 Buffy returns home, but finds that picking up the pieces of the life she left behind may not be as easy as she had hoped. The militant and misanthropic Prinsipal Snyder (still under orders from the mysterious and unseen Mayor of Sunnydale) refuses to admit her back to school. Buffy s mother, Joyce, is trying to accept her back with open arms, but she doesn t seem to trust that Buffy won t just run away again. Her friends seem happy to see her, but their odd behavior makes it appear that they silently resent Buffy for taking off, while Buffy herself refuses to confide in anyone about what happened to her. But before these problems can be laid to rest, the dead of Sunnydale start to rise and are drawn to a Nigarian Death Mask recently purchased by Joyce forcing Buffy the the gang to once again team up to save the day.