18. Earshot

Complete story — includes the ending

Buffy get infected with blood from a slain demon and soon gains the power to hear people's thoughts, with the exception of Angel's. Initially she finds the new ability useful, exploiting it to gain an advantage in class. However, her friends are uncomfortable at Buffy hearing their innermost thoughts, and the voices soon become overwhelming. Buffy overhears one student making a threat against the school before collapsing in the cafeteria. Giles takes Buffy home, while Willow organizes an investigation into the threat. Angel kills a second of the same demon, using its heart with a potion to try and cure Buffy. Willow and Oz track down a suspect, but it turns out that he has no involvement. Cordelia finds a letter from Jonathan, a boy struggling with confidence issues. Buffy tracks him to the clock tower, where he has assembled a rifle and had planned to kill himself. Buffy talks him down. Xander stumbles upon a lunch lady spiking the food with rat poison, and Buffy knocks her unconscious. Jonathan attends counseling and is suspended from school. This episode was originally scheduled to be broadcast on April 27 but was postponed following the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.