Final Days Outline
Okay, the timeline of the last six episodes of S7 always leaves me a bit confused, so I decided to trace things out. I figured some other people may enjoy it, too. Since I have a couple hours before my lab, I might as well get this sussed out.
Dirty Girls
Night: Potential is attacked; Willow arrives with Faith back in Sunnydale
Same night: Faith catches up with Buffy and Spike while they're on patrol
Same night: Caleb arrives at the vineyard
Next morning: Andrew tells Potentials about Faith; Wood fires Buffy from her job. We first hear about people leaving town
Same day: The attacked Potential passes along Caleb's message to Buffy; Buffy rallies Potentials to go on offensive and attack Caleb
Night: Buffy and Faith follow a Bringer to the vineyard on a recon mission
Same night: Buffy and all go into battle; stunning loss
Same night: After defeat, Buffy goes on lonely, angsty walk through Sunnydale streets.
Empty Places
Next morning: Buffy (wearing what she'd been wearing at the close of Dirty Girls) still doing the angsty roaming. Sunnydale residents leaving in mass exodus.
Same day: Willow and Giles yoink some police files in an attempt to get the scoop on Caleb
Same day: Buffy visits Xander in hospital
Same day: Potentials very disillusioned; School canceled
Same day: Buffy visits the school; runs into Caleb
Evening: Dawn finds info about an old mission that may be connected to Caleb; Giles sends Spike and Andrew to investigate; Faith takes girls out to the Bronze for party time
Same night: Police brutality against Faith. Big bar rumble. Buffy intervenes.
Same night: Andrew and Spike arrive at mission
Same night: Robin comes over. Xander returns from hospital. Buffy lays out her plan to attack the vineyard again.
Same night: Buffy's plan? Not so popular. She gets ousted.
Touched
Same night: After Buffy's gone, everybody starts bickering about what to do; power goes out.
Same night: Buffy yoinks some dude's house.
Next day: Spike and Andrew waiting at mission for sun to go down so they can return to Revello.
Night: Faith and all start making plans to grab a Bringer.
Same night: Kennedy acts as bait. Faith and group capture a Bringer. Oh no! He doesn't talk!
Same night: Spike and Andrew return. Spike punches Faith and storms out.
Same night: Willow does some magic to get Bringer to talk through Andrew. Arsenal decoy offered.
Same night: Spike sniffs out Buffy and finds her moping. Pep talk time.
Same night: Faith and Giles finalize plans to attack some place in the sewers. Launch time is 0700.
Same night: Everybody has sex except for Buffy and Spike. Heather Nova plays in the background.
Next day: Faith leaves with Potentials and orders Scoobies to find Buffy; Spike wakes up to find Buffy gone.
Same day: Buffy goes solo to the vineyard. Plays "you can't touch me" with Caleb. Finds scythe.
Same day: Faith takes girls into sewer. Boom!
End of Days
Same day: Again, boom; Buffy nabs scythe and leaves vineyard.
Same day: Scoobies return. No Buffy. Andrew's looting.
Same day: Potentials recover unconscious Faith. They try to get out of the sewers but are set upon by a pack of ubervamps. Buffy swoops in to the rescue.
Same day: Everybody returns to Buffy's house (except Spike who is presumably stuck at the house he spent the night in with Buffy except that Willow says they found the house (thanks to a locater spell) and that it was empty so Spike must've been hiding in the closet or something).
Same day: Triage; scythe research; Buffy asks Xander to kidnap Dawn and get her away from Sunnydale.
Night: Xander chloroforms Dawn. Drives away with her while twirling mustache.
Night: Caleb throws wine barrels, then merges with The First. POWER UP!
Night: Spike returns. Awkward convo with Buffy. Buffy's going to find some tomb related to the scythe. Spike opts to go watch Caleb and make sure he's not on the move (he does a shit job of it).
Night: Andrew and Anya wheelchair fight spectacular.
Night: Buffy meets Guardian. Guardian killed by Caleb. Fight, Buffy, Fight!
Night: Dawn wakes up in car, tasers Xander, and turns around to head back to Revello.
Night: Angel swoops into Buffy-Caleb fight. Kiss kiss. Spike watches.
Chosen
Same night: Still kissing. Caleb not quite dead. Buffy splits him balls to brain. Boo-yah.
Same night: Angel gives Buffy amulet. Spike stalks away. Buffy tells Angel to go back to LA.
Same night: Buffy gets home. Dawn kicks her.
Same night: Buffy visits Spike in basement. Gives him the amulet. Stays the night. Cuddle cuddle.
Same night: The First taunts Buffy. Backfires. Buffy figures out how to win.
Next day: Buffy presents idea to the Scoobies. General agreement.
Same day: Buffy gives big Chosen speech to Potentials. Part of it is cut to be played later during the battle.
Same day: Preparations at Sunnydale High. Robin and Faith flirt. Willow and Kennedy talk magic.
Night: Dungeons and Dragons of DOOM.
Same night: Buffy visits Spike in the basement. Scene conveniently fades to black.
Next day: BIG BATTLE. Everybody separates. Potentials slice their hands to open the seal. Willow starts POWER UP spell. The rest of Buffy's speech from the previous day plays.
Same day: Spike's amulet starts doing something ambiguous. Buffy gets stabbed. Anya is killed.
Same day: Buffy stands up and gets snarky with The First. Spike's amulet starts doing the glow-y thing, with light breaking through the ceiling and ubervamps getting mass-dusted. Everybody starts to vacate.
Same day: Firey handholds, pithy replies, Spike gets dusty.
Same day: School explodes, bus drives off, Buffy goes to start jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
Same day: Big crater. Buffy almost smiles. DONE!
Starting from Dirty Girls, the events of the last episodes comprise one week - seven days - of show time.
Dirty Girls
Night: Potential is attacked; Willow arrives with Faith back in Sunnydale
Same night: Faith catches up with Buffy and Spike while they're on patrol
Same night: Caleb arrives at the vineyard
Next morning: Andrew tells Potentials about Faith; Wood fires Buffy from her job. We first hear about people leaving town
Same day: The attacked Potential passes along Caleb's message to Buffy; Buffy rallies Potentials to go on offensive and attack Caleb
Night: Buffy and Faith follow a Bringer to the vineyard on a recon mission
Same night: Buffy and all go into battle; stunning loss
Same night: After defeat, Buffy goes on lonely, angsty walk through Sunnydale streets.
Empty Places
Next morning: Buffy (wearing what she'd been wearing at the close of Dirty Girls) still doing the angsty roaming. Sunnydale residents leaving in mass exodus.
Same day: Willow and Giles yoink some police files in an attempt to get the scoop on Caleb
Same day: Buffy visits Xander in hospital
Same day: Potentials very disillusioned; School canceled
Same day: Buffy visits the school; runs into Caleb
Evening: Dawn finds info about an old mission that may be connected to Caleb; Giles sends Spike and Andrew to investigate; Faith takes girls out to the Bronze for party time
Same night: Police brutality against Faith. Big bar rumble. Buffy intervenes.
Same night: Andrew and Spike arrive at mission
Same night: Robin comes over. Xander returns from hospital. Buffy lays out her plan to attack the vineyard again.
Same night: Buffy's plan? Not so popular. She gets ousted.
Touched
Same night: After Buffy's gone, everybody starts bickering about what to do; power goes out.
Same night: Buffy yoinks some dude's house.
Next day: Spike and Andrew waiting at mission for sun to go down so they can return to Revello.
Night: Faith and all start making plans to grab a Bringer.
Same night: Kennedy acts as bait. Faith and group capture a Bringer. Oh no! He doesn't talk!
Same night: Spike and Andrew return. Spike punches Faith and storms out.
Same night: Willow does some magic to get Bringer to talk through Andrew. Arsenal decoy offered.
Same night: Spike sniffs out Buffy and finds her moping. Pep talk time.
Same night: Faith and Giles finalize plans to attack some place in the sewers. Launch time is 0700.
Same night: Everybody has sex except for Buffy and Spike. Heather Nova plays in the background.
Next day: Faith leaves with Potentials and orders Scoobies to find Buffy; Spike wakes up to find Buffy gone.
Same day: Buffy goes solo to the vineyard. Plays "you can't touch me" with Caleb. Finds scythe.
Same day: Faith takes girls into sewer. Boom!
End of Days
Same day: Again, boom; Buffy nabs scythe and leaves vineyard.
Same day: Scoobies return. No Buffy. Andrew's looting.
Same day: Potentials recover unconscious Faith. They try to get out of the sewers but are set upon by a pack of ubervamps. Buffy swoops in to the rescue.
Same day: Everybody returns to Buffy's house (except Spike who is presumably stuck at the house he spent the night in with Buffy except that Willow says they found the house (thanks to a locater spell) and that it was empty so Spike must've been hiding in the closet or something).
Same day: Triage; scythe research; Buffy asks Xander to kidnap Dawn and get her away from Sunnydale.
Night: Xander chloroforms Dawn. Drives away with her while twirling mustache.
Night: Caleb throws wine barrels, then merges with The First. POWER UP!
Night: Spike returns. Awkward convo with Buffy. Buffy's going to find some tomb related to the scythe. Spike opts to go watch Caleb and make sure he's not on the move (he does a shit job of it).
Night: Andrew and Anya wheelchair fight spectacular.
Night: Buffy meets Guardian. Guardian killed by Caleb. Fight, Buffy, Fight!
Night: Dawn wakes up in car, tasers Xander, and turns around to head back to Revello.
Night: Angel swoops into Buffy-Caleb fight. Kiss kiss. Spike watches.
Chosen
Same night: Still kissing. Caleb not quite dead. Buffy splits him balls to brain. Boo-yah.
Same night: Angel gives Buffy amulet. Spike stalks away. Buffy tells Angel to go back to LA.
Same night: Buffy gets home. Dawn kicks her.
Same night: Buffy visits Spike in basement. Gives him the amulet. Stays the night. Cuddle cuddle.
Same night: The First taunts Buffy. Backfires. Buffy figures out how to win.
Next day: Buffy presents idea to the Scoobies. General agreement.
Same day: Buffy gives big Chosen speech to Potentials. Part of it is cut to be played later during the battle.
Same day: Preparations at Sunnydale High. Robin and Faith flirt. Willow and Kennedy talk magic.
Night: Dungeons and Dragons of DOOM.
Same night: Buffy visits Spike in the basement. Scene conveniently fades to black.
Next day: BIG BATTLE. Everybody separates. Potentials slice their hands to open the seal. Willow starts POWER UP spell. The rest of Buffy's speech from the previous day plays.
Same day: Spike's amulet starts doing something ambiguous. Buffy gets stabbed. Anya is killed.
Same day: Buffy stands up and gets snarky with The First. Spike's amulet starts doing the glow-y thing, with light breaking through the ceiling and ubervamps getting mass-dusted. Everybody starts to vacate.
Same day: Firey handholds, pithy replies, Spike gets dusty.
Same day: School explodes, bus drives off, Buffy goes to start jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
Same day: Big crater. Buffy almost smiles. DONE!
Starting from Dirty Girls, the events of the last episodes comprise one week - seven days - of show time.