Choices

In which everyone makes plans for the future, the Mayor gives Faith a present, Oz gives way to emotion, and Willow is worth a box of spiders.

Official back-of-box synopsis:

Even though Buffy's been accepted to Northwestern University, it is obvious to everyone but her and her mother that she cannot leave Sunnydale. When Wesley tells her she can't leave, Buffy decides to launch an immediate offensive against the Mayor, instead of waiting for the Ascension.

From the old WB Buffy website:

THERE'S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT - Since Faith's turn to the dark side seems to have put the proverbial kibosh on Buffy's chances of ever getting out of Sunnydale to go away to college, Buffy decides to launch an offensive and shut down the Mayor's plans for "Ascension." Meanwhile, plans for the future are the order of the day, as Willow tries to choose among a bevy of college acceptances, Xander prepares to hit the road on a Kerouac-inspired adventure and Buffy and Angel refuse to face the insurmountable obstacles to a successful life together.

Links:

This episode's page at http://www.restlessbtvs.com/, the Restless BTVS Trivia Guide

This episode's page at http://www.vrya.net/bdb/, the Buffyverse Dialog Database

Cross-reference:

episodes in which vampires are staked with unusual or amusing objects:

• Band Candy
  Buffy stakes a vampire with a pencil during SAT prep
• Real Me
  Mort meets his death by ornamental unicorn
• this episode
  Willow levitates a pencil into a vamp while captured in City Hall

Cast:

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy
• Alyson Hannigan as Willow
• Nicholas Brendon as Xander
  

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• Anthony Stewart Head as Giles
• Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia
• David Boreanaz as Angel
• Kristine Sutherland as Joyce
• Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder
• Seth Green as Oz
• Eliza Dushku as Faith
• Harry Groener as The Mayor
• Alexis Denisof as Wesley
• Keith Brunsmann as Vamp Lackey
• Jimmie F Skaggs as Courier
• Michael Schoenfield as Security Guard
• Seth Coltan as Security Guard #2
• Jason Reed as Vamp Guard
• Brett Moses as Student