Episode Trivia
Barbie
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In 1.01 Welcome To The Hellmouth, Willow reveals to Buffy that she and Xander broke up after he stole her Barbie, referring to the bosomy Mattel doll. In 3.07 Offspring, Lorne says:
“This is way beyond my ken - and my Barbie, and all my action figures.”
In 2.03 First Impressions, Gunn says to Cordy and Wesley:
“You two? I find Deevak, I’m gonna need more than C-3PO and Stick Figure Barbie backin’ me up, no offence.”
Sharon: “Yeah, I had that. - Only I had a him, where you had a her. Actually I just had a Ken and Barbie.”
Chunky vamp dust
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The script for 2.03 First Impressions describes the aftermath of the the garage battle as:
“What’s left of the attacking vamps. Not three neat little piles, nothing too cutesy, but clearly dead dusty chunky vamp dust.”
Cordelia’s surnames
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Cordelia has a habit of giving people sarcastic new surnames.
She has called Angel:
- “Mr. I Was Alive for 200 Years and Never Developed an Investment Portfolio” in 1.01 City of.
- “Mr. I can’t tail the suspect during the day because I’ll burst into flames Private Eye” in 1.15 The Prodigal.
- “Mr. ‘oh, you’re my big, fat hero!” in 3.05 Fredless.
- “Mr. Distance” in 1.17 Eternity.
- “Mr. Killing Spree” In 3.02 Dead Man’s Party.
- “Mr. ‘I’m so tortured’” in 1.11 Somnambulist.
- “Angel? Mr. Bumpy-face? Hello?” in 4.04 Slouching Toward Bethlehem.
She has called Gunn:
- “Mr. I don’t take orders - now where do I stick my axe?” in 2.11 Redefinition.
- “Mr. Rationalization” in 2.03 First Impressions.
She has called Lorne:
- “Mr. Big Mojo-guy” in 2.11 Redefinition.
- “Mr. Green-Mojo-Guy” in 2.20 Over The Rainbow.
She has called Wesley:
- “Mr. Fussy Pants” in 2.05 Dear Boy.
- “Mr. Grouchy Pants” in 1.16 The Ring.
- “Mr. Don’t Talk to Me Before I’ve Had my Flagon of Oatbran in the Morning” in 1.16 The Ring
- “Mr. Star-schmoozer” in The 2.08 Shroud Of Rahmon.
- “Mr. Too-much-cologne” in 1.14 I’ve Got You Under My Skin.
Others have also been named by Cordy:
- To Xander: “Mr. Excitement” in 3.13 The Zeppo.
- To Devon: “Mr. I’m-the-lead-singer-I’m-so-great- I-don’t-have-to-show-up- for-my-date-or- even-call” in 2.06 Halloween.
- To Xander: “Mr. Faithful” in 3.01 Anne.
- To Wesley and Gunn: “Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson” in 3.05 Fredless.
- To Pierce: “Mr. Armani” in 1.07 Bachelor Party.
- To Barney: “Mr. Emotional Radar” in 1.10 Parting Gifts.
- To Kate and Angel: “Mr. and Mrs. Spock” in 1.06 Sense And Sensitivity.
Cordelia has also thrown in a few Misses in her name calling. She has called Buffy:
- “Little Miss Likes-to-fight” in 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two).
- “Miss Not-Over-Yourself-Yet” in 3.07 Revelations.
- “Miss Save-The-World” in 2.13 Surprise.
Cordelia has even called herself a name:
- “Miss one-foot-in-the-grave” in 5.12 You’re Welcome.
David Herman
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David Herman played David Nabbit in seasons one and two of Angel. He was born on February 20, 1967 in New York, New York, graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and went on to appear in Born on the Fourth of July, Lost Angels and Let It Be Me. Herman was one of the original nine cast members of MADtv when the series aired in 1995. His strange but funny characters included Generation X anchorman Marsh, concerned father Joel Linder, and Joe Don. He left MadTV in 1997 and has appeared in 24, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Fun with Dick and Jane, and Office Space.
He has provided voices for Futurama, King of the Hill, American Dad!, Father of the Pride and the Jak video game series. Herman is a very skilled celebrity impressionist - his subjects including Tom Hanks, Woody Allen, Patrick Stewart, John Ritter, Larry Flynt, Tim Allen, Larry King, Anthony Hopkins, David Duchovny and Bob Dole.
David Nabbit
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David Nabbit was a nerdy billionaire software developer who had become rich through his digital pager network. He first sought Angel for help from a blackmailer in 1.20 War Zone. He attempted to befriend the gang at Angel Investigations, bored of his lifestyle, and feeling he wasn’t leading a real life as they were. He provided investment advice to Angel in 2.03 First Impressions and was not seen on screen again.
David Nabbit was supposed to become a recurring character in Angel, but this didn’t work out due to scheduling.
Deevak
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Deevak was a demon with the ability to transform itself into a human. As a demon, Deevak was tall, with grey, disfigured skin and clawed hands. He was very strong and began a killing spree in Gunn’s neighbourhood. It was revealed that Deevak was actually a young man named Jameel, who Gunn had once shunned. Deevak was killed by Angel using Cordy’s axe in 2.03 First Impressions.
Denzel Washington
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Actor Denzel Washington Denzel Washington is referenced a couple of times in Angel. In 2.03 First Impressions, the gang have the following conversation:
Gunn: “I haven’t bothered to see a movie since Denzel was robbed at the Oscars for Malcom X. Later.” [He leaves]
Wesley: “That was quite a performance.”
Cordelia: “I know! Talk about being wound up to tight.”
Wesley: “No. I mean Denzel.”
Cordelia: “Oh. Well, he’s always great.”
Wesley to Angel: “What about you?”
Angel: “Who doesn’t love Denzel?”
In 4.02 Ground State and 4.09 Long Day’s Journey, Gwen calls Gunn “Denzel”.
Dionne Warwick
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Gunn says in 2.03 First Impressions, “I ain’t buying any of this Dionne Warwick crap” He is referencing singer Dionne Warwick who hosts Psychic Friends Network info-mercials.
Get Here (If You Can)
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In 2.03 First Impressions, Lorne sings the Oleta Adams song Get Here (If You Can).
L.A. Confidential
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In 2.03 First Impressions, Cordelia says:
“When you do find him, you may want to be a little more Guy Pierce in L.A. Confidential, and a little less Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs.”
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 movie based on the crime fiction novel by James Ellroy. Guy Pearce, an Australian actor, starred in the film.
Moving in
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In 2.03 First Impressions we see that Angel Investigations has started to move into the Hyperion Hotel, seen first in 2.02 Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?
Reservoir Dogs
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Cordelia references Quentin Tarantino’s debut 1997 feature film Reservoir Dogs in 2.03 First Impressions when she says:
“When you do find him, you may want to be a little more Guy Pierce in L.A. Confidential, and a little less Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs.”
Michael Madsen played the violent Mr. Blonde in the film, whose most famous scene included cutting off the ear of a police officer.
Shotgun
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The following dialogue is from 2.03 First Impressions:
Angel: “We go up against Deevak we’re gonna need the entire team. (to Cordelia) Pick me up in the back, in the shade.”
Wesley: “Shotgun.”
Although Wesley calls shotgun, he seems confused by the concept later in 5.06 The Cautionary Tale Of Numero Cinco:
Wesley: “Yeah, remind me again how you ended up in the front seat.”
Spike: “Called shotgun, mate.”
Wesley: (looks at his shotgun) “Oh. I thought we were doing a weapons check.”
Star Wars
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George Lucas’s Star Wars films are a cult phenomenon. They are referenced numerous times in the Buffyverse. The original trilogy included the movies Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983) and the movies The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) were made later on.
- 2.01 When She Was Bad: when Xander and Willow play Guess the Movie from the tag line:
Willow: “Use the Force, Luke.”,
Xander: “Do I even have to dignify that with a guess?” - 2.03 School Hard: Spike told Angel that, “You were my Yoda!” Yoda was the ancient Jedi master who became the mentor and teacher for both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.
- 3.13 The Zeppo: A visual reference to Star Wars is seen when Xander runs into the corridor and runs back out with the gang members chasing him. Han Solo does the same thing in Star Wars.
- 3.19 Choices: Buffy says that Faith has turned to ‘the dark side’.
- 4.01 The Freshman: Xander confuses the Star Wars Jedi code quoted by Yoda in The Phantom Menace.
“Hate leads to anger…no wait…Fear leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side.”
Also in that episode, the old frat house that the vampires are holed up in is the Psi Theta house. If you write those two greek letters together, and pronounce them together, you get Sith.
- 4.04 Fear, Itself: Xander says to Oz, “Sensing a disturbance in the Force, Master?”
- 5.08 Shadow: Buffy using the chain to choke Sobek the snake-demon is reminiscent of Princess Leia killing Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi.
- 5.17 Forever: Ben calls Glory’s minions “Jawa rejects” after the small hooded and robed creatures in Star Wars.
- 6.05 Life Serial: Andrew paints a Death Star from Star Wars on the side of the gang’s van. It’s the Empire’s revised design from Return of the Jedi, which Jonathan says is flawed.
- 6.21 Two To Go: Andrew says:
“We’ve got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds us all into to Jawa burgers and not one of you bunch has the Midichlorians to stop her.”
These are all Star Wars references: Darth is a title given to a Sith Warrior (such as Darth Vader); Jawas are the hooded creatures who live on Tatooine, and Midichlorians are micro-organisms which exist in all living things.
In that episode, Andrew says another two Star Wars quotes:“Laugh it up, Fuzzball.”
“…in a galaxy far, far away…”
- 6.06 All The Way: Tara and Willow see a couple dressed as Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker kissing in the Bronze. Willow asks:
“Do they know they’re brother and sister?”
- 6.09 Smashed: we see that the three nerds own a mint condition (though out of its packaging) 1979 Boba Fett action figure. Though Boba Fett was first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (made in 1980), the earliest Boba Fett figure was made in 1979, before the film was released.
- 6.13 Dead Things: Jonathan and Andrew play fight with green light sabres.
- 6.18 Entropy: Warren calls Jonathan “Padawan”.
- 7.07 Conversations With Dead People: Jonathan and Warren have the following conversation, all quotes from Star Wars:
Warren: “Come on, “If you strike me down…”
Andrew: “I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine…That boy is our last hope.”
Warren: “No, there is another.” - 7.12 Potential: Xander says to Andrew:
“Say Skywalker, and I smack you.”
- 7.11 Showtime: Andrew says, “I’m bored. Episode I bored.” He’s referring to George Lucas’s disappointing movie Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He also says: “Um, deflector shields - deflector shields up!”
- 7.09 Never Leave Me: Warren/The First says, “I’m like Obi Wan”. He also says to Andrew, “We’re right in the trench, and the exhaust port’s in sight.” This is a reference to the scene in Star Wars in which the Death Star is under attack.
- 7.10 Bring On The Night: Andrew says:
“I’m like Vader in the last 5 minutes of Jedi with redemptive powers minus a redemptive struggle of epic redemption which chronicles…”
He’s referring to the last scenes of the final Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi. He also says:
“I admit I went over to the dark side, but just to pick up a few things, and now I’m back.”
- 7.16 Storyteller: there are two framed Star Wars comics on the wall in Andrew’s opening scene.
- 7.18 Dirty Girls: Andrew says:
“But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side.”
- 1.06 Sense And Sensitivity: Cordelia’s line “Jar Jar is getting his own talk show” is another reference to Star Wars.
- 1.05 Rm W/A Vu: Cordy says to her ghost, “Hey, hey - Phantom Dennis, put that back.” Jane Espenson says in her commentary fo the episode that she insisted the ghost be called Dennis to be able to pun the title of The Phantom Menace which was in cinemas at the time.
- 1.11 Somnambulist: Cordelia references Star Wars again when she calls Penn “Psycho-Wan Kenobi”.
- 2.03 First Impressions: Gunn says to Cordelia and Wesley,
“You two? I find Deevak, I’m gonna need more than C-3PO and Stick Figure Barbie backin’ me up, no offence.”
C-3PO was a droid in the Star Wars films, designed to assist with etiquette, customs, and translation so that meetings of different cultures run smoothly.
- 5.11 Damage: Andrew says (about Dana): “Driven insane by Yoda-knows-who.”
- 5.10 Soul Purpose: Spike references Star Wars, when he says “Sorry Mr Vader, but I don’t have an itch to join the evil Empire.”
- 4.15 Orpheus:
Wesley: “Sorry. I think my sense of humor’s trapped in a jar somewhere.”
Willow: “It does seem like you’ve given in to the grumpy side of the Force.”
Vampire misconceptions
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In 1.10 Parting Gifts, Angel says:
“Vampires don’t sleep in coffins. It’s a misconception made popular by hack writers and ignorant media. In fact, you know, we can and do move around during the day. As long as we avoid direct sunlight. Got it?”
This is referring to the popular stereotype that vampires sleep in coffins during the day. It is employed by many horror writers, such as Anne Rice, Darren Shan, and Bram Stoker.
In 2.03 First Impressions, Gunn says:
“Demon. He set up camp in my neighbourhood. He put to of my men in the hospital last night. So could one of you go in there and knock on his coffin?”
[Goof] No tattoo
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When Darla takes off Angel’s jumper in 2.03 First Impressions, the tattoo on his back is missing.