Potential (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Two Potential Slayers, Rona and Vi, walk in the cemetery until Spike knocks Rona out of the way, grabs Vi, and leans in for the kill. Buffy and the other Slayers learn from this example, and Buffy lectures the girls on how to deal with vampire attacks. Buffy has Spike attack her to continue, but she easily gets the upper hand and pins Spike to the ground, reawakening some of his wounds and some feelings for both of them.

At work, a student, Amanda, comes to Buffy for counseling. She asks about liking a boy who picks on her, but Buffy gets distracted with her similar situation with Spike and rambles about how she is not going to let that problem happen again. Buffy returns home to bickering amongst the Potential Slayers and news from Willow that another Potential Slayer has been found, already in Sunnydale.

Willow prepares the ingredients for a spell that will locate the Potential Slayer and surround her with a glowing aura. The spell is performed at the fireplace, but at first it does not succeed, just creates a horrible smell. Dawn tries to open a door to air out the room, but the light follows her, knocking her into the door and surrounding her. Dawn starts to freak out at the news that she could be the latest Potential Slayer and is worried that this would mean her sister would have to die first. Dawn goes upstairs to think while the rest of the gang debate the pros and cons of telling Buffy. Dawn overhears the conversation and feeling the weight of their concerns and her potential fate of death, she sneaks out the window.

Buffy and Spike take the girls to a demon bar to explain the art of getting information out of the demonic patrons there. They run into Clem, and Buffy secretly asks him to scare the overly confident Potentials. While walking alone outside, Dawn runs into Amanda, who claims to have been attacked by a vampire in a classroom. Having heard rumors about Buffy, Amanda was going to ask for her help, but Dawn volunteers to take care of the problem.

Dawn and Amanda break into the school, but when they reach the classroom, they do not see the vampire hiding wedged against the ceiling. The vampire falls as the girls try to leave and it chases them until they reach locked doors. Trapped, Dawn turns to a fire extinguisher and knocks the vampire around with it, then bolts with Amanda. Buffy and Spike show the girls a crypt and teach them about the living quarters of vampires. While investigating the area, the girls find a dead body, but Buffy shows them that it is a vampire.

At the school, Dawn and Amanda hide in a classroom. Buffy tosses the vampire around while lecturing the girls about successful fighting and keeping a straight head during battle. Meanwhile, Dawn acts resourcefully until the vampire pins her to the ground and goes in for the bite. The Bringers then break in through the windows and grab Amanda. After beating up the vampire a bit, Buffy drops her stake and along with Spike, she leaves the girls trapped alone with the vampire. Back at the house, Willow, Xander, and Anya find that Dawn has bolted, and Willow rushes to do a spell to find her.

Dawn uses the room's chemistry supplies to set the Bringers on fire and escape with Amanda. She realizes that Amanda is the true Potential Slayer and hands over the right and her weapon to Amanda. Xander arrives at the school with Buffy and Spike as the Bringers attack. Amanda keeps the Bringers at bay and stakes the vampire that attacked her earlier while Buffy and Spike finish off the Bringers. Dawn reveals that Amanda was standing outside the front door when she was hit by the aura cloud from Willow's spell.

While Buffy takes the other girls down to the basement for training, Xander catches on to Dawn's disappointment about not being a Potential. Xander confides in her how hard it is for him to be the powerless member of the gang. He reminds her that she does not need to be special with powers as she is "extraordinary" just the way she is. In return, Dawn suggests that he does have a power – his ability to notice what is really going on with the people he loves, despite the barriers.

In 2023, Rolling Stone, raked this episode as #96 out of the 144 episodes in honor of 20th anniversary of the show ending.[3]

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• "Potential" at IMDb