No Place Like Home

Season 5, Episode 5
Written by Douglas Petrie
Directed by David Solomon
Original Airdate: 23 October 2000

Giles “It appears to be paranormal in origin.”
Buffy “How can you tell?”
Giles “Well, it’s so shiny.”

REGULAR CAST

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
James Marsters as Spike
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

GUEST CAST

Clare Kramer as Glory
Charlie Weber as Ben Wilkinson
Ravil Isyanov as Monk
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

CO-STARRING

James Wellington as Nightwatchman
Paul Hayes as Older Nightwatchman
Staci Lawrence as Customer
John Sarkisian as Old Monk

SYNOPSIS

Months ago, several monks rushed to perform a ritual while a powerful force of some sort threatened their lives. In the present, Buffy stakes a vampire outside an abandoned building, and then gets caught by the night watchman who thinks she’s a teen looking for a rave. Buffy makes breakfast for her mom, who is still suffering from headaches that the doctors can’t explain. Giles’s big opening is less than successful at first, but eventually, the magic shop gets to be so popular that he can’t handle it all on his own.

Buffy presents an orb to Giles that she found while patrolling the night before, but Giles can’t explain it right away. While picking up a prescription for her mother, Buffy encounters the night watchman again as he’s being strapped down to a gurney. He’s less than stable, but he manages to warn Buffy that she will be attacked through her family. A monk works on a blue print in an empty building before The Beast smashes through a large steel door, revealing itself to be a supernatural blond female.

The Beast tries to torture information about the Key out of the monk, but he won’t tell her anything. She starts to speak crazily until she puts her fingers to the head of a security guard and seems to suck the life-force from him. Buffy assumes that the danger she was warned about is what is causing her mother’s headaches. Anya recommends to Buffy that she perform a spell to see any spells that may be affecting her family. Buffy doesn’t want Riley to feel unwanted, so she offers to let him help her with the spell. He realizes what she’s doing, then they talk and agree to take care of each other.

Buffy performs the ritual in her bedroom then walks around her house to look for anything unusual. Nothing appears weird about her mother, but Buffy sees Dawn’s image flashing in and out of pictures around the house. Buffy confronts Dawn about it, and she concludes that Dawn isn’t her sister. Buffy threatens Dawn, but Buffy’s supposed little sister is truly confused and doesn’t understand Buffy’s sudden change in attitude.

Giles calls to tell Buffy about the orb, the Dagon Sphere, and its purpose of protection from an unnamed evil. Buffy returns to the abandoned building in hopes of finding more information. Buffy encounters Spike lurking outside her home and he makes some lame excuses for his being there. Buffy comes up against the Beast and finds herself unable to fight against the Beast’s incredible strength. After taking quite a beating, Buffy is able to escape with the monk. The Beast throws a fit and causes the room around her to collapse on her. Giles offers Anya a job at the magic shop when he realizes that the job is too much for just one.

In his last moments of life, the monk warns Buffy that she must protect the key. He tells her that a collection of energy was put into a human form, Dawn’s form. They sent her to Slayer to be protected from those looking for it. Before he dies, he tells her that her memories of Dawn were constructed, and that Dawn is an innocent human who not only needs the Slayer’s protection, she needs her sister’s. Buffy apologizes to Dawn, and the two girls are able to relate on at least one subject – their concern for their mother.

TRIVIA

Clare Kramer makes her first appearance as the memorable Big Bad, Glory, in this episode. Kramer is good friends with Eliza Dushku, and has worked with her on Bring It On as well as an episode of Tru Calling.

CONTINUITY

After a strenuous first day in the Magic Box, Giles asks if someone will ‘please, rip that bloody bell of it’s hinges.’ Buffy finally does this in Life Serial.

Buffy once again has trouble with French, something she’s been having trouble with since School Hard.

Glory says that she’s going to ‘sit down on this tuffet…’ which is fitting since she’s looking for Dawn, who’s been referred to as ‘Little Miss Muffet or ‘Curds and Whey’ on two separate occasions, in Graduation Day (Part 2) and Real Me specifically.

Spike’s crush on Buffy becomes more apparent as he hangs outside her house and also says that she has stupid hair.

GOOFS

When Buffy meets Glory for the first time, she is thrown against a stone wall. In the shot where she falls from the stone wall, it clearly moves, proving it’s not real.

The first picture that Buffy sees while in her trance that tells her something’s amiss with Dawn appears only in that scene. It’s the lowest picture on the wall next to the staircase. Later in the episode, a different picture (without any of the family members) is in its place. This same picture appears in the following episode.

When the Scoobies are in the Magic Box talking about what’s hurting Buffy’s mother, Xander and Buffy are sitting side by side with Willow standing behind Buffy. The shot changes and Willow sits down next to Buffy…where did Xander go?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

EPISODE
Out of My Mind / Family

STORY ORDER
Dear Boy / Family