SEASON 1 (1997)

WELCOME TO THE HELLMOUTH

=========================

Continuity

Episode characters

Writing and acting

Charles Martin Smith Charles Martin Smith was the director of the first episode of the show - Welcome to the Hellmouth (the only

episode he directed). He is also an actor. He has been in American Graffiti (as Toad), Herbie Goes Bananas, The

Untouchables, Roswell (as Sheriff Wilcox), Deep Impact and Dead Heat.

Eric Balfour Eric Balfour (who played Jesse) played Gabe in Six Feet Under. He was born in Los Angeles in 1977. He began a

career in TV and on film aged 15, when a talent scout cast him as a series regular on the musical show Kids

Incorporated. Eric has since been in 24, NYPD Blue, The OC, The West Wing, Dawson’s Creek and Chicago Hope. His

movie credits include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, America’s Sweethearts, What Women Want and Can’t Hardly Wait

(with Seth Green and Amber Benson). He starred alongside Bianca Lawson (Kendra) in the WB’s Fearless, and is

currently in Conviction with J. August Richards, who played Charles Gunn in Angel from the end of season one. Eric and his girlfriend Francoise own a shop on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood called ‘Lou Lou’, which sells the

kind of furniture, art and clothing that Eric likes. Eric is a great animal lover, and he’s especially fond of

Pitbull terriers, believing them to be misunderstood by many people. He is involved in a programme called “Pets

In The Hood”, which takes rescued Pitbulls (who have been abandoned or abused) and brings them into a juvenile

detention centre where the kids there are taught to train them so that the dogs can then be adopted. It’s good

for the kids too as they learn to respect animals, as well as receiving training on how to work with animals.

J. Patrick Lawlor J. Patrick Lawlor played Thomas the vampire in Welcome to the Hellmouth (the first vampire to be staked on the

show). He has also been in Pleasantville, in which Marc Blucas (Riley) and Danny Strong (Jonathan) also appeared.

Mark Metcalf Mark Metcalf, who played the Master, was born in Findlay, Ohio, in 1946. He has had numerous roles in TV and

film, most notably in National Lampoon’s Animal House as Niedermayer and as The Maestro in Seinfeld. Mark has

also been in Teen Angel, Ally McBeal, Star Trek: Voyager, Melrose Place, Party of Five and Hill Street Blues. He

played the father in Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” video.

Natalie Strauss Natalie played a teacher in Welcome to the Hellmouth, and in Teacher’s Pet. She has also been in Picket Fences,

Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Gilmore Girls.

Persia White Persia White played Aura, one of Cordelia’s friends in Welcome to the Hellmouth who discovered the “extreme dead

body”. Persia once appeared with Charisma Carpenter in an episode of Malibu Shores called ‘Hotline’ in 1996. She

played Aggie in the Angel episode ‘Over the Rainbow’. Persia appeared in an episode of the TV show Goode

Behaviour, which starred Bianca Lawson (Kendra). Persia has played Lynn on UPN’s Girlfriends for six seasons.

| Source: Thanks to Jakey Teddy Lane Jnr. Teddy played the Bouncer at the Bronze in Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest. He has also been in Bringing

Down the House, Strong Medicine, V.I.P, and The One.

Back to the top

Production details

Description of Willow The following initial description of Willow is from the original shooting script:

“[Willow]…is shy, bookish, and very possibly dressed by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and the sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm that is lost on the unsubtle high school mind. It’s certainly lost on Xander, though he brightens considerably to see her…[Willow’s] excitement at the sentiment [that Xander’s so happy to see her] is sweetly pathetic, and typically unnoticed.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1, Pocket Books Description of Xander This description of Xander comes from the original shooting script:

“[Xander]…is bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he’ll do the best he can with bright and funny.”

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess | Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1, Pocket Books Fighting the setting sun The sun was starting to set outside in the scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth where Cordelia tells the Scoobies about the dead guy in the locker, so Buffy and Cordelia looked more orange than usual. They had to bounce the light around and focus it on Buffy and Cordelia.

Read more | Add a comment | by Angelus | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Fumbling Flutie The following scene between Flutie and Buffy was cut from Welcome to the Hellmouth:

Mr. Flutie: “Oh! Buffy! Uh, what do you want?” Buffy: “Um, is there a guy in there that’s dead?” Mr. Flutie: “Where did you hear that? Okay. Yes. But he’s not a student! Not currently.” Buffy: “Do you know how he died?” Mr. Flutie: “What?” Buffy: “I mean – how could this have happened?” Mr. Flutie: “Well, that’s for the police to determine when they get here. But this structure is safe, we have inspectors, and I think there’s no grounds for a lawsuit.” Buffy: “Was there a lot of blood? Was there any blood?” Mr. Flutie: “I would think you wouldn’t want to involve yourself in this kind of thing.” Buffy: “I don’t. Could I just take a peek?” Mr. Flutie: “Unless you already are involved…” Buffy: “Never mind.” Mr. Flutie: “Buffy, I understand this is confusing. You’re probably feeling a lot right now. You should share those feelings. With someone else.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: The Watcher's Guide by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder I was in the library The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth included an alternate exchange in the scene when Xander chases after Buffy when she leaves the Bronze to find Willow:

Xander: “Why, you know something about Mr. Goodbar that she doesn’t? Oh! Hey. I hope he’s not a vampire. ‘Cause then you’ve have to slay him.” She turns back to him, surprised and miffed. Buffy: “Was there a school bulletin? Was it in the news? Is there anybody in this town who doesn’t know I’m a Slayer?” Xander: “I only know you think you’re a Slayer, and I only know that ‘cause I was in the library today.”

Read more | 4 comments | by emersoneells Kristine’s first scene Kristine Sutherland revealed a blunder she made during filming of her first scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth:

“It was the very first scene of the very first episode, where I was dropping Buffy off at school. I had done TV before but never really been involved in a series, so I was very nervous. Things went pretty well with the dialogue, but when Sarah got out of the car, I put my foot on the gas and lurched backwards! Fortunately, I didn’t hit anything but I had that flash of ‘Oh, my God, what if I plowed into the car behind me?” In my panic, I was also sure that Charlie [Martin Smith, the director] was thinking, ‘What kind of incompetent do we have here?’ and I would be fired immediately. Of course, I wasn’t.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Unknown magazine article, online version can be found here Marketing Buffy The WB was originally unsure about the show’s “schizophrenic” combination of horror, drama, and comedy, not because they were opposed to it but because they were uncertain how to market it.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Plagues are fun The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth had a slightly modified version of the history teacher’s lesson on the Black Plague. The line in italics was not included in the episode:

“It’s estimated that about 25 million people died in that one four year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe how? As an early form of germ warfare. The plague was first found in Asia, and a Kipchak army actually catapulted plague-infested corpses into a Genoese trading post. Ingenious. If you can look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease…”

Read more | 12 comments | by emersoneells Previous Slayers trailer The first time Welcome to the Hellmouth was shown in America, it was preceded by a short trailer that referred to previous slayers such as Lucy Hanover (who now regularly pops up in the Buffy books and comics). This has never been shown again in America and has never been seen overseas.

Read more | 4 comments | by Jess Principal Flutie’s extended welcome The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth shows additional dialogue for Buffy and Principal Flutie’s conversation in his office on her first day. These lines take place between where he actually looks at her transcript and begins taping it together

Principal Flute: “At Sunnydale we nurture the whole student. The inner student… Other schools might look at the incredible decline in grade point average — we look at the struggling young woman with the incredible decline in grade point average. Other schools might look at the reports of gang fights–”

The dialogue then continues with Principal Flutie’s offer that Buffy can call him Bob as shown in the episode.

Read more | 5 comments | by emersoneells Reshoots The scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth in which Giles and Buffy are in the library arguing about Buffy’s reluctance to assume her Slayer duties was actually shot eight months after the rest of the episode. In the original version, Sarah had come across as far too angry and so the scene was completely reshot.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Slut-o-vision Whilst dressing for the Bronze in Welcome to the Hellmouth, Buffy holds up a black dress and says “Hi! I’m an enormous slut!” The network executives apparently didn’t approve of the use of the word ’slut’. It was only after Joss Whedon explained that it was in the context of Buffy not wanting to appear a slut that they allowed it.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth, Thanks to Jean Stepping out, Willow style After the first episode the WB didn’t like Willow’s style (dowdy) so they requested that she dress differently, and be (confusingly) more like Buffy.

Read more | Add a comment | by Angelus | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Sunnydale High’s Halls For the first season, there was only one hall for Sunnydale High school because of a tight budget so they reused the same hall over and over again, redressing it in different ways.

Music

Nerf Herder The Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme tune was written and performed by the band Nerf Herder. The band took their

name from a line in The Empire Strikes Back where Princess Leia called Han Solo a “stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy

looking nerf herder”. Joss Whedon said in his DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth that Alyson Hannigan

brought the band to his attention by constantly playing their self-titled first album. Joss contacted them to

compose Buffy’s title music. Nerf Herder’s original recording of the Buffy theme tune had a point where the beat was lost slightly and it had

to be re-recorded. The theme tune is available on the compilation Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999, TVT

Records). Nerf Herder’s song ‘Vivian’ (from How to Meet Girls, 2000) played during the episode Who Are You? when

Faith (in Buffy’s body) danced at the Bronze. The band appeared onstage in Empty Places when Faith, the Potentials and Dawn went dancing there, playing ‘Rock

City News’ and ‘Mr. Spock’. Kennedy said in that episode, “What kind of band plays during an apocalypse?” to

which Dawn replied, “I think this band might actually be one of the signs”.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess Sprung Monkey The first ever band to play at the Bronze was Sprung Monkey in Welcome to the Hellmouth. They play “Things Are

Changing” from their album Swirl as Buffy leaves the Bronze looking for Willow, and “Believe”, from the same

album, as Buffy enters the Bronze for the first time. They also play “Swirl” in the Bronze. We hear their song

“Saturated” (from the album Swirl) as Buffy is choosing an outfit. Their song “Right My Wrong” (again from Swirl) can be heard in The Harvest as Buffy attempts to leave the school,

and “Reluctant Man” (Swirl) can be heard in The Pack when the bullies enter The Bronze.

| Source: Thanks to Kindred

Cultural References

Bovril - Giles says, “I’d much prefer to be home with a cup of Bovril and a good book.” Bovril is the name of a thick yeast extract, which, when mixed with hot water, make a hot drink. It was formerly a beef extract and is as yicky as it sounds.

DeBarge - Buffy tells Thomas the vampire that he looks like DeBarge. She’s referring to the pop group consisting of five siblings who had a hit with ‘Rhythm of the Night’ in 1985.

Epstein-Barr virus - Cordelia says to her friends in the Bronze “My mom doesn’t even get out of bed anymore. And the doctor says it’s Epstein-Barr. I’m like, pleeease! It’s chronic hepatitis, or at least chronic fatigue syndrome. I mean, nobody cool has Epstein-Barr anymore.” Epstein-Barr is a common virus which affects most people sometime during their lives.

Neiman Marcus - Buffy says that Sunnydale is “two hours on the freeway from Neiman-Marcus.” Neiman-Marcus is an upscale department store.

Sears Holdings Corporation - Cordelia tells Willow she’s seen the “softer side of Sears”, which is a department store.

James Spader - Cordelia gives Buffy questions to test her "coolness", they include one about Spader, 80’s brat pack movie star who featured in Pretty in Pink, Sex, Lies and Videotape, Crash and The Secretary.

John Tesh - Cordelia's questionairre also involves Tesh, former TV host and musician.

The Watchtower - Whilst she is picking out what to wear to go to the Bronze Buffy holds up a flowery dress saying, “Hello, would you like a copy of the Watchtower?” which is a reference to the Jehovah’s Witness magazine, published twice a month.

Continuity

Episode characters

Angel’s cross Angel gave Buffy a cross necklace when he first met her in Welcome to the Hellmouth. She can be seen wearing the

necklace in The Harvest and Prophecy Girl.

British Museum The Illuminata - the diamond the nerds stole from Sunnydale Museum in Smashed - was on loan from the British

Museum, where Giles worked before becoming Buffy’s Watcher. Willow mentioned this in Welcome to the Hellmouth.

Buffy’s choice The Slayer’s first interesting move when she went to Sunnydale was her choice in friends. On arriving at her new

school she was instantly befriended by the most popular girl in school, Cordelia. Instead she chose the shy and

nerdy Willow Rosenberg to be her companion. Buffy stated to Giles in Welcome to the Hellmouth that she was sick

of being a slayer and wanted to lead a normal life (which in American High Schools, by default, means to be

popular). Buffy’s choice of friends is therefore notable as an insight into her character. She saw through

Cordelia’s guise immediately and instead chose more genuine and yet ostracised people, a brave move when she

wanted to be popular. We saw via flashback in Becoming (Part 1) that Buffy was quite shallow before she was

called as a Slayer. Her choice of friends in her new school could be a signal that as much as she hates it, being

a Slayer has changed her.

Buffy’s moving door The front door of Buffy’s house changes in different episodes. In the season one episode Angel, when Buffy is

trying to close her front door on The Three, you can see that the front door opens on Buffy’s right. In the

season two episodes Inca Mummy Girl and Halloween, we see that Buffy’s door now opens on her left. Later in season two, when Cordelia talks to Norman Pfister in Buffy’s hall in What’s My Line? (Part 2), you can

see that the door handle of Buffy’s front door is on the left. But when Xander let Cordelia in the house in the

previous episode (What’s My Line? (Part 1))the handle was on the right!

Read more | Add a comment | by Mel Carpe Diem Buffy’s motto, which means “seize the day”. In Welcome to the Hellmouth, Buffy tells Willow “seize the moment,

because tomorrow you might be dead.” In Surprise, Willow reminded Buffy about “Carpe diem” in their chat about

whether Buffy should sleep with Angel. And look what happened then.

Dreams can come true All of the visions in Buffy’s first prophetic dream in Welcome to the Hellmouth are clips from later episodes

from the first season. Most of the clips are from Welcome to the Hellmouth and Prophecy Girl.

Kill them all In Welcome to the Hellmouth, Angel says about vampires to Buffy, “You want to kill them. You want to kill them

all.” In the season two episode When She Was Bad, Angel asks Buffy how she is going to distract the vampires to

which she responds, “I’m gonna kill them all.”

Read more | 2 comments | by Abby M. Kill to live in L.A. Cordelia said to Buffy the first time she met her that she’d “kill to live in L.A.” Her wish was fulfilled (and

she only had to kill a couple of vampires!) when Cordelia left Sunnydale after graduation to move to Los Angeles.

Prophecy lady Joyce’s parting words to Buffy when she dropped her off at her new school in Welcome to the Hellmouth were “try

not to get kicked out”. Buffy was, of course, expelled in season two’s Becoming (Part 2).

Thought you’d be taller When Angel first met Buffy in Welcome to the Hellmouth, he said that he thought she’d be taller, implying that

he’d never seen her before. In Becoming (Part 1), we saw a flashback of Angel watching Buffy when she was chosen

as a Slayer in LA. Angel later mentioned the sighting to Buffy in the episode Helpless. I’m not including this as

a ‘goof’ as a lot of sites have, as the show had just started, and Joss hadn’t decided how Buffy and Angel’s

relationship would turn out yet. It’s possible that Angel’s comment was an in-joke directed at those who saw the movie, as Kristy Swanson, who

played Buffy in the movie, is 5′7″ and Sarah Michelle Gellar is 5′3″.

Quotes and Trivia

Description of Willow The following initial description of Willow is from the original shooting script:

“[Willow]…is shy, bookish, and very possibly dressed by her mother. The intelligence in her eyes and the

sweetness of her smile belie a genuine charm that is lost on the unsubtle high school mind. It’s certainly lost

on Xander, though he brightens considerably to see her…[Willow’s] excitement at the sentiment [that Xander’s so

happy to see her] is sweetly pathetic, and typically unnoticed.”

| Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1, Pocket Books Description of Xander This description of Xander comes from the original shooting script:

“[Xander]…is bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he’ll do the best he

can with bright and funny.”

| Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1, Pocket Books Fighting the setting sun The sun was starting to set outside in the scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth where Cordelia tells the Scoobies

about the dead guy in the locker, so Buffy and Cordelia looked more orange than usual. They had to bounce the

light around and focus it on Buffy and Cordelia.

Read more | Add a comment | by Angelus | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Fumbling Flutie The following scene between Flutie and Buffy was cut from Welcome to the Hellmouth:

Mr. Flutie: “Oh! Buffy! Uh, what do you want?” Buffy: “Um, is there a guy in there that’s dead?” Mr. Flutie: “Where did you hear that? Okay. Yes. But he’s not a student! Not currently.” Buffy: “Do you know how he died?” Mr. Flutie: “What?” Buffy: “I mean – how could this have happened?” Mr. Flutie: “Well, that’s for the police to determine when they get here. But this structure is safe, we have

inspectors, and I think there’s no grounds for a lawsuit.” Buffy: “Was there a lot of blood? Was there any blood?” Mr. Flutie: “I would think you wouldn’t want to involve yourself in this kind of thing.” Buffy: “I don’t. Could I just take a peek?” Mr. Flutie: “Unless you already are involved…” Buffy: “Never mind.” Mr. Flutie: “Buffy, I understand this is confusing. You’re probably feeling a lot right now. You should share

those feelings. With someone else.”

| Source: The Watcher's Guide by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder I was in the library The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth included an alternate exchange in the scene when Xander chases

after Buffy when she leaves the Bronze to find Willow:

Xander: “Why, you know something about Mr. Goodbar that she doesn’t? Oh! Hey. I hope he’s not a vampire. ‘Cause

then you’ve have to slay him.” She turns back to him, surprised and miffed. Buffy: “Was there a school bulletin? Was it in the news? Is there anybody in this town who doesn’t know I’m a

Slayer?” Xander: “I only know you think you’re a Slayer, and I only know that ‘cause I was in the library today.”

Read more | 6 comments | by emersoneells Kristine’s first scene Kristine Sutherland revealed a blunder she made during filming of her first scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth:

“It was the very first scene of the very first episode, where I was dropping Buffy off at school. I had done TV

before but never really been involved in a series, so I was very nervous. Things went pretty well with the

dialogue, but when Sarah got out of the car, I put my foot on the gas and lurched backwards! Fortunately, I

didn’t hit anything but I had that flash of ‘Oh, my God, what if I plowed into the car behind me?” In my panic, I

was also sure that Charlie [Martin Smith, the director] was thinking, ‘What kind of incompetent do we have here?’

and I would be fired immediately. Of course, I wasn’t.”

| Source: Unknown magazine article, online version can be found here Marketing Buffy The WB was originally unsure about the show’s “schizophrenic” combination of horror, drama, and comedy, not

because they were opposed to it but because they were uncertain how to market it.

| Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth Plagues are fun The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth had a slightly modified version of the history teacher’s lesson

on the Black Plague. The line in italics was not included in the episode:

“It’s estimated that about 25 million people died in that one four year span. But the fun part of the Black

Plague is that it originated in Europe how? As an early form of germ warfare. The plague was first found in Asia,

and a Kipchak army actually catapulted plague-infested corpses into a Genoese trading post. Ingenious. If you can

look at the map on page 63 you can trace the spread of the disease…”

Read more | 11 comments | by emersoneells Previous Slayers trailer The first time Welcome to the Hellmouth was shown in America, it was preceded by a short trailer that referred to

previous slayers such as Lucy Hanover (who now regularly pops up in the Buffy books and comics). This has never

been shown again in America and has never been seen overseas.

Read more | 5 comments | by Jess Principal Flutie’s extended welcome The shooting script for Welcome to the Hellmouth shows additional dialogue for Buffy and Principal Flutie’s

conversation in his office on her first day. These lines take place between where he actually looks at her

transcript and begins taping it together

Principal Flute: “At Sunnydale we nurture the whole student. The inner student… Other schools might look at the

incredible decline in grade point average — we look at the struggling young woman with the incredible decline in

grade point average. Other schools might look at the reports of gang fights–”

The dialogue then continues with Principal Flutie’s offer that Buffy can call him Bob as shown in the episode.

Read more | 5 comments | by emersoneells Reshoots The scene in Welcome to the Hellmouth in which Giles and Buffy are in the library arguing about Buffy’s

reluctance to assume her Slayer duties was actually shot eight months after the rest of the episode. In the

original version, Sarah had come across as far too angry and so the scene was completely reshot.

| Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Welcome to the Hellmouth

THE HARVEST

=========================

Episode characters

Continuity

Angel’s cross Angel gave Buffy a cross necklace when he first met her in Welcome to the Hellmouth. She can be seen wearing the

necklace in The Harvest and Prophecy Girl.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Blow out Willow says to Buffy at the end of The Harvest, “Maybe you could blow something up. They’re really strict about

that.” Buffy blew up the school in Graduation Day (Part 2).

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Quite different In The Harvest, Giles says that the next threat they face may be something quite different from vampires. This

foreshadows the events of the very next episode, in which the Scoobies are faced with a powerful witch.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess The earth is doomed After listening to the Scoobies talking teenage nonsense in The Harvest, Giles says, “The Earth is doomed.” He

says almost the same thing in Chosen - “The Earth is definitely doomed.”

Read more | 5 comments | by Jess Watch your damn step In The Harvest, Angel is outside the Bronze when Buffy stops the Harvest from occuring. Angel says, “I’ll be

damned.” This is true as he is actually a damned soul. He then walks away and the door behind him reads, “Watch

Your Step.” This is possibly intended to warn the viewer of the dangers of getting involved with Angel.

Read more | Add a comment | by Abby M. Xander’s first vampire kill Xander staked his first vampire in The Harvest - and the vampire just happened to be his best friend Jesse. It

was an accident, though, as Jesse was pushed onto an out-turned stake held by Xander. Ironically, he was taunting

Xander that he couldn’t kill him at the time.

Writing and acting

Brian Thompson Brian Thompson played Luke in Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest and The Judge in Surprise and Innocence.

Production details

Additional scenes Various scenes were added in to The Harvest as the episode was too short. These include the scene where Willow

and Xander talk in the halls, the scene where the Master pokes out the vampire’s eye, the scene where Cordelia

talks about seniors in the Bronze and the scene where the vampires run out by Angel.

Read more | Add a comment | by Angelus | Source: Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for The Harvest Cymbalism Buffy used a cymbal as a Frisbee to behead a vampire in The Harvest. This scene was edited out when first shown

on the BBC.

Read more | 3 comments | by Jess Darla dead? Darla was originally supposed to be killed in the end of The Harvest when Willow threw holy water on her, but a

more intresting storyline for episode seven (Angel) was needed so they kept her in the show.

Read more | 1 comment | by Angelus Hellmouth and Harvest The Harvest was originally aired with Welcome to the Hellmouth as one episode. It was then later split into two

episodes. Some versions of The Harvest episode have a “previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer” re-cap of the

events of Welcome to the Hellmouth at the beginning, others do not.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Jesse in the credits Joss Whedon said that he has always wanted to put a character in the credits the episode where he/she died, and

had planned to do this in the opening credits in the first few episodes with Jesse (who was killed in The

Harvest) to show that the show had lots of surprises. He wasn’t able to make it because he didn’t have the money

at the time to make another set of credits.

Read more | 4 comments | by Angelus Screen shots Watch out for the scene in The Harvest where Luke kneels before The Master. Joss Whedon was sufficiently

embarrassed about the way it was shot (making it look as though Luke was giving the Master ‘pleasure’) to

apologise for it in his commentary for the season one DVD.

Music

Dashboard Prophets The band Dashboard Prophets can be heard (but not seen!) in the Bronze in The Harvest. We hear their tracks

“Ballad For Dead Friends” (as the vampires approach the Bronze) and “Wearing Me Down” (Cordelia says she loves

the song). Both songs are from their album Burning Out The Inside. We also hear “All I Want” (from the same album) in The Pack (near the beginning of the episode).

Cultural References

The Wild Bunch - Buffy says to her friends, “Don’t go wild bunch on me” before they enter the Bronze.The 1969 film The Wild Bunch by Sam Peckinpah is one of Whedon’s favourite films. It is mentioned twice in Buffy. In The Harvest, Buffy says to her friends, “Don’t go wild bunch on me” before they enter the Bronze.

In [[Bargaining, Part Two (Buffy episode)

|Bargaining II]], Xander called the demons who raided Sunnydale the “wild bunch”.

Lyle and Techtor Gorch, who appeared in Bad Eggs, are named after characters from

The Wild Bunch. In that movie, the Gorches were brothers in William Holden’s gang, played by Warren Oates and Ben

Johnson. Pike from the Buffy movie was named after William Holden’s character in The Wild Bunch and Angel was

another character from the film.

[[]] - *[[]] -

Quotes and trivia

THE WITCH

=========================

Episode characters

Continuity

Alexander Harris We discover in The Witch that Xander’s full name is Alexander Harris, when the Scoobies realised he had checked

out witchcraft books from the library.

Cordy’s car Before her father was arrested for tax evasion, Cordelia drove a red Chrysler Sebring convertible, and her

license plate was “QUEENC”. Cordelia passed her driving test sometime between The Witch (when we discovered she

hadn’t yet passed her test) and Prophecy Girl (when we saw her driving.)

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Gallery Buffy’s mother, Joyce, owns an art gallery. This is discovered in The Witch.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Giles and Magic Giles casts a spell against Catherine Madison in The Witch. He says this is his first but we discover in The Dark

Age that he has a history using magic. It’s the first time we see him using witchcraft.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Giles’s first car Giles’s first car seen on the show was an ancient silver Citroen, first seen in The Witch. The licence plate was

2GPU947. During the filming of Phases, the car refused to start so some members of the Buffy crew had to push the

car from behind. They can be seen through the rear window in one scene. It finally died a nasty death when Spike

crashed it in A New Man.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Jewellery Xander likes to give girls he likes jewellery. In Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, he gave Cordelia a

necklace; in The Witch, he gave Buffy a bracelet saying ‘Yours Always’, and he bought Anya an engagement ring in

The Gift.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Moving eyes Catherine Madison was trapped inside a cheerleading statue at Sunnydale High at the end of The Witch. In Phases,

Oz noticed the cheerleading statue’s moving eyes and thought it was cool. This was an in-joke to fans, as well as

to prepare us for the return of Amy Madison in the next episode, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Nice outfit Dawn wears Buffy’s cheerleading outfit to the tryouts in Him. The outfit was last seen in The Witch and dies it’s

death in Him when Dawn rips it up in fury.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Prophetic cheerleaders? In the third episode of season one, The Witch, Amy tells Buffy that the cheerleader Amber trained with Benson:

Cordelia: “Just look at that Amber. Who does she think she is, a Laker Girl?” Willow: “I heard she turned them down…” Amy: “She trained with Benson. He’s one of the best coaches money can buy.”

Four years later, Amber Benson joined the cast playing Tara.

Read more | 2 comments | by Crypto Railroad spike Xander said to Willow in The Witch, “That is the point, you don’t have to drive it through my head like a

railroad spike.” The character of Spike (introduced in season two’s School Hard) was said to have got his name by

murdering people using railroad spikes. In a flashback to William’s last day as a human, seen in Fool For Love,

one of the guests at a party says, “I’d rather have a railroad spike through my head than listen to this stuff.”

Perhaps this is how Spike got inspired?

Read more | 3 comments | by Mel Razorbacks Sunnydale High’s sports teams were called the Razorbacks (discovered in The Witch). They got a short lived piglet

mascot called Herbert in The Pack, but it was eaten by the hyena-people.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Slayerettes In The Witch, Willow called herself, Xander and Giles the ‘Slayerettes’. This term wasn’t used again until the

episode The I in Team.

Writing and acting

Cheerleader Charisma Carpenter was a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers in 1991, so she had loads of practice for her

cheerleading character, Cordelia.

Production details

Behind the Scenes Trivia

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess First box-sets The Witch and Never Kill a Boy on the First Date were released together on 15th September 1998 as the first Buffy

the Vampire Slayer home video box-sets.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Nerfherder The non-U.S. credits for The Witch named Nerf Herder as Nerfherder.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Simply Witch The episode The Witch is also known simply as ‘Witch’.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Which year? Check out the notice board in the first scene of The Witch. It reads “1996 Cheerleading Tryouts,” despite the

episode being screened in 1997 in America. This is because Buffy was held back and used as a mid-season

replacement show rather than starting as intended in the autumn of 1996. So no - I’m not including this piece of

trivia as a goof!

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Witchy lines cut The following different lines were deleted from the episode The Witch:

Xander: “Hey, we’ve fought vampires. Anything else’ll be a walk in the park.”

Giles: “If I had the power of the black mass, I’d set my sights a little higher than making the pep squad.”

Xander: “Wow, you’ve got a killer streak I’ve never seen before. Hope I never cross you.” Willow: “I do, too. Then I’d have to carve you up into little pieces.”

Giles: “Yes, the ducking stool! We throw her in the pond. If she floats, she’s a witch; if she drowns, she’s

innocent … some of my texts are a bit outdated.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: The Watcher's Guide by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder

MUSIC

2 Unlimited “Twilight Zone” by 2 Unlimited plays during the cheerleading tryouts in The Witch. The song comes from the album

Get Ready For This.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Humbucker “Count The Time” by Humbucker, from the album My Snake, plays whilst Buffy and Joyce are talking at the end of

The Witch.

Cultural References

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Catherine the Great In The Witch, Amy said her mother’s nickname was ‘Catherine the Great’. This is a reference to the real Catherine

the Great, who was Empress of Russia from 1762-1796.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Fantastic Four The Marvel comic Fantastic Four is referenced a few times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In The Witch, Xander says

about Amber’s burning hands, “Like the Human Torch, only it hurts.” This is a reference to Johnny Storm, the

Human Torch, a character in the Fantastic Four. In Lessons, Willow’s Wicca teacher is named Miss Harkness. There

was a witch named Miss Harkness in the Fantastic Four. In Bring on the Night, Andrew mentions the supervillain

Dr. Doom from the comic.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Farrah Fawcett In The Witch, Buffy says, “Mom, I’ve accepted that you’ve had sex. I am not ready to know that you had Farrah

hair.” She’s referring to the star of the TV show Charlie’s Angels, Farrah Fawcett, whose flicked out hair became

popular in the 1970s. In All the Way, Anya dressed as Farrah in Charlie’s Angels for Halloween, but was confused

as she thought her name was Charlie (”I’m an Angel. We look sexy rollerskating and have cool hair. My name is

Charlie”).

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Gidget Gidget was a 1960s American sitcom starring Sally Fields. It is referenced a couple of times in Buffy: In the

Witch, Joyce tells Buffy she had “Gidget hair” and in Life Serial, Tony calls Buffy “Gidget”. Gidget was always

getting into trouble and often wore her hair in pigtails.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Laker Girls The Laker Girls are referenced in The Witch and in Him. Elizabeth Anne Allen revealed that the actresses who

played the cheerleaders in the episode The Witch, were trained by The Laker Girls:

“Actually we learned with the Laker Girls and the LA clipper girls. They were great. They were checking our moves

and they have real dance backgrounds, so they were throwing in stuff. We were like, “What, what?” Still, it

helped that I could be pretty bad.”

In Him, cheerleader Cheryl says, “Or we could all use chairs. Like the Laker Girls.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: BBC Buffy Mommie Dearest Buffy says in The Witch, “So mommie dearest is really… Mommie Dearest.” In Inca Mummy Girl, Buffy says, “Ok, I’ll

still get Xander before he gets smoochy with Mummy Dearest.” Mommie Dearest was an autobiography by Christina

Crawford about her abusive mother, the movie actress Joan Crawford. It was made into a movie in 1981, starring

Faye Dunaway.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Nazis Nazis have been referenced a few times in Buffy:

In The Witch, Buffy says Amy’s mother is, “Nazi-like”. In I Robot, You Jane, a student’s essay has been changed by Moloch the Corrupter, “This isn’t my report! Nazi

Germany was a model of a well ordered society’? I didn’t write that! Who’s been in my files?” In Nightmares, Xander says, “I’m sorry, I’m unruffled by spiders. Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my

face…” In Becoming (Part 1), Cordelia says of Principal Snyder, “How about because you’re a tiny impotent Nazi with a

bug up his butt the size of an emu?” In Gingerbread, Xander says, “Aw, man it’s Nazi Germany and I’ve got Playboys in my locker!” In The Freshman, Buffy mentions the Nuremberg rallies, where the Nazi’s held their anti-Semitic rallies from the

early 1920s to 1938. In the episode The Initiative, Spike is in his containment cell talking to another vampire about who could have

captured him, Spike says, “And they are? The government? Nazis? A major cosmetics company?” In the Angel episode

‘Why We Fight’, we see in a flashback that Spike was captured by Nazis in 1943, who were experimenting on

vampires as a means of controlling them for their war effort. Read more | Add a comment | by Nuke67 | Source: Thanks also to Jarvista Sabrina, the Teenage Witch In The Witch, Buffy said, “That’s our Sabrina”, and in Two To Go, Andrew said, “Do we sit around waiting for

Sabrina to disembowel us?” They are both referring to Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which has been a comic, cartoon

and TV show, about a teenage girl who’s, yes you guessed it, a witch.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess Sonnets from the Portuguese In The Witch, Amy said about cheerleading tryouts, “How do I hate this? Let me count the ways.” This is a

misquote from a love poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning titled Sonnets from the Portuguese. The real quote is,

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” In Helpless, Angel bought Buffy an edition of Sonnets From the Portuguese for her eighteenth birthday.

Read more | 11 comments | by Jess Village People Xander’s construction work clothes in Pangs are described as “not at all Village People” by Buffy. The Village

People are a camp band who dressed in various costumes, including a construction worker. They formed in the

1970s, and famously sang ‘Y.M.C.A.’ and ‘Macho Man’, which Buffy sang while under Catherine’s spell in The Witch.

Quotes and trivia

TEACHER'S PET

=========================

Episode characters

Blayne Mall Blayne Mall was a vain student in Buffy’s Science class who boasted to his friends of his many (invented)

conquests with women. A giant Preying Mantis posing as a teacher, Natalie French, realised he was a virgin, and

abducted him to use him as a mating partner in Teacher’s Pet. He was saved by Buffy and never seen again.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Dr. Gregory Dr. Gregory was a grey-haired Science teacher at Sunnydale High School. He was the first teacher to show

confidence in Buffy (and not think she’s a felon). He was killed by Natalie French, the giant preying mantis in

Teacher’s Pet, and his headless corpse was discovered by Cordelia in the school’s canteen. Dr. Gregory also

appeared in the episode The Witch.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess The real Natalie French Natalie French was the name used by the She-Mantis in Teacher’s Pet. The real Natalie French was actually an

elderly lady (born in 1907) who was a teacher, but retired in 1972. She lived at 837 Wheatherley Drive in

Sunnydale.

Continuity

Alcohol Drinking alcohol in Buffy the Vampire Slayer has always been frowned upon, though the rules were relaxed slightly

as the Scoobies got older. The general rule is: if you have a drink, something bad is going to happen to you.

Here are some examples of this rule: In Teacher’s Pet, Xander is the first of the Scoobies to drink alcohol. He has a sip of Martini given to him by

Natalie French who is really a giant preying mantis in disguise. The drink has been drugged and he passes out.

When Xander awakes he only narrowly escapes mating with and being killed by the mantis.

Angel’s jacket The first true hint of a chemistry between Buffy and Angel developed as he gave her his leather jacket in

Teacher’s Pet - much to Xander’s annoyance. Buffy wore the jacket in several subsequent episodes (such as The

Pack), even as late as the third season (Beauty and the Beasts).

Read more | 4 comments | by Jess Cordy’s diet Cordelia asserted in Teacher’s Pet that she eats her own special lunch but in I Only Have Eyes For You, she is

seen eating spaghetti from the school cafeteria. Maybe finding the headless body of Dr. Gregory put her off her

special food?

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Demon magnet Xander’s relationship with the praying mantis in Teacher’s Pet is joked about in several later episodes, such as

I Robot, You Jane, Inca Mummy Girl, Anne (in which Cordelia says of Xander, “He’s always been attracted to

monsters” and later mentions Ampata from Inca Mummy Girl, calling her “some hot little Inca mummy girl”), What’s

My Line? (Part 2) and Something Blue, when Willow says, “Let’s look at your bio: Insect Lady, Mummy Girl, Anya…

you’re a demon magnet.” In First Date, Xander says, “Another demon woman was attracted to me” after his date

Lyssa turned out to be evil.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Lavelle Xander revealed to Natalie French in Teacher’s Pet that his middle name is Lavelle.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Razorbacks Sunnydale High’s sports teams were called the Razorbacks (discovered in The Witch). They got a short lived piglet

mascot called Herbert in The Pack, but it was eaten by the hyena-people.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Rosenberg Willow’s surname is Rosenberg, discovered in Teacher’s Pet.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Weatherley Drive The ‘real’ Natalie French in the episode Teacher’s Pet lived at the address was 837 Weatherley Drive.

Writing and acting

Production details

Bright or dark? In Teacher’s Pet there is a conversation between Buffy and Giles about the weather:

Giles (looking at the sky): God, every day here is the same.

Buffy: Bright, sunny, beautiful. How can we escape this torment?

In the original script there was an alternate line in case it was raining, foggy or dark:

Giles: Reminds me of home.

Buffy: Dark, dank, dreary. You must be so happy.

Read more | Add a comment | by Mel First UK publicity Buffy the Vampire Slayer got it’s first UK publicity article for Teacher’s Pet. The Radio Times’ satellite

section described Buffy as “a sort of Beverley Hills 90210 meets The X-Files…”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Really bad person From the original script of Teacher’s Pet, these lines was cut for length:

Buffy: “Dr. Gregory didn’t chew me out or anything. He was really cool. But Flutie showed him my permanent

record. Apparently, I fall somewhere between Charles Manson and a really bad person.” Willow: “And you can’t tell Dr. Gregory what really happened at you old school?” Buffy: “I was fighting vampires? I’m thinking he might not believe me.” Willow: “Yeah, he probably gets that excuse all the time.” Cordelia (just arriving): “Here lies a problem. What used to be my table occupied by pitiful losers. Of course,

we’ll have to burn it.” Buffy: “Sad, you have so many memories here. You and Lawrence, you and Mark, you and John. You spent the better

part of your ‘J’ through ‘M’ here.”

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess | Source: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 1 by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder

MUSIC

Superfine The band Superfine sang in the Bronze in Teacher’s Pet. The singer, Rob Grad, wasn’t very impressed with Xander

when he approaches the stage. The band performed “Already Met You” (which appears on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer

soundtrack) and “Stoner Love” from their album Stoner Love.

Cultural References

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Godzilla Godzilla is a massive, nearly invincible dinosaur/lizard-like creature with incredible strength and destructive

fire. Godzilla has starred in 22 movies produced from 1954 to the present. Godzilla has been referenced in Buffy

a few times. In Teacher’s Pet, Xander says, “We’re on Monster Island”, meaning the island where Godzilla lives.

Xander says in Reptile Boy, “Godzilla’s attacking downtown Tokyo! Aargh, Aargh!” In Crush, Harmony calls Drusilla

“Droodzilla”, which is probably a reference to Godzilla. In Dirty Girls, Amanda says, “Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla. How tough is he?” This is a reference to the

1997 movie Godzilla, starring Matthew Broderick which disappointed many fans (like Xander and Andrew).

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess The Exorcist The 1973 movie The Exorcist starred Linda Blair as a child named Regan who becomes possessed by a demon. The film

was banned in the UK for more than fifteen years. It is referenced a few times in Buffy. In Teacher’s Pet, Buffy

says that Miss French’s head did a “full-on Exorcist twist”, referring to a famous scene in the movie. In I Only Have Eyes For You, When Willow suggests an exorcism, Cordelia replies “Are you crazy? I saw that movie:

even the priests died!” In Lover’s Walk, Buffy says of her mother, “her head spun round and exploded” (to which

Giles replies, “I’ve been on the Hellmouth too long. That was metaphorical, yes?”). In Living Conditions, Xander says, “Are you saying that Buffy’s been doing a Linda Blair on us because Kathy’s

been sucking her soul?” At the beginning of her possession in The Exorcist, Regan showed dramatic changes in her

behaviour, just as Buffy did in Living Conditions. Buffy name-checks The Excorcist in Bring on the Night.

Quotes and trivia

NEVER KILL A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE

=========================

Episode characters

Andrew Borba Andrew Borba was a religious nut who was turned into a vampire. He attacked Buffy and Owen in Sunnydale’s morgue.

Buffy mistakenly thought he was the Anointed One and killed him by throwing him into an incinerator in Never Kill

a Boy on the First Date.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Anointed One The Anointed One was a small boy named Colin who became a member of the Master’s Order of Aurelius. Buffy

believed she had killed The Anointed One in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date but she got the wrong vampire. The

Anointed One led Buffy to the Master in Prophecy Girl, and took over as leader when the Master was killed. Spike

killed him by putting him in a cage and hoisting him up into sunlight in School Hard. The Anointed was the first

vampire to be killed by sunlight in the show.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess Owen Thurman Owen was a shy and good-looking boy in Buffy’s class. Cordelia chased him but he asked Buffy on a date. Buffy was

forced to leave the date early to go on a Slayer-related mission but Owen followed her. They were attacked by a

vampire. Owen discovered he loved being in danger and Buffy broke up with him when she realised she didn’t want

to have to protect him in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date.

Continuity

Slayer Handbook The rule book for Slayers, which also suggest study material. Giles decided not to bother with one for Buffy as

soon as he met her (which explains why he told Buffy he had no “rule book” for her in Never Kill a Boy on the

First Date), as he realised it would be useless in her case. He told this to Buffy in What’s My Line? (Part 2). In This Year’s Girl, Buffy said to Giles, “Why? Because ray guns aren’t in the Slayer handbook?”

Sunnydale Press Sunnydale’s local newspaper was called the Sunnydale Press. It can be seen in the episodes Never Kill a Boy on

the First Date, Reptile Boy, Becoming (Part 1), Bad Girls, Consequences, Graduation Day (Part 1), Hush and Once

More, With Feeling.

Read more | 3 comments | by Jess Watcher boy Giles revealed in Never Kill A Boy On the First Date that he was ten when his father told him that he was

destined to be a Watcher. Giles wanted to be a fighter pilot, or a greengrocer. At least two of Giles’ relations

had been Watchers: his father and grandmother.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Beautiful Midnight Wrong guy In Prophecy Girl, Giles finally realises that the vampire Buffy killed in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

wasn’t the Anointed One. Oops.

Writing and acting

Production details

Reused shot At the very beginning of When She Was Bad, we see a courtyard shot of students. It is reused footage from season

one’s Never Kill a Boy on the First Date. The guy walking away in the lilac shirt is Owen from that episode.

MUSIC

Velvet Chain The band Velvet Chain appeared on stage in the Bronze in the episode Never Kill a Boy on the First Date,

performing the tracks ‘Strong’ and ‘Treason’. The band’s singer, Erika Amato, became a huge fan of the show and

used to write to fans on the official Buffy website’s posting board. Velvet Chain wrote their own theme song to

the show, called ‘Buffy’. They then released The Buffy E.P. (1999, Freak Records - Velvet Chain’s own label). The

album became so popular that it was distributed nationally in America, as the original album had only previously

been available on Velvet Chain’s website. While writing the lyrics to the song ‘Buffy’ Jeff Stacy (the band’s

composer) logged on to the Buffy Posting Board and asked fans for their ideas about what a Buffy song should say.

He received over 100 e-mails from Buffy fans within three days. Seth Green (Oz) contributed guitar tracks on the

song ‘Buffy’ on The Buffy E.P. and appears in the album credits. Seth has also performed with the band on stage.

Nicholas Brendon (Xander) appeared in a photograph on inside sleeve of the E.P., with his twin brother Kelly. Velvet Chain also performed at the show’s production wrap party in 1998, held at the El Rey Theater in Los

Angeles. They have also performed at the Buffy Posting Board Parties held in 1999 and 2000. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Soundtrack (1999) includes the Velvet Chain song ‘Strong’. In Phases, we see that Buffy’s locker has a Velvet Chain sticker on it.

Cultural References

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Biblical king ‘The Anoited’ is actually a great judish biblical king title, which only very great and powerful man such as

Moses could earn.

Read more | 1 comment | by apocplypse Emily Dickinson In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Owen Thurman revealed to Buffy that he is a fan of the American poet Emily

Dickinson (1830-1886).

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess Soylent Green When Buffy and Cordelia collide and spill the contents Buffy’s tray in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Owen

says, “at least you won’t have to eat your Soylent Green…” This is a reference to the Charlton Heston movie,

Soylent Green, in which Soylent Green is actually human remains processed into food. The movie is also referenced in the episode Doublemeat Palace, when Buffy runs into the customer area of the

restaurant yelling, “It’s people!” Heston’s character tries the same thing in Soylent Green.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Laurin Superman Comicbook hero Superman has been epitomised in many comics (by DC Comics), movies (starring the late Christopher

Reeve), TV shows (eg. Lois and Clarke, Smallville), cartoons (eg. The Adventures of Superman) and even a musical.

He and the world he lives in have been referenced many times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Buffy says, “even Clark Kent has a job”, alluding to Superman’s alter-ego. In Reptile Boy, Xander’s chances of ever belonging to a fraternity of rich and powerful men are rubbished by

Cordy as likely only “in the Bizarro world.” The Bizarro world is a weird, back-to-front version of the real

world in Superman. In the episode Ted, Cordelia says of Buffy, “But she’s like this Superman.” In Helpless, Oz and Xander discuss which colour Kryptonite hurts Superman. Writer David Fury said in his DVD

commentary for the episode that he wasn’t sure which Kryptonite was which so wrote this scene as such. In The Zeppo, there are two references to Superman: Xander’s line, “But, gee, Mr White, if Clark and Lois get all

the good stories I’ll never be a good reporter”, which he acknowledges as a “Jimmy Olsen joke”. He also name-

checks the Daily Planet’s editor Perry White, Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent, and his colleague Lois Lane.

Cordelia’s jibe “You must feel like Jimmy Olsen” is another reference to the Daily Planet’s youngest

photographer. In Doomed, Forrest says to Riley, “Granted they’re a little rarer than the one’s you grew up with on that little

farm in Smallville.” Smallville, Kansas, was the small town where Clark Kent (Superman) grew up. In Superstar, Xander mentions Kryptonite again and in Real Me, Xander says, “She can turn this place into the

fortress of solitude again”. Superman built the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole as a place where he could

relax and keep his souvenirs. In Gone, Andrew mentions Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor. Buffy also mentions Bizarro World again. In Two To Go,

Andrew says, “Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury

edition”. In Bring on the Night, Andrew says, “An evil name should be something like Lex” He’s referring to

Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess The Untouchables Buffy says, “Here endeth the lesson” when she has kills the Turok-Han in Showtime. This has been said before in

the series: by the Master in season one’s Never Kill a Boy on the First Date and Spike in Fool For Love. The line

is taken from the movie The Untouchables - Sean Connery’s character says this to Kevin Costner’s Elliot Ness

while lecturing him on how to bring down Al Capone.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Laurin Marden and Tessa Tweety Pie Xander has a Tweety Pie wristwatch, seen in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date.

Quotes and trivia

THE PACK

=========================

Continuity

Angel’s jacket The first true hint of a chemistry between Buffy and Angel developed as he gave her his leather jacket in

Teacher’s Pet - much to Xander’s annoyance. Buffy wore the jacket in several subsequent episodes (such as The

Pack), even as late as the third season (Beauty and the Beasts).

Read more | 4 comments | by Jess Animal instincts Xander discovered he had a better sense of smell after being a hyena in The Pack, when he tried to sniff out a

werewolf in Phases.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Foreshadowy goodness Willow watched over Xander while he was in the library cage as a hyena in The Pack. This was a practice run as

she did the same sort of thing on the nights that Oz turns into a werewolf.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Kristina Little piggy Buffy seems to have a thing with pigs, as her stuffed toy Mr. Gordo (first seen in What’s My Line? (Part 1)) is a

pig, and she manages to capture the school’s mascot - a piglet - in The Pack. Mr. Gordo was stolen by the vampire

Sunday in The Freshman, but was eventually returned to Buffy.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Nobody messes with… In Bargaining (Part 2), Tara says of Willow, “Nobody messes with my girl”. This could be a reference to season

two’s What’s My Line? (Part 2), in which Buffy says of Angel, “Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can

send assassins after me, that’s fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend.” Additionally, Xander says, “Hey!

Nobody messes with my Willow” in The Pack.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to chosen_5x5 Razorbacks Sunnydale High’s sports teams were called the Razorbacks (discovered in The Witch). They got a short lived piglet

mascot called Herbert in The Pack, but it was eaten by the hyena-people.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Remember when… In Phases, Xander brings up the time he spent possessed by a hyena in The Pack, but when the girls remind him

that he said he didn’t remember anything about his possession, he shuts up pretty quickly.

Episode characters

Andersons The Andersons were a couple who, along with their son Joe, were attacked by the hyena-people in their car in The

Pack. Buffy saved them.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Herbert In The Pack, Principal Flutie brought a piglet named Herbert to be the mascot of the school football team, the

Razorbacks. Herbert was eaten alive by students who were possessed by the spirits of hyenas, including Xander.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Kyle Kyle was the leader of the gang of students who became possessed by the spirit of hyenas in The Pack. They ate

Principal Flutie and Herbert the school mascot.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Lance Lance was a student who was bullied by Tor and his gang before and after they became possessed by hyenas in The

Pack.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Principal Bob Flutie Bob Flutie was the Principal of Sunnydale High who allowed Buffy to join the school despite her “colourful”

record. He was tragically eaten alive by a group of students who had been possessed by the spirit of hyenas.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Rhonda Rhonda was the dark haired student who became possessed by the spirit of hyenas in The Pack. The group ate

Principal Flutie and Herbert, the school mascot.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Tor Tor was one of the students who became possessed by the spirit of hyenas in The Pack. The group ate Principal

Flutie and Herbert the piglet, the school mascot.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess Zookeeper - Dr. Wierick Dr. Wierick was the zookeeper at Sunnydale Zoo. He pretended to help Giles in The Pack after some students become

possessed by hyenas at the zoo. Instead he planned to gain the power from the students and use it for himself.

His plan backfired when he fell into the hyena cage and was killed.

Writing and acting

Cultural References

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Madonna Buffy’s line in The Pack “shiny and new” (”You know, you’re right! Suddenly the animals look shiny and new”) is a

quote from Madonna’s song ‘Like a Virgin’.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess The Wizard of Oz The movie The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939, in mentioned several times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy refers to the hyena-possessed bullies in The Pack as the “winged monkeys”. The phrase comes from the scene

in The Wizard of Oz in which the Wicked Witch of the West sends her loyal winged monkeys to collect Dorothy and

the ruby slippers. In Flooded, Andrew says he trained flying demon monkeys to disrupt the school play. In Nightmares, Billy Palmer awakens from his coma and, seeing the Scoobies around his bed, says, “I had the

strangest dream. And you were in it, and you”. This is a reference to when Dorothy wakes in her bed and sees her

friends around her. In What’s My Line? (Part 2), Xander says, “Welcome my little pretties”. In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of

the West called Dorothy her “pretty”. In The Yoko Factor, Willow says, “If ever a whiz there was.” This is a line from the song in the film ‘Follow the

Yellow Brick Road’ / ‘We’re Off To See the Wizard’. The episode No Place Like Home takes it’s name from Dorothy clicking her heels together and repeating the phrase,

“There’s no place like home” in order to get back to her Kansas home. In Grave, Willow says, “Fly my pretty…fly!” when she sends her ball of fire to find Andrew and Jonathan. This is

what the wicked witch says to her flying monkeys when she sends them off. In Empty Places, Rona says, “Ding,

dong, the witch is dead.” This is from a song in The Wizard of Oz.

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess The X Files The X Files was an influential TV show (1993-2002) following two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who

investigate the unexplained. It has been mentioned in the Buffyverse on several occasions. In The Pack, Buffy accuses Giles of trying to “Scully” her (Scully was sceptical about Mulder’s supernatural

beliefs). In Living Conditions, Buffy says about Kathy, “You’re right. Ooh! She’s even affecting my work, now. She’s the

Titanic. She’s a crawling black cancer… She’s… other really bad things.” The “crawling black cancer” line is

likely a reference to The X-Files. In the show, it’s an alien liquid organism which looks like oil. When someone

is first infected by the black substance, it crawls up the body like bugs under the skin. In Life Serial, the trio of nerds test Buffy using different methods, one of which being a time loop. Warren

mentions a similar plot in an X Files episode “where the bank kept exploding”. The episode was called ‘Monday’

and was during season six of the show. In Gone, Buffy says, “Xander and Anya are working on it. Mulder-ing out what happened.”

Read more | 1 comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Courtenay Yanni In The Pack, Buffy says of hyena-possessed Xander, “it’s safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing

doesn’t involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti.” She’s referring to the Greek keyboard player and composer

Yanni, whose speciality is new age music.

Production details

Jungle welcome The following line of Xander’s was cut from the episode The Pack: “Welcome to the jungle”.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: The Watcher's Guide, Volume 1 by Christopher Golden and Nancy

Holder No pants Nicky Sarah Michelle Gellar told Jay Leno an on-set story when she appeared on his chat show. She was going to pull

down Nicholas Brendan’s pants one day, as he was acting dumbly. At the last moment, she chickened out, so Alyson

Hannigan said she’d do it instead. She got a little “overzealous” as Sarah put it and pulled down his underwear

as well. From the way Sarah described, it seems this incident happened during the filming of the dodgeball scene in The

Pack in front of lots of extras.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Tiffany Zoo The Scoobies go on a school trip to the zoo in The Pack. All the zoo scenes in that episode were filmed at the

Santa Ana Zoo in California. All the signs are in the same font as that in Jurassic Park. The zoo is seen again

in Shadow, when Glory raises Sobek in the reptile house.

MUSIC

Sprung Monkey The first ever band to play at the Bronze was Sprung Monkey in Welcome to the Hellmouth. They play “Things Are

Changing” from their album Swirl as Buffy leaves the Bronze looking for Willow, and “Believe”, from the same

album, as Buffy enters the Bronze for the first time. They also play “Swirl” in the Bronze. We hear their song

“Saturated” (from the album Swirl) as Buffy is choosing an outfit. Their song “Right My Wrong” (again from Swirl) can be heard in The Harvest as Buffy attempts to leave the school,

and “Reluctant Man” (Swirl) can be heard in The Pack when the bullies enter The Bronze.

Quotes and trivia

ANGEL

=========================

Episode characters

Continuity

Darla asks Angel if he thinks that Buffy will ever be able to kiss his 'real face'. She later does in [[What's

My Line, Part One (Buffy episode)|What's My Line, Part One]]

Angel’s restoration In the episode Angel, it appeared to be established that the restoration of Angel’s soul took place sixty years

ago, or sometime in the 1920s. However, in Becoming (Part 1) it’s revealed to have taken place in 1898.

Crossbow girl Buffy used a crossbow for the first time in the episode Angel, when she went to hunt Angel after dicovering he

was a vampire.

Writing and acting

Breath off In an (undefined) interview about the episode Angel, Joss Whedon said that Sarah and David had what he called a

“breath off”, where they both ate as many horrible things as possible before the kissing scene.

Production details

Cultural References

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Gatorade Gatorade is an American sports drink, referenced on Buffy three times: In Angel, Xander says, “Duh! I mean,

guys’ll do anything to impress a girl. I once drank an entire gallon of gatorade without taking a breath.” In The

Zeppo, Buffy says, “‘Sisterhood of Jhe. Race of female demons, fierce warriors…’ Eww. ‘…celebrate victory in

battle by eating their foes.’ They couldn’t just pour Gatorade on each other?” In Smashed, Buffy says to Amy, “Oh

- Gatorade has a new flavour. Blue.”

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Just say no In Angel, Darla says, “Come on, Angel. Just say yes.” She’s paraphrasing the famous anti-drug message from the

1980s: “Just Say No”. It was first coined by Nancy Reagan, though British viewers may remember the kids from

Grange Hill singing their version of the message.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Robin Hood In Angel, Buffy says about Giles’s training quarterstaff, “I’m not gonna be fighting Friar Tuck.” Friar Tuck is

the well-known ‘holy’ man in the legend of Robin Hood.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Spider-Man Spider-Man is a popular Marvel comic starring Peter Parker, who leads a double life as superhero Spider-Man. Made

into two successful movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. There are many similarities between Peter

and Buffy, as she too is trying to lead a normal life, and (occasionally) make a living, whilst saving the world. Spider-Man has been mentioned in numerous episodes, including the episodes Angel (The Master: “With power comes

responsibility”, which is the motto of the Spider-Man comics and movie), I Robot, You Jane (Buffy: “My spider-

sense is tingling”), A New Man (Riley to Buffy: “You’re strong. Like Spider-Man strong”), No Place Like Home (Ben

suggests Buffy’s strength comes from a “Radioactive spider bite”), Flooded (Anya and Dawn argue over if Spider-

Man charges for helping people - Xander reminds them that “Action is his reward”), Two To Go (Andrew: “Lex Luthor

had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury edition”), Selfless (Xander:

“This isn’t springy high-flying fun!”) and Bring on the Night (Andrew: “My spider-sense is tingling”). Additionally, Buffy stuntman Erik Betts was director Sam Raimi’s choice for doubling actor Tobey Maquire for the

movie Spider-Man, but was told by the costume designer that his shoulders were too large. Nicholas Brendon

auditioned for the role of Spider-Man in the movie.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Kain The Bible The Bible is referenced a few times in the Buffyverse. In the episode Angel, the Master says, “out of the mouths

of babes”, which is from Psalms 8:2. Absalom, the religious vampire in When She Was Bad, was named after a

character in the Bible. Absalom was the third son of King David. He turned against his father and challenged him

for the kingdom of Israel. The story is told in the second book of Samuel (2 Samuel 13:20 - 19:10). The title of the episode Faith, Hope and Trick is from the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three

remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love has been replaced by Trick. In Hush, as Buffy and Willow are first walking through town after their voices have been stolen, they walk past a

group of Christians reading from the bible. The verse they’re reading is Revelations 15:1: “Then I saw another

portent in heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for in them the

wrath of God is ended.” In Never Leave Me, Quentin Travers quotes Proverbs 24:6: “Proverbs 24:6. O, by wise council, you shall make your

war”. In Dirty Girls, Caleb says to Faith, “Well you’re the other one. The Cain to her Abel. No offence to Cain, of

course.” In the Bible, Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain murdered Abel out of jealousy.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks also to Mel Todd Oldham In the episode Angel, Cordelia spots another student wearing the same dress as her. She says, “Where did you get

that dress? This is a one-of-a-kind Todd Oldham. Do you know how much this dress cost? Is this a knockoff?” Todd

Oldham is a couture fashion designer, and is also involved in film, photography, furniture design and graphic

art. He was a commentator on MTV’s House of Style, and he redesigned teenagers’ homes in MTV’s Crib Crashers.

Todd designed Sarah Michelle Gellar’s costumes in her 1999 movie Simply Irresistible.

Quotes and trivia

I, ROBOT... YOU, JANE

=========================

Episode characters

Dave Dave was a quiet student at Sunnydale High, and member of the computer club. He became a reluctant agent of demon

Moloch the Corrupter and warned Buffy not to interfere with Willow’s new relationship with the demon. Moloch

asked Dave to kill Buffy but he refused, so Fritz killed him, pretending it is suicide (I Robot, You Jane).

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Fritz Fritz was an intense computer nerd, even before he became corrupted by the demon Moloch. He helped his new

Master, by killing Dave, electrocuting Buffy and kidnapping Willow. Fritz was eventually killed by Moloch himself

inI Robot, You Jane.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Thelonius Thelonius was the leader of the group of monks who banished Moloch the Corrupter into a book in Cortona, Italy,

1418 (I Robot, You Jane). The character of Thelonious is named after the famous jazz artist Thelonius Monk.

Continuity

CRD CRD (Cadillax Research and Development) was a computer research lab that used to be the third largest employer in

Sunnydale. It was shut down and Moloch the Corrupter then used it as a base from which to build himself a new

body in I Robot, You Jane. Xander’s uncle worked there as a janitor.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Demon magnet Xander’s relationship with the praying mantis in Teacher’s Pet is joked about in several later episodes, such as

I Robot, You Jane, Inca Mummy Girl, Anne (in which Cordelia says of Xander, “He’s always been attracted to

monsters” and later mentions Ampata from Inca Mummy Girl, calling her “some hot little Inca mummy girl”), What’s

My Line? (Part 2) and Something Blue, when Willow says, “Let’s look at your bio: Insect Lady, Mummy Girl, Anya…

you’re a demon magnet.” In First Date, Xander says, “Another demon woman was attracted to me” after his date

Lyssa turned out to be evil.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Special Projects In the episode Passion, when Giles questions why Jenny is in the computer lab so late, she replies that she is

“working on a special project.” In the episode I Robot, You Jane, Fritz says to Jenny that he is working on a

“special project” on the computer. Ironically, when Jenny asks if she will like Fritz’s ’special project’, he

replies that she’ll die.

Read more | Add a comment | by Abby M. Willow’s crush In I Robot, You Jane, we see that Willow has a picture of herself and Giles pinned to the inside of her locker.

It can also be seen in the episode Nightmares. Willow confirms that she used to have a crush on Giles in Where

the Wild Things Are, after she sees him singing.

Writing and acting

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess Nicki The character of Jenny Calendar was originally to be called Nicki but was changed to Jenny to avoid confusion on

set as Nicholas Brendon is generally called Nicky by his co-stars.

Production details

D.J. Joss Giles listens to the radio in I Robot, You Jane. The announcer’s voice on the radio was that of Joss Whedon.

Cultural References

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2001: A Space Odyssey I Robot, You Jane has a couple of similarities to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The voice of the demon Moloch,

when he’s still trapped in the computer, is similar to the voice of the murderous computer Hal in the movie.

Additionally, the main student with whom Moloch communicates is called Dave, which is the name of the astronaut

Hal talks to in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Read more | 2 comments | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Liz I Robot and You Jane The title of the episode I Robot, You Jane comes from both a line from the Tarzan movie (”Me Tarzan. You Jane”)

and I, Robot, which was a collection of sci-fi short stories written by Isaac Asimov, published in 1940. The

theme of I, Robot is of moral interaction between humans and robots. Alan Tudyk, who played Wash in Joss Whedon’s

Firefly, played Sonny the robot in the 2004 movie version of I, Robot, alongside Will Smith.

Read more | Add a comment | by Jess | Source: Thanks to Darian Nazis Nazis have been referenced a few times in Buffy:

In The Witch, Buffy says Amy’s mother is, “Nazi-like”. In I Robot, You Jane, a student’s essay has been changed by Moloch the Corrupter, “This isn’t my report! Nazi

Germany was a model of a well ordered society’? I didn’t write that! Who’s been in my files?” In Nightmares, Xander says, “I’m sorry, I’m unruffled by spiders. Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my

face…” In Becoming (Part 1), Cordelia says of Principal Snyder, “How about because you’re a tiny impotent Nazi with a

bug up his butt the size of an emu?” In Gingerbread, Xander says, “Aw, man it’s Nazi Germany and I’ve got Playboys in my locker!” In The Freshman, Buffy mentions the Nuremberg rallies, where the Nazi’s held their anti-Semitic rallies from the

early 1920s to 1938. In the episode The Initiative, Spike is in his containment cell talking to another vampire about who could have

captured him, Spike says, “And they are? The government? Nazis? A major cosmetics company?” In the Angel episode

‘Why We Fight’, we see in a flashback that Spike was captured by Nazis in 1943, who were experimenting on

vampires as a means of controlling them for their war effort. Read more | Add a comment | by Nuke67 | Source: Thanks also to Jarvista Spider-Man Spider-Man is a popular Marvel comic starring Peter Parker, who leads a double life as superhero Spider-Man. Made