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"Flooded" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 104th episode in the series. Written by Jane Espenson with Douglas Petrie and directed by Douglas Petrie, it was originally broadcast on October 16, 2001, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

Buffy's readjustment to the land of the living is not going so hot. Her basement is flooded, she's bankrupt and — oh yes — the M'Fashnik Demon is hellbent on killing her. Also: Giles returns; a trio of slackers plots the takeover of Sunnydale.[1]

Summary[]

Buffy attempts to repair a leaky pipe in her basement only to have it burst and flood the basement. At breakfast, the gang discusses the damage while Xander and a plumber examine the damage caused by the pipes. The plumber advises Buffy that a full re-piping is necessary and hands her a very large invoice. The size of the cost leads to Buffy finding out that, with the hospital bills and the costs of the funeral for their mother (along with the costs of living in the home), the Summers girls are pretty much broke. Anya suggests charging for slaying which leads to an argument with Xander about telling the others that they are engaged, but Buffy manages to keep her cool and is determined to find a way around the problem.

Buffy goes to a bank to consult with a loan director, which is hardly a positive experience as Buffy finds that without a job and no real collateral, she can't get a loan. A demon breaks through the office window, interrupting the meeting and Buffy fights it, despite her conservative clothing. While money is stolen from the bank, a security guard tries to intervene in the fight, but is unable to help the situation. The demon escapes and Buffy returns to the loan officer to discuss the possibility of getting paid for saving his life.

Later that night, Willow tries to upset Buffy purposely in order to get her to express some real anger but Buffy doesn't fall for it. Anya continues to try and force Xander to announce their engagement and he's ready to but not until everyone has arrived. Dawn wants to help with research, but Tara thinks she's too young and that fact is proven when Dawn looks at a picture in one of the books. Buffy isn't pleased that Dawn is researching with the gang, but Dawn is able to identify the bank-robbing demon Buffy encountered earlier. Giles returns to have a happy reunion and intense discussion with Buffy before meeting up with the rest of the gang.

The bank robbing demon, a M'Fashnik, throws a fit in front of his "controllers," Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew (brother of Tucker) complaining that the Slayer still lives even though they got the money from the bank. The three guys argue both with the demon and each other, then Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew think up a way to accommodate the demon without killing Buffy. Giles takes the couch at the Summers' home and talks with Buffy, telling her he'll help her take care of the financial problems in the morning. The three nerds discuss their mission — taking over Sunnydale — and somewhat agree unanimously that none of them want to kill Buffy, but Warren secretly provides Buffy's address to the M'Fashnik demon and sends him after her anyway.

Later that night, Giles asks Willow for specifics regarding the spell she cast to bring Buffy back to life. Willow boasts about how scary the spell was, but Giles reminds her why such spells aren't practiced, including the possible consequences, noting that he left her in charge of the group because he thought she was the most responsible, which he now sees is clearly not the case. Willow expects praise for her performance, but Giles thunders that she is lucky to be alive after casting such a spell, calling her a "rank, arrogant amateur." Willow's tone of voice suddenly turns dangerous, as she warns Giles that she's powerful and pissing her off might not be such a good idea, before regaining her normal composure and telling him to just focus on the fact Buffy is back. Giles, however, reminds her that the gang still have no idea where Buffy has been or what she has been through.

Spike finds Buffy on the back porch, and the two exchange small talk about life and money. Giles and Dawn both have trouble sleeping and go for a snack. The M'Fashnik crashes their late night cereal party, but Buffy catches him. A fight ensues, with Buffy and Spike working together against the M'Fashnik.

The fight ends up in the basement where the demon latches on to one of the pipes and Buffy immediately attacks as the expensive pipes are threatened. The nerds consider their future plans and agree that hypnotizing and making Buffy their willing love slave is a priority.

The Scooby Gang regroups after the demon is taken care of and hopelessly attempts to save the furniture that was destroyed in battle. As Buffy and Giles prepare to start working through the bills, Buffy suddenly receives a phone call from Angel, who knows she's alive and wants to meet with her. Buffy heads out immediately to meet Angel at a point between Sunnydale and Los Angeles, dumping all the financial issues on Giles to sort out.

Continuity[]

  • Warren offers the M'Fashnik demon to build him a sex robot, as he did in "I Was Made to Love You" and "Intervention."
  • Jonathan offers the M'Fashnik demon to cast a spell to make the demon "seem cool," like he did for himself in "Superstar."
  • Warren taunts Andrew about the hellhounds that attacked the Sunnydale High prom in "The Prom." Andrew points out that his older brother Tucker was actually responsible for that.
  • Jonathan resists killing Buffy because she has saved his life "a bunch of times." She saved Jonathan personally in "Earshot" and "Superstar" while also saving the whole school in episodes such as "Bad Eggs," "Dead Man's Party," "Graduation Day, Part Two," etc.
  • While arguing with Willow, Giles says that a possible consequence to bringing Buffy back could have been "unleashing hell on Earth." In "Showtime," it will be revealed that Buffy's resurrection violated the balance between good and evil and allowed the First Evil to take action against humanity.
  • Giles calls Willow a "rank, arrogant amateur" during their argument in this episode, something Dark Willow will reference when they fight in "Grave."
  • Anya's suggestion for Buffy to cash in on slaying vampires is something that Angel does with his business Angel Investigations in L.A. since its foundation in "City Of."
  • Buffy received a phone call from Angel. Having learned about her resurrection, he wished to speak with her, so Buffy left to meet up with him. This meeting was the subject of the dubious-canon comic Reunion.
  • Buffy turns down Giles' request that they look over the bills before she goes, beginning the process of Buffy continually pushing more of her adult responsibility onto Giles. Ultimately, this will lead to Giles's departure in "Tabula Rasa."
  • In reference to a gun, Buffy declares: "These things? Never useful." In "As You Were," she will say about a machine gun: "These things, never useful." Buffy will reinforce her distaste as well when she says "I'm really not a fan of guns" (Predators and Prey), that "Slayers don't use guns" (Retreat, Part Two), and "I don't like [guns]. They keep killing my friends." (Twilight, Part One).
  • Buffy cuts her skirt to kick the demon, a maneuver she'll use in "Hell's Bells" when she is in a bridesmaids dress and has to rip it open to fight.
  • Warren suggests killing Buffy to solve their problem, but Jonathan and Andrew are hesitant, so Warren goes behind their back and gives M'Fashnik her address. This concept will continue throughout the season, including when Warren tries to kill Buffy in "Gone" and "Seeing Red" without the approval of the other two Trio members.
  • Jonathan writes down "hypnotize Buffy" on the Trio's to-do list. In "Dead Things," they acquire a cerebral dampener, which they use to hypnotize Katrina Silber. There is also a drawing of a jet pack on the board, which Warren and Andrew will use in "Seeing Red."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

Organizations and titles[]

Species[]

Locations[]

Objects[]

Rituals and spells[]

Death count[]

  • M'Fashnik demon, bludgeoned to death by Buffy.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

  • The periscope in Warren's basement has Russian lettering on it: "ГЫЫК." When read phonetically, it says "geek."
  • This is not Tom Lenk's first appearance; he also played the vampire Cyrus in the episode "Real Me."
  • Todd Stashwick, who portrays the M'Fashnik in this episode, also portrayed Vocah in "To Shanshu in L.A."

Broadcast[]

  • "Flooded" had an audience of 3.5 million households upon its original airing.[2]

Pop culture references[]

Music[]

International titles[]

  • Armenian: "Ջրհեղեղ" (Flood)
  • Czech: "Zaplavená" (Flooded)
  • Finnish: "Vesihuuhtelu" (Water Rinsing)
  • French: "La tête sous l'eau" (The head under the water)
  • German: "Geld und andere Sorgen" (Money and other Worries)
  • Hungarian: "Áradás" (Flooding)
  • Italian: "Allagamento" (Flood)
  • Japanese: "洪水" (Flood)
  • Polish: "Pod wodą" (Under the Water)
  • Portuguese (Brazil): "A Inundação" (The Flood)
  • Romanian: "Copleșit" (Overwhelmed)
  • Russian: "Затопленные" (Flooded)
  • Spanish (Latin America): "Bajo el Agua" (Under the Water)
  • Spanish (Spain): "Inundados" (Flooded)

Gallery[]

[]

Quotes[]

Buffy: "It's pieces of paper sent by bureaucrats we've never even met. It's not like it's the end of the world. Which is too bad, you know, 'cause that I'm really good at."
Buffy: "Who's calling me? Everybody I know lives here. I'll be back."
Dawn: "I bet it's creditors. The hounding's begun. I read about it. So you think we'll starve?"
Giles: "I very much doubt it."
Dawn: "No chance I'd have to quit school to work assembling cheap toys in a poorly ventilated sweatshop?"
Giles: "Poorly ventilated... What have you been reading?"
Willow: "Giles, I did what I had to do. I did what nobody else could do."
Giles: "There are others in this world who can do what you did. You just don't want to meet them."
Willow: "No, probably not, but... Well, they're the bad guys. I'm not a bad guy. I brought Buffy back into this world, and maybe the word you should be looking for is congratulations."
Giles: "Having Buffy back in this world makes me feel indescribably wonderful, but I wouldn't congratulate you if you jumped off a cliff and happened to survive."
Willow: "That's not what I did, Giles."
Giles: "You were lucky."
Willow: "I wasn't lucky. I was amazing. And how would you know? You weren't even there."
Giles: "If I had been, I'd have bloody well stopped you. The magics you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur."
Xander: "Score one for Captain Logic."
Anya: "Captain Logic is not steering this tugboat. I smell Captain Fear at the wheel. God! I hate this! This tone in my voice? I dislike it more than you do, and I'm closer to it!"
Andrew: "You owe me, man."
Warren: "Oh, or else what? You'll train another pack of devil-dogs to ruin my prom? Ha! Graduated!"
Andrew: "That wasn't me! How many times do I have to say it? The prom thing was my lame-o brother, Tucker."
Jonathan: "Yeah, well tell him I was at that prom."
Andrew: "Hello! Screen-wipe, new scene. I had nothing to do with the devil dogs. I trained flying demon monkeys to attack the school play. School play, dude!"
Warren: "That was cool. That was kinda cool."
Jonathan: "Remember, everyone was like, 'Run, Juliet!'"

References[]

  1. "Buffy Season 6." Craig's BuffyVERSE 4ever. Retrieved on March 12, 2022.
  2. "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Sixth Season." Nielsen Ratings for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, & Firefly. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008.
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