'Beer Bad' Story Code '4ABB05' by Tracey Forbes

While in Professor Walsh’s psychology class Buffy daydreams about getting back together with Parker. Later, she and Willow meet up with Xander, who is excited about his new job as a bartender in the campus pub. That evening, he has trouble coping with making drinks for all his customers; Buffy comes to offer her support, and runs into Riley, who warns her that Parker is a ‘serial womaniser’. When Xander is given trouble by some of the college boys his boss, Jack, seems unconcerned, telling him to just keep serving beer; Xander tries to comfort Buffy about Parker, but then the college boys hit on her and offer to buy her beer, an offer that she accepts. Meanwhile, at ‘The Bronze’, Willow is helping Oz with psychology notes when the band begins to play, and Willow is disturbed to see Oz looking at the lead singer, Veruca - the same girl he previously saw on Campus. The next day, Willow tries complaining to Buffy about Oz and Veruca, but Buffy is very hungover and only interested in the television, seemingly fascinated by the bright colours and music; she tells Willow about the goodness of beer, but then attempts to go to class in her pyjamas. Later, Buffy continues to act oddly, grabbing a sandwich from a girl who was in the middle of eating it; that evening, disapprovingly watched by Xander, Buffy re-joins her drinking friends, who continue to behave strangely. Willow is disappointed when Oz tells her that he is going to play with Veruca’s band. Xander cuts Buffy off from the beer. Willow runs into Parker at the Grotto, who claims that his and Buffy’s one night together was something wonderful, but they should go back to their normal lives; however, he then begins to get interested in Willow. At the pub, the guys are now so drunk that they give Xander too much money - and then several of them transform into cavemen; Xander scares them off with his lighter, and goes to tell Jack, only to discover that he is responsible; Jack has put something in the beer, but he assures Xander it will wear off. Worried about Buffy, Xander rushes off to check on her; after meeting Giles, the two of them burst into Buffy’s room and find her drawing cave pictures on the wall. Back at the Grotto, Parker is telling Willow how much he enjoyed talking with her, but she sees right through him; the cavemen burst in dragging two girls behind them, and knock out Parker and Willow. When Xander refuses to give her more beer, Buffy runs out of the dorm. The cavemen start a fire, which soon spreads; Buffy smells the smoke, and, followed by Xander, heads for the source. Seeing Willow unconscious on the floor, her Slayer instincts kick in and she helps her friend escape, while the cavemen and the girls climb out a window. Buffy goes back in for Parker, who has now come to; she chooses to knock him out with a big stick and pull him out of the window. Outside, Xander has taken care of things by locking the cavemen into a van. Parker tries to apologise to Buffy, asking for her forgiveness - Buffy immediately knocks him out again.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), Marc Blucas (Riley), Adam Kaufman (Parker), Paige Moss (Veruca), Lindsay Crouse (Professor Maggie Walsh), Eric Matheny (Main Cave Guy), Stephen M. Porter (Jack, the Pub manager), Kal Penn (Hunt, one of the cave guys), Jake Phillips (Kip, one of the cave guys), Bryan Cuprill (Roy, one of the cave guys), Lisa Johnson (Paula, the sorority girl), Joshua Wheeler (Driver), Patrick Belton (College Kid #1), Kaycee Shank (College Kid #2), Steven Jang (College Kid #3), Cameron Bender (Stoner), Kate Luhr (Young Woman)
Directed by David Solomon

TX (US): 2nd November 1999
TX (UK - Sky One): 4th February 2000
TX (UK - BBC): 2nd November 2000

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Oz and Reily