It's a dark and gloomy world without the Slayer. Buffy is dead, and the Scooby Gang must do the best they can without her. But concern about the way she died leads Willow to believe that she may have been pulled into a hell dimension. Unable to bear the thought of their friend enduring eternal torment, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara decide to perform a resurrection spell that will bring Buffy back from the dead.

Buffy is back from the dead, but since her friends are left unaware that their spell worked, she is forced to claw herself out of her own grave. She wanders around town, disoriented as the demon gang continue to destroy Sunnydale.

As Buffy tries to adjust to her life again, she and her friends are visited by a demon that forces them to deal with the repercussions of the Slayer’s resurrection.

Buffy faces off against one of her most formidable foes yet - bankruptcy- in a drolly scripted mosaic of money problems and demonic menace. The death of Buffy's mother last season left the Slayer as the head of her household, and Buffy's brief demise hardly eased the Summers' strained finances. So when the water pipes burst and their basement floods, a bank loan is their only option. But, alas, Buffy has no collateral. Plus, she's the target of the obnoxious M'Fashnik Demon, employed by three nerdy would-be super villains. Lucky for Buffy, Giles has returned from England after hearing the news about her resurrection.

Buffy tries to find her niche, as she goes through a series of jobs, while villains Jonathan, Warren and Andrew unwittingly put the Slayer through a series of tests to find her weakness.

Buffy's friends celebrate Xander and Anya's engagement, while Dawn puts herself in danger when she sneaks out with friends to engage in some Halloween-night mischief.

In this musical extravaganza, a demon, Sweet, comes to Sunnydale and forces the town to sing their most private, and sometimes shocking secrets to one another. This causes Buffy’s friends to finally learn the truth about where she really was while she was dead.

Willow is devastated to learn that she pulled Buffy out of heaven, not hell, and she resolves to make things better by casting a spell to make Buffy forget her afterlife experience. The spell, however, backfires and causes the whole gang to wake up with no memories. The amnesiac Scoobies must piece together their lives and find a way to reverse the spell while dealing with the usual incursion of demons and vampires.

The chip in Spike's head malfunctions, allowing him to prey on people again; Willow reunites with a formerly furry friend, who also practices black magic, and the two enchantresses go on a tear.

Buffy becomes so intent on fighting her attraction to Spike that she fails to recognize Willow’s descent into magical addiction and the dangerous situation it creates for Dawn.

A social services worker threatens to take guardianship of Dawn. Complicating matters, the three villains accidentally turn Buffy invisible, forcing the gang to rely on Willow's natural brainpower to save the slayer. Plus, in a moment of panic over her relationship with Spike, Buffy chops off her hair.

Buffy needs a job and goes to work at a fast food joint, the Doublemeat Palace. Fast food horror stories are taken to a new level, as Buffy soon discovers what really goes on behind the counters.

Buffy investigates why Spike is suddenly able to attack her, despite the chip in his head. Meanwhile, Jonathan, Warren and Andrew try to frame Buffy for murder.

Buffy’s friends throw her a birthday bash she’ll never forget. Due to a spell gone awry, everyone is trapped inside her home and is unable to leave.

Riley comes back to Sunnydale and makes Buffy question some of her recent decisions, including her relationship with Spike.

Xander and Anya’s wedding day has finally arrived. Things are bad enough when Xander and Anya’s families can’t seem to get along, but a demon from Anya’s past plans on breaking up the happy couple, by scaring off the already-nervous Xander.

Buffy is sent into a wild fluctuation between alternative realities - in one world she's the vampire slayer, in the other she's been institutionalized for severe delusional schizophrenia. With both worlds appealing and disturbing for different reasons, she faces a difficult choice of which reality to accept.

Xandera 's remorse is not quite enough to satisfy Anyaa 's rage over their aborted marriage, as she seeks supernatural retribution. Meanwhile, as Willow and Tara begin renewing their romance, Buffy tries to end her relationship with Spike.

Buffy's remorse over her relationship with Spike is heightened by her friends' mixed reactions when they find out about the secret romance. The slayer's dilemma is further complicated when Warren, Jonathan and Andrew seek to obtain a magical weapon that promises invincibility. Bitter that Buffy was able to foil them again, Warren seeks revenge in the ultimate way, causing Buffy injury but inadvertently ending the life of Tara at the same time.

Buffy is rushed to the hospital after being shot by Warren while Willow turns to the darkest of majicks in order to exact revenge on Tara's murderer.

One down, two to go. Willow has now completely gone to the dark side - fully immersed in the majicks - as she continues to avenge Tara’s death. When her friends try to intervene, she turns against them as well.

As this thrilling story comes to a close, Willow having tried to destroy Buffy and all her friends, is too powerful for any of them to stop. Lucky for them, Giles returns with borrowed power to try and stop the all-powerful wicca from destroying the world.