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Taking a breather from the increasingly soap-operatic plot entanglements of the Faith (Eliza Dushka) story line, "Earshot" displays the simpler spirit of season one. After battling a couple of fish-like demons, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) kills one rather messily, with some green demon ooze soaking into her hand. Over the next week, Buffy begins to be able to read students' minds; Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) informs her that the ooze probably imbued her with the telepathic powers of the demons. At first the thoughts are benign, then in the cafeteria, she hears someone think, "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all." Other people in the school, including a teacher, voice similar sentiments -- setting up red herrings -- as Buffy and friends attempt to find the disturbed person. This allows for some comic scenes such as when Xander (Nicholas Brendon) utilizes the situation to question girls on their turn-ons and date choices. It also leads to Buffy finding out that her mother had sex with Giles on the hood of a police car while under the influence of tainted snacks (see "Band Candy"). Buffy is soon receiving too many telepathic voices to make sense of them and will be driven insane if the power doesn't go away.