The episode begins with Giles watching Buffy's slaying technique. After she slays the vamp, Giles criticizes Buffy's methods a bit, before noticing a ring on the ground, left by the vampire. The episode then continues with the Master reading a prophecy about 'The Annointed One', and gives his followers a lesson about doing what they are told, and nothing else. After this, the opening credits play.
After the credits, Buffy and Giles are in the library studying the ring, and it find out it belongs to a member of the 'Order of Aurelius'. Next, a boy Buffy likes, named Owen, wlaks in, looking for an Emily Dickenson book. Buffy follows him around, an Owen tells her he never thought he'd find Buffy in the library, and she isn't offended, just happy to know he thinks about her. After he leaves, Giles, tells her the 'Order of Aurelius' is a big deal, but Buffy is more worried about getting an Emily Dickenson book for herself.
Buffy then tells Willow at lunch about seeing Owen in the library, and how they talked. Buffy sits with Xander and Willow for a few minutes, before noticing Owen sitting all by himself. She goes over to sit with him, but bumps into Cordelia as she races to go sit with Owen as well. Cordelia begins telling Owen that lots of people will be at the Bronze that night, and Owen asks Buffy if she'll meet him there, and she agrees.
After lunch, Willow and Buffy go back to the library, and Giles tells her that the 'Annointed One' will rise from the ashes of five, and it's going down that night. Buffy says good, but then says she can't because she is going on a date. Giles refuses to let her go, and that night, they go together to the graveyard to wait for the Annointed to rise. After sitting for a while, Giles comes to the conclusion that he may have been wrong. Buffy then runs off to the Bronze.
The scene continues with a group of people on a bus, and a strange man telling everyone, including a little boy, that they will be judged. Buffy then gets to the Bronze, where she sees Owen dancing very closely with Cordelia. The scene then cuts back to the bus, where the man is still preaching about judgement. While the bus driver is telling him to sit down, a vampire steps out onto the road, and the bus hits him. The driver asks if everyone is alright, then gets out to check the person he hit. The vamp then grabs the driver, and the of the vamps begin killing the passengers on the bus, and scene 1 ends.
This scene begins with Xander questioning Buffy about what happened last night, and tries to convince her that Owen is just like every other guy. Owen then walks up and asks where Buffy was last night. She makes up a lame excuse about not having a clock, and not even knowing what day it was. Owen then lends her his watch, and then asks her if she wanted to go to the Bronze that night, and she tells him she will. She then goes to see Giles, and says she should probably take the night off, and quickly runs out, before Giles finds an assignment for her.
Again, we see the Master talking with some of his followers about how important the Annointed One is, and if they must, they will give up their lives, to see that the Master gets it.
Next, Buffy is in her room with Xander and Willow getting ready for her date with Owen. Together they pick out the clothes and make-up she'll wear. When Buffy finishes dressing, the doorbell rings, and Buffy runs downstairs, thinking Owen's at the door. She is surprised and dissapointed to see Giles there, and tries to push the door closed. Giles walks in, holding a newspaper, with a story about five people who died in a crash. While telling her this, Owen shows up, and Willow and Xander pull him into another room, so Buffy and Giles can discuss their plans. Buffy gets out of going with Giles to the funeral home where they people are being kept, and leaves with Owen. After Buffy and Owen, and Giles leave, Willow says that Xander and her should go with Giles, but Xander is more worried about Buffy's date.
Buffy and Owen then get to the Bronze, where they are discussing Emily Dickenson. Then Owen continues by saying he doesn't get out much, and that dating isn't the most important thing. Buffy is a little upset about this, because she knows it's true, and checks her pager. Buffy then asks Owen to dance, and he then tells her she's like two people. While they are dancing, Cordelia walks up to them, and pretends Buffy isn't there. He ends up telling her he's here with Buffy, which makes Cordelia mad, because she never gets rejected. The scene then ends with Giles arriving at the funeral home, and being surrounded by two vampires.
Scene two begins with Giles putting up a cross to repel the two vamps, and runs inside the funeral home looking for a place to go. Then, the scene goes back to the Bronze where Buffy and Owen are talking about having a good time while they're dancing. It then goes back to Giles barricading a door in a room, as the vamps try to pound it open. Xander and Willow find him, and talk to him through a barred window, and say they will go get Buffy. Then, the scene cuts back to Cordelia saying how gross Buffy and Owen are together, and tries to flirt with Angel, but he walks right past her, and over to Buffy. Buffy then tells Angel she's on a date, and Owen comes back over, as Willow and Xander finally get to the Bronze as Well. They use a fake story, to let Buffy know Giles is in danger, saying they came as a couple, and thought it would be fun to go to the funeral home. Buffy decides to go, but tells Owen to stay behind. He thinks she wants to "bail" on him, but she promises him she'll be back. She then gives him a small kiss, and runs out.
Buffy, Willow, and Xander get to the funeral home, and are surprised when Owen shows up. Buffy walks off to find Giles. When she gets to the room he's suppose to be in, everything is thrown all over, and there is no sign of Giles. She then looks around, and finds him in a drawer, with a dead body. Giles then tells her they need to look for the Annointed. Buffy agrees, but tells him she first needs to find a place to keep Owen.
She finds Willow, Xander and Owen again, and tells them to go in the office, then she says she needs to go to the bathroom. She gets back to Giles again, and they begin looking through the drawers for the Annointed.
Willow and Xander begin barrigading the door in the office, and Owen sees a body behind a curtain in the next room. As he looks at it, the body gets up, and the group can see its a vampire. The vamp (the crazy guy from the bus) says he has been judged, and then smashes the window separating the rooms with his head, and goes after the three.
Buffy hears the glass smash , and goes to help them. Buffy tells the three of them to leave, but they are stopped by a vamp. Owen says he's got to go help Buffy. When he gets there, Buffy and the vampire are fighting. He jumps in to help, but the vamp grabs him by the collar, and slams a drawer door into his head. It knocks him unconcious, but Buffy thinks it killed him. She then begins punching and kicking the vampire with all her strength, and then throws him into the cremation chamber. Owen then walks up to her and asks her what happend, followed by him walking out of the room in shock, and doesn't want Buffy to come with him. Giles tries to comfort her, but she is too upset.
The next day at school, Xander and Willow are telling Buffy that Owen didn't say anything about her on the way home. When they get to the bottom of the stairs in the courtyard, Owen is standing there. Willow and Xander leave them alone, and Owen then asks when he can see her again, and that almost being killed made him feel alive for the first time. Buffy knows she can't keep seeing him, because she can't put his life at risk like that, so she tells him she just wants to be friends. He walks away, with both of them left upset. Giles saw what she did, and walks up to her. He then begins to tell her about the sacrafices you must make when you have a destiny. Then, he finally admits that Buffy is doing well as a slayer, and that she stopped the Annointed from rising.
Finally, the episode concludes in the Master's layer, where he is welcoming the actual Annointed One, and is very pleased that he is there.
