Episode Trivia
Abilene
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One of the movies playing at the cinema in 3.10 Amends is Abilene, which was not released until March 13, 1999 - three months after the episode aired. Carey Meyer, who was the production designer for Buffy, was also the designer for Abilene, so the movie’s reference is a little in-joke by Carey.
Angel flashbacks
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
We get to see some more flashbacks to Angel’s earlier days in the episode 3.10 Amends, only marred by his really bad Irish accent and Tom Selleck-style moustache. We see him in Dublin, Ireland in 1838 (where he killed a man named Daniel on the night before his wedding, and also where he murdered a maid). We also see a business man who seems to have been killed fairly recently (probably when Angelus reappeared in season two).
Barry White
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
Willow plays Barry White’s ‘Can’t Get Enough of Your Love’ (with a chilled bottle of 7-Up) to try and seduce Oz in 3.10 Amends. The two finally sleep together for the first time in 3.21 Graduation Day (Part One).
Being Jenny Calendar
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
Jenny Calendar appeared on the show twice after Angel killed her in 2.17 Passion. The first time was when Drusilla cast a spell on Giles, manifesting herself as Jenny in 2.22 Becoming (Part Two), and the second was when the First Evil took her form in 3.10 Amends.
Bodily harm
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The following dialogue was cut from 3.10 Amends:
Joyce: “You know, honey, I was thinking - maybe we should invite Faith to spend Christmas Eve with us.”
Buffy: “I’ll ask her. Worst she can do is - well, the worst she can do is serious bodily harm, but she’ll probably just say no.”
Bringers’ symbol
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In 3.10 Amends, the Bringers’ symbol is made up of bones, stones and candles. It looks like the symbol on the Seal of Danzalthar under Sunnydale High in season seven.
By the Sun Cinema
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As Buffy and Angel walk through the snowy street in 3.10 Amends, the shot starts with a close up on the inside of the U on the Sun Cinema sign. This is where Faith stands when she shoots Angel in 3.21 Graduation Day (Part One). In 3.17 Enemies, Buffy and Angel stand outside the cinema again, when they’re joined by Faith.
Changes To ‘Grr…Argh’
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In numerous episodes of Buffy, the Mutant Enemy logo (the little monster seen at the end of each episode) changes in some way:
- In 2.22 Becoming (Part Two), he says ‘I need a hug’.
- In 3.10 Amends, he is wearing a Christmas hat.
- In 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two), he is wearing a graduation hat.
- In 6.07 Once More, With Feeling, he sings “grr argh”.
- In 7.16 Storyteller, he declares ‘we are gods!’
- Finally, in 7.22 Chosen, he turns his head to growl at the camera.
Cornelia Hayes O’Herlihy
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Cornelia Hayes O’Herlihy played Margaret, the servant girl Angel tried to kill in 3.10 Amends. She previously played Jane Spencer in Diana: Her True Story. Serena Scott Thomas, who played Gwendolyn Post in Revelations, played Diana in the same TV movie.
Daniel
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Daniel was a young man killed by Angelus the night before his wedding. The First Evil used Daniel’s form to taunt Angel in 3.10 Amends.
Diary of Lucious Temple
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Giles gave Buffy Lucious Temple’s diary to research the First Evil in 3.10 Amends. Lucious Temple was an acolyte of Acathla and an expert on demons. He was also a keen gardener.
Dr. Seuss
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
In 3.10 Amends, Buffy says, “Tree. Nog. Roast Beast.” This is a reference to How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss in which Roast Beast is the traditional Christmas dinner.
Ever had that dream?
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In 3.10 Amends, when Willow tries to seduce Oz, he asks her:
“You ever have that dream where you’re in a play, and it’s the middle of the play and you really don’t know your lines, and you kinda don’t know the plot?”
This is precisely the dream she will make in 4.22 Restless, and similar to her nightmare in 1.10 Nightmares.
Evil Dead
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Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, starring Bruce Campbell, is alluded to a few times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
In 3.10 Amends, the First screams, “Dead by sunrise”, which could be a nod to the subtitle of Evil Dead 2, namely, “Dead by Dawn”.
In 5.14 Crush, Xander says to Spike:
“Hey evil dead you’re in my seat.”
In 7.07 Conversations With Dead People, Buffy says:
“Yeah, what I really need is emotional therapy from the evil dead.”
In 4.01 Deep Down, Gunn says:
“Evil Dead was probably just messing with us.”
The scene in 4.22 Restless, in which Xander is being pursued by the first Slayer down a long corridor (eventually leading to his parents’ basement), is highly reminiscent of a similar scene in The Evil Dead, in which Ash (Bruce Campbell) is being chased by the entity.
Another visual reference to Evil Dead can be seen in 6.03 After Life. The scene in which Anya become possessed is similar to a scene in the movie in which Linda (Ash’s girlfriend) gets possessed by evil spirits.
Sam Raimi was executive producer of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hit movie The Grudge.
Fat grandchildren
details | 18 comments | suggested by ant4buffy
In 3.10 Amends, the First as Jenny says, “I wanna die in bed surrounded by fat grandchildren, but guess that’s off the menu.” In 7.22 Chosen, Buffy tells Angel, “No I don’t see fat grandchildren in the offing with Spike.”
First Evil
details | 8 comments | suggested by Jess
The first, original evil had no physical shape, but could take on the form of dead people, including those who had been dead, such as Buffy. It couldn’t touch anything so couldn’t be fought physically, but it’s power lay in the way it could take on a form and persuade people to do what it wanted. The First came to Sunnydale in 3.10 Amends to persuade Angel to kill Buffy. He was so horrified that he tried to kill himself, but was saved by Buffy and a handy snowfall.
The First was able to enter this dimension due to a fault in the Slayer line, which Anya worked out in 7.11 Showtime must have been when the Scoobies brought Buffy back to life in season six. It began to torment the Scoobies with visions of dead people, and Buffy realised in 7.09 Never Leave Me what she was facing. The First’s plan was to build up an army of Turok-Han, who would kill humans and when the balance had shifted the First could then take on a physical form and rule the world. Buffy defeated the First’s army by giving all potential Slayers their power, and using an amulet given to her by Angel. This destroyed Sunnydale in the process, but not the First which can never be killed.
Giles for Christmas
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In 3.10 Amends we see that Joyce is not comfortable with inviting Giles to Christmas dinner after the events of 3.06 Band Candy, when they had sex.
It did once
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In the Angel episode 3.19 The Price, Angel is holding a snow globe and says, “It never snows in California” to which Cordelia replies, “It did once.” This is a reference to 3.10 Amends, when it snowed for the first time in Sunnydale history.
Mark Kriski
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Mark Kriski played the weatherman in the episode 3.10 Amends. He is the real-life weatherman for KTLA’s morning news. KTLA is the L.A. affiliate of the WB Network. He has appeared as a weatherman in Gangland, Chairman of the Board, Speed, Speed 2: Cruise Control, 7th Heaven and The Jackie Thomas Show. On the same subject, David Boreanaz’s father is a weatherman.
Other titles
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3.10 Amends had at least two other titles before Joss Whedon decided what to call it: ‘Old Enemies, Dead Enemies’ and ‘A Buffy Christmas’.
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.
Saverio Guerra
details | 8 comments | suggested by Jess
Saverio Guerra, who played Willy the Snitch, appeared in five episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He is best known as Bob in Becker, and has also appeared in EZ Streets (as Sammy), Mad About You, Bad Boys, and Summer of Sam. Saverio was the voice of Pontrelli in Shark Tale.
Snow in Sunnydale
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The first time it ever snowed in Sunnydale was in the episode 3.10 Amends.
Taste her
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The First tries to get both Angel and Spike to drink from Buffy. First in 3.10 Amends:
The First as Jenny: “She wants you to taste her. Think of the peace. You’ll never have to see us again.”
And in 7.08 Sleeper:
The First as Spike: “You know what I want you to do. They’re waiting for you. Take her, taste her, make her weak.”
The First’s plan for Angel
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The First’s plan in 3.10 Amends was for Angel to kill Buffy. It settled for Angel trying to kill himself:
Jenny: “You were born to hurt her. Have you learned nothing? As long as you are alive…”
Angel: “Then I’ll die.”
Jenny: “You don’t have the strength to kill yourself.”
Angel: “I don’t need strength. I just need the sun to rise.”
Jenny: “You’re not supposed to die. This isn’t the plan… But it’ll do.”
However, Angel says the following in 7.22 Chosen:
Angel: “It’s The First, right? The First Evil. The power that tried to convince me to kill myself.”
The Sun
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
Buffy mentions the trashy British tabloid “newspaper” The Sun in 3.10 Amends.
Walking by the Sun Cinema
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The Sunnydale street in front of the Sun Cinema is clearly a place of confusion, seeing as whenever a character is completely bewildered they walk down that road.
- Cordelia walked past the movie theatre when she landed in the alternate Sunnydale in 3.09 The Wish.
- Buffy and Angel walked down that street when it was snowing in 3.10 Amends.
- Vampire Willow walked down that street when she first landed in the real Sunnydale in 3.16 Doppelgangland.
- Faith walked the same road when she woke up from her coma in 4.15 This Year’s Girl.
Oddly though, Buffy didn’t make the trek down that road when she came back from the grave in 6.02 Bargaining (Part Two).
You’ll drink her
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The First as Jenny Calendar tells Angel in 3.10 Amends, “Sooner or later, you will drink her”, meaning Buffy. He does: in 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two).
[Goof] Christmas ritual
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A goof in 3.10 Amends that no one noticed till Joss brought it up on the posting board: why is Xander telling Willow his Christmas ritual? She’s known him since he was five. She’d know that already.
[Goof] Fake snow
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
The snow in 3.10 Amends settles too quickly, and there are loads of footprints in it, considering it fell just before dawn.
[Goof] Reversed image
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In 3.10 Amends, Angel wakes up from a nightmare and goes walking in Sunnydale’s main street. At one point he walks past a guy dressed as Santa Claus. The image in this scene has obviously been reversed - made very obvious by the backwards ‘OPEN’ sign in a shop window, and the reversed number 5125 over a doorway.
[Goof] The First
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
The First Evil cannot touch (discovered in 3.10 Amends and in season seven), yet the First/Jenny clearly touches Angel.