Season 7, Episode 19 | Aired: 29 April 2003 | Written by: Drew Z. Greenberg | Directed by: James A. Contner
Sunnydale is evacuating. The Potentials vote to follow Faith instead of Buffy. Buffy is asked to leave her own house. The episode is the most controversial in Season 7 — whether the vote makes sense, whether the writing serves the characters, whether Buffy deserved the mutiny. It is intentional. The show wants Buffy alone before she finds what she needs in the vineyard. The question is whether the means justify that end.
What Happens
Faith leads the Potentials to a mission at the vineyard; it goes worse than Buffy’s did. Several are hurt. Buffy’s plan to return to the vineyard is voted down. Dawn tells her to go. She leaves, alone. Faith is in charge. It’s worth noting that Buffy’s plan is not presented as obviously wrong — the episode holds space for the possibility that the vote is a mistake.
Key Moments
Buffy walking out the front door, alone, and the camera staying inside the house as it closes. And Xander in the hospital with his eye — Nicholas Brendon playing grief and acceptance — visited by Willow, who is very careful with him.
Monster / Villain
Caleb. The First. And the dynamic that isolates the leader when she needs community most.
Notable Quote
“I love you. I’ll always love you. But I don’t trust you.” — Dawn, to Buffy. This is the episode’s most honest line and its most painful.
Where It Fits
Empty Places puts Buffy alone so that Touched can give her Spike, and so that End of Days can give her the Scythe. The structural logic is clear. Whether the episode earns the mutiny is the debate fans have been having since 2003.