Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) Empty Places (2003) User Reviews

Way to stab us in the back.

[spuffieschilde · 8/10 · 12 May 2009]

So yeah, season 7 wasn't as great as the previous 6 seasons, but it was still brilliant in its own way. It has been stated before that Joss looks over every script for each episode to approve of it and perhaps make some additional changes of his own. When I first watched this episode, I was so angry. I was in tears. It felt like I was punched in the gut for no words could describe the disbelief I felt at the Scoobies behaviour towards Buffy. Sure they've had interventions and disagreements before (see season 3, when they "attack" Buffy once they find out she's been keeping Angel being alive as a secret) but never have they full out turned against her like that. It just did not fit. I watched it and thought to myself "who the hell are these people?!?!?! Joss Whedon, what the frack is going on?" But now, (after 6 years lol) I have come to the conclusion that Joss did it on purpose. He wanted this effect to happen to us. He wanted us to feel exactly how Buffy felt. The entire episode builds up from the aftermath of the last episode, which started out with everyone on Buffy's side, trusting her, following her only to have it end badly. REALLY badly. Having Xander, the heart of the group, lose an eye was like a slap in the face for everyone. And in "Empty Places" you can see Buffy shutting down. You can tell how awful she feels about Xander and doubting her ability to lead these people, to then realizing that she was right all along about Caleb and the cellar, only to THEN have the closest people to her turn their backs on her. And having Dawn (that biotch) kicking her out of her own house (again, i really hate Dawn at this moment).

In this episode, we are Buffy. We hurt, and we're so tired that we give up at the end.

Joss makes us realize that sometimes, during dark times, the people you care about just might not be there for you. That things can indeed, get worse.

Of course, they also had to end the episode with Buffy so despondent because then in the next episode Spike can swoop in and be the big hero, thus again further developing the "new" relationship between Buffy and Spike.

Well done. I hated this episode with every fibre of my being, while realizing just how good it was in it's intent to make me feel this way. (Does that even make any sense?)

An episode that had me shouting at the TV screen

[katierose295 · 8/10 · 9 September 2006]

The first time I saw this episode, I sat on the sofa in utter shock for about three seconds after it was over. Then, I jumped to my feet and (literally) shouted, "You just WAIT until Spike gets back!" I was furious that "Empty Places" went so far and the episode's constructed so only Spike and Andrew come out blameless. It's like the rest of the characters are suddenly on crack or something. The Scoobies have had problems before, but their new mistrust of Buffy seems to come out of nowhere this episode. That said, I actually like watching "Empty Places." It's sort of cathartic. I've never gotten through the scene in the living room without yelling at Dawn (traitorous brat) and I still eagerly wait for Spike to show up and ream them all in "Touched." If you're watching the season on DVD, you should see "Empty Places," as it sets up Buffy's separation from the group next episode and explains her quest for that ax thing. Just be prepared to get angry at the Scoobie gang.

"Empty Places" revolves around the fall out from Buffy's failed attack on the vineyard back in "Dirty Girls." The entire town is evacuating and Buffy goes to clean out her desk at work. While she's there, Caleb attacks her. Meanwhile, Willow and Giles have gotten a file on Caleb and traced him to some church massacre. Giles sends Spike and Andrew to investigate the church. Faith takes the Potentials to the Bronze to blow off some steam.

Buffy comes home and is furious that Giles sent Spike away to investigate the church. She claims that Spike is the one person who's "watching her back." Giles is annoyed that Buffy's questioning his decisions. At the Bronze, the Hellmouth is infecting the police. Learning that Faith is an escaped fugitive, they try to kill her. The Potentials try to help Faith. Buffy arrives and she and Faith argue. Meanwhile, at the church Spike and Andrew have found a clue to indicate some secret weapon that "only she may wield" (or something.)

Back at the Summers' house, Buffy comes up with a new idea. Since, Caleb's at the vineyard, then he must have a reason. Something he's searching for there. She wants the Scoobies to go back to the vineyard and find it first. Everyone refuses and Kennedy says that Faith should be in charge. Buffy is hurt and furious as they vote her out. She refuses to follow Faith and Dawn tells her that she has to leave the house, then.

There are some good parts to the episode. I like Willow and Xander's scenes in the hospital. Struggling not to cry and talking about the "good" points to his loosing an eye. "No one will ever make me watch 'Jaws 3D' again." And I really enjoy Anya and Andrew giving the Potentials a "something new is trying to kill you" speech in the basement. Andrew's assisting Anya, writing down her words as she tells the Potentials about the UberVamps and Caleb. (But, I don't know what she's talking about when she says that holy water doesn't work on UberVamps. Buffy used holy water on one back in "Showtime" and it worked just fine, right? I think Anya's wrong about that.) Anyway, she keeps getting off topic as she lectures them. She's worried about Xander and begins reminiscing about how the two of them had "break up sex right there on that cot." Which makes the Potentials sitting on the cot pretty uncomfortable. Andrew helpfully writes "break up sex" on his big pad of paper. Up in the kitchen, Faith explains her secret to dealing with Anya and her "sex with Xander" talks. "I just remind her that I had him first. Shuts her right the hell up." Really funny stuff. I also like Buffy seeing Clem as he leaves town. I just love Clem.

On the down side, I mean COME ON!!! The Scoobies vote Buffy out of her own house?!?! That's insane. I like watching it because it's a really dramatic scene, but there's no way I'm buying Buffy's eviction. Giles is mad at Buffy about Spike and Dawn is still worried about that warning that "Joyce" gave her in "Conversations with Dead People," but would they really kick her out because of that? Of the house that SHE owns, no less? What are they going to do without Buffy to lead them? Willow hates Faith. She's always hated Faith. And now she's voting for Faith, the convicted murderer who once tried to strangle Xander, to be in charge? And just last episode, Xander gave a rousing speech about Buffy's talents and bravery, and now he thinks she's reckless and unfit to be head Slayer? Are they all high or something? Buffy's right. Her plan is ALWAYS to infiltrate the bad guy's headquarters and look for stuff. (See season two's "Suprise," three's "Choices," season four's "The 'I' in Team," season five's "Intervention," season six's "Seeing Red" for some very similar Buffy schemes.) Since when do the Scoobies refuse to go along with that plan? It always works! (Well, there were a few problems over the years, but it all worked out okay.) Buffy's the Chosen One, it's her town, her house and her army. What gives anyone the right to vote her out? If they don't like the plan, why don't THEY leave? Honestly, there's so much craziness going on in that scene that I just chalk it up to "Nope, the Scoobies wouldn't do that" and move on with the season.

My favorite part of the episode: Spike and Andrew riding on Spike's motorcycle, discussing how to make those "flowering onion" snacks. It's so fun and off-the-wall that I just laugh every time I see that scene. Andrew is even wearing the helmet Spike made Dawn wear back in season six's "Bargaining Part Two." I love it.

What are you... deficient?

[lemndrop36 · 7/10 · 25 October 2013]

Having a hard time reading some of these reviews without a mini-Cordelia Chase leaping out of me and smacking the screen.

It's quite clear from Buffy's tone, body language and behavior around Xander - especially at the hospital with Willow - that she is WRACKED with guilt, shame and horror at what happened to one of her oldest, dearest friends. She does what Buffy always seems to do - bottle it and try to soldier on, much the way she did when her mother got sick and it was Riley and Dawn she shut out. As a coping mechanism, it definitely doesn't help her relationships, but you can understand why someone - especially a relatively young someone - would fall back on it, especially with the fate of the world on her shoulders. Anyone who can look at her and read it as cavalier, oblivious or unconcerned... it just doesn't seem like you're paying much attention.

Buffy's not a perfectly mature, always-insightful young woman: she's flawed. All of them are; frankly, it's what makes the show so special. When people are written as REAL - ugly sides and all - it's that much more amazing to see them come through in the moments when they're heroes. However, Buffy's flaw here is that she's impatient and a little foot-in-mouthy when it comes to being right. What she says is true; she just doesn't say it well. That hardly makes her a villain or justifies the mutiny (and Princess Dawn's little "this is my house too" comment was beyond the pale... I've never wanted to see someone backhanded so badly).

I know I'll get hate for this but I actually love this episode

[leah-nash97 · 9/10 · 26 June 2014]

*Spoilers contained*

This episode shows the Scooby Gang at it's worse and I think it was needed. Because they're human well some kinda, given Willow's a witch and Anya's an ex demon. But they mistakes and it brings to light how much of a self sacrificing hero Buffy is which can be taken for granted. This episode renewed my love for the character Buffy, with tears running down my face i was ready to jump up and scream at her defense.

Facing such an injustice - being kicked out of her house Buffy still finds within herself the love to give advice to Faith (one of the kickers). Sure it is a little unbelievable that Faith the ex-con, murderer, former fighter for apocalypse, strangler of Xander, body snatcher of Buffy and to sum up not very well liked would be voted leader, but then again it wouldn't by BTVS without the audience being turned upside down and left with their jaws hanging open.

I understand why many people wouldn't like this episode but ask your self this: did the episode not have you fighting on Buffy's side harder than you had in while? did it not have you on the edge of your seat? did it not evoke an emotional response?

This episode was powerful and even though an injustice went down it had me both hating and loving the TV show at the time. How many episodes can get you feeling that much

The schism

[Joxerlives · 8/10 · 18 May 2012]

The Good; Spike and Andrew's road trip, the girls shaking their stuff at the Bronze.

The Bad; So harrowing watching Buffy cast out after all she's been through. Again why doesn't Caleb take Buffy prisoner or something when he knocks her out? Anya says Buffy is 'luckier' than everyone else to be the Slayer but it hardly seems to be much of a prize? The Hellmouth influenced cops also seem a very handy contrivance.

Best line; Rhona (on Buffy leaving) "Ding dong, the witch is dead!" Dawn; (rounding on her) "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" (about time someone slapped Rhona down!)

Women good/men bad; More misogyny from Caleb

Jeez!; Hardest thing to watch is Dawn telling Buffy to leave (as she states, Revello Drive is her home too). Equally the scenes between Willow and Xander in hospital are so sad. Faith get's some nasty beatings although Angelus claims she's actually still looking for someone to beat the evil out of her.

Kinky dinky; Anya refers to her and Xander's break-up sex to the Potentials, Faith reminds everyone she had him first. Speaking of which Faith starts putting the moves on Wood, who if not a boyfriend Buffy was attracted to and had at least one date with. Caleb speaks of the 'sweet pleasure of taming Buffy' which is odd phrasing for a guy who claims to abhor women especially in the sexual sense. Faith flirts with the cops who've come to arrest her, she must have a thing for the uniform (and maybe the handcuffs, nightsticks and fast cars?) as we've seen her do this before in Bad Girls ("I like him, he's butch"). Interestingly she later refers to Buffy as a cop even after receiving a thorough nightsticking and punch on the jaw.

Captain Subtext; Giles hints that Buffy's partiality for her vampire boyfriends costs lives, alluding to Jenny Calender. Spike and Andrew bond on their road-trip over bar food. Spike threatens to bite Andrew which he has done before. With Willow away Kennedy chooses to dance with Dawn at the Bronze as indeed does Faith (closest thing to Buffy for her once more?). Dawn seems to have lost her antipathy towards Faith and they seem tight from now on.

Guantanamo Bay; Buffy and co have a long talk about how they're not a democracy, that it takes one strong individual leader to be effective.

Scoobies to the ER; Faith nastily bashed up but Slayer healing takes care of it all.

Scoobies knocked out: poor Buff

Total number of scoobies: 35 or so. Anya back but no Vi again. We never ever actually get to see all the recurring potentials (those with names and dialogue) together until the final ep.

What the fanficcers thought; Read an interesting fic once where we discover that Caleb's mother was a Slayer who was sired and he was forced to kill her as a young boy as she tortured him. It was very well written, actually made you feel sorry for this screwed up monster.

Questions and observations; It's Dawn who makes the breakthrough regarding the mission, her junior Watcher role really coming along, Giles even teaching her like his pupil. Andrew wears the same football helmet as Dawn wore when she rode on Spike's motorcycle (is it Hanks? I can't imagine Joyce, Buffy or Dawn playing American football? Maybe the lingerie ball?). Faith stops Amanda drinking alcohol at the Bronze, already adopting the leadership role. Last appearance of Clem on the show although he's back in the comics as Harmony's 'friend'. If you can't pierce the UberVamps sternum with your stake why not stab then upwards under the ribcage so you don't have to? Holy Water does affect them (Showtime)but not as much it does ordinary vamps. SMG hoarse again, both as Buffy AND The First. The SDPD have changed their uniforms but not their cars. Actually I would rate Jaws 3D as the second best in the series although a LONG way behind the fabulous original. Buffy doesn't want to talk about Xander not because she doesn't care but because she finds it too painful. Note Buffy doesn't actually object to Faith taking the girls to the Bronze, she just doesn't want them drunk and fighting.

Marks out of 10; 8/10

A Heroine that lived long enough to be(come) a Villain

[masteroidul · 9/10 · 1 June 2009]

This episode makes a crucial turning point from all the Buffy's other 6 seasons storyline. Why? because it's about rebellion. Not a "stab in the back", but as a logical and necessary rupture from a fallen hero's mantle.

Buffy was my idol, I loved her, so did all the Buffy fans. But what this episode reveals is the imperfect nature of every hero that fans don't want to see. I am sorry to say, but Buffy as a character is not absolute.

Starting with her "incomplete" return after a brutal resurrection in season 6, and throughout the misery of feeling out of place in this final season, Buffy makes a series of judgement mistakes and wrong choices that lead to this sad but likely denouement.

The first one was Spike. After fate tore her away from Angel, she reconciled in the arms of a normal, plain guy (Riley) but just wasn't enough, so she searched for the opposite in a typical "bad boy" (Spike). Their relationship, if you can call it that, is a physical and mental abuse, a type of punishment for not being to hold on to true love (Angel) or true friendship (Riley). Although Spike declares his love out in the open, his connection with Buffy is mostly an obsession. For Buffy, Spike is off and on both a torturer and a shoulder to cry on. She never separates from these extremes so as to find a balance in her persona in order to feel any sort good emotion towards him.

The other mistake is her relationship with the people surrounding her. She treats Willow and Xander as puppets in her one-woman show. The two feel neglected and slowly drift away from her. Buffy treats them as conveniences, takes them for granted. She no longer appreciates or respects them, but considers them somewhat "handy" in times of need. From adored friends they become tolerated elements gravitating around her. You can see it in the way she always tells them "I need you to..."(Willow search the web, Xander go scouting). Giles has it even worse. If once it was "Giles, I cannot succeed without you", now it's "I can perfectly succeed without you". Despite his coming all the way from England to help her, Buffy treats him like a decrepit old man, stuck in his ways of thinking. She publicly denounces his authority and rejects all his advice. She feels she has long surpassed her former mentor and that there it nothing left to learn from him. The Slayerettes are tolerated but maintained at a low-threat level. Buffy is the only REAL slayer and wastes no chance to remind them of that. She bores them with speeches and paints them a dire painting of their future in revenge that fate is not fair and she could not have a bright one.

It used to be a gang-show...I guess it was only a matter of time until repeatedly saving the world would make Buffy feel like a demi-god. She causes and uses her loneliness as a reason of superiority (I suffer more than all of you, so I am obviously better than all of you). It's the curse that comes with being a Slayer or any other type of superhero. Buffy is gradually turning into Glory.

The recently installed autocracy is sustained by Spike, who quickly rejoices the role of her only loyal subject and advised counselor. Buffy begins to take risks that she would have never taken in the past and let opportunities pass her. A huge mistake was rejecting her legacy - despite her visions, despite the desperate cry of the first Slayer saying "It isn't enough!"- Buffy resolutely declines the extra-powers offered by the three shamans saying they were dark magics involved. She never considered that it may take evil to defeat evil. Maybe the first Slayer knew what she was talking about...

The next in this line of mistakes is sending the unprepared girls (potential Slayers) into the beast's lair (the vineyard), regardless of all the voices prohibiting her to do so, which proves to be the last drop in a already-full glass. The trap becomes obvious and the massacre inevitable. The most important casualty, Xander, is treated like a light loss (Buffy would not even stay with him in the hospital). Instead of assuming the blame and the wrong call, Buffy installs a silence drill and continues as planned. The wake-up call later in the evening, when all gather to oppose Buffy is dramatic but foreseeable. It's also a brave step on behalf of the screenwriters - it's not easy to discredit your main character when he/she is wrong.

Faith assumes command and everybody is happy. (The kicking out of the house by Dawn is the only awkward act that makes no point in this episode). It's ironic how Faith becomes Buffy in the end (natural born leader, careful and sensible) and Buffy becomes Faith (outcast, extremist, ready to jump the gun)...

The tyrant (Buffy) is deprived of her people and only then realizes how important they are to her. I'd say it takes some pretty dire times to ally yourself with a scoundrel like Spike...

For me, everything in this episode makes sense. We've seen Buffy at her highest and lowest throughout the series. She may lose her saintly aura created throughout 4-5 seasons, but in doing so becomes more human and tangible. I await the very end of the series and still think Buffy rocks:)

Slouching slowly towards the Hell Mouth

[ossie85 · 8/10 · 3 January 2023]

As the people of Sunnydale start moving out, the gang try to find out more about Caleb. Giles sends Spike and Andrew to a Church where Caleb committed some murders. The Sunnydale cops are trying to get Faith. Xander returns from hospital. Giles, Willow, Xander, Anya, Dawn, Wood and the potential slayers turn against Buffy and want to make Faith their leader.

Why It's So Good - Things are getting tense as mistakes are made, and Faith seems like a possible leadership option.

Watch Out For - More of those onion flower things.

Quote - " You can't swing a cat without hitting some kind of demonic activity. Not that I swing cats, or eat-nope. Heh. Cuttin' way back. Cholesterol-morals. I mean, morals." - Clem.

Rating - 8.

Betrayal

[MikeyTonkin · 6/10 · 27 July 2020]

Buffy Summers: (to Faith) Don't be afraid to lead them. Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are yours. It's only gonna get harder. Protect them. But lead them.

The writing of this episode is just awful, and everyone acts out of character - except bizarrely Faith.

Giles is bitter because of the events from Lies My Parents Told Me, and is taking it out on Buffy.

Xander and Willow - I can at least understand, they're hurt and worried because of what happened to Xander.

Kennedy as always is a waste of space, and Rona is angry because she's scared.

Dawn, however is the biggest betrayal. She kicks Buffy out of her own home. After 7 years of sacrifice, Buffy's friends all betray her and take her out of the equation.

Anya has never liked Buffy, and she did try to kill her earlier in the season - so I can understand why she was pissed...

I just. Can't. With this episode. It's only saving grace was Spike and Andrew.

Masteroidul's review is dead right

[BuffyTheVampireSlapper · 10/10 · 21 March 2010]

It's not often someone else's review of a Buffy episode completely hits the mark for me, but masteroidul's review of this episode is perfect. The climax of this episode is NOT a surprise, but a satisfyingly necessary resolution of tensions that have been building up for years. And watching the episodes immediately before it, many times you have to wonder: how do the other characters put up with Buffy's attitude? And when Xander is sitting there blind in one eye, and she says they have to go back and get a few more people killed (and so presumably Xander can be totally blind) and she says "I know last time wasn't fun". FUN?! She *has* totally lost it, and they are right to throw her out. It has at least partly become about her ego at this point, not just about saving the world. And there *is* another bona fide slayer sitting right there, so it's not quite the simple dictatorship it used to be. In the past, Buffy had all the strength, so the others followed her. That allowed her to behave snottily towards them. So it's no surprise when they kick back (Willow's rampage at the end of season 6 was as much about finally showing Buffy that she's not the only one with power, as it was about grief.)

So those saying that this episode makes no sense clearly haven't been paying attention! :)

For being such a pivotal and devastating episode, this is a 10.

Shouting at the TV

[drnikic · 7/10 · 2 May 2021]

The first time I ever saw it. The last five minutes of it was awful. Whilst understanding it was a bit of a plot device, it was enraging to watch the betrayal from people Buffy had saved over and over.

I've never warmed to Dawn, and her entitled claim that it was her house too, when she's never contributed a red cent to its upkeep, made me shout rude words at the tv. Even now re-watching it makes me cross.

Buffy gets a wake-up call

[nightwishouge · 9/10 · 6 May 2021]

Okay. So. Maybe this will not be a popular opinion. But I love the scene at the end where Buffy gets confronted by the potentials and the Scoobies and the Giles about her poor leadership and lack of good judgment. Dammit, it's so true. Buffy has been nothing more than a speechifying obnoxiousness for most of the season. I hate the potentials as much as anybody else, but when they call her out on her preferential treatment of Spike, I'm like, "YES! THANK YOU!" Buffy has been soft on the issue of Spike for many seasons now and has never been objective regarding him. How many people would still be alive if she had staked him back in season 2 instead of simply "banishing" him from Sunnydale after the events of "Becoming"? (As long as he's not killing people in her backyard I guess it's not her problem.) And yet Buffy was willing to kill Anya earlier this season for getting rid of a few frat boys nobody was going to miss. I will never, ever, ever believe anyone who tries to convince me that she has ANY reason to keep Spike alive apart from her feelings for him.

On another note, I wish Xander had more of a reaction to Faith coming back to town after she, you know, sexually assaulted/tried to murder him back in season three. But he just seems cool with living in the same house with her, which is weird.

Anyway. That's all I really have to say about this episode. Watching Buffy get thrown out of her own house gives me serious schadenfreude. Maybe it'll wake her up to the fact that she DID get Potentials killed through complete recklessness. The fact that she keeps telling everyone to shut up and "fall in line" after accepting NO responsibility for that debacle...yeah. I am not on your side either, Buffy.

A better ending perhaps!

[buffyslayerofvampyres · 7/10 · 2 February 2012]

I have just watched this episode and was fully expecting this to be the occasion when The First would reveal himself to the Scoobies and the Potentials in the form of Buffy (just as he did with Spike). Buffy herself would later be revealed to have been 'powdering her nose' or out on some errand while the events in question were taking place.

When you think about it, the best way for The First to sow dissension within the camp would be to appear in the form of Buffy, issue some confusing orders that would stir enmity and rancour, etc.

Furthermore, if you study the scene in the house, there's no physical contact between Buffy and the rest - suggesting that she may not be corporeal. Also, Spike is out of the picture, away with Andrew. Otherwise he might have sussed it out because of his encounters with Buffy/The First.

However at the end, when Buffy leaves the house, she grabs her coat and opens the door by herself. This of course means that it is Buffy or at least she is corporeal.

So the question is, did the script writers miss a trick here? An opportunity to introduce a subtle, clever, yet entirely plausible twist?

I have yet to see the remaining episodes so maybe it will all make sense in the end.

What Are We Doing Here?

[Samuel-Shovel · 3/10 · 20 March 2019]

In "Empty Places", after the disaster at the vineyard, the gang tries to regroup and come up with an attack plan. Everyone's pretty on edge. Giles sends Spike and Andrew out of town on a lead they find regarding Caleb. Faith takes the Potentials to the Bronze to unwind. Buffy encounters Caleb again and is tossed around. She decides they need to attack the vineyard again. Everyone else is reticent to do so and turns on her, naming Faith the group's new leader and ousting Buffy. Even her sister turns against her. Buffy leaves the house as the episode ends.

Guys... what is going on? You expect me to believe that Willow, Giles, Xander, and even Dawn turn on Buffy that easily just because she has one bad strategic idea? We've seen them follow her for 6 seasons through thick and thin... And the thing that causes the right is this? I refuse to believe that. The writers are really grasping at straws here in this last season.

The entire gang acts like they're on weird drugs. Maybe it's the Hellmouth making everyone go loco but it all seems a bit much and it's not very fun to watch.

Buffy painted herself into a corner. She created her own emptiness.

[skay_baltimore · 6/10 · 13 August 2010]

Sort of ironic, isn't it, that after almost 7 full seasons of virtually NO police presence or input, NOW the police are the ones who provide the background info on Caleb, and end up putting in more than a cameo appearance later on?

Anya...talking to the Potentials like she's giving an in-service? Not her funniest stuff; but she's still one of (the few) shining lights in this series.

Andrew? Not funny. Just flat out annoyingly stupid. If anything...he now personifies what's wrong with BtVS -- cutesy stuff WAY out in left field. So far out, in fact, that he should have been left out entirely.

Faith...in the kitchen...eating potato chips...Kennedy asks her if she has enough to share...

Faith: "Trade ya for a carton of cigarettes and some soap...Sorry. Habit. Shouldn't you be down at Hogwarts?" (Yes...I DEFINITELY missed Faith!!)

And while I'm well aware that it's totally politically incorrect...it was so sweet watching Caleb throw Buffy around like a rag doll. It was long over due. She's really such a loathsome character. (Granted...the writers/producers set her up with such stupid lines and story arcs (not to mention that SMG is a really lousy actress)...and they're the ones who really deserve to be tossed around like rag dolls. But since they didn't write it that way...Buffy'll have to do.)

Faith decides that the Potentials need to do something other than just sit around the house. So she takes them to The Bronze. Buffy is dismayed. Giles then looks like a 5 year old who just got caught stealing cookies. The cops come and arrest Faith at the Bronze for "outstanding warrants".

Then...one of life's most important lessons is presented: "Never underestimate the power of teenage girls' fury".

Then we get treated to yet another in the long line of Buffy-The-Den-Mother, Buffy-The-Drill-Sergeant, Buffy-The-Holier-Than-Thou, Buffy-The-Hypocrite, Buffy-The-Incessantly-BORING!!!

THEN, with regard to the massacre at "The Cellar" she says (in the middle of now-one-eyed-Xander's welcome home party) "Look...I know that night wasn't fun for any of us..." Wasn't ANY FUN? OMG...seriously...WHO WRITES THIS CRUD?!!!

Maybe more importantly...WHY?!!!

Democracy vs Tyranny. That is the essence of Buffy's preachy speech. Yet it's filled with contradictions. On the one hand she states that democracies don't win battles. Then, she turns around and demands togetherness: "We have to be together on this or we will fail again". So what she's demanding in her concept of togetherness is that they follow HER BLINDLY. (or semi-blindly, in Xander's case)

See? THESE are the things that simply blow about BtVS. Its main character/leader is simply impossible to align with. (notwithstanding the legions of loyal BtVS fans. I'm not quite sure what that says about those legions. But, to quote the principal in Ferris Bueller: "I weep for the future".)

I will give her this...she did make a graceful exit...under the circumstances.

Buffy didnt deserve this

[notimportant-52069 · 2/10 · 19 December 2022]

Yes buffy made some mistakes but it doesnt mean that they can act like this. For seven seasons she did everything to protect the people. These new " potential " slayers are actually soo annoying they act like very immature people. And the other thing about this episode: they choose faith over buffy to lead them??? Like are you serious ? I understand that the potential slayers are child and they dont know anything about faiths past or they dont care but willow etc. They all knew what kind of person was faith off course she might have been changed but it doesnt give you the right to behave like that to your best friend .what about giles?? He did things behind buffys back and when she said i dont trust you he acts like buffy lost her mind. And then dawn.... Buffy literally died for her Buffy didnt choose the right thing to do but she didnt deserve this. She didnt turn back to willow when willow was evil and here it is one mistake and bumm you are the guilty one now.

How the mighty have fallen

[Jack_Shaftoe · 4/10 · 4 March 2009]

There is a recurring problem in the last two seasons of BtVS and I believe this episode highlights it better than most. One could see that the writers have had a decent or in some cases, great idea, for compelling drama but blatant plot holes and inexplicable turns in character motivation makes the suspension of disbelief completely go away, resulting in zero dramatic effect and yelling at the writers. The writers, not the characters. Yelling at characters for making in character mistakes makes for great drama. This does not.

There is no way in hell Xander, Willow and Giles would completely turn against Buffy and basicalyl depose her just because they think her in a certain situation plan isn't sound. No way. No way. Her reluctance to kill Angel in season one leads to Jenny's death among others but later on Giles still trusts her judgment. Why would he not do that again? Especially considering they are in no way, shape or form safer from Caleb in the Summers house than they would be if they go for his lair and Giles and Scoobies don't have another plan at that point. It's painfully clear the main goal of the scene was to make Spike look for like an angel (not that Angel :)) in comparison. I haven't even seen the next episodes yet but this could hardly be more clear. I can see why the Scoobies were not thrilled by the plan but there is a world of difference between "this plan is no good" and "Buffy, you are no good because your previous plan was the same and it failed". Like their plans were successful every time before... And having a quarrel in front of all the scared Potentials? What were Giles, Willow and Xander thinking? Way to inspire lack of any confidence whatsoever. Remember Showtime where they planned it all in private? Remember the very previous episode where they trusted Buffy? One mistake and suddenly Faith is a better option? They behaved as if Buffy had known Caleb was so strong and led them there just for the fun of seeing people die. Yes, the plan was risky and they could have refused to go along but the dilemma presnted as "the plan or Buffy, pick your poison" is too contrived. She could have left, indignant by their behaviour, since she really some megalomania issues in the latter seasons. But all of the Scoobies deposing her and kicking her out of her bloody house due to a propositino they don't like? No. Just no.

And the funny thing is, Buffy behaved just as silly as her friends. She repeats in this season over and over how she trusts Spike and Spike only. The plan WAS indeed quite suicidal and the gains from it merely hyphotetical at that point. A good leader should discuss their plan, all of it, not just the details. Yes, she should have had the final call but when have the Scoobies attacked the Big Bad without proper preparation and evaluation of the options? Remember how hard it was for Buffy to decide to not sacrifice dawn in Season 5? Now she has a gut feeling and expect people to follow immediately. WTF? She should be thankful she is still alive and wait for info from Spike and Andrew, not taunt the guy who gave them a thrashing on just a day ago.