'The Zeppo' Story Code '3ABB13' by Dan Vebber

Giles, Willow, Faith and Buffy defeat a group of female demons, but as Xander crawls out from beneath rubble, Buffy and Giles advise him that he should stay out of the way in future. The next day, Cordelia witnesses Xander being bullied by some football players, and points out that he is nothing compared to his friends, remarking that he is the Zeppo - the useless one. Giles tells Buffy that the demons from the previous night were from The Sisterhood of Jhe, a cult that exists solely to bring about the world's destruction, who are intending to open the Hellmouth. Xander borrows his Uncle Rory’s 1957 Chevy, which Xander is determined to make his ‘thing’; but when he offers to help the others prevent the end of the world, they just send him for donuts. Cordelia is about to insult Xander’s car when a beautiful blonde called Lysette approaches him, obviously knowledgeable about cars, and to Cordelia’s amazement, accepts Xander’s invitation for a drive; they go to ‘The Bronze’, where Xander sees Angel, who tells him to stay out of harm’s way. Xander and Lysette leave, but smash into the car belonging to Jack O' Toole; the enraged Jack is about to hurt Xander when a policeman approaches, but Jack is so impressed with Xander’s cool attitude, that he gets him to be his ‘wheel man’. They drive off and collect Jack’s friends, which Xander discovers are actually undead zombie. Meanwhile, Giles visits the Restfield Cemetery to speak to the Spirit Guides, but they refuse to divulge any information to him. Xander appears, hoping for help with the zombies, but Giles just encourages him to stay out of trouble. The Jhe demons trash Willy’s bar, looking for Buffy and Angel, and reveal that their plan is to occur that night. Xander is forced to drive Jack and his zombie friends around town as they search for girls and raid a hardware store. He sees Willow coming out of the magic store, but she tells him ‘it’ is happening tonight, hugs him, tells him she loves him, and promptly runs off. The zombies want to initiate Xander into their gang, but this will mean that he has to die first. Learning that Jack is a zombie too, Xander takes off in the car; he comes across Faith fighting one of the Jhe demons, which he hits with his car. Faith jumps in and they go to her hotel room, where the sexually-aroused Faith makes out with a bemused Xander, and then throws him out. Xander finds the zombies’ stolen goods in the back of the car, and realises that they were building a bomb. He goes to get Buffy, and finds her with Angel; both are crying and arguing about what to do, and declaring their love for each other. Xander interrupts, but then decides it is a bad time. Back at the library, Willow and Giles are preparing a spell; below them, in the boiler room, the zombies are setting up their bomb. Seeing one of them, Parker, in the street shortly after, Xander attempts to get him to tell him about the bomb. He discovers the location, but accidentally decapitates Parker before he can discover how to disarm the weapon. In the library, the Sisterhood of Jhe have opened the Hellmouth, and Giles, Willow and Buffy are confronted with a monstrous demon. Xander manages to kill one of the zombies, while three of the Jhe demons eat another; Xander finds the bomb, but is confronted by Jack. He manages to reason with the zombie, and Jack disconnects it with just two seconds to spare. After Xander leaves, Jack is devoured by Oz the werewolf. The next day, an injured Buffy, Willow, Oz and Giles are exhausted from their battle with the demon. They tell Xander that he was lucky that he wasn't at school last night - Xander decides not to mention his own escapades…

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Rupert Giles), Eliza Dushku (Faith), Saverio Guerra (Willy), Channon Roe (Jack), Michael Cudlitz (Bob), Darin Heames (Parker), Scott Torrence (Dickie), Whitney Dylan (Lysette), Vaughn Armstrong (Cop)
Directed by James Whitmore, Jr.

TX (US): 26th January 1999
TX (UK - Sky One): 22nd October 1999
TX (UK - BBC): 19th August 2000

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