Help (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Once the lights are turned out at a funeral home, Buffy, Xander and Dawn climb out of caskets. They chat about Buffy's nervousness about her new job and the struggle she may face while trying to balance her Slayer job with her duties as a school counselor. In one of the caskets, the three find a deceased woman that they suspect of being a vampire, and rightfully so, as the woman comes to life and is promptly staked. At the high school the next day, Buffy talks with various students who all have their own problems, including trouble with bullies and violence, anxiety, homosexuality and plain boredom. Willow and Xander walk together and talk about Buffy's struggles and Willow's worries about her role in dealing with the impending Hellmouth danger. With Xander's support, Willow walks towards Tara's grave.

Buffy talks with more students, including her own sister, but one girl, Cassie Newton, stuns Buffy when she confesses that she's going to die next Friday and that there will be lots of coins. As she leaves for class, Cassie compliments Buffy's shirt and warns her against spilling something on it. Buffy reports Cassie to Principal Wood, but he's not as helpful as she'd like. After spilling coffee onto her white shirt, Buffy is apprehensive and sends Dawn to befriend Cassie. Dawn catches up with Cassie and they talk about Cassie's friend Mike, who has continuously asked Cassie to an upcoming dance and been rejected every time.

Willow investigates Cassie on the computer, and finds Cassie's website filled with sad, morbid poetry. Though Buffy is convinced that Cassie has a precognitive ability and given up hope for survival, Xander and Willow are both skeptical despite all the experiences they had with the paranormal. Dawn returns home from school and thinks the reason for Cassie's problem is Mike, but Buffy and the others don't pay much attention. Willow finds a website on Cassie's father that shows his troubled past with the law and alcohol. Buffy and Xander visit Cassie's father and confront him with their suspicion that he may get drunk and hurt his daughter. Mr. Newton confidently denies the accusation after he goes on about how his ex-wife only allows him to spend one weekend a month with his daughter. Buffy then finds out that Mr. Newton's weekend with Cassie was the previous one, therefore not only does he not have the chance to hurt Cassie, but if Cassie's prediction is true, then he will not see her again before her death. Satisfied that Mr. Newton is not involved, Buffy and Xander leave and bump into Cassie. She had been waiting for them outside of her father's house, and although she appreciates Buffy's efforts to find the cause, she knows there's nothing Buffy can do. Xander asks her if she's planning to kill herself, but Cassie denies it. She talks about all the things she wishes she could do and makes it clear that she doesn't want to die; it's just what is going to happen on Friday.

Meanwhile, a group of guys in red cloaks walk around a circle and burn pictures of Cassie on a tray in the middle. Still motivated to help Cassie, Buffy reads poetry from Cassie's site and continues to investigate with the rest of the gang despite Xander and Willow's skepticism, and Dawn becomes close with Cassie and Mike. Buffy goes to the school basement and asks a still insane Spike if he knows anything about Cassie. He doesn't. As Buffy turns to leave, Spike asks her to stay, but she tells him that her presence seems to worsen his condition and leaves.

Upstairs, Principal Wood and another administrator search through student lockers for anything suspicious. Buffy catches Mike in the halls and stops him to see if he may have intentions of hurting Cassie because she rejected him. He makes it clear he doesn't mind, and is thinking about asking Dawn to the dance instead. Coins fall from one of the lockers, drawing Buffy's attention. Buffy takes one of the coins and the number of the locker where they came from and talks to the student the locker belongs to. The student confesses that some of his friends want to hurt Cassie.

Dawn and Cassie walk away from the school as Cassie reveals how she knows Buffy sent Dawn to befriend Cassie. However, Cassie then states that it doesn't matter as the two are now clearly real friends. Just then a student named Peter approaches, and Cassie, knowing she won't see Dawn again, tells Dawn that nothing that is about to happen is her fault. Peter asks Dawn about the dance, but not to ask her to go with him. When an irritated Dawn turns back toward Cassie, she is gone. At the school that night, the cloaked group gathers again around a circle of coins and one of the boys reveals to be Peter. He checks with the others to make sure the school is secure and that no one can get in or out. Then, he pulls a bound, blindfolded and gagged Cassie out to the circle and holds a meat cleaver to her neck. She is to be sacrificed to a demon that will provide the boys with "infinite riches".

As Peter starts the ritual, Buffy reveals herself as one of the cloaked people. She doesn't think the ritual was a success, but a large demon appears behind her, proving her wrong. Buffy fights the demon and Spike shows up with a flaming torch to help, having temporarily regained his sanity. Buffy uses the torch to burn the demon while Spike cuts Cassie free from her bonds. After he rips her gag off, Cassie says to him, "Someday she'll tell you." Desperately, Peter drags himself toward the fried demon, demanding his money. The burned demon leans up and bites Peter on the shoulder once before exploding into dust.

Buffy and Cassie walk away together, leaving Peter on his own. A crossbow booby trap set by one of the cloaked boys nearly kills Cassie, but Buffy stops the bolt. Buffy tells Cassie that one person can make a difference, to which Cassie responds, "And you will," before gasping and falling to the ground, dead.

The next day, the Scooby Gang gathers at Revello Drive and solemnly talks about how Cassie died because of a congenital heart defect. She was always going to die, no matter what happened, and Cassie knew that Buffy would be at her side when her prediction came true. Buffy feels that she has failed, but a devastated Dawn corrects her, saying Buffy didn't fail since she tried to save Cassie; it was because of her that Dawn and Cassie were friends. The gang are now convinced as Buffy of Cassie's unique gift; they all sadly realize that even though they may be able to avert outcomes, but not on fate. Buffy returns to work, knowing that while she will always try her best, sometimes she just can't help anyone.

• Cassie's name is the short version of Cassandra. In the Greek mythology, Cassandra, King Priam's daughter, was cursed with the ability of prophecy. She foresaw the final defeat of Troy and her own death but no one believed her.
• The book Cassie Newton is reading, "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., deals with an alien race who can view the future as they travel through their lives in a non-linear time, but have no free will; much like Cassie knows what will happen but cannot change her fate.
• Cassie Newton's death (as well as Joyce Summers') are the only ones in the show's huge body-count that were due to natural causes.

• "Help" on IMDb
• "Help" at TV.com