It's Christmas in Sunnydale and Angel is haunted with dreams of the people he murdered over the years as Angelus. When Buffy starts getting dragged into his memory-nightmares, experiencing Angel's dreams also, they realize something not natural is happening.
The story starts out with an homage to Dickens by relating Angel's past with a Christmas memory of a past victim.
After Angel's disturbing dream wakes him, he runs to the streets of Sunnydale to shake it off only to run into Buffy doing some Christmas shopping.
At school the gang are still dealing with the riff between the group from the whole Oz and Cordy finding Willow and Zander making out in the basement boiler room. Oz and Willow finally make their amends over the situation. Cordy is back to bitch mode and poor Zander is back to second hand goods...
While Christmas tree shopping with her mom Buffy finds a section of trees that have just died for no reason. Which in Sunnydale doesn't mean pine bark beetles it means evil is afoot.
Buffy invites Faith to Christmas Eve dinner with her and her mom. I love the whole fact that Christmas decorations are strewn throughout the set of this episode. Showing a little Christmas spirit exists in each of the characters even if they don't show it fully.
Angel goes to Giles for help to find out why he was brought back from the hell dimension and finds it hard to talk as he begins to be haunted at Gile's home by his victims.
Angel and Buffy both realize that they are involved in the whole haunting thing as Buffy begins to mysteriously appear in Angel's dreams.
The gang begin their research into what could be behind the hauntings that Angel is experiencing and soon discover that it is the First Evil. Worshiped by the Bringers the First is evil in its purest and most ancient form before gods law.
Buff and Zander decide to do some leg work to find where these harbingers would hold up during their stay in Sunnydale by checking out the local rat hole. Willy the bar owner is of little help though!
That night as Sunnydale begins the Christmas Eve celebration the gang try to follow through with previous festivities planned...
Willow offers herself to Oz and Faith joins Buffy for dinner just as Angel decides to pay a visit to warn/feed on Buffy depending on his will power and that nagging ghost that haunts him...
Buffy then rushes to Giles to let him know that Angel is slipping and finding those harbingers is paramount to his salvation, and by association theirs. Because as we all know an evil Angel is a hungry Angel full blood lust and dark folly.
Buffy finds the Bringers under the dead Christmas trees and kicks their ass and is confronted by the First Evil.
Buffy finds Angel over looking the town from a bluff waiting for the sun to rise. She begs him to come inside out of the day but the day never comes because a freak cold front brings a snow storm to Sunnydale on Christmas Day. Throughout this episode the gang learn and show through action the the true meaning of Christmas is the selfless act of putting others needs above their own.
This show of divine intervention clearly shows that Angel has been given a second chance. With the weather report saying the sun shouldn't be expected to be seen at all today, Buffy and Angel take a romantic walk through the town.
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