Buffy Logo 'I Robot... You Jane'
Story Code '4V08'

by Ashley Gable
and Thom A. Swyden
Buffy

In Cartona, Italy, in the year 1418, a horned demon known as Moloch the Corrupter is imprisoned within the pages of a book by an order of monks. In the present day, Sunnydale High's Computer Science teacher, Ms Calendar, and her students have taken over the library; they are using a new piece of software that scans books onto computer, supposedly making life easier for librarian Giles, although his reluctance to embrace new technology is quite apparent. Buffy and Willow are working as a tag team, with Buffy handing Willow the books to scan in. Unwittingly, she hands Willow the book that has been holding Moloch prisoner all these years, and Willow scans the pages into the computer. The next day, Willow tells Buffy that she was up all night talking to a guy called Malcolm on the Internet; Buffy is concerned for her friend, as she realises that Malcolm could be anyone. She asks one of Ms Calendar’s students, Dave, if he can check Malcolm out, but he instead warns Buffy to stay away from Willow. After dark, Buffy follows Dave to an apparently abandoned computer installation on the outskirts of town, where she is almost electrocuted. Dave apparently commits suicide, but Willow is wary, suspecting that Malcolm is not all he seems. She is then kidnapped by another of Malcolm acolytes, Fritz, and taken to the abandoned installation. There she discovers Malcolm's true identity as a demon, and that he has been secretly building a robotic body for himself. Meanwhile, Giles realises that he needs Ms Calendar's assistance with the demon in the Internet, and decides he must take Ms Calendar into his confidence; however, when he broaches the subject she blithely informs him that she is already fully aware of the situation. In an attempt to ensnare Moloch, they recant the original chants that imprisoned him over five hundred years ago, trapping him in his robot body. Xander and Buffy arrive at the installation to rescue Willow, and manage to stop Moloch by electrocuting his metallic body.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), Robia LaMorte (Ms. Calendar), Chad Lindberg (Dave), Jamison Ryan (Fritz), Pierrino Mascarino (Thelonius), Edith Fields (School Nurse), Damon Sharp (Male student), Mark Deakins (Moloch's Voice)
Directed by Stephen Posey

TX (US): 28th April 1997
TX (UK - Sky One): 21st February 1998
TX (UK - BBC 2): 24th February 1999

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Cordelia and Angel

*This episode features the first appearance of Jenny Calendar as Sunnydale High's computer science teacher

*It also reveals Giles's phobia of computers!