Empty Places

"Empty Places" is the 19th episode of season 7 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

The citizens of Sunnydale flee en masse and Sunnydale becomes a ghost town. Willow uses magic to get information from the police on Caleb, and Spike and Andrew leave to pursue a lead. They discover an engraving on a plaque that states that the power they are searching for is to be wielded by "her" alone. At the deserted school Buffy is confronted by Caleb, who beats her unconscious. After a brief "nap", Buffy returns home to discover that Faith has taken Dawn and the Potentials to the Bronze for a night of relaxation. After they run into trouble with the police - during which the police threaten to kill or injure Faith and briefly hold the Potentials hostage at the Bronze - Buffy confronts the group and demands that they make better choices, and reveals her plans for another attack. At this point (before Spike and Andrew return) the Potentials as well as Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Giles, tell Buffy that they no longer trust her leadership. At Dawn's request, Buffy leaves the house and Faith reluctantly becomes the new leader.

Acting

Starring

• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
• Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
• Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
• Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
• James Marsters as Spike
• Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Special guest star

• Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
• Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
• Nathan Fillion as Caleb

Guest starring

• Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
• Iyari Limon as Kennedy
• Indigo as Rona
• Sarah Hagan as Amanda
• Kristy Wu as Chao-Ahn
• Dorian Missick as Police Officer
• Larry Clarke as The Monk
• D. B. Woodside as Robin Wood

Co-starring

• Mary Wilcher as Shannon
• James C. Leary as Clem
• Justin Shilton as Munroe
• Nathan Brooks Burgess as Duncan
• David Grammar as Crazy Citizen

Production details

Music

• Nerf Herder - "Mr. Spock"
• Nerf Herder - "Rock City News"

Translations

• Italian title: "Spazi vuoti" ("Empty spaces")
• German title: "... und raus bist du" ("... Out Goes You") (End line of a common German counting-out rhyme)
• French title: "La fronde" ("The Insurrection")
• Spanish title: "Lugares Vacíos" ("Empty Places")

Quotes and trivia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Empty Places

• As a special in-joke to mark the Bronze's sendoff, the band performing is Nerf Herder, the same band that performs the show's theme song. This in-joke is reinforced via a Dawn-Kennedy conversation stating "I think this band might actually be one of the signs [of the apocalypse]."

• The football helmet that Andrew wears while riding behind Spike on Spike's motorcycle is the same helmet that Dawn wore in "Bargaining, Part Two".

• The officer who says to Faith "You'll have to come with us, Miss. Outstanding warrant," was played by the same actor as the villain Billy Blim in the Angel episode "Billy".

• While arguing with Buffy, Giles says that she is fighting "windmills", as opposed to something real. This is a reference to the Spanish book Don Quixote, in which the main character fantasizes that he is a knight and that a collection of windmills at La Mancha are ferocious giants.

Continuity

• This episode marks the final appearance of The Bronze, which has been a recurring element of the show since the very first episode.

Arc significance

• This episode marks the final appearance of the character Clem, who leaves Sunnydale with the other residents.

• The extent of the exodus from Sunnydale is shown more explicitly in this episode (the massive traffic jam, the totally deserted school).

• Buffy is ejected from the house and Faith is put in charge of the Potentials.

External links

• "Empty Places" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Empty Places" at TV.com