Empty Places

"Empty Places" is the 19th episode of the seventh and final season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode aired on April 29, 2003 on UPN.^[1][2]

"Empty Places"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 19
Directed by	James A. Contner
Written by	Drew Z. Greenberg
Production code	7ABB19
Original air date	April 29, 2003 (2003-04-29)
Guest appearances
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles Eliza Dushku as Faith Nathan Fillion as Caleb Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells Iyari Limon as Kennedy Indigo as Rona Sarah Hagan as Amanda Kristy Wu as Chao-Ahn D. B. Woodside as Principal Robin Wood Dorian Missick as Police Officer Larry Clarke as The Monk Mary Wilcher as Shannon James C. Leary as Clem Justin Shilton as Munroe Nathan Brooks Burgess as Duncan David Grammar as Crazy Citizen
Episode chronology
List of episodes

Plot

The citizens of Sunnydale flee en masse to escape the Hellmouth and Sunnydale becomes a ghost town. Buffy spots Clem in his car on his way out; he urges her to leaves town for this particular apocalypse.

Giles and Willow go to get information from the police on Caleb, with Willow using some mind control to convince the officer that they are with Interpol. 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 grabs her by the neck and throws her through a window into a wall, rendering her unconscious. After she awakens, 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, who threaten to kill or injure Faith, and briefly hold Dawn and the Potentials' hostage at the Bronze, Buffy confronts the group, minus the absent Spike and Andrew, and demands that they make better choices, and reveals her plans for another attack. But at this point, the Potentials, as well as Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles and Principal Wood, tell Buffy that they no longer trust her leadership. At Dawn's request, Buffy leaves the house and Faith reluctantly becomes the new leader.

Continuity

This episode is the final appearance of the night club "The Bronze", which had appeared regularly since the first episode. The band playing there is "Nerf Herder", who wrote and performed the show's theme music throughout: their connection to the series was further acknowledged by this dialogue:

Kennedy: "What kind of band plays during an apocalypse?"
Dawn: "I think this band might actually be one of the signs."^[3]

Reception

When it first aired, Nielson Ratings reported that "Empty Places" attracted an audience of 2.3 million.^[4]

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked all episodes in honor of 20th anniversary of the show ending. This episode was ranked as number 136 out of the 144 episodes, described as "a real low point in Season Seven".^[5]