit of convincing]].

%%* SwallowedWhole: Snyder. Gulp.

%%* TotalEclipseOfThePlot

%%* UnspokenPlanGuarantee

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: The Mayor's FamousLastWords achieve this to humorous effect.
-->'''Mayor:''' Well, ''gosh!''
* ThisMeansWar: All Better now, Buffy walks out out her hospital room fully-dressed and greets the Scoobs. They're all flummoxed at her quick recovery. She tells them to get Angel and the others, because she's ready. For what? "War."

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Mayor says that NothingIsTheSameAnymore now they've graduated, and he's right; the dynamics of the Scoobie Gang (and ex-Scoobies like [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel, Cordelia and Wesley]]) change dramatically once they've left SHS. And all the foreshadowing of Season 5 is in this dream.

* FridgeBrilliance: The students hold the higher ground when the vampires attack, and there are walls on the sides of the stairs, thus trapping the vampires between students with flaming arrows and the second group where Angel, Wesley and Percy are in.

* OutOfOrder: The season finale was due to air May 25, but was delayed by the network because of the attack on the school. The decision came about as a result of [[TooSoon the recent shootings at high schools]] at the time. The episode "Earshot" was also delayed for this reason (though for a much longer period of time).
** Joss' verdict at the time was, "Bootleg the puppy."

* PutOnABus: This episode is the last in which David Boreanaz and Charisma Carpenter are series regulars, and marks the final appearance of Cordelia and Wesley. The trio will make their triumphant return to the Buffyverse that following season on the spin-off show, ''Angel''. However, Angel will continue to appear at least once per season (either in person or in flashbacks), with the exclusion of Season Six. (Looks like you're stuck with him, Xander.)

* SeriesFauxnale

%%* ScaledUp: Mayor Wilkins.

* BigBadassBattleSequence
* [[HitMeDammit Bite Me Dammit]]: Buffy to Angel

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Mayor says that NothingIsTheSameAnymore now they've graduated, and he's right; the dynamics of the Scoobie Gang (and ex-Scoobies like [[Series/{{Angel}} Angel, Cordelia and Wesley]]) change dramatically once they've left SHS.
** And all the foreshadowing of Season 5 mentioned above is in this dream.

* GraduateFromTheStory

* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday

* IWantThemAlive: Inverted; At City Hall, the Mayor orders the vamps that there is to be no snacking, only killing.

* KillItWithFire: This ain't no science project volcano.

* NoExceptYes
-->'''Oz:''' Are you nervous?\\
'''Willow:''' Only in a terrified way.

* PrepareToDie: "It has begun. My destiny. [beat] It's a little sooner than I expected. I had this whole section on civic pride. But I guess we'll just skip to the big finish!"

* ScaledUp: Mayor Wilkins.

* SecurityCling: Cordelia cowers behind the diminutive Jonathan just as the school blows up.
** ThrowItIn: According to Danny Strong, this scene was an idea of Charisma's, because she never got much screen time with him.

* SwallowedWhole: Snyder. Gulp.

* TotalEclipseOfThePlot

* TrashTheSet: Bye bye, Sunnydale High.
** [[spoiler:It'll be back]].

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee

* AssholeVictim / KilledMidSentence: Principal Snyder is eaten by Olvikan in mid-tirade. "You're on '''my''' campus, buddy!"

* CallBack: Xander thinks [[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E14Innocence}} a rocket launcher]] oughta work on Olkivan, but Buffy says that won't get it done. It took a volcano to bury Olvikan last time.

* ChekhovsBoomerang: In her dream, Buffy looks down at her hand, where the knife she stabbed Faith with appears and then disappears.

* DefensiveFeintTrap / DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Buffy grabs the Demon Mayor's attention, and holds up Faith's knife. She taunts him about stabbing Faith with it, then hightails it back into the school, with the enraged Olvikan in pursuit.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything / KissOfTheVampire: The scene of Buffy forcing Angel to drink her blood has an overt sexual vibe. There's a lot of thrusting going on, Buffy and Angel fall to the floor, Angel's making sounds of enormous ecstasy. While he's lying on top of her, she grabs a metal object for support, and it just crumples. She also wraps her legs around him, then spasms [[DestructoNookie kicking a table in half]].

* DyingDeclarationOfLove / {{Hallucinations}}: Back at the mansion, Willow and Oz are tending to Angel, who is delirious. He's professing his love for Buffy. Who is actually Willow. Whoops.

* FridgeBrilliance: The students hold the higher ground when the vampires attack, and there are walls on the sides of the stairs, thus trapping the vampires between students with flaming arrows and the second group where Angel, Wesley and Percy are in.

* NegatedMomentOfAwesome / CrackOhMyBack: Wesley runs into the fray, and gets knocked down with a single punch. He spends the rest of the fight on the ground, whining for help.

* NoSparks / NowOrNeverKiss: Wesley tells Cordelia that, should they survive, he's going back to England. They inch closer as Wesley removes his glasses. They kiss. ...And it's the most forced, out-of-sync kiss imaginable. [[RecordNeedleScratch The dramatic romantic music stops]]. They pause, realizing it's not going so well. They give it another go. It's even worse than before. They give up.

* TheTriple: Giles wearily telling Xander to keep scanning the books for any mention of Olkivan. "Powers, weaknesses, hat size, anything..."

* TwoPartEpisode

Angel rushes Buffy to the hospital, then goes to use a payphone. In a nearby room, a doctor is telling the Mayor that Faith has broken bones, damage to the kidney, head trauma, and severe blood loss--there is almost no chance that she will ever awaken. The nurse comes in to tell the doctor about the other girl with severe blood loss. A lightbulb goes off. The Mayor realizes who it must be, walks into her room, and puts his hand over her mouth, trying to smother her and mvoes her head so the bite wound will open and she'l bleed. The nurse tries to stop him and calls for security. Angel bursts back in and yanks the Mayor away, causing a scene. The Mayor, [[MoodWhiplash all smiles agai]]n, dusts himself off and tells the onlookers the "show's ''not'' over -- but there will be a brief intermission." Angel grrs that he'll be there.

*** May be an ActorAllusion joke. Before Tony Head played Giles, he was widely recognised in Britain as "The guy from the Kenco coffee adverts."

* TheMerch: A bona fide Sunnydale High yearbook was was released as a tie-in after this episode aired.

** Xander, too. He's the one who directed the students with weapons.

* KilledOffForReal: Snyder, Larry, and Mayor Wilkins. Of course, this being a genre show, two of those characters reappear later on (as a nightmare and a [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith meatsuit]], respectively).

* MauveShirt: Larry's flamethrower jams, and he gets swiped to the ground by the Mayor's tail, [[NeckSnap breaking his neck]]. His death was vague enough to warrant confirmation in Season Six ("Smashed").
** Harmony proves useless in the ensuing battle, getting munched on by a vampire. Guess that "no eating" rule is a wash. [[spoiler:Harmony returns as a vampire in Season Four. The circumstances of her siring is agreed by most to be a PlotHole]].

* [[HitMeDammit Bite Me Dammit]]

* AwkwardKiss: Wesley and Cordelia ''and how''. So awkward that it even gets referenced as a RunningGag when the two reunite on ''Series/{{Angel}}''.

Back in the library, Buffy has just finished describing her plan to the gang. Wesley enters, and Buffy tells him she's in no mood for orders and that the Council is no longer welcome, but he says he is there to help of his own volition; not on behalf of the Watcher's Council. He tells them the Ascension will be preceded by an eclipse, putting Angel "back in the game." Xander and Willow are to recruit other students for help, while everybody else is put on "volcano detail." Buffy instructs Giles to get "[[RuleOfThree weapons, weapons, weapons]]." In Giles' office, Angel tells Buffy that he's not going to say goodbye; when the whole thing is over, he's just going to go.

The students march in to the Graduation ceremony. A little way into the Mayor's speech, the sky goes dark. He doubles over in pain. Characteristically, he tries to continue with his upbeat speech. But to no avail. The Mayor suddenly morphs into a giant serpent/dragon thing.

Angel rushes Buffy to the hospital, then goes to use a payphone. In a nearby room, a doctor is telling the Mayor that Faith has broken bones, damage to the kidney, head trauma, and severe blood loss--there is almost no chance that she will ever awaken. The nurse comes in to tell the doctor about the other girl with severe blood loss. A lightbulb goes off. The Mayor realizes who it must be, walks into her room, and puts his hand over her mouth, trying to smother her. The nurse tries to stop him and calls for security. Angel bursts back in and yanks the Mayor away, causing a scene. The Mayor, [[MoodWhiplash all smiles agai]]n, dusts himself off and tells the onlookers the "show's ''not'' over -- but there will be a brief intermission." Angel grrs that he'll be there.

Back in the library, Buffy has just finished describing her plan to the gang. Wesley enters, and Buffy tells him she's in no mood for orders, but he says he is there to help of his own volition; not on behalf of the Watcher's Council. He tells them the Ascension will be preceded by an eclipse, putting Angel "back in the game." Xander and Willow are to recruit other students for help, while everybody else is put on "volcano detail." Buffy instructs Giles to get "[[RuleOfThree weapons, weapons, weapons]]." In Giles' office, Angel tells Buffy that he's not going to say goodbye; when the whole thing is over, he's just going to go.