9. The Puppet Show

Complete story — includes the ending

Shortly after a rehearsal for Sunnydale High's talent show, a girl is killed and her heart removed. Giles, Buffy, Willow, and Xander investigate and are led to Morgan, a ventriloquist with a dummy named Sid. After she catches Sid in her bedroom one night, Buffy suspects the dummy is somehow alive. In class, the teacher confiscates Sid, and Xander steals him so Buffy can talk with Morgan alone. When Sid remains inanimate, Xander mocks Buffy's suspicions. While Giles, Xander, and Willow are researching in the library, Sid suddenly disappears. Backstage, Buffy finds Morgan dead and missing his brain. A chandelier falls on Buffy, and Sid attacks her with a knife. Buffy overpowers him, and Sid reveals that he also hunts demons and thought that Buffy was one. Sid explains that he was cursed to become a dummy and needs to kill the real demons to lift the curse, although to do so will cause his death. Buffy finds Morgan's brain, and after learning that he was suffering from brain cancer, realizes that the demon still needs a viable human. The demon ties Giles to a guillotine backstage, and Buffy, Xander, and Willow rescue him. Sid ends his curse after he cuts out the demon's heart and dies.