Season 6, Episode 2 | Aired: 2 October 2001 | Written by: David Fury | Directed by: David Grossman
Buffy claws out of her own grave. The second half of the premiere processes what the first half accomplished — she’s back, she’s disoriented, the Hellions are destroying Sunnydale. She stops them. The Scoobies find her on a bridge and bring her home. Dawn holds her. Buffy doesn’t understand why she’s back yet. But the show already knows where this goes, and it’s staging the return not as triumph but as something quieter and stranger.
What Happens
Buffy emerges from the ground in Sunnydale’s chaos. She can’t process what’s happening. The Hellions are burning things. She finds Dawn on a bridge, about to jump — not to die, but because Dawn thought Buffy would appear to save her, that the Slayer would be drawn back by the need. It half-works. Buffy pulls her back. Spike finds them both. The Scoobies arrive. Buffy is home. She looks at the lights of Sunnydale and her face is not the face of someone who is glad.
Key Moments
Buffy on the bridge, looking at Sunnydale as if she doesn’t recognise it. The reunion — which the Scoobies process as joy, and which Buffy processes as something else she can’t name yet. Willow saying “she’s back” with a relief that the season will eventually complicate.
Monster / Villain
The Hellions, dispatched. The resurrection itself, as a decision that will take the whole season to fully account for.
Notable Quote
“Is this hell?” — Buffy, looking at Sunnydale burning. It isn’t. But she’ll come to understand the question differently.
Where It Fits
Bargaining Part 2 ends with Buffy home and the season’s real question established: what did the Scoobies pull her back from, and what does she owe them now that she’s back?