Episode Trivia
Aye Aye Captain
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Some characters have a habit of putting the word “Captain” before nicknames on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
- Angel has been called Captain America by Jack McNamara in 1.16 The Ring
- Angel has been called Captain Forehead by Spike in 5.02 Just Rewards
- Giles has been called Captain Slow-Poke by Spike in 5.20 Spiral
- Riley has been called Captain America by Xander in 5.08 Shadow
- Riley has been called Captain Can-Do by Sam in 6.15 As You Were
- Riley has been called Captain Cardboard by Spike in 5.05 No Place Like Home
- Spike has been called Captain Peroxide by Xander in 6.09 Smashed
- Spike has been called Captain Peroxide by Angel in 7.22 Chosen
- Wesley has been called Captain Courageous by Giles in 3.14 Bad Girls
- Wesley has been called Captain Obvious by Gunn in 4.08 Habeas Corpses
- Xander has been called Captain Fear by Anya in 6.04 Flooded
- Xander has been called Captain Logic by Anya in 6.04 Flooded
Ben Edlund
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Ben Edlund was a supervising producer on Angel, and a producer and writer on Firefly. He wrote the Angel episodes 5.19 Time Bomb, 5.14 Smile Time, 5.05 Life Of The Party, 5.02 Just Rewards and 4.20 Sacrifice, and directed the episode 5.14 Smile Time. Ben has also written episodes of Supernatural, The Venture Bros., Point Pleasant, The Inside, The Tick (which he also created), Titan A.E., and Crawley.
Casper
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Casper the friendly ghost was a cartoon and movie character who wanted to make friends with humans.
In 5.02 Just Rewards, Angel says to Spike,
“You’re not in this world… Casper.”
In 5.04 Hell Bound, Spike says, “Or playing Casper with one foot in the fryer.”
In 1.05 Rm W/A Vu, Cordy says to her ghost, “Listen good, Casper, you haven’t won a thing here!”
In 4.07 Apocalypse, Nowish, Gunn says of a ghost, “Yep, Casper’s dealing with the big boys now.”
In the Buffy episode 2.06 Halloween, Buffy calls Willow “Casper” when she sees her in her ghost costume.
Cleansing Amulet
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The amulet given to Buffy by Angel in 7.22 Chosen proves very useful to the Slayer but we don’t have much information on it. We know it has ‘cleansing’ power, and eventually cleans out all evil from the Hellmouth, causing Sunnydale to fall in on itself. Angel got the amulet from Lilah in the Angel episode 4.22 Home.
When Spike becomes alive again in the Angel season five episode Conviction, he emerges from the amulet he wore in 7.22 Chosen, which was sent mysteriously back to Angel. When he opens the package the amulet falls out and Spike materializes from it, very painfully, sort of the reverse of how burned.
In 5.02 Just Rewards, we see a flashback to Spike’s death scene from 7.22 Chosen. One of the first things that Spike asks Angel, after coming out from the amulet, is where and how Buffy is.
In the Angel epiode 5.22 Not Fade Away, when Angel is giving everyone their orders about who they are going to kill Spike tells him:
“First off, I’m not wearing any amulets. No bracelets, broaches, beads, pendants, pins, or rings.”
Comparing souls
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In the Angel episode 5.02 Just Rewards, Angel says to Spike:
“Fair?! You asked for a soul. I didn’t! It almost killed me. I spent a hundred years trying to come to terms with infinite remorse. You spent 3 weeks moaning in a basement, and then you were fine! What’s fair about that?”
This is a reference to Spike’s time in the school basement at the start of Buffy’s season season. We also find out in this episode that Angel didn’t tell his team that Spike had a soul.
Depp and Bloom
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In the episode 5.02 Just Rewards, Lorne says:
“I’m thinking Depp and Bloom… But you see them all the time now.”
He is referring to Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, who starred together in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
Five whammy for David
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From the episode 5.02 Just Rewards, David Fury became the only writer credited with writing at least one episode in all of Angel’s five seasons. Joss Whedon did not officially write any season two scripts, but did have two ‘Story by’ credits as well as a directing credit.
Ghost
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In 7.09 Never Leave Me, Andrew compares Warren/The First to Patrick Swayze. Swayze starred in the 1990 movie Ghost in which his non-corporeal ghost attempts to avenge his own murder. In 1.05 Rm W/A Vu, Cordelia mentions the same movie when she says:
“Old lady ghost. How come Patrick Swayze’s never dead when you need him?”
In 5.02 Just Rewards, Harmony says to the now non-corporeal Spike:
“Why should now be any diff’? Just ’cause you’ve gone all Patrick Swayze?”
Ghostly Spike?
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In 5.02 Just Rewards, Fred examines Spike to try and find out if he’s a ghost or not - seemingly not, as she confirms:
Fred: “Ectoplasm’s what makes ghosts visible to the human eye. If he’s a ghost, technically we shouldn’t be able to see him… And I’m detecting brainwave activity… Also, ghosts generally absorb light and heat energy making the area around them a few degrees cooler. Spike’s radiating heat.”
History of the World, Part I
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In 5.02 Just Rewards Spike says:
“It’s good to be the king, isn’t it?”
This is a quote from the Mel Brooks movie, History of the World, Part I. It has been referenced in nearly every Brooks film since then.
Magnus Hainsley
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Magnus Hainsley was a Necromancer and one of Wolfram & Hart’s oldest clients. He had the power to take the essence of his demon clients via his own body and place them within a corpse chosen by the client. W&H had supplied these bodies until Gunn and Angel decided to close down the Interment Acquisitions Division of the firm, thus stopping Hainsley’s supply of fresh bodies and endangering his business. Hainsley’s ‘power over the dead’ gave him the ability to control Angel and Spike, but by using this ability against him, Spike was able to control Hainsley so that Angel could fight and kill him.
Peter Pan
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When Tara’s little light comes to guide Willow in 6.02 Bargaining (Part Two), Xander asks the witch how long Tara has been Tinkerbell. This is a reference to the fairy in J. M. Barrie�s novel Peter Pan.
Previously, in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, we hear Willow and Tara’s conversation, when they’re searching for Riley:
Tara: “How’d you do that? With the light?”
Willow: “Oh, you know. You taught me.”
Tara: “I taught you teeny Tinkerbell light.”
Spike: “Necro here’s gonna give me my body back… after I take yours for a test drive, fix his little problems. And here’s the kicker: I go in, and you go pfft! Off to never-never-come-back land.”
Randall & Hopkirk… Deceased
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In 5.02 Just Rewards, Spike says to Angel:
“Think I could really stand hanging out with you and your lot, now and forever. Wise cracking ghost sidekick”.
This could be a reference to Randall & Hopkirk…Deceased, a TV show about two PA’s, where one is killed but comes back as a ghost to help his partner.
The Wizard of Oz
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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 1.06 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 6.04 Flooded, Andrew says he trained flying demon monkeys to disrupt the school play.
- In 1.10 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 2.10 What’s My Line? (Part Two), Xander says, “Welcome my little pretties”. In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West called Dorothy her “pretty”.
- Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West by throwing water on her. The following dialog is from 1.17 Eternity:
- In 4.20 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 5.05 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.
- A similar reference to this phrase is in the Angel episode 2.22 There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb. In that episode, Lorne also sings the song ‘Over the Rainbow’.
- In 6.22 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 7.19 Empty Places, Rona says, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead.” This is from a song in The Wizard of Oz.
- A similar reference to this phrase is in the Angel episode 4.13 Salvage. Lorne says, “Well, ding-dong, the Beast is dead!”
- The title of the Angel episode 2.20 Over The Rainbow is another reference to The Wizard of Oz, in which the land of Oz is said to be ‘over the rainbow’. In that episode, Cordelia clicks her heels three times (as Dorothy does in the film) and says, “Worth a shot.”
- In 4.15 Orpheus, Cordelia says, “You want to go, Glinda?” This is a reference to Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.
- In 5.02 Just Rewards, Angel says, “To see the wizard”, is a reference to The Wizard of Oz song called “We’re Off to See the Wizard”.
- In 5.21 Power Play, Lorne says, “And what if he’s skipped too far down that evil brick road?” This is a reference to the yellow brick road which Dorothy and the others follow to Oz.
(Cordy pulls off the top of a water container.)
Cordy: “Back off!”
Angel: “What are you going to do? Melt me?”
Cordy: “One more step and you’ll find out. You think this is just water?”
Victor Raider-Wexler
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Victor Raider-Wexler played Magnus Hainsley in 5.02 Just Rewards. A character actor often cast as judges, he has also appeared in The War at Home, Numb3rs, NYPD Blue, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Dharma & Greg, Dr. Dolittle 2, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Friends, Law & Order, The Larry Sanders Show, The Wonder Years and Benji.
[Goof] From front to behind
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5.02 Just Rewards starts off from exactly the same time where 5.01 Conviction finished. In the opening scene when Spike is coming out of the amulet, Angel is standing in front of him beside Wesley, but after the flashback to Sunnydale scene, Angel is now standing behind Spike.
[Goof] Gunn’s firings
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In 5.02 Just Rewards Gunn mentions that he has had to fire at least 40 employees in the last two days, however this episode continues straight where 5.01 Conviction left off so Gunn would only have got his memory upgrade that day.
[Goof] Visible hooks
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In 5.02 Just Rewards, in the scene where Hainsley is making Angel hang in mid air in the graveyard, in the long shot you can see that Angel’s coat is being pulled by the hooks holding David Boreanaz up in the air.