Episode Trivia
Alcohol
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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 1.04 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.
- In 2.05 Reptile Boy, Buffy and Cordelia go to a frat house party where they drink alcohol which has (again) been spiked. They pass out and awaken in a basement, ready to be sacrificed by Machida.
- In 2.08 The Dark Age, Giles gets busy with the whiskey and then his girlfriend gets possessed by Eyghon the Sleepwalker.
- In 3.08 Lover’s Walk, Spike returns to Sunnydale and gets extremely drunk, he awakes in the morning when sunlight touches his hand, which goes up in flames.
- In 4.09 Something Blue, Willow’s friends freak out a bit too much when they see she’s drinking - GASP! - low-alcohol beer. She’s reminded by Buffy that when she got drunk she turned into a cave woman (in 4.05 Beer Bad). Willow later does a spell which makes her will be done, causing havoc for her friends.
- 4.05 Beer Bad: the episode title says it all. Buffy drinks beer and literally turns into a Neanderthal.
- In 6.05 Life Serial, Buffy and Spike go drinking together and Buffy is really ill. She then tells Giles about how she’s messing up (though in fairness this started before she was drinking!)
- The Bronze serves alcohol but the rules are very strict about the age limit. Underage people have to wear a stamp on their hand so they won’t get served (Dawn in 5.06 Family) and when Anya tries to get a beer in 3.16 Doppelgangland, she’s asked for ID.
- The rules are later relaxed and finally, in 6.14 Older And Far Away, Buffy celebrates her 21st birthday, meaning she can now legally drink alcohol, though we saw her previously drinking beer in 6.13 Dead Things.
And the rest is silence
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Giles says, “And the rest is silence” after Buffy turns off the music she was exercising to. The same line was spoken by Merrick, Buffy’s Watcher in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer as he lay dying. Buffy (Kristy Swanson) also says the line to Lothos towards the end of the movie when she realises what it means.
Anywhere But Here
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‘Anywhere But Here‘ is a fantasy game where each person says where they’d rather be. In 2.08 The Dark Age, Buffy, Xander and Willow play this game in an attempt to pretend they’re not in school. We discover that Buffy wants her feet massaged by Gavin Rossdale of band Bush; Willow prefers the idea of dinner in Florence with actor John Cusack; while Xander (always) wants to go out with Amy Yip to the water park.
Bay City Rollers
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Giles reveals in 2.08 The Dark Age that he’s a fan of The Bay City Rollers. They were a 1970s band, famous for wearing tartan. Their biggest hit was ‘Saturday Night’.
Dark side erupting
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Xander says:
“No one can be wound as straight narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting.”
This can also be applied to (early) Willow in a way. She is so shy, and up-tight, but eventually tries to end the world in the episode 6.22 Grave.
Dean Batali
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Dean was a Buffy writer who wrote five episodes with Rob Des Hotel: 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, 1.09 The Puppet Show, 2.08 The Dark Age, 2.15 Phases and 2.18 Killed By Death. The two have also both written for Fantasy Island, Hope & Gloria, Duckman and The Adventures of Pete & Pete (which starred Michelle Trachtenberg as Nona). Rob and Dean are both co-executive producers on That ’70s Show.
Deirdre Page
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Deirdre was a member of the student chaos-worshipping group that Giles belonged to in his youth. She was killed and possessed by the demon Eyghon during which time she murdered her former friend Philip Henry, in 2.08 The Dark Age.
E.M. Forster
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Giles lent Jenny Calendar a first edition of a novel by British author E.M. Forster (1879-1970). His most famous works include A Room With A View, Howard’s End and A Passage To India.
Eyghon
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The demon Eyghon came to Sunnydale to find Giles in 2.08 The Dark Age. It possesses victims who wear his mark as a tattoo and attempts to kill them. The demon can only pass from one unconscious or dead person to another. Angel defeated Eyghon by taking the demon into his body, which fought with the demon already there. Eyghon is also known as the Sleepwalker.
Giles and Magic
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Giles casts a spell against Catherine Madison in 1.03 The Witch. He says this is his first but we discover in 2.08 The Dark Age that he has a history using magic. It’s the first time we see him using witchcraft.
Giles’s place
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The first time we see Giles’s home is in 2.08 The Dark Age. In 3.06 Band Candy, a courtyard outside Giles’s apartment can be seen where there once were stairs. His place became the focal point for the Scoobies in season four. The final time we see Giles’ apartment in the series is in the episode 5.17 Forever.
Lost Weekend
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Buffy says to Giles in 2.08 The Dark Age:
“I care from you Lost Weekend-ing in your apartment!”
The Lost Weekend (1945) is a film about the effects of alcoholism on a man’s life. It was based on a novel of the same name by Charles R. Jackson. The movie won Academy Awards for best picture, best actor (Ray Milland), best director (Billy Wilder) and best screenplay (Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett).
When Faith is channel-surfing in Angel’s apartment in 1.19 Sanctuary, one of the films seen is The Lost Weekend.
Philip Henry
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Philip was a friend of Giles when he was student, who also helped to raise the demon Eyghon. He was killed by Deirdre Page, while her body became possessed by Eyghon. He in turn became possessed by the demon and transferred Eyghon over to Jenny Calendar whilst she was unconscious in 2.08 The Dark Age.
Possessed Jenny
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Robia LaMorte said at a Buffy Convention (1.02 The Harvest, London, June 2003) that she didn’t like playing Possessed-Jenny in 2.08 The Dark Age because of her religious beliefs, but that it was fun to be sexy for a while. She also hated playing the First Evil in 3.10 Amends and really didn’t want to come back unless her character was good.
Randall
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Randall was a friend of Giles in his youth. He induced possession by Eyghon one night, but lost possession of the demon and it killed him. Giles told this story in 2.08 The Dark Age.
Rob des Hotel
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Rob was a Buffy writer who wrote five episodes with Dean Batali: 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, 1.09 The Puppet Show, 2.08 The Dark Age, 2.15 Phases and 2.18 Killed By Death. The two have also both written for Fantasy Island, Hope & Gloria, Duckman and The Adventures of Pete & Pete (which starred Michelle Trachtenberg as Nona). Rob and Dean are both co-executive producers on That ’70s Show.
Sid Vicious
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, we see a photo of a young Rupert Giles holding a bass guitar. The production crew faked the photo by superimposing his head onto a photo of Sid Vicious.
Slamming doors
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Buffy and Giles both slam a door in the face of the other at some point in the series: Giles does it to her in 2.08 The Dark Age and Buffy does it to him in 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me.
Stuart McLean
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Stuart McLean, who played Philip Henry in 2.08 The Dark Age, also played ‘X-Ray Tech’ in several episodes of ER. He has appeared in episodes of Nip/Tuck, Silk Stockings and Babylon 5.
The Prisoner
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In 2.06 Halloween, Ethan leaves behind a note on the counter of the costume shop which says, “Be seeing you.” When Eyghon leaves Giles’ apartment after first possessing Ms. Calendar in 2.08 The Dark Age, it also says, “Be seeing you.” The phrase is a reference to 60s cult paranoia drama The Prisoner.
The Sound of Music
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After being possessed by Eyghon, Jenny says to Giles in 2.08 The Dark Age:
“I mean, I’m not running around, wind in my hair, ‘The hills are alive with the sound of music’ fine, but… I’m coping.”
This is a quote from the title song of the musical The Sound of Music (1959) written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. It was made into a movie starring Julie Andrews in 1965.
Buffy also mentions the song in 3.04 Beauty And The Beasts when she says:
“Three-dimensional, Sensurround, The Hills Are Alive…”
In 3.02 That Vision Thing, Lorne says:
“You’re Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.”
TV-14
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2.08 The Dark Age was the first episode since 1.12 Prophecy Girl to be rated TV-14.
Uncle Rory
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Xander’s Uncle Rory, who was a “stodgy taxidermist” by day and at night it was “booze, whores and fur flying”. Mentioned in 2.08 The Dark Age, 3.13 The Zeppo (when he lent Xander his car), 4.04 Fear, Itself, 6.11 Gone and 6.15 As You Were. We finally got to meet Uncle Rory when he was a guest at Xander’s wedding in 6.16 Hell’s Bells - and he didn’t disappoint. He pretended to be electrocuted by a toaster and hit on a waitress at the wedding, pretending she was his date. He then explained the finer points of taxidermy to her.
[Goof] Buffy’s fall
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Jenny/Eyghon pushes Buffy against a dresser with the table and Buffy falls to the floor. When Giles tells Buffy to leave, they show her standing up against the dresser as if she never fell.
[Goof] Buffy’s kick
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When Phillip escapes from the cage in the library in 2.08 The Dark Age, Buffy goes to kick him with her left foot but in a quick cut to the next shot, she’s kicking with her right foot.
[Goof] Corpse legs
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Deirdre Page, who has been taken over by Eyghon, has lots of corpse-like make-up on her face and hands, but not on her legs.
[Goof] Giles’s glasses
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When Giles calls everyone involved with Eyghon in 2.08 The Dark Age, he crosses out a girl’s name and puts his glasses down near the notebook. The camera zooms in on the list of names and the glasses are now on top of the notebook.
[Goof] Homicide
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In 2.08 The Dark Age, Cordelia tells the others that she saw Giles in the library with the police talking about a homicide. But, she came in after the conversation and left before anything else could be said. How could she know what they were talking about?