No Place Like Home

"No Place Like Home" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the eighty-third episode altogether. It was written by Douglas Petrie and directed by David Solomon. It originally broadcast on October 24, 2000.

Buffy looks for a mystical source behind her mother's illness, but finds out more than she bargained for.

Synopsis


Two months ago, several monks rush to perform a ritual while a powerful force of some sort threatens 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. As she turns to leave, he tells her not to forget her glow-ball, an orb which Buffy doesn't recognize but takes to investigate.

Buffy makes breakfast for her mom, who is still suffering from headaches that the doctors can't explain. Dawn takes credit for the breakfast, telling Joyce that Buffy only helped. Joyce and Dawn bond (Joyce calling Dawn her "little punkin' belly"), which leaves Buffy feeling like an outsider. Giles' big opening is less than successful at first, but eventually, the Magic Box gets to be so popular that he can't handle it all on his own. Buffy presents the orb to Giles, who can't explain it right away.



While picking up a prescription for her mother at the hospital, 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 blueprint in an empty building just as the Beast smashes through a large steel door, revealing itself to be a 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 ritual to reveal 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. When she enters Dawn's room, Buffy sees Dawn's possessions, bed, desk, and decorations also fading in and out, as well as Dawn herself. Buffy confronts Dawn about it, and she concludes that Dawn isn't her sister. Buffy physically attacks and threatens Dawn, telling her to stay away from their mother, but Dawn appears truly confused and doesn't understand Buffy's sudden change in attitude.

Giles calls to tell Buffy about the orb, a 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 demands to know what he was doing there. She is unsatisfied with his explanation, but lets him off with a warning, and he becomes frustrated.



Looking down, Buffy notices a bunch of Spike's discarded cigarette butts; he must have been loitering there for quite some time. Shaking her head, she proceeds to return to the warehouse as Dawn watches the whole exchange from the window.

Buffy comes up against the Beast, who quickly proves to be far too powerful for the Slayer to handle. After taking quite a beating, Buffy is able to escape with the monk. The Beast throws a tantrum, causing the room to collapse on her, which delays her pursuit. Back at the Magic Box, Giles offers Anya a job when he realizes that the job is too much for just one, and that she enjoys handling the money.

In his last moments of life, the monk warns Buffy that she must protect The Key. He tells her that The Key is a collection of energy put into a human form -- Dawn's form. They sent her to the 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 now an innocent human who not only needs the protection of the Slayer, but also the love of a sister. When Buffy returns home, she apologizes to Dawn, and the two girls are able to relate on at least one subject -- their concern for their mother.

Broadcast

 * The original run of "No Place Like Home" attracted 6.4 million viewers, the highest rated episode of the season.

Quotes
Buffy - "What are you doing here?" Spike - "Look..." Buffy - "Five words or less!" Spike - "Out... for... a... walk. ... Bitch".

Vampire - "I've always wanted to kill the Slayer." Buffy - "And I've always wanted piano lessons. So really... who's surprised we've got this unexpressed rage? But honestly, I think I express mine better. Tell you what... you find yourself a good anger management class, and I'll jam this pokey wood stick through your heart."

Buffy - "[pulls a glowing orb out of her bag] What the hell is it?" Giles - "It appears to be paranormal in origin." Willow - "How can you tell?" Giles - "Well, it's so shiny."

Anya - "[to a customer who just finished her purchase] Please go." Xander - "Anya, the Shopkeepers Union of America called. They wanted me to tell you that 'Please go' just got replaced with 'Have a nice day'." Anya - "But I have their money. Who cares what kind of day they have?" Xander - "No one. It's just a long cultural tradition of raging insincerity. Embrace it."

Ben - "You know, not to be rampantly sexist in the workplace, but you've got some serious muscles for a girl." Buffy - "I... um..." Ben - "Radioactive spider bite." Buffy - "How'd you guess?"

Continuity

 * This episode begins the main story arc of the season, revealing the truth about Dawn and introducing Glory.


 * Giles officially takes over ownership of The Magic Box. While the Scooby Gang met in the library during Seasons 1-3 and at Giles' apartment in Season 4, the Magic Box will be the gang's HQ until it is destroyed at the end of Season 6.


 * Anya gets her first job: as a retailer in the Magic Box.


 * This is the first episode to mention Joyce's illness.


 * This is the first time Spike sees Buffy after he came to the realization that he loves her in "Out of My Mind". It's also the first of two occasions when she calls him 'William.' The second and last is in "As You Were", when she ends their sexual relationship.


 * In Glory's ranting, when she is fighting with Buffy, she mentions "someone sits on a tuffet". Dawn has been referred to as Miss Muffet in other episodes, like in the dream that Faith had before emerging from her coma.