- Air Date – March 10th, 1997
- Writer – Joss Whedon
- Director – John Kretchmer
- Producers – Joss Whedon
Summary
The episode opens with buffy seemingly trapped in a mausoleum by The Master’s most powerful servant Luke. As Luke lowers himself onto Buffy in an attempt to bite her, he is burned by the cross she is wearing around her neck (Given to her in the previous episode by Angel). This diversion gives Buffy time to escape.
After catching up to Willow and Xander Buffy finds that Jesse is missing and is presumably being taken to The Master. The Master, having realized that Buffy is the Slayer intends to use Jesse as bait to lure her too him.
The Master is a looker.
Willow shows off her Internet savvy by researching the ritual of The Harvest for Giles (who clearly fears computers more than monsters) and Buffy starts the search for Jesse. Angel shows up again, this time at the mausoleum where Jesse is apparently being held. He tells Buffy that The Harvest would be happening this very night and that it would be a bad idea to go in the mausoleum. Again Angel smiles walks off into nowhere. At this point Xander reveals that he has followed Buffy and intends to find Jesse with her.
Xander and Buffy do indeed find Jesse, who quickly leads them to a dead-end and reveals he has been turned into a vampire. More vampires show up to capture The Slayer, but she and Xander make a hasty escape into the sunlight through a manhole cover. Buffy’s escape angers The Master and he and Luke prepare for The Harvest. Luke is anointed with The Masters blood in the shape of a star.
Giles and Willow discover that The Harvest is a ritual in which The Master can appoint one of his undead minions as his surrogate. As the minion feeds, The Master will gain power from the souls of the living that are killed. This additional power would be enough to allow the Master to escape his prison under Sunnydale and wreak havoc of his own. In a rare show of intuition, Xander suggests that the only suitable place for The Harvest would be The Bronze.
Jesse and the other vampires do indeed converge on The Bronze and quickly take control of it. Luke leads the group, and people are lead to him on stage one by one to be fed upon. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles show up after the carnage has begun, and the combat begins. Buffy begins her Slayer duties on her way to Luke, and even Xander gets an accidental kill as Jesse stumbles into his stake. Luke proves to be a formidable opponent and appears to get the best of Buffy as the fight begins. Tricking the vampire into thinking the sun was shining through the club window, Luke is distracted long enough for Buffy to get the kill.
The Master cries out in rage, railing against the magic barrier that holds him prisoner beneath the city. With Luke destroyed and The Harvest over, The Master remains trapped…for now.
