Buffy finds the weapon The First is keeping from her: a scythe embedded in stone. Buffy easily pulls it free much to Caleb's dismay and The First tells Caleb to let her go. Faith and the potentials get caught in the explosion, leaving many dead and Faith unconscious. They are attacked by a few Ubervamps, but Buffy arrives and easily slays them all with the scythe, allowing everyone to escape. After giving Buffy his word, Xander leaves Sunnydale with Dawn against her will. Buffy and Spike are feeling awkward regarding the recent events, so she sets out for information on the scythe. She finds a tomb where she runs into an old woman. She tells Buffy how the scythe was created to destroy the last pure demon, but it was made in secret and hidden from the shadow men. Caleb arrives and snaps the woman's neck. He and Buffy wrestle control over the scythe until he gets the upper hand. As he is about to strike, Angel knocks him down, and then stands back so Buffy can finish the fight.

After the blow-up with Luke, Jess leaves Stars Hollow for Venice, California, to stay with Jimmy, the father he knows almost nothing about. Jimmy admits he isn't capable of being a father, but promises to ask his live-in girlfriend Sasha to let Jess stay. Back in Stars Hollow, at the same time Lorelai is wondering how to tell Rory that Jess is gone, she learns that the money Richard gave her will make Rory ineligible for financial aid at Yale. Feeling stressed out about everything, Rory unexpectedly confronts Emily over her treatment of Lorelai.

Having learned that her sister, Maggie (Cybill Shepherd), is having marital problems, Cate is nevertheless not too thrilled when Paul invites Maggie to stay at the house -- the sisters have a long history of sibling rivalry. Meanwhile, Paul and Cate are impressed with how mature Bridget has become after they agreed to let her go out with neighbor Donny Doyle (Thad Luckinbill), who is home from the Naval Academy; and Bridget and Kerry wonder if Kyle has ulterior motives when he befriends Rory.

Dr. Walden comes out of a coma with super-powers and a desire to kill Clark, piquing the Luthors' interest. The spaceship starts talking to Clark, and Helen and Lex prepare for their wedding.

The final three battle it out to get America's vote for a trip to the Finale and a chance to become the next American Idol.

When Jack hits a dead end with his lead, he realizes he must persuade Sherry to help him get evidence against Kingsley.
Things go awry at CTU when Division becomes suspicious of Chappelle's absence. Michelle goes off-site to work with Jack.
Mike and Prescott ask Palmer to aid them as the bombers get closer to their targets.

Cheryl is suspicious of her recently widowed mother's new fiance, but Jim and Andy think he's great.

In Paraguay, Mac & Webb continue their mission to thwart the drug lords & terrorists.

Julia becomes extremely depressed after breaking up with Avery, who had never followed through on his promise to leave his wife for her. He tries to deny her the credit for their software company, an endeavor for which she did most of the work. She decides to go down to his office to retrieve his files, and Frasier comes along for moral support. She winds up breaking into the office and stealing the files, as well as deleting his entire hard drive. As they hide in a closet from the cleaning woman, Frasier keeps trying to convince Julia to do the right thing. She surprises him with a kiss, but then trashes Avery's office. Julia tries to avoid Frasier, but later admits that she likes the fact that he has so much character. She kisses him several more times, and finally agrees to a date. A rival station approaches Roz and asks her to become its program director. She manages to get the job, despite a misunderstanding about whether or not she had once slept with the station manager. Frasier has mixed feelings, as he wants Roz to move up in the world, but will miss working with her. Niles goes along with Martin on an excursion to a shooting range and takes a surprising knack to shooting. He enjoys hanging out with "regular guys", until Martin and Daphne learn a disturbing secret about his new friends.

Joshua Jackson