THE
BODY
Warning
& Notes: This is an extremely powerful episode which may be too much for
any person who has recently lost someone close to them. The episode has several
memory flashes which I tried to incorporate in the summary without making it
confusing.
Christmas, 2000, brings the entire
Scooby Gang together for dinner at the Summers home. In the kitchen, Buffy and
Joyce both reach for a pie that has fallen to the floor. Present, Joyce's
unresponsive body on the couch leads the frightened Slayer to do everything she
can to revive her, finally calling 911 and attempting CPR. The operator
instructs Buffy to wait for the paramedics, and then Buffy makes a call to
Giles. The paramedics arrive and try to revive Joyce with CPR. Buffy imagines
that her mother is miraculously brought back, but suddenly reality hits and the
paramedics call Joyce's time of death.
After informing her that the coroner has been contacted, the paramedics leave,
and Buffy throws up on the floor. Buffy covers up the mess, and then Giles
arrives, worried by Buffy's phone call. He discovers Joyce on the floor but
Buffy tells him it's too late and the two embrace. The coroner takes Joyce's
body away.
At school, Dawn talks with a friend in the bathroom after being called a freak
and other rumours started by another student, Kirsty. They return to art class
where the class is sketching a nude statue and Dawn talks about Kristy and a
cute boy with her friend. Buffy arrives and after a few moments with Dawn's
teacher, she tells Dawn that they need to talk. Dawn reacts hysterically to the
news that her mother is dead, not wanting to believe the truth of the
situation.
Joyce's body is stripped of clothing at the hospital morgue by an examiner. At
her dorm, Willow stresses over what to wear to the hospital, and finally breaks
down into tears. Tara comforts her, kissing her repeatedly to calm Willow.
Xander and Anya arrive to pick up Willow and Tara. Willow and Xander are
dealing by crying while Tara tries to remain strong and Anya is confused by the
whole situation.
The group discusses their plans and their thoughts on how Joyce died. Xander
overreacts and Willow calms him by offering to physically fight to help him get
his aggressions out. Anya asks inappropriate questions about Joyce and Willow
snaps. Anya is hurt by the death like everyone else, but she doesn't understand
death or how expressing emotions will fix anything. Xander punches a wall to
let out some of his anger and after his hand is cleaned up, the gang goes to
the hospital to help Buffy.
Everyone meets at the morgue, hugging each other in support. A doctor informs
Buffy, Dawn and Giles that Joyce most likely died from an aneurysm. He tells
them all that it was probably sudden and painless and there was nothing that
anyone could have done. Giles volunteers to take care of all the paperwork and
arrangements for Joyce, which Buffy graciously thanks him for. Anya awkwardly expresses
that she wished Joyce hadn't died, but Buffy understands what she meant. Buffy
and Tara are left alone and Tara offers her support because she too lost her
mother.
Not wanting to believe her mother is dead, Dawn sneaks into the morgue to see
her mother. When she hesitates to lift the sheet covering the body, another
body behind her suddenly moves and a vampire rises off a table. Dawn's
disappearance is noticed and Buffy finally finds her being attacked by a
vampire in the morgue. Buffy fights with and beheads the vampire. The sight of
Joyce's body shocks Dawn and when Buffy tells her that their mother is gone
from the body, Dawn innocently asks, "Where'd she go?"