Real World: Sunnydale

S06E14

Dearest reader, I'm prefacing this recap with a heartfelt apology. Over the course of writing about thirty-four recaps for this site, I have learned a hard, hard truth: sometimes my muse just deserts me. I'm never sure if it's because the episode was dull, or because of other stresses and distractions in my life, or because I was lax about burning those Amuse Your Muse candles I picked up at Illuminations, but the end result is the same. I sit in front of the television, my heart heavy in my chest and my fingers feeling like they're made out of lead. I type, delete everything I just typed, hit pause while I try to think up a joke, give up, sigh, type more, delete that, and so on. I hate to send out a recap as dull and wan as this, but "Older and Far Away" is obviously a description of my muse while I worked on this episode so please accept my apology and let's all hope for more amusing days to come.

Previously. Dawn had a problem with sticky fingers. Dawn had a problem with not being loved enough. Dawn had a problem with whining. Dawn had a problem with sniveling. Hey, that sounds like this entire upcoming episode. Spike played poker for portable protein units, er, "kittens," and Halfrek came to Sunnydale. Buffy confessed her affaire de Spike to Tara.

At the Summers house, Buffy busily packs a bunch of weapons into a bag whilst apologizing to Dawn for having to bail on their evening. Dawn suggests that when Buffy gets back, they can set up for her birthday party, but Buffy absentmindedly says that Willow is taking care of it, not seeming to realize that Dawn is hungry for a little attention.

Cemetery. Buffy is in a cute, kicky red bucket hat and red shearling coat, which seems a little dressy, but I guess when the demon you're slaying has his own fancy sword, you want to make a little more of an effort. Buffy struggles with aforementioned demon, but is suddenly grappling the thin air when the demon disappears. This demon's fancy headdress leads me to speculate that he's taking a little break from a fabulous revue in whatever the underworld equivalent of Las Vegas is. ["My guess is that would be Las Vegas, straight up." -- Sep] I think I'll call him High Kicker. He rematerializes and Buffy kicks him, knocking the sword out of his hands. She catches it and stabs him in the gut. Buffy is knocked to the ground by swirling blue energy and doesn't see the demon's spirit get sucked into the sword. She gets up, believing that he's run away. Buffy grabs the "shiny" sword, puts it in her magic bag of holding, and takes off.

Der Zauber Kasten. Anya, Xander, and Willow make some small talk about the plans for Buffy's party. Xander drops the "T" bomb -- Tara is coming to the party. Willow over-enthusiastically agrees, "Tara should totally be there. It'll be great. I'll wipe her mind and then she'll come back to me and never ever leave again!" Well, she doesn't really say that last sentence, but I bet she was thinking it. Enter Dawn. She's looking for a mall buddy. Willow says something about having to attend "Spellcasters Anonymous," which I will not even deign to comment upon, except to point out that the existence of such a group is exactly what we've suggested on the boards -- if only in the most cutting, sarcastic, "the writers would never stoop that low" way. Xander is also unable to frolic at the mall because he's working on scheduling his crew for week; Anya bows out because she has to fondle the money. Dawn bites back her tears and turns to go to the mall all by herself. Geez. When I was a teenager, you couldn't have paid me enough to make me hang out with my hypothetical older sister and her hypothetical friends. Plus, I know Dawn isn't feeling very nurtured and all, but the Scoobies are busy people, and maybe she should have made plans in advance with them, instead of dropping by right before she had to head to the mall.

Later Dawn creeps through the front door at home. She goes up to her room and then empties her coat pockets of some jewelry, tags still dangling. She takes off her red coat to reveal a black leather blazer underneath and as she models it in front of the mirror we see that it too still has a tag on it. But not the security tag we see on it later in the episode. Oops, did I give something away? Like you care. You're as bored as I am at this point -- admit it.

School. Dawn's in class. The class is interrupted by a message for Dawn; she's to report to the guidance office. Dawn sits across the desk from a new guidance counselor. The counselor quizzes her on her slipping grades and reminds her that "the most important part of [her] job is looking out for [Dawn]." And the way she says it, she seems so sincere and not at all like a demon on a vengeance mission that will cause Dawn to be locked up for an eternity in her house with her narcissistic sister and maladjusted freak friends when there's a hungry demon on the loose. Dawn isn't very communicative, but after a bit more prodding she admits that people keep leaving her, and sometimes she "wish[es] [she] could just make them stop."

Holy cheese and crackers, Batman! Xanya put the finishing touches on the party treats in Buffy's kitchen. Xander wonders who all is coming to the Buffy birthday bash, and Buffy lists the usual suspects, along with "Sophie from work." Buffy makes a big deal about how much she's bonded with Sophie, and how that shows she can make new friends, but when quizzed by Anya, she can't recall Sophie's last name. Xander and Anya let loose that they've invited a boy for Buffy. The birthday girl doesn't look too pleased by the news, but when Dawn hears the end of this as she clomps into the kitchen, she seems excited. Anya over-sells the blind date guy, and Xander scuttles off in embarrassment.

Cut to the foyer. Buffy answers the door as Tara arrives. She and Buffy share a hug. They talk about Buffy's mental health, but I'm distracted by the black off-the-shoulder-top that makes Buffy look like nothing so much as The Buffy Barbie Styling Head. Tara wonders if Spike is coming, and Buffy says she wants to stay in the closet about that relationship.

Upstairs, Willow adjusts and smoothes her hideously sequined and gathered and tucked blouse. Honey, I don't care how much you tug at that fabric; you're never gonna turn it into something you should be wearing, and more importantly, you're never going to win Tara back wearing it. ["Willow's blouse? Hideous. I'm a longtime fan of figure skating, and as such I've lived through the illusion fabric trend, the single-sleeve trend, the matching headband and armband with fringe trend. But this outfit? Worse than anything I've ever seen on a Russian ice dancer." -- Sep] Back downstairs, Tara is very nervous about seeing Willow, which of course is Willow's cue to enter. Buffy conspicuously leaves, and Willow and Tara talk to each other with a lot of "fines" and "ums" and "greats." Because everything is fine, um. Great! Tara strides into the kitchen and steals the glass of punch Buffy was pouring for herself. Knock on the door. Enter Spike, six-pack under his arm, droopy-eared kitten poker cheater demon in tow. Spike throwaways that Willow mentioned the party and he thought he'd drop by. Yeah, I'd like to have seen that conversation. When was the last time Spike talked to any of the gang? Buffy and Tara share a look. The droopy-eared demon introduces himself to Tara as Clement, and I'm considering claiming that as a big old shout-out to me since Clement is my dad's name. Xander brings in Richard, his normal friend from work, and immediately concocts a clever ruse to get Buffy and Richard alone together. The old "go show Richard where he can park his car on the street of a small town with ample parking and probably a free driveway since none of the inhabitants of the house even has a car" trick. Buffy, caught in an uncomfortable position, agrees to help Richard out, causing Spike to cock an eyebrow at her. In the doorway, Richard stops her and with a glance towards Clem whispers, "That guy with the…" "Skin condition," finishes Buffy. "He doesn't like to talk about it." Spike snarks, "Stupid git," after the departing Dick. "I don't know," needles Tara. "He seemed cute." Ha! I love me some Tara. She gets Clem to agree that Richard is cute; being a lesbian, she's not very sure of these things. Heh. Spike looks miffed.

By Ace

In the living room, Dawn is hyper-excited about Buffy opening her presents. Anya tells Dawn that it'll be a while because Buffy is busy making a "grown-up friend." Anya tries to pretend that she didn't invite Richard to set him up with Buffy, but Dawn counters with, "I do understand these things." Anya rubs Dawn's head and condescends, "Yes you do," in a tone which I use on my cat a lot. Huh. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that my cat hates me. An exasperated Dawn snaps, "You know I'm in high school, right?"

Some time later, Buffy descends the staircase, and Spike pulls her into the darkened hallway to proposition her. She declines. He teases her about not wanting to upset her "new boyfriend," but Buffy dismisses Richard as "sweet." Buffy posits that Spike is just jealous, and starts to walk off, having given Spike something to think about. Never at a loss for words, he calls out after her, "Think he'll take you out on his ten-speed, pet?"

Prezzies! Buffy looks confused at Willow's portable "back massager"; Willow suggests that she can bring it with her on patrol. I think I'll claim that as a shout-out because of the "Bad Girls" recap, in which Sep and I postulated that Angel should become a masseur because being the Slayer probably results in a lot of knotted muscles. Or else it was a strange single-girl-with-vibrator joke. to Buffy, Dawn twitches impatiently while waiting for her big sis to open her gift. Buffy finally does, and reveals the leather blazer from earlier. Buffy is duly impressed in a stunned sort of way, but then notices that the coat still bears a store security tag. Shouldn't she be wondering how her fifteen-year-old unemployed sister managed to find the money to purchase a present that extravagant? Dawn tries to play the security tag off, and luckily she's interrupted by Xanya rolling in a beautiful new handcrafted weapons chest. Xander points out the features, room for weapons and a CD holder. Dawn pouts on the couch, because Buffy isn't allowed to like any present but hers. Xander's present is so sweet and thoughtful; I think it's a wonderful non-verbal expression of the friendship bond between them. Buffy gives Xander some smoochies. Sorry, B/X shippers -- not that kind. Enter Doublemeat Sophie. She's a little off: "My mom told me to say thank you right away because otherwise I forget…also I can't have any chocolate or peanuts or egg yolks. And sometimes dairy." Anya leans over to Buffy and whispers, "Our friend is better." Aw, I kinda like Sophie. Us socially awkward people have to stick together. In the background, Spike looks lost now that he doesn't have anywhere to direct his sexual energies. Dawn goes to close the door, and as she does, the camera pans across to the porch, where the new guidance counselor steps out from the shadows and looks pensively inward. She then says, "Wish granted," and goes all demony.

Morning. You can tell it's morning by the wacky cartoon sounds emanating from the TV. Oh, and I guess the sunlight streaming in through the windows is a hint too. Various bodies are splayed on the couch. Richard Red Shirt reminds Xander that they've gotta jet if they want to make it to work on time. Spike thinks that getting rid of Richard Red Shirt is a grand idea. And then, and I'm serious here, Spike insinuates that he will eat the competition for Buffy's affections. Oh, that Spike! He's really the bestest boyfriend a Buffy could ever have. Buffy manhandles Spike into the hallway and, after calling him passive-aggressive, spits, "We do not joke about eating people in this house." She goes on to say that she should never have let him stay in the first place and that she was "insane" for ever believing that he could ever fit into her everyday life. Spike retorts, "And I was insane to think…no. Wait. You were right. You're insane." Ha!

In the kitchen, Tara and Willow run into each other while Tara is making a bit of breakfast. They discuss how strange the situation is. "It's like I wanna leave. But I don't want to." Uh. Anyone sensing a theme here?

Spuffy continue to fight in the hallway. They quickly discover that they actually can't leave when Buffy attempts to storm out the front door. Cut to everyone standing around the living room while they try to figure out the situation. Willow suggests throwing themselves at the door as a group, but nothing comes of it. Richard Red Shirt frets about his job, Anya that she won't be there to open Der Zauber Kasten, but Sophie doesn't mind staying because all she's got to look forward to is slinging hash at the Doublemeat. Buffy says, "We all have places that we'd rather be." Dawn takes this incredibly personally because she's a teenager and snots, "Because being stuck in here with me. That would really suck, right?" Willow tries to explain that the reason they want to leave has nothing to do with Dawn, but rather that they all have "more important" things to do. "Yeah. Important. Whatever that means, right?" snips Dawn. Yes, Dawn, important things like going to work to keep you in shampoo and knee-high leather boots, you ungrateful twerp. Dawn flounces upstairs and y'know? I'd really like to make it through JUST ONE recap without having to use the words "flounce," "storm," "stomp," or "stamp."

Dawn throws herself on the bed. Everyone follows her. The rest of this scene is so excruciatingly painful to recap that I'm going to only recap the recap. Dawn is upset that people seem to be suspecting her of doing something to keep them all in the house, and is the biggest, hugest, whiniest, and most annoying brat I've ever seen. She shrieks at all of them, "Get out, GET out, GET OUT!" Michelle, honey? There's a vocal range in between speaking and shrieking. It's called "shouting," and is also useful for expressing strong emotion. Ask your acting coach to tell you about it.

"I think she's possessed," says an Anya voice-over, overlapping the end shot of the scene. Buffy, Willow, Anya, Xander, and Spike are all sitting downstairs in the living room. Xander isn't convinced -- he explains to Anya that Dawn's just acting like a teenager. Tara walks in from the dining room and announces that none of the phones in the house work, but Buffy seems more worried about Dawn's anger. Kneeling near Buffy, Tara tries to assure her that they've all acted as snotty as Dawn at one time or another. When Buffy wonders why Dawn didn't approach her with her feelings, Xander reminds her that she's been awfully busy lately. Spike and Tara aren't down with the "touchy-feely" emotions talk and instead want to discuss how they'll all get out of the house. Buffy suggests that magic is their key for escaping the house, which prompts a bug-eyed "they're waving my nose candy around and I want a sniff" look from Willow. Tara offers to try a spell so that Willow will be spared the temptation and inevitable backslide that would surely come from casting one spell. Or whatever. As Tara asks for supplies, Willow looks queasy and mouth-breathes and then admits that she kept some magic supplies hidden. Candles hidden like a bong in a shoe box in her closet? Tara agrees to try a spell, but admonishes Willow to stay away from her.

Outside shot of the Summers home. Daytime. Tara is in the kitchen, mixing up some sort of strange goop in a bowl. This looks a lot more like Hamburger Helper than a magic spell. In the foyer, Willow, Spike, and Anya are lined up to try the front door as soon as Tara's spell takes effect. Richard, Clem, and Sophie join the folks in the hall, and Richard is pretty curious about the "unseen force" that has them all trapped. He wants an explanation as to what's going on and is losing faith in Clem's oddness just being a skin condition. Back in the kitchen, Tara lights her bowl of goop on fire, and it send a stream of reddish light floating through the house. "Release," commands Tara, and in the living room, the light surrounds the sword Buffy brought home from patrol. Buffy and Tara look around curiously, and Tara calls out that the people in the hall should try the door. Spike draws a deep breath and seems to struggle to move, and I'm all curious as to why he's about to open a door in the middle of a sunny day. No blanket or anything. And where's Xander during this little experiment? If the spell works, he could open the door, and hold it open without bursting into flames. We get some intercut scene of High Kicker being released from the sword in the living room and Spike realizing that he isn't able to even take a step towards the door, let alone open it. In the living room, the mostly materialized demon grabs his sword.

High Kicker rushes into the hall and attacks; Scoobies and guests scatter screaming, but Richard doesn't move fast enough and the demon slashes him across the stomach. Before he can harm anyone else, Buffy tackles High Kicker. She throws him to the ground, but he just melts into the floor. As Buffy and Spike look confused in the living room, Tara, Xander, and others run to aid Richard in the hall. High Kicker appears behind Buffy and swings for her head. She rushes him; he throws her down and then disappears before she can get up. What a chicken. Spike's all, "What the bloody hell was that?" and Buffy's all, "That's the demon I killed two nights ago," and Spike's all, "Guess not, huh?" and why am I writing like that? Because I'm bored and I have to make my own fun. Out in the hallway, Richard flops over, displaying his bloodied stomach, and Tara suggests moving him upstairs and getting him to a doctor "soon." I was gonna make some snide jokes about why the hell they would move a wounded man up a flight of stairs, and how I never want to get injured in the general vicinity of the Scoobies, but then I realized that Tara probably wanted to get Richard as far away from High Kicker as possible. Still seems kinda iffy to carry a guy with a gut wound up a flight of stairs, though. Buffy promises they'll get out of the house "soon."

That night. Ooops, not very soon, I guess. Sophie looks out the window and makes anxious noises as Buffy admits to Spike that "'soon' was a bit of an overstatement." With a sigh, Spike suggests that Buffy try not celebrating her birthday for once. I have a feeling crappy stuff would still happen to her anyway. It's just Buffy Summers's fate to have the worst birthdays ever. After Buffy goes upstairs, Dawn, who is sulking on the sofa, asks Spike about the strange groaning, rushing noise she hears. She speculates that High Kicker is lurking in the walls of the house, and Spike listens closely. However, he doesn't make love to the wall the way he did to the door last week, so it makes for a rather dry moment. Upstairs, Tara is dabbing at Richard's wound as Willow stands nearby. I know I came up with an explanation as to why they took the poor guy upstairs, but seriously, let me restate that I hope never to get injured around these people. Nobody bandaged Richard's wound. Hell, they didn't even take his shirt off! Tara's just poking at the bloody hole in his shirt with some peroxide on a cloth. High Kicker creaking and whooshing in the walls. Tara, Willow, and Richard looking anxious. Me writing the most boring recap in the history of this website. Buffy walking down the hall with a big knife. She's startled by Clem.

Xander and Anya are sitting on the floor somewhere, which is lit with cool blue light, unlike the warm tones of the rest of the house. Anya tugs at the front of her shirt and complains about the heat, but Xander tries to assure her that she's just feeling anxious. As she frets about Richard dying and their inability to escape from the house, Xander does a nice job trying to make her feel better. "We've been through worse," he tells her, but she feels "trapped" like an animal. She begins to unbutton her shirt frantically and moans about how she can't breathe. I can't care. I just can't. Grabbing her hands, Xander basically tells Anya she's having an anxiety attack, but they'll make a plan and do something. He's not sure what yet, but he'll go get her some water to cool her down.

More creaking and groaning in the walls as Xander heads to the kitchen. As he walks through the dining room, High Kicker appears out of the wall behind Xander and grabs him. Xander screams, Anya looks sort of worried, and Spike rushes in to help. High Kicker manages to throw both Spike and Xander to the floor before Buffy comes running in from walking around upstairs, or whatever she was doing. High Kicker and Buffy fight. When Spike jumps in, Buffy shouts to him that he should grab the demon's sword. Before he can, High Kicker knocks Spike down again and sinks away through the wall. "Are you hurt? Here, let me see," says Buffy, although with the editing it's impossible to tell if she's talking to Spike or Xander. Xander is the one who's cut, but Spike is the one she's mushy about. As Buffy hovers, Anya drags into the room, looking immobilized by terror. Xander jumps up to assure her he's okay, and they touch foreheads as Xander strokes her hair. Buffy stares at them, all sad-like. Either because her friend is hurt, or because she can't openly show her feelings for her boyfriend, or -- I dunno, maybe because she's wondering if they still have any of those Ore Ida French fries left in the freezer. With the crappy editing, it's so hard to tell.

By Ace

What's happening is that Anya is still convinced that Dawn is the one who trapped them and that her room must hold some clue, so she's pulling all the stuff off of Dawn's shelves. As Anya rants that Dawn must know something, Xander tries to calm her down. Buffy and Dawn hurry in as Anya goes through Dawn's desk. Dawn utters a desperate, "No!" as Anya picks up Dawn's jewelry box and opens it. She dumps out a whole pile of jewelry and trinkets, still bearing their price tags. Anya kneels to scoop up the items, and says in a surprised tone that much of it is from the Magic Box. She turns to stare at Dawn and demands, "How could you do this?" Dawn rushes from the room with Anya behind her. Xander and Buffy follow. Anya catches Dawn in the living room and asks why Dawn would repay her kindness by stealing from her. As everybody else troops in to see the latest show, Buffy begs Dawn to explain that there's some sort of mistake. Buffy then spots the leather coat Dawn gave her and utters an "oh" of realization. Anya wants to know how they're supposed to trust Dawn when she says she didn't trap them, since she's obviously been tricking them about other things. Buffy tries to defend her sister by explaining the curious guidance counselor, and Anya is appalled that Dawn made a wish to someone she didn't know. That one thing I can't get too mad at Dawn about, though. I mean, she opened up to someone about her feelings and expressed a wish that things could be different. We've all done that. She asks Dawn if the counselor was wearing "a pendant with a dark blue stone," and upon receiving confirmation, Anya begins shouting, "Halfrek!" To catch up the slower folks in the audience, Anya explains that Dawn made a wish to a vengeance demon. She then adds a new twist: "Only a vengeance demon can break her own vengeance spell." Huh. Ooookay. Anya calls again for Hallie, who appears and is promptly skewered right through by High Kicker.

Buffy, Anya, and Spike all fight High Kicker and seem to be doing pretty well against him until he slips into the floor. He's back a second later, though, right behind Spike, who manages to get him to drop the sword. Buffy picks it up as High Kicker vanishes into the wall, but she doesn't let that stop her -- she rams the sword into the wall after him. High Kicker gets sucked into the sword, which Buffy then breaks over her knee. Anya rushes to grab Hallie's pendant, but the seemingly dead Hallie wakes up and zaps Anya. Hallie stands up, brushing off her clothes, as the gang gapes at her. She laughs at them, saying the sword in her chest was just a flesh wound. Anya's all betrayed that Hallie would curse her, so Hallie begins to explain that she was just taking care of business. Then she spots Spike and says with much surprise, "William?" Spike peers at her, but when Buffy asks if they know each other, Hallie strokes her hair and denies that they do. "I thought vengeance demons only punished men who wronged women," says Tara, and Hallie explains that that was just Anya's trip. Hallie prefers to be more well-rounded; then she snots, in the most amusing tone, "And actually we prefer 'justice demon'? Okay? FYI." Really? I'd heard the union had voted for a title change to "Vengeance Maintenance Operator," although a large faction was partial to "Justice Engineer." Anya snots back that Hallie isn't so well-rounded, since she seems to spend a lot of time wreaking vengeance on the behalf of children. "Cough, cough, daddy issues," Anya coughs into her hand. Hallie waves all that away, saying that Dawn was in so much pain that Hallie could hear her everywhere in town. She tells everyone they deserve to be cursed for being blind to Dawn's problems, and tells them to enjoy all the time they'll be spending together. She wishes them luck in their eternity together, and then attempts to wink out with a flourish of her arms. She doesn't vanish. She primps a little, embarrassed, and then flourishes again. Still doesn't vanish. Anya rolls her eyes and reminds Hallie that she's affected by the curse too. Hallie sulks, "For crying out loud. Fine! The curse is lifted. We can all leave now." She flourishes once more and vanishes.

By Ace

A fade-out tells us it's some time later. Buffy asks Dawn if she's doing okay, but Dawn just snots, "Do you care?" Obviously, Buffy has had enough teen 'tude. She tells Dawn to stay with Spike, and walks away. Dawn's not done with her, though, and stomps after her, saying, "I didn't want this." Some back-and-forth, and Dawn finally admits that she feels terribly alone. And she thinks Buffy isn't, because she's surrounded by friends. Ha! Poor innocent Dawnie. She has no idea how alone Buffy really is.

In the kitchen, Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya are discussing how they'll get out of the house. Spike states the obvious -- that they can't stay there waiting for High Kicker to attack. Thanks for that update, but how are you going to get out? Tara think they've "tried everything," magic-wise, which prompts Anya to say, "Well, that's not completely true, is it?" Speaking very bluntly, Anya says that Willow is much more powerful than Tara and could do something to help. When Willow protests, "I can't!" Anya corrects her, "Not can't. Won't." Willow's not sure she could help at all, and Anya protests that sitting around doing nothing is no way to find out if she's right. Xander thinks Anya has a point; he tells Willow, "It's just one little spell," and that the whole gang would be there to help her recover afterwards. Willow is adamant that she cannot start doing magic again, and Anya advances on her, snarling about Willow having created her problem in the first place. Tara's had enough. She jumps in between Anya and Willow and shouts, "Hey! You're gonna back off." She crosses her arms and says that if Anya intends to make Willow do something she doesn't want to do, Anya will have to go through Tara first. Anya snarls that she'll take care of the situation herself, and hurries upstairs.

By Ace

Buffy and Dawn are sitting on Buffy's bed, discussing the fact that Buffy hasn't been around for Dawn. Buffy tells her sister that looking after her is her most important job -- which makes me wonder why she's been acting like getting undead nookie is her primary focus. Does shagging Spike somehow further the oh-so-important job of looking after Dawn? Because I can't see how. Dawn cracks a little joke about whether her guidance counselor has been talking to Buffy, which makes Buffy curious. She gets Dawn to tell her how the counselor, a total stranger, called her out of class and got her to start talking about her home life. Buffy wonders if Dawn voiced any wishes to this supposed guidance counselor. They hear a racket and rush to see what's happening.

By Ace

Nobody runs for the phone to get an ambulance for poor forgotten Richard. Instead, we get a talk between Willow and Tara in the kitchen. Tara is packing up Willow's hidden magic supplies as Willow baby-talks some whininess about how she kept the magic supplies as a "safety net"; she felt that if she had the supplies, she wouldn't need to think about the day she might need some magic to save herself. Or something. I wasn't listening, because I was WORRYING about poor Richard dying upstairs as Will mealy-mouths about her damn addiction. Tara tells Willow to walk without the net, and reminds Willow that she had the strength to say no to magic earlier.

Xander and Anya man-handle poor Richard down the stairs. "You have some weird friends," mumbles poor Richard, to which Xander replies, "News from the file marked 'duh.'" That's nice. You invite the guy to Buffy's birthday party and attempt to set him up with someone -- those two things are bad enough, but to then mock the guy after he's had to lie around in a bloody shirt for two days? Uncool. Xander expositions that he and Anya are taking Richard to the emergency room (why didn't they call him an ambulance?), and Anya tells Dawn she'll be back to talk to her about payment for the stolen goods. Buffy wonders if the spell has worn off (which maybe explains why people were still standing around yammering rather than taking the wounded guy to the ER). Spike opens the front door. Anya and Xander walk Richard out, followed by Sophie, Tara, Willow, and Clem. Everybody babbles about the stars and the grass. I can understand why Willow left despite the fact that she lives there -- she needs some fresh air! As he leaves, Clem gives Buffy a thumbs-up and grins, "Good party!" More babbling. Buffy smiles after Clem, and then Spike gives her a grin and leaves. Or at least someone who physically resembles David Boreanaz leaves wearing Spike's duster. Buffy watches everyone go, and as she steps to the door, Dawn gives her a pleading look. Buffy sees it, and instead of leaving with everyone else, she steps back and closes the front door. As it closes, we see Dawn give a little smile. At least that's the way my sister interpreted it, and since I was asleep by the end, I'll take her word for it.