A flashback to Dublin 1838 shows a man, Daniel, walking away frantically in town. He's caught by Angelus because he owes a debt; he's killed for payment. Angel wakes up from his nightmare.

Angel walks through town and has an awkward run-in with Buffy. Angel sees the ghost of Daniel standing in the middle of the street before he disappears.

Buffy seeks support from Xander and Willow, but they don't know why Angel acted so weird.

Cordelia calls out Xander for sleeping out in the yard during Christmas to avoid his parents fighting. Willow will be celebrating Hanukkah while Buffy will spend time with her mother. Cordelia plans to go to Aspen for the holidays.

Oz reaches out to Willow because he misses her. He wants to give it a shot again with Willow.

Joyce and Buffy look for a Christmas tree. Joyce wants to invite Faith to join them for Christmas Eve so that she won't be alone. She turns down inviting Giles.

Buffy finds a group of dead trees in the middle of the tree lot.

A group of cloaked worshippers conducts a ritual. Angel wakes up from another nightmare.

Buffy invites Faith over for Christmas Eve, but she turns her down to go to a party.

Angel visits Giles to get clarity about his visions or why he returned to Sunnydale. Angel sees the Jenny Calendar in Giles' home.

Angel has a nightmare of him killing a maid; he sees Buffy in his nightmare. Buffy wakes up from her dream as she was pulled into his.

Jenny Calendar appears in Angel's mansion and chastises him for killing her. Jenny transforms into Daniel, the victim from Angel's first nightmare.

Buffy goes to Giles for help in finding out what happened to Angel. Xander and Willow agree to support them. The Scoobies do research, but they don't find anything.

A dead businessman torments Angel about him killing the man's children. The man transforms into the maid, Daniel, and Jenny. Jenny wants to show Angel his destiny.

Buffy enters Angel's dream again; they visualize them hooking up again, but this time Angel bites into her neck. Jenny urges Angel to kill Buffy.

Giles deduces that The First (the original manifestation of evil) had the power to bring Angel back from the realm. His followers, the Bringers, are the men in cloaks.

Buffy visits Willy to get information about the Bringers. He warns her that something underground has been causing trouble.

Later at night, Willow tries to seduce Oz to repair the damage in their relationship. Oz turns her down because he's not ready and wants their first time to be special.

Faith arrives at Buffy's house for Christmas Eve dinner; she brings presents for her and Joyce. Angel surprises Buffy in her room; Jenny urges him to kill Buffy because that's why he was brought back, but he runs away out of fear.

Angel refuses to kill Buffy. He would rather die by burning up in the sunlight than kill her. The First doesn't want him dead as it's not part of the plan, but they're fine with it.

The Bringers' lair is hidden beneath the plot of land where the dead Christmas trees were kept. Buffy breaks up the chanting and destroys the ritual.

The First decrees that Angel will be dead by sunrise.

Buffy finds Angel standing on top of a cliff; she begs him to get back inside before the sun rises. Angel wants to die and spare everyone from the harm he could cause.

Angel and Buffy have a heart-to-heart about the pain they share. Buffy doesn't want him dead, even though he causes her heartbreak that they can't be together.

Angel is convinced to not kill himself.

Snow starts coming down in Sunnydale.