Older and Far Away 

After Dawn talks to a guidance counselor about her feeling lonely, she accidentally puts a spell on Buffy and her friends, trapping them inside the Summer's house with a sword-wielding demon.

Director:

Michael Gershman

Writers:

Joss Whedon (created by), Drew Z. Greenberg

Stars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Emma Caulfield Ford

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon	...	Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield Ford	...	Anya (as Emma Caulfield)
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Dawn Summers
James Marsters	...	Spike
Alyson Hannigan	...	Willow Rosenberg
Kali Rocha	...	Halfrek
Ryan Browning	...	Richard
Amber Benson	...	Tara Maclay
Laura Roth	...	Sophie
James C. Leary	...	Clem
Elizabeth Cazenave	...	Teacher

Storyline

Everyone gathers at the Summers home for Buffy's twenty-first birthday party and it goes well... at first. Feeling neglected by Buffy and the gang, Dawn's wish to keep people from leaving her is answered by Halfrek, who binds the attendees of the party to the house. When Tara tries a spell to free them, she only makes the situation worse by accidentally releasing a demon trapped inside a sword.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 2002 (USA)

Filming Locations:

1800 Stewart St., Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Dawn's classroom, the teacher is saying, "... if we can come up with things Jim lost during his years in Shanghai, and things he gained." She is referring to author J.G. Ballard, whose autobiographical novel "Empire of the Sun" was adapted to film in Empire of the Sun (1987).

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Goofs

As Spike walks toward the front door at 40:53, you can see part of a lighting instrument at the top edge of the frame, just left of the door.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Buffy Summers: [sighs] I'm sorry.
Dawn Summers: It's okay.
Buffy Summers: No. We're gonna sit down and have a real dinner... someday. I hate having to run out in the middle. It's just, you know, there's this *thing* out there. Definitely non-vampire.
Dawn Summers: I understand.

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Connections

References The Exterminating Angel (1962)

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Soundtracks

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme
Written by Nerf Herder
Performed by Brandon K. Verrett

User Reviews

Decent Episode

This episode wasn't the best, and it wasn't the worst. My favorite part is whenever Tara tells Spike to put some ice on his "sore muscle." haha The thing that annoys me the most with this episode, is Dawn. Actually, Dawn annoys me a lot throughout the entire show. Whenever the show originally aired I stopped watching shortly after Dawn joined the scooby gang because I couldn't stand her character! (plus Angel was gone) Dawn is extremely whiny and is constantly complaining about how nobody wants to spend time with her and Buffy is never around. Whenever I was 15, I loved having time to myself, or time that I could go out and be with friends. It's Dawn's own fault for her not having any friends (she makes a comment to Buffy about how she has all of these friends and she has none). Her screaming episode telling everyone to "get out" was highly immature and more like a baby pitching a fit instead of a 15 year old girl wanting her space. Dawn's "break down" really just made this episode just OK for me. She needs to grow a back bone.