Episode Trivia
Aliens
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In 2.12 Bad Eggs, the offspring of the Mother Bezoar is very similar to the facehugger parasite (designed by swiss artist H R Giger) in the Alien(s) movie series. The Bezoar dissection scene is also a clear nod to a scene in Aliens, in which the android Bishop (Lance Hendriksen) examines one of the creatures.
In 3.05 Fredless, Trish Burkle says,
“I mean, Rog’s always had a thing for those disgusting Alien movies, all the slime and teeth. Ugh, he just can’t get enough of them. Except for that last one they made - I think he dozed off.”
This is an in-joke at the expense of Joss Whedon, who was credited as co-writing the fourth movie, Alien: Resurrection, though his script was extensively rewritten.
Angel Investigations AKA
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Nicknames for Angel Investigations throughout the seven seasons of Angel have been:
- “A bunch of proto-losers” by Cordelia in 4.06 Spin The Bottle
- “Fearless vampire killers” by Lorne in 4.06 Spin The Bottle
- “A bunch of superheroes” by Roger Burkle in 3.05 Fredless
- “A demon-hunting, helpless-helping, dysfunctional family” by Fred in 5.03 Unleashed
- “Bunch of pantywaists” by Skip in 4.17 Inside Out
- “Little gang of supernatural detectives” by Darla in 3.07 Offspring
- “One big happy Manson family” by Spike in 5.22 Not Fade Away
- “Plucky little boatload of good” by Hamilton in 5.19 Time Bomb
- “Team Angel” by Gunn in 4.04 Slouching Toward Bethlehem
- “Team Angel” by Faith in 4.13 Salvage
- “Suckers at Angel, Inc” by Angelus in 4.13 Salvage
Bob Hope Desert Classic
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In 3.05 Fredless, Roger Burkle and Angel have the following dialogue:
Roger: “Well, I tell ya, I hadn’t seen a stroke like that since Nicklaus took on Gary Player in the ‘63…”
Angel and Roger in unison: “Bob Hope Desert Classic.”
They’re talking about a PGA Tour golf tournament which is played each January in California’s Coachella Valley. It is part of the Tour’s early season West Coast Swing and is also well known for its celebrity pro-am. Jack Nicklaus is a famous golfer.
Buffy and Angel’s love
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In the Angel episode 3.05 Fredless, Cordelia and Wesley do an amusing re-enactment of Buffy and Angel’s relationship for Fred. It goes as follows:
Cordy: “Let me break it down for you, Fred.”
Cordy now pretends to be Buffy while Wesley is Angel.
Cordy: “Oh Angel! I know that I’m a Slayer and you’re a vampire and it would be impossible for us to be together, but…”
Wesley: “But, my gypsy curse sometimes prevent me from seeing the truth. Oh, Buffy”
Cordy: “Yes, Angel?”
Wes: “Oh, I love you so much I almost forgot to brood.”
Cordy: “And just because I sent you to hell that one time doesn’t mean that we can’t just be friends.”
Cordy: “Oh!”
Wes: “Or possibly more.”
Cordy: “Gasp! No! We mustn’t.”
Wes: “Kiss me.”
Cordy: “Bite me!”
Angel: “How about you both bite me?”
Bug killing
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In 5.20 The Girl In Question, Fred’s mother, Trish Burkle, says:
“Have we not seen each other since I ran over that bug demon with the bus? How is that even possible?”
This is a reference to the episode 3.05 Fredless, when she killed the giant bug demon.
Bye, crossovers
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Angel discovers that Buffy is alive during an off-screen phone call from Willow in the Angel episode 3.04 Carpe Noctem. Angel calls the Slayer in the Buffy episode 6.04 Flooded, and she goes off to meet him - not in Sunnydale, not in L.A., but somewhere in the middle. This is a nod towards the fact that there are no more Buffy/Angel crossovers now that Buffy has moved from the WB to UPN. Buffy returns to Sunnydale in 6.05 Life Serial but doesn’t want to talk about her meeting with Angel (she just says it was “intense”), another nod to the lack of crossovers. Likewise, in 3.05 Fredless, Angel says he really doesn’t want to talk about meeting Buffy.
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.
Durslar beast
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In 3.05 Fredless, Angel and Fred are attacked by a Durslar beast whilst buying ice cream:
Fred: “You think maybe the monster just wanted a sugar cone?”
Angel: “I doubt it. Durslar beasts don’t usually come above ground like that. They tend to stick to the sewers.”
Angel says of the beast:
“Durslar beasts are pretty Faulknerian. Lotta sound, no fury.”
He tracks the demon and beheads it.
Gary Grubbs
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Gary Grubbs played Fred’s father, Roger Burkle in 3.05 Fredless, 5.15 A Hole In The World and 5.20 The Girl In Question. He has also been in Ray, Will & Grace (as Harlin Polk), The X Files, JFK, Disneyland and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Godfather
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Ethan Rayne says to Buffy in 2.06 Halloween,
“I feel quite moved to make you a deal you can’t refuse.”
This is a reference to the 1972 movie The Godfather, in which Don Vito Corleone often uses the phrase, “an offer you can’t refuse”. In 3.19 Choices, Faith paraphrases the famous line when she tells the Mayor,
“I made him an offer he couldn’t survive.”
In 3.05 Fredless, Lorne says:
“But it turns out massacres are a lot like sitting through Godfather 3: once is enough.”
In 5.01 Conviction, Lorne says:
“The part’s yours. Yeah, I’ve got a whole freezer full of horses’ heads downstairs.”
He is referring to the first Godfather movie, in which a man gets a part in a movie because someone puts a horse’s head in the bed of the director who doesn’t want him in the movie, to scare him into giving him the part.
Jennifer Griffin
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Jennifer Griffin played Fred’s mother, Trish Burkle, in Angel. She played Happy in Vanilla Sky and has also appeared in Six Feet Under, The X Files, Judging Amy, Boy Meets World, Profiler, The Maker, Cybill, Walker, Texas Ranger, A Perfect World, MacGyver, and Wiseguy.
Roger and Trish Burkle
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Fred’s parents, Roger and Trish Burkle were devastated when their beloved daughter disappeared. They hired a private eye to locate her which led them to Angel Investigations. The gang initially thought Fred was frightened of her parents, and believed they were untrustworthy. They were in fact perfect parents, and, after a fight with giant insect demons, they ask Fred to go home to Texas with them. Fred decided to stay with Angel, but remained in close contact with her parents.
Smoker Lorne
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When Fred goes to Caritas in 3.05 Fredless, she finds Lorne drinking, watching TV, and smoking a cigarette, which he immediately puts out. This is the first time Lorne is seen smoking. We also see him smoking in 4.06 Spin The Bottle.
Spiro Agnew
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In 3.05 Fredless, Fred’s father and Angel have the following conversation:
Roger: “Now, Spiro Agnew, I know he was…”
Angel: “A Grathnar demon! You knew that? I thought I was the only one that knew that!”
Roger: “What else would he be, but a demon?”
Spiro Agnew was the thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States, serving between 1969 to 1973 under President Richard Nixon. He is most famous for his resignation in 1973 following evidence of tax evasion.
Weapons inventory
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In 3.05 Fredless, Wesley, Gunn and Angel are carrying out an inventory of the weapons cabinet, as Cordelia had moved some “dust-catchers” down to the basement in Angel’s absence, seen in 3.01 Heartthrob:
Cordelia: “No. Angel - keeps complaining that the weapons cabinet is all different.”
Winston Churchill
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For some unexplained reason, Wesley has a framed photograph of British war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill behind his desk in the Hyperion Hotel. This can be seen clearly in 3.05 Fredless.