Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "No Place Like Home" Review (5x05)

Brief Synopsis: “When doctors can’t determine why Joyce is sick, Buffy is convinced that the illness is supernatural in origin. After doing a spell to see magical influences, her sister starts sliding in and out of focus...”

"Out Of My Mind" (5x04) quick link here                                                                                                                                  "Family" (5x06) quick link here

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“No Place Like Home” is pivotal to the season long journey that is ahead of us, as it lays the groundwork for the rest of the season. Not only does it introduce the season’s ‘Big Bad’, but it also explains exactly what Dawn is and how she magically appearing in Buffy’s life, while keeping the more important details about the key’s purpose for later in the season. Like The Mayor in Buffy’s 3^rd season, Glory being introduced in the 5^th episode is a wise move. It’s quite rare for a 22-episode television season to introduce the primary villain so early, but it allows the audience more time to get to know the villain, learn their motivations, and get invested in them emotionally – whether it’s to see them succeed or see them destroyed. Adam wasn’t introduced until the end of the 13^th episode of season four and I think I speak for 99% of the fandom when I say that Adam is the worst ‘Big Bad’ the show ever produces. Angelus wasn’t introduced until the end of the 13^th episode of season two (technically we don’t see him until the beginning of episode 14, but he loses his soul at the end of 13, so I’m calling it 13), but we had a season and a half of build to this story already, so it wasn’t of high importance to introduce Angelus earlier in the season. I also appreciate the fact that Dawn’s identity is discovered rather early in the season as opposed to waiting until “Blood Ties” when Dawn finds out herself. Now, the season gets an early kick-start and we have eighteen episodes to watch it play out. While a few elements of “No Place Like Home” are a little too slow-paced for my taste, there’s no denying that it’s an above-average episode of the show. The acting is sublime, especially from Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ravil Isyanov (the monk), who both knock it out of the park with the emotional moments, the ‘Big Bad’ is the most powerful we’ve seen thus far and she leaves you wanting more and begging to know who the hell she is, and Buffy discovering that Dawn isn’t really her sister throws the season on its head. What more can you ask for from a 5^th episode of a season?

The episode opens with what will become a very important flashback of three monks running away from something and channelling some green energy, which disappears. That green energy becomes Dawn Summers. In present day Sunnydale, a polite security guard ushers Buffy away from an abandoned warehouse and also gives her the Dagon Sphere, thinking she dropped it. While the Dagon Sphere goes on to play a much smaller role than I first imagined it would, it’s still a welcomed addition to the show because it’s so shiny and purdy looking.

The revelation that Dawn and Joyce have a book club fills my heart with so much joy that I think it’s going to overflow and drown me...wow. Way to take a heart-warming moment and turn it into death, Shangel. Too much Whedon growing up, I think. What a wonderful mother-daughter bonding session! Seriously, since around the beginning of the third season, Joyce has turned into the perfect mother. She’s one of my favourite television mothers of all-time because of her warmth, empathy, and consideration. Take offering a soulless Spike a hot mug of cocoa and a chat about relationships for example! I will not think about “The Body”, I will not think about “The Body”, I will not think about “The Body”! Dawn’s behaviour in this episode is also interesting, especially when you realise that she’s not evil or making Joyce sick. Dawn is craving attention. She has been ever since she was introduced to us. Her monologues in “Real Me” made that glaringly obvious. It does beg the question of whether part of the reason why she’s so desperate for attention is because she’s subconsciously aware that she doesn’t belong in this life and the people that surround her haven’t always been there. Of course, we’ll never know the answer to that question, but it’s an interesting thought. The monks were correct, Dawn is innocent. In every sense of the word. She never asked to be transformed from a ball of green energy into a human. She never asked to be thrust into the Slayer’s life. She isn’t even aware of the fact that she doesn’t belong there. The monks are to blame for this invasion of the Scoobies’ privacy (even though their reasoning is understandable after you’ve seen what they were trying to avoid in “The Gift”), not Dawn.

“No Place Like Home”, obviously, is an intense, emotional episode. Buffy, Dawn, Joyce, and Riley go through a lot of turmoil and drama. That’s why I’m so drawn to the rest of the Scoobies here. They provide the comedic relief throughout most of this episode because of the grand opening of The Magic Box. From a purely comedic standpoint, the highlight of the episode is where Buffy walks into The Magic Box, which is now fully stocked and ready for the opening, and Giles is stood there wearing a wizard’s robe and hat, looking like a particularly camp extra from Harry Potter. No background music, no dialogue, just Buffy and Giles staring at each other. Giles looks extremely pleased with himself, whereas Buffy looks more traumatised than when she had to send Angel to Hell. It’s beyond hilarious. Buffy conveys to Giles that he should take off his robes and gloriously tall hat without actually saying a word. Clearly, the lessons of “Hush” have not been lost on the Scoobies. The best part about this scene is that you know exactly what Buffy and Giles are saying to each other, even though there’s no dialogue at all. It’s a testament to both Giles and Buffy’s relationship and the quality of the writing on the show that we’re able to read the conversation perfectly, without the need for music to set the scene or dialogue. While on the subject of The Magic Box, I’m so pleased that the Scoobies have a decent HQ again. Season four sorely missed a central location after Sunnydale High’s library went ‘boom!’ in “Graduation Day PartTwo”. The Magic Box is an interesting change of pace, but it also has similarities to the library in that both locations have people wandering through at various times to offer dialogue or secondary episode plots. The Magic Box lacks the warmth and familiarity of the library, but it’s an improvement over Giles’ apartment and Buffy’s dorm room from the last season and it does end up feeling like home to a certain extent.

Giles: “It appears to be paranormal in origin.”

Willow: “How can you tell?”

Giles: “Well, it’s so shiny!”

Dawn, whose foot likes to live in her mouth, lets slip to Riley that Buffy was proclaiming that she doesn’t like Riley going patrolling because he might get hurt. The timing of this is absolutely terrible due to the fact that Riley was worried in the last episode (“Out Of My Mind”) that he would be of no more use to Buffy after he had his enhanced strength and reflexes removed. Interestingly, Riley and Buffy’s relationship appeared to have taken a slight upswing at the conclusion of “Out Of My Mind”. I believe that this episode is the one where Riley truly falls from grace and gives up on a future with Buffy as a lost cause. Now that he’s more normal than ever, he’s having even more self-esteem issues and fears of inadequacy than he did before. The problem is that Riley keeps these fears to himself and bottles them up. Why didn’t he talk to Buffy about them? Or Xander? His relationship with Buffy is falling apart before his eyes and he feels powerless to stop it. Dawn telling him the last thing in the world that he wanted to hear certainly didn’t help matters. He gave up the Initiative and his career for Buffy, so if this relationship doesn’t work, Riley has nothing left. His identity outside of being the Slayer’s boyfriend has been slowly eroded away. Make note of the fact that Riley barely appears in this episode. When Buffy is distracted due to slaying, Riley is barely involved in the episode because he’s not a part of the Scoobies and has no purpose being on the show outside of being in a relationship with Buffy. Ouch.

(he does not look impressed with this revelation)

Glory. Glorificus. The Beast. The Most Unstable One. The Hell-Bitch. That Which Cannot Be Named. Her Splendiferousness. Her Sparkling Luminescence. The Sweaty-Naughty-Feelings-Causing One...she has far too many nicknames. Glory works well as a ‘Big Bad’ and her introduction is nothing short of spectacular. In one episode, we learn a great deal about her, what she’s after, and the fact that she can kick Buffy’s ass without breaking a sweat. She’s sassy, hilarious, fashionable, and an absolute badass that can genuinely kill any one of the Scoobies at any moment, which makes for a pleasantly tense season. Glory is by far the most powerful villain that Buffy has ever faced and she seems all the most impressive after the lacklustre Adam. I still prefer Angelus and The Mayor, but there’s no denying that Glory is the more powerful. She’s more powerful than The Master, Angelus, The Mayor, and Adam COMBINED. I’ve also got to mention that Clare Kramer makes the perfect Glory. Her voice just exudes arrogance and power, which it should as she used to rule a Hell dimension. I also really like the fact that this season’s ‘Big Bad’ is a female for the first time and that the female – who is a similar size to Buffy – is stronger than anyone Buffy has ever faced.

On the flipside of that power, Glory is highly unstable and often comes across as a spoiled child (like when she’s interrogating the monk, for example). She’s so used to ruling and getting her own way that she doesn’t know how to react when someone refuses her something. It’s an interesting dynamic that this powerful, commanding God is throwing a tantrum. She’s basically the Dorothy Gale of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. All she wants is to return home. She even wears red shoes! The only difference is that in doing so she’ll tear down the walls between dimensions and everyone on Earth will suffer eternal torment...but, ya know, minor detail. Her wiggly-fingers-in-brain power is another interesting addition to her character because she’d still be powerful and intimidating without this trait. Yet, in having this ability, it gives us another reason to be worried for the Scoobies’ safety. Getting someone’s fingers jammed into your brain is a new, disgusting element to a villain for the Buffyverse. Even worse is that it leaves the victim crazy. It doesn’t just outright kill you, it leaves you mentally destroyed forever. No hope left, insane, and losing all semblance of the person you used to be. That’s more terrifying than death.

Anya: “I can hook you up direct with a troll that sheds it.” – I heard a very different word to “sheds” first time around.

Giles receives his first sale at The Magic Box and his reaction is so giddy and child-like that I can’t help but smile. Giddy Giles is second only to drunk Giles. However, Giles very quickly spirals from giddy and enthusiastic to falling to pieces as the shop becomes insanely crowded. He should be happy that the shop is so crowded and that he’s not dead! All the previous owners we’ve met have died or been dead already, after all. Look at all those customers! You know, all we hear about is how terrifying and dangerous the Hellmouth is. The Scoobies have neglected to mention the booming business opportunities that the Hellmouth allows! It’s not all doom and gloom, people!

Giles: “Would someone please rip that bloody bell off its hinges.”

Xander, I beg you, please don’t call Giles “Big G” again. I mentally flashed to some highly disturbing scenes from “Little Britain” of Anthony Head in a leather-studded man thong and nothing else. Surprisingly, Anya is the only Scooby that isn’t exhausted. Due to her newfound love of money (after Xander created a monster in “Real Me” by telling Anya that ‘cash equals good’ when they were playing the ‘Game Of Life’), Anya is oddly proficient at working in retail. Therefore, Giles offers Anya a job. Yay! Anya now has a purpose outside of being Xander’s girlfriend, which is fantastic as she’s such an exciting, amusing character.

Anya: “The Hand of Glory packs some serious raw power.”

Oooh, talk about intelligent foreshadowing. This scene takes place before we’re aware of Glory’s name. As Buffy discovers later in the episode, the hands of Glory certainly do pack some serious power. ALSO, IS THE HAND OF GLORY THE SAME ONE THAT DRACO MALFOY HAS? HAVE MY WORLD’S COLLIDED?! DAWN MENTIONED HOGWARTS IN “REAL ME” AND I ALMOST SOILED MYSELF WITH EXCITEMENT.

Buffy has convinced herself that her mother’s illness is being caused by something supernatural. This reminds me so much of what Giles said about Buffy three years earlier in “Killed ByDeath”...“death and disease are things, possibly the only things, that Buffy cannot fight”. Buffy is instantly jumping to the conclusion that it’s supernatural because it gives her something to fight, something to control, something to defeat so that her mother can be well again. If it’s not something supernatural, Buffy’s slaying abilities are powerless and she has no control over her mother’s fate. Buffy almost wants it to be something supernatural so that she doesn’t feel helpless. Since “Real Me”, we’ve watched Buffy grow more and more mentally strong through meditation. Due to this, Buffy decides to perform a spell to see magical influences to figure out whether or not Joyce’s brain problems are supernatural. It was rather nice to see Buffy bring Riley over to help prepare the spell because she is fully aware that Riley is feeling useless and lacking self-esteem at the moment.

Dawn: “What are you doing?”

Buffy: “My boyfriend, now go away!”

I adore the way the spell is filmed, with Dawn’s bedroom, photos of Dawn, and Dawn herself fading in and out of focus, with distinctive mood lighting. It’s quite subtle, but it captures the mood perfectly. Buffy discovers that Dawn is supernatural in origin and clearly doesn’t belong in the Summers’ house. Naturally, Buffy assumes that Dawn is responsible for Joyce’s illness and threatens Dawn to stay away from her mother. Can you imagine being Buffy in that moment?! Your kid sister, who annoys you to no end and that you love unconditionally, is phasing in and out of your sight because of the spell you performed. It must have been a highly traumatic experience for Buffy. I also enjoy the implication from Dawn that she might be responsible for Joyce’s illness, as it leaves a seed of doubt in our minds as to what the frick is going on. Of course, Dawn isn’t responsible. I can’t help but feel sorry for her in this episode. Buffy treats her like an enemy (which is understandable if you’re in Buffy’s shoes), yet Dawn is unaware that she’s not human so all she sees is her older sister being a bitch to her for no reason and slamming her against a wall. I’ve read a few times recently that perhaps the monks making Dawn created Joyce’s illness because both events happened at the same time. Frankly, this is ludicrous. The entire point of Joyce being killed off was to show that Buffy can’t defeat natural, normal, everyday death. If Joyce died due to supernatural circumstances, it would totally negate the reason she was killed in the first place. Anybody who knows Joss’ writing style is aware that Joss wouldn’t take such an easy way out with Joyce’s brain issues. Plus, if that were the case, he’d make us aware of it.

Spike is stalking Buffy from outside of her house now that he’s aware that he has feelings for her. This becomes a recurring theme over the next couple of years. I’ve always wondered something...why doesn’t Buffy try to stake Spike here? The last time she saw him was when Spike almost got Riley killed by kidnapping the doctor that was supposed to save Riley’s life and then they had a Buffy/Riley vs. Spike/Harmony brawl. Wouldn’t Buffy want revenge on Spike, rather than small talk? It strikes me as odd. I do love that she calls him ‘William’, though. Spike’s childish attitude towards Buffy is terrific. He’s reverted back to a school boy who doesn’t know how to deal with his confusing feelings. It’s the embodiment of “I love you, so I’m going to be mean to you”. Sadly, this lays the foundation for the next two years of their relationship.

I don’t recall the last time Buffy got her ass kicked so badly as she did against Glory. Faith, Angelus, Sunday, and a few others have all had the upper-hand with Buffy in fights before, but it was nothing like this. It works really well as an introduction Glory vs. Buffy fight because you realise that Buffy is totally out-matched and it leaves you wanting more. How can Buffy defeat this woman?! Buffy can’t rely on her Slayer strength alone to stop this season’s villain. GLORY STAMPS HER FOOT AND THE WHOLE BUILDING COLLAPSES! HOW CAN YOU FIGHT THAT KIND OF STRENGTH?!

I must admit,. Buffy handles the news that Dawn isn’t really her sister far better than I would have. The monks took this ball of energy, transformed it to human, and threw it into Buffy’s house, while planting fake memories in everyone’s heads. That is such a violation! The Scoobies were all mind-raped by these monks and I think that aspect of this reveal gets glossed over far too easily by the fandom. Look at all the stick Willow receives for making Tara forget an argument in the next season! It’s the same thing only this is on a much larger scale. Why didn’t the monks just transform the key into a random twig or duck-billed platypus until it was too late for Glory to perform the ritual? I can understand why they wanted the Slayer near it, as she’s Earth’s most powerful guardian, but in doing so they’ve led Glory right to it and put the Scoobies’ lives in jeopardy. Idiot monks. I mentioned it briefly before, but Sarah Michelle Gellar is flawless (more so than usual) in two scenes of this episode. This is the first. The second is the concluding conversation between Buffy and Dawn.

Buffy: “She’s not my sister?”

Monk: “She doesn’t know that.”

Just take a moment to let the weight of that statement sink in. It’s important to note that Dawn is a human now. A human that is completely unaware of anything that Buffy has learned during this episode. I’ve also got to give a special shout out to Ravil Isyanov, who does an absolutely amazing job throughout this episode. His voice is captivating.

The episode ends on a really touching scene between Dawn and Buffy. It’s a rare scene where Buffy and Dawn are actually getting along. Usually, Buffy finds Dawn annoying or Dawn is too busy being an angsty teenager, so genuinely touching scenes between the two is nice. Sarah’s subtlety here is what sells the scene. Her whole world has been turned upside down, yet she knows that Dawn is responsible for none of it. Dawn is blameless, yet Buffy can’t help but feel weird around her. Everything she’s ever known about her sister was a lie. A falsehood. Buffy’s “you always do that! Ever since...” sums up her mental state perfectly. Until a month or two ago, any memory of her sister or conversation she had with her was a lie. Any time they sat watching a movie, played on the beach, went on holiday...it’s all fake. Dawn has been on the show for five episodes, but to Buffy she’s been there long before “Welcome To The Hellmouth”. She remembers Joyce and Hank bringing Dawn home from the hospital. She remembers holding baby Dawn in her arms and telling Joyce that she could be the one to look after her. Dawn tells Buffy that she has a theory that Buffy is adopted and mentions a box of howler monkeys. It’s an interesting parallel to the fact that Dawn is adopted (so to speak) and was created by monks. Buffy lets all of her resentment towards Dawn go and they bond over their mother’s very natural illness. UGH. Why must Joss hurt my feels so badly?! To Buffy, the realisation that Joyce’s illness is natural is all the more frightening because there’s nothing she can do to stop it.

Quote Of The Episode

Buffy: “What are you doing here? Five words or less.”

Spike: “Out. For. A. Walk....Bitch.”

Buffy: “Outside my house at night? No-one has time for this, William.”

Spike: “On your merry way then. Contrary to one self-involved world view, your house happens to be directly between parts and other...parts of this town. And I would pass by in the day, but I feel I’m outgrowing my whole burst-into-flame phase.”

Buffy: “Fine. Keep going, I cut you a break.” 

Spike: “Yeah, okay, let me guess, you won’t kill me? Ooh, the whole crowd pleasing threats and swagger routine...how stunningly original. I’m just passing through, satisfied? I really hope so because God knows you need some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard and I never really liked you anyway, and you have stupid hair.”

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

What are your thoughts on "No Place Like Home"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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