Recap / Buffy The Vampire Slayer S 7 E 4 Help

"You think I want this? You think I don't care? Believe me, I want to be here! Do things! I want to graduate from high school and I want to go to the stupid Winter Formal. I have this friend and it'd be fun to go with him, to dance and hear lame music, to wear a silly dress and laugh and stuff. I'd like to go. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to do. I'd love to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, and I'd love to see my cousins grow up and see how they turn out, because they're really mean and I think they're going to be fat. I'd love to backpack across the country or ... I don't know ... fall in love? But I won't. I just never will."

—Cassie Newton

Directed by Rick Rosenthal

Written by Rebecca Kirshner & Drew Z Greenberg

Once the lights are turned out at a funeral home, Buffy, Xander and Dawn climb out of caskets. They chat about Buffy's nervousness about her new job and the struggle she may face while trying to mix her Slayer job with being a counselor. In one of the caskets, the three find a deceased woman who soon rises as a vampire, and is promptly staked.

At the high school the next day, Buffy talks with various students who all have their own problems ranging from trouble with bullies and violence to boredom. Willow and Xander walk together and talk about Buffy's struggles and Willow's worries about her role in dealing with the impending Hellmouth danger and if she was truly ready to come back to Sunnydale. Xander assures her that she'll be fine, although it may take time, then makes sure that Willow's ready for what she's about to do. Willow silently nods before walking forward alone towards Tara's grave.

Buffy talks with more students, including her own sister. But one girl named Cassie Newton stuns counselor Buffy when she matter-of-factly informs Buffy that she's going to die next Friday. Buffy has tons of questions, but Cassie doesn't have many answers. She doesn't understand it, but Cassie just knows that she's going to die and that there will be lots of coins. As she leaves for Mr. Corrigan's trigonometry class, Cassie compliments Buffy's shirt and warns her against the danger of spilling something on it. Buffy reports this to Principal Wood, but he's not as helpful as she'd like. After spilling coffee onto her white shirt, Buffy gets suspicious and sends Dawn to befriend Cassie. Dawn catches up with Cassie and they talk about Cassie's friend Mike Helgenberg, who has continuously asked Cassie to the dance, and been rejected every time.

Willow investigates Cassie on the computer and finds Cassie's own site with tons of sad, morbid poetry. Dawn returns home from school and thinks the reason for Cassie's problem is Mike, but Buffy and the others don't pay much attention. Willow finds a website on Cassie's father that shows his troubled past with the law and alcohol. Buffy and Xander go visit Cassie's father and confront him with their suspicion that he may get drunk and hurt his daughter. Mr. Newton confidently denies the accusation, and then goes on about how his ex-wife only allows him to spend one weekend a month with his daughter. Buffy then finds out that Mr. Newton's weekend with Cassie is the weekend just gone. Therefore, not only does he not have the chance to hurt Cassie, but if Cassie's prediction is true, then he will not see her again before her death.

Satisfied that Mr. Newton is not involved, Buffy and Xander leave and bump into Cassie, who was waiting for them outside of her dad's house. Although she appreciates Buffy's efforts to find the cause, she knows there's nothing Buffy can do to stop her death. Xander asks her if she's planning to kill herself, which Cassie denies. She talks about all the things she wishes she could do — going to the dance, going to college, falling in love, as well as many other things. But she knows she never can. She makes it clear to Buffy and Xander that she doesn't want to die, it's just what is going to happen on Friday.

Meanwhile, a group of guys in red cloaks walk around a circle and burn pictures of Cassie on a tray in the middle. Still motivated to help Cassie, Buffy reads poetry from Cassie's site and continues to investigate with the rest of the gang. Buffy goes to the school basement and asks Spike if he knows anything about Cassie. Because he "hurt the girl," he's punishing himself and trying to stay away from the voices. He doesn't have any information for her and Buffy leaves him, thinking her presence hurts him more than when she's not there.

Upstairs, Principal Wood and another administrator search through student lockers for anything suspicious. Buffy catches Mike in the halls and drills him to see if he may have intentions of hurting Cassie because she rejected him. He makes it clear that he doesn't mind that much, and has already moved on to thinking about Dawn. A bunch of coins fall from one of the lockers, drawing Buffy's attention. Buffy takes one of the coins and the number of the locker where they came from and talks to the student the locker belongs to. After some violent prompting, the student confesses that some of his friends want to hurt Cassie.

Dawn and Cassie walk away from the school as Cassie reveals how she knows Buffy sent Dawn to befriend Cassie but it doesn't matter as the two are now clearly real friends. Just then a student named Peter approaches, and Cassie tells Dawn that nothing that is about to happen is her fault. Peter asks Dawn about the dance, but only to be a jerk, not to really ask her out. When an irritated Dawn turns back towards Cassie, she is gone, Peter having successfully distracted her.

At the school that night, the cloaked group gathers again around a circle of coins and one of the boys turns out to be Peter. He checks with the others to make sure the school is secure and that no one can get in or out. Then, he pulls a bound and blindfolded Cassie out to the circle and holds a meat cleaver to her neck. She is to be a sacrifice to a demon that will provide the boys with "infinite riches".

As Peter starts the ritual, Buffy suddenly rips off a cloak, unveiling herself to the group and then smacks him around a bit. She doesn't think the ritual was a success, but a large demon, Avilas, appears behind her, proving her wrong. Buffy fights with the demon and Spike shows up with a flaming torch to help seeming to have at least temporarily regained his sanity as he doesn't want Cassie to get hurt. Buffy uses the torch to burn the demon while Spike cuts Cassie free from her bonds. Cassie tells him, "Someday she'll tell you" which shocks Spike and he retreats away. Desperately, Peter moves towards the fried demon and wants to know where his money is. The burned demon leans up and bites Peter on the shoulder once before exploding into dust.

Buffy and Cassie walk away together, leaving Peter to deal on his own. A crossbow booby trap set by one of the cloaked boys nearly kills Cassie, but Buffy catches the bolt. Buffy is happy that she seemingly stopped Cassie's prediction, and tells the girl that one person can make a difference, to which Cassie responds that Buffy will. Just then Cassie gasps and unexpectedly falls to the ground, dead.

The next day, the Scooby Gang gather at Buffy's and solemnly talk about how Cassie died because of a congenital heart defect. She was always going to die, no matter what happened. Buffy feels as if she failed Cassie, but a devastated Dawn corrects her, saying Buffy didn't fail, since she tried to save Cassie, and it was because of her that Dawn and Cassie were friends. Buffy returns to work, knowing that while she will always try her best, sometimes she just can't help.

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Tropes in this episode

• Abusive Parents: Averted. Buffy's initial assumption that Cassie's divorced alcoholic father will be the one who kills her; when she tells him, he's horrified and comes out of it looking more like The Woobie.
• All Therapists Are Muggles: Averted
• Arrow Catch: Buffy catches a crossbow quarrel just before it kills Cassie — who then dies of a heart attack.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • Ominous music plays as coffin lids rise...to reveal Buffy and Xander hiding inside so they can check out a funeral home for vamps.
  • Cassie's predicted death is from a heart attack, not some supernatural menace.
• Big Damn Heroes: Spike with his flaming torch.
• Bond One-Liner: The Scoobies comment on how peaceful the woman in the coffin is.
  Woman: (eyes opening to reveal vampire eyes) I am not peaceful!
  Buffy: That, I can help with. (dusts her) I always thought closed caskets were more tasteful anyway.
• Bound and Gagged: Cassie during the ritual.
• Bully Hunter: Amanda comes to Buffy about being bullied. Buffy tells her she needs to stand up to the boy. Amanda admits that's why she's there — because she pounded his face into the pavement and should she do it some more? Buffy, a long-time bully hunter herself, is at a loss for words. The scene becomes even more ironic when we later discover Amanda is a Potential Slayer.
• Call-Back:
  • The fraternity in "Reptile Boy" also sacrificed women to a demon in exchange for wealth.
  • To Joyce Summers' death, which was also due to natural causes despite Buffy's attempt to discover a supernatural menace behind it all.
• Can't Believe I Said That: Robin says: "Thank god it's Friday. I can't believe I just said that."
• Cassandra Truth: Cassie has visions of the future that no one believes. Buffy actively saves Cassie's life twice on the day she predicted she would die, but she ends up falling to the ground dead anyway.
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway: Buffy saves Cassie (who believes she will die on that day) from being killed by a cult; then just before midnight she collapses and dies of a congenital heart defect.
• Chekhov's Gun: The Booby Traps. Subverted when they fail to kill anyone.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Cassie will return as the First who communicates with Willow in "Conversations With Dead People". Amanda is revealed to be a potential Slayer in "Potential".
• Comically Missing the Point:
  Wood: Talk like that was taken pretty seriously where I come from.
  Buffy: The hood?
  Wood: Beverly Hills... which is a hood.
• Continuity Nod: Xander is very interested when Willow mentions she used to write love poems. Willow replies, "I am over you, sweetie" referring to how she fancied Xander in Seasons 1 & 2.
• Curse Cut Short:
  Buffy: You need to show this bully that you're not gonna take any more of his sh—guff. Uh, any guff.
• Cut Himself Shaving: On seeing two familiar puncture wounds on a corpses' neck.
  Xander: Maybe she cut herself shaving and then died naturally of embarrassment.
• Diabolus ex Machina: Poor little Cassie, rescued effortlessly from both an evil cult and arrow booby-trap, only to die from shock due to a heart condition (which was mentioned) as the arrow trap (which one of the villains sets up and discusses) activates. Buffy catches it without even blinking but it is too much for Cassie.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Invoked. Mike is in love with Cassie but she refuses to go to a dance with him. Turns out Cassie does reciprocate his feelings but doesn't want to get close to spare his feelings.
• Downer Ending: In her role as a guidance counselor at Sunnydale High, Buffy encounters a student who predicts her own death. Buffy investigates and discovers that Cassie is to be sacrificed to a demon. Buffy defeats the demon by the end of the episode. In the final scene, just when Buffy feels she's stopped Cassie's prediction, the girl drops dead in her presence...from a congenital heart defect.
• Emo Teen: Justified. Cassie's knowledge of her impending death have made her depressed
• Facepalm: Buffy's reaction to a student who says he believes he's gay, and wants to test that theory by asking Buffy on a date. She's still in the same position when dealing with Dawn.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Cassie says to Spike, "She'll tell you. Someday she'll tell you."
  • Amanda is sent to Buffy for having beaten the shit out of a boy bullying her. This is surprising to hear considering she's a willowy teenage girl, but her aptitude for violence will make more sense after The Reveal that she's a potential Slayer.
• Grave-Marking Scene: Willow visits Tara's grave and placing a couple of stones on top of the tombstone
• Hope Spot: Cassie is saved by Buffy from being killed by a demon... but then a lethal trap goes off... and Buffy saves her just in time for a heart attack to kill Cassie.
• Human Sacrifice: Peter and his friends want to sacrifice Cassie to the demon Avilas
• In the Hood: Good for Dressing as the Enemy.
• Kill It with Fire: Buffy uses the flaming torch to set fire to the demon, which then explodes for no apparent reason.
• Last-Second Word Swap:
  Buffy: You need to show this bully that you're not gonna take any more of his shi— guuuff. Uh, any guff.
• Life Will Kill You: Played With. Buffy, while working as a school counselor, meets a student named Cassie who has predicted her own death. The Scoobies spend the episode trying to find out who might be after her, and learn of a cult that intends to sacrifice Cassie. Buffy saves Cassie from the cult, then saves her from a booby-trap by catching a crossbow bolt inches from Cassie's head. Cassie dies soon after of a heart attack.
• Mandatory Line: Averted with no Giles, and a scene where Anya accidentally counsels a woman seeking vengeance was cut.
• Meaningful Name: Cassie. As in, CASSANDRA? (though Buffy takes little convincing to believe her).
• No Sympathy: Peter gets bitten by the demon he summoned.
  Peter: Help! Help me, please! I'm bleeding!
  Buffy: Sorry. My office hours are 10 to 4.
  • Not that he didn't deserve it.
• "Open!" Says Me: Averted
  Buffy: (pressing doorbell) Buffy the Vampire Slayer would break down this door.
  Xander: And Buffy the counselor?
  Buffy: Waits.
• Perp Sweating
  Buffy: Do you know why I came back to Sunnydale High?
  Boy: To creep me out?
  Buffy: To help. I'm a counselor here because I wanna help. I know what it's like to walk these halls and feel lost, alone. I just want to make things better, connect. And I'm going to connect with your face if you don't stop wasting my time and help me do my job.
• Please, Don't Leave Me
  Spike: Don't...don't leave me. Stay here, and help me be quiet.
  Buffy: I think it's worse when I'm here. (leaves)
• Prophecies Are Always Right: Even more trivial ones, like Cassie's warning about Buffy staining her shirt.
• Reveal Shot: Buffy is counselling a student who's complaining about her overly-controlling big sister — it's Dawn.
  Dawn: Yeah, and she borrows my clothes without asking.
  Buffy: I understand. That must be hard.
• Running Gag: Another pointed comment by Dawn re her 'big' sister's height.
  You know, I'm not the shortest one here. I don't know why I had to be in the kid coffin.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
  • Cassie is depressed because she knows she's going to die, so the boys pick her for their Human Sacrifice because when she disappears everyone will assume she killed herself.
  • Add to this the stress she must have felt knowing she was going to die, which no doubt aggravated the heart condition that eventually killed her.
• Self-Harm: Buffy stops Spike from punching himself in the head in punishment for trying to rape her. Later Spike is fighting the boy who's trying to kill Cassie, but his chip is inflicting pain every time Spike hits him — he keeps right on hitting.
• Shout-Out: Cassie is shown reading Slaughterhouse-Five, a book about a man who knows exactly when and where he's going to die and has accepted it.
• Suspiciously Apropos Music: Lampshaded by Buffy, who tells the boys they failed to raise a demon because they forgot the Blue Öyster Cult soundtrack.
• Tempting Fate: Buffy is ridiculing the boys lame-ass attempt to raise a demon...like the one that's just appeared behind her.
• Terrible Interviewees Montage: The students Buffy is counseling.
• Title Drop: Buffy was moonlighting as a counselor for troubled teens. ("Buffy the vampire slayer would break down this door." "And Buffy the counselor?" "Waits.")
• Titled After the Song: The title comes from the song by The Beatles.
• Troll: Dawn pranks Buffy by showing up at work to complain about her Control Freak big sister who borrows her clothes without permisson. Buffy wearily goes along with it.
• Twerp Sweating: Buffy the Big Sis.
  You're asking my sister to the dance, and she's your second choice? I'll be keeping an eye on you.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Cassie has had premonitions about her own untimely death. Buffy saves her from homicidal maniacs, a demon, and a Death Trap, but she has a heart condition and dies anyway.
• You Did Everything You Could: A tearful Dawn reassures Buffy that Cassie's death wasn't her fault.
  Buffy: I failed her.
  Dawn: You didn't. You didn't 'cause you tried. You listened and you tried. She died 'cause of her heart, not 'cause of you. She was my friend 'cause of you.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Cassie has future-seeing powers and knew exactly when she was going to die (a few days from when she was introduced, at age 16). Buffy and the gang try to protect her while convincing her that she might live. They're wrong.

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