Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode Guide

Season 5, Episode 3

The Replacement

Original Air Date: October 10, 2000


The Scooby gang is hanging out in Xander's apartment, which is actually the basement of his parents' house. The whole place is pretty gross and Xander's parents are fighting drunkenly upstairs. Xander decides it might be a good time to look for a new place to live.

Cut to a demon doing a spell that will allow him to kill the Slayer.

The gang go to see an apartment for Xander. Hmm, maybe it's not a great idea to bring ALL your friends along when apartment hunting. The apartment is really great, and Xander decides to fill out an application, despite not being able to afford it on his construction job salary.

The demon from the earlier scene comes looking for Buffy in the magic shop, but only finds Giles. After pummeling Giles for a bit, it leaves. The gang returns, and they discover that the demon is a Toth demon, and that it was probably hiding out in the local garbage dump.

The gang heads over to the dump, where they run into Spike. The demon comes up behind them and starts firing at them with his glowy weapon thing. (Oh cool, the demon has a ray gun.) He misses Buffy, but hits Xander and then disappears. The gang helps Xander up. He seems to be mostly unharmed, but they somehow fail to notice ANOTHER Xander, lying unconscious in the garbage.

In the morning, Xander wakes up, still in the garbage dump, and heads home where he sees... Himself!! He sets off to find Buffy. He tries to call Buffy from a pay phone, but hangs up on her when he sees his doppelganger walking past him.

In the meantime, Spike is dressing up a mannequin to look like Buffy, and then kicking its head off.

Xander continues to follow his doppelganger (Let's just call him D from now on to make things easier.). D goes to the construction site where Xander works. The boss calls him in. Xander had been expecting to be fired, since the job was ending. He is therefore shocked when the boss offers D a full-time job and a raise! Xander notices that D is flashing around some shiny thing, and assumes D is using it to hypnotize people.

D goes and signs the lease on the fancy apartment, and then calls Anya, asking her to meet him there. Xander attacks D as he leaves the apartment. D easily floors him.

Xander follows D to Giles' house, where D is explaining about "the other Xander". Everyone concludes that the Toth demon has somehow taken Xander's form.

Meanwhile, Xander goes to Willow's room and explains the situation to her. Xander theorizes that it is an evil robot. Willow suggests the Toth demon.

Xander and D meet up at the apartment, where D has been making out with Anya. Anya seems to prefer D, who is clean, confident, and has just gotten a great apartment.

Willow goes to Giles' and tries to convince everyone that she met the "real" Xander. Giles looks up from his book and explains that the Toth demon used his weapon to split Xander into two parts - all his good characteristics and all of his bad characteristics. They hurry over to the apartment.

At the apartment, they explain the situation to the two Xanders. The Toth demon comes in, and Buffy kills it. Willow does a spell to re-merge Xander.


It's worth noting (noding?) that Nicholas Brendon, the actor who plays Xander, has a twin brother, Kelly Brendon, who was used for some of the scenes in this episode.

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