Sleeper (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)


"Sleeper" is the eighth episode of the seventh and final season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

In the opening, Spike is seen digging a grave and buries the woman he has just killed while he hums a tune. Meanwhile Buffy struggles with the possibility that Spike may have begun killing innocent people and "siring" them as vampires. The Scooby Gang tries to make sense of the strange apparitions of the dead they have been contacted by and wonder whether any or all of the information they gave them was true.
Meanwhile, in London, a man and woman are attacked by cloaked men and Giles receives some troubling information.
At the Bronze, after staking a vampire who claims he made her, Spike calls Buffy's cell phone from a pay phone and tells her that he is remembering the bad things he has done recently and asks for her help. She agrees to meet with him at a set location. As Spike tries to leave, the duplicate of Spike shows up and tells the real Spike that calling Buffy was not part of the plan, but they'll have to improvise.
Spike leads Buffy into a dark basement and tries to show her what he remembers about killing the girls. The fake Spike is there as well, but Buffy can't see him. While the real Spike tries to show Buffy where he buried the bodies, the fake Spike starts to sing the hypnotizing tune. This causes Spike to vamp out and attack Buffy, cutting her arm with a piece of broken glass. As the two battle the bodies of those Spike recently killed rise from the ground beneath them as newly turned vampires. Buffy struggles with the fledglings while the real Spike gets a pep talk from his morphing version about tasting Buffy's blood. As two vampires hold Buffy still, Spike leans down and tastes Buffy's blood from the cut on her arm. It reawakens all of his memories of killing and he falls to the ground, horrified.
Buffy finishes off dusting the rest of the vampires and turns her attention to Spike. Tearfully Spike offers to be staked. He is confused, scared and hurting because of the lives he has taken. Buffy realizes something isn't right with Spike and something has been messing with his head. Buffy takes Spike back to her house and tells the gang how she needs to keep him close if she intends to get answers they need.
Giles charges into the room in London and finds the dead girl and the nearly dead man that was with her. The man, Robson, warns Giles that something has started and that they need to be gathered. As Giles says he understands, one of the robed figures appears behind him and swings an axe at his head as the episode ends.

Performances

Music

This episode begins immediately after the end of the previous episode.