Doublemeat Palace

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"Doublemeat Palace" is the 12th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot[]

Willow reports to Xander and Anya that the supervillains seem to have abandoned their basement lair. Meanwhile, Buffy, having found out that she is deeply in debt, gets a new job working at a fast food restaurant called Doublemeat Palace. She soon believes something strange is going on.

Buffy is offered the Doublemeat Medley, a burger consisting of typical ingredients and layers of beef and chicken. She reluctantly takes a bite, then questions what the secret ingredient in the meat is, but gets no clear answer. Buffy watches as a coworker, Gary, waits on a woman wearing a wig who is a regular at the Palace. After his demonstration, Buffy takes the next customer, but is lost quickly in the process as the family's order is too complex for her to follow.

During her break, Buffy sneaks around in the back rooms, searching for the truth behind the secret ingredient, but is caught by Manny. At the counter, Buffy finds her friends have come by to visit her and she treats Xander to a Doublemeat Medley. Later, Buffy receives a surprise visit from Spike at the restaurant. He tries to persuade her to leave the job and be with him, warning her that this job could kill her and offering to help her with her money problems. She remains determined and turns away. Gary goes out to the alley behind the restaurant and encounters someone that he recognizes; who then attacks him.

The next day, with Gary not there to work, Buffy is assigned to the grill. As Timothy demonstrates the process, Buffy asks again about the secret ingredient, but still cannot get an answer from anyone. Manny then assigns Buffy to a double shift because of the reduction of employees. Buffy watches the grinder grind meat, but discovers a human finger in the processed meat. Appalled at the idea of human meat being the secret ingredient, Buffy confronts Manny about it, but he dismisses her suspicions. Buffy charges out into the dining area, attempting to stop all the patrons from eating while shouting that the meat is made of humans. The outburst gets her fired.

Amy pays Willow a visit, wanting her rat cage as a souvenir, and talks with Willow about her progress with avoiding magic, something which Amy is not very encouraging about. Wishing to get Willow back on to magic, Amy gives her an uncalled gift that provides Willow with uncontrollable magical powers.

Buffy brings the severed finger and a Doublemeat Medley to The Magic Box, but Xander eats the burger before Buffy explains her concerns. Willow arrives late, ready to begin researching, although she is still under Amy's gift spell and lacks control over her use of magic. Buffy leaves to investigate the restaurant after hours, while Willow uses chemistry to test a leftover piece of meat from the Doublemeat Medley. Buffy breaks into the Palace and finds clues: blood and Manny's severed foot. Willow struggles to avoid using magic while Dawn and Xander discuss what future life Buffy will have because she is the Slayer. Willow's analysis reveals that the "meat" is mostly cellulose: vegetables treated with beef fat.

While continuing to snoop, Buffy encounters the regular customer, "Wig Lady", without her wig. A demonic lamprey emerges from the lady's head and sprays a paralyzing liquid at Buffy. The lady advances on Buffy and talks about eating Doublemeat employees as Buffy struggles to escape. Willow shows up and tries to inform Buffy of the Doublemeat Medley which is not made of humans, but processed vegetables, then begins to confess to her about Amy's magical gift. Buffy is unable to respond to the information as she continues to try to get away from the lamprey, which manages to latch onto her shoulder and start to feed. Inside, Willow tries to stop the woman and uses a large blade to cut the lamprey from the woman's body. That only subdues the lamprey and Willow quickly shoves it into the meat grinder.

The next day at the Summers' house, Amy pays Willow a visit, needing to borrow a few necessities. Willow denies her entrance into the house and pointedly suggests that Amy stay away from her. Amy then rebukes Willow for taking much too long to reverse a spell gone wrong that changed her into a rat. Buffy returns to the DMP to return her uniform to the new manager, Lorraine. After revealing her knowledge of the Doublemeat Medley's composition, she is sworn to secrecy. She gets her job back and resigns herself to working there, at least for the present.

Meanwhile, Anya complains to the others about how behind the wedding plans are, partially blaming Willow for the complications. At the apartment, a vengeance demon appears suddenly before Xander, threatening to tear him into pieces. Anya enters the room and recognizes the vengeance demon as her old friend Halfrek, and the girls greet each other gleefully. Anya clears up the confusion, explaining that she invited Halfrek to the wedding, not to seek vengeance on Xander. Over drinks, Anya and Halfrek talk about Anya's relationship with Xander and Anya begins to reevaluate her situation with Xander after Halfrek repeatedly insists on addressing the issue. After Halfrek leaves, Anya and Xander end up in a tense argument over the less-than-attractive appearance of a vengeance demon.

References[]

External links[]

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• "Doublemeat Palace" at IMDb