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.
Ash
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Ash’s song ‘I’m Gonna Fall’ (from their album Nu-Clear Sounds) plays in 4.05 Beer Bad when Buffy and Xander talk in the pub.
Bad
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The word “bad” is said 12 times during the episode 4.05 Beer Bad.
Black Frost
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The bewitched beer sold in the college pub in 4.05 Beer Bad was called Black Frost. The beer was enchanted the barman Jack’s brother-in-law, who just happened to be a warlock. Black Frost turned the students who drank it into really annoying Neanderthal-types who feared fire, as revenge for being snotty to the barman.
Bryan Cuprill
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Bryan Cuprill, who played Roy in 4.05 Beer Bad, played the same character in the Buffy episode 4.18 Where The Wild Things Are. He has also appeared in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, ER, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane and The Drew Carey Show.
Cocktail
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, Xander compared his bartending skills to those of Tom Cruise in the 1988 movie Cocktail:
“Well, I’ve seen Cocktail. I can do the hippy-hippy shake.”
Collapsis
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‘Wonderland’ by Collapsis (from the album Dirty Wake) can be heard in the background when Willow and Parker talk in 4.05 Beer Bad.
Double standards
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We see in 4.05 Beer Bad that Oz missed two classes of Psychology. This is interesting, since Professor Walsh told Buffy in 4.04 Fear, Itself that if she missed a second class, she’d be kicked out.
Electric Kool Aid
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, Xander calls Giles, “Mr I-spent-the-60s -in-an-electric -kool-aid-funky -satan-groove,” referring to Tom Wolfe’s 1967 book The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, about hippies who take drugs.
Emmy Awards
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A bone of contention with many who love Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the fact that it is often overlooked by the Emmy Awards. The show has won in these categories: Christophe Beck’s score to Becoming; and ‘Best Make-Up’ for 2.13 Surprise and 2.14 Innocence. Joss Whedon was nominated for the ‘Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series’ award for 4.10 Hush (interesting considering most of the episode has no dialogue!) and 7.22 Chosen was nominated in the ‘Special Visual Effects for a Series’ category. 4.05 Beer Bad received an Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series’ in the 52nd Annual Emmy Awards. 6.16 Hell’s Bells got 3 Emmy nominations: Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series, Outstanding Make-up for a Series (non-prosthetic), and Outstanding Make-up For A Series (Prosthetic).
Eric Mathany
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Eric Mathany played college student Colm in 4.05 Beer Bad. He has also been in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Family Law, Time of Your Life, Early Edition and Charmed.
Fire bad
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In 6.04 Flooded, Buffy suggests she burn her house down for the insurance. She says:
“Plus fire? Pretty.”
In 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two), Buffy said to Giles:
“Fire bad, tree pretty.”
She also said the line, “fire bad!” in 4.05 Beer Bad.
Frankenstein
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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, was first published in 1818, but the story of Frankenstein’s monster has been retold numerous times.
- 2.02 Some Assembly Required: Daryl Epps is brought back to life by his brother, who then sets about making a ‘girlfriend’ for him using the body parts of various dead girls.
- The villain of season four, Adam, was clearly based on Frankenstein’s monster. Professor Walsh created him to be a super-monster, made of different demons and humans. Although Shelly never named Victor Frankenstein’s monster in the book, she did at times refer to him in talk as “Adam,” obviously referencing the story of Adam and Eve from The Bible. Buffy’s Adam definitely parallels Shelly’s Adam: Both monsters were built out of a pure want to do good and help people, but the monster turns and becomes a killing menace.
- 4.04 Fear, Itself: Giles says, “It’s alive!”, which is from the 1931 movie Frankenstein.
- 4.05 Beer Bad: Buffy’s “Fire bad” line comes from the 1931 movie. The monster in the movie (played by Boris Karloff) is chased by angry villagers with torches, when he shouts, “Fire Bad!”
- 4.14 Goodbye Iowa: the shot with Adam and the little boy is an homage to the 1931 movie Frankenstein. When Frankenstein’s monster escapes, he walks through a forest and comes upon a little girl, Maria, who is throwing flowers into a pond. The monster joins her in the activity but soon runs out of flowers. At a loss for something to throw into the water, he looks at Maria and moves toward her. In all American prints of the movie, the scene ends here. But as originally filmed, the action continues to show the monster grabbing Maria, hurling her into the lake, then departing in confusion when Maria fails to float as the flowers did. This bit was deleted because Karloff - objecting to the director’s interpretation of the scene - felt that the monster should have gently put Maria into the lake. This scene is restored in the video cassette reissue. Both monsters were created using body parts from other people/demons and both encountered a child and expressed curiosity, which ended in the child’s death.
- 5.16 Shells: Gunn says:
“Everything you know, or there won’t be enough of you left to stitch back together, Frankenstein.”
- 5.04 Hell Bound: Nina says to Angel:
So, what? You’re, like, a Frankenstein?
Heath Castor
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Heath Castor played various characters in the episodes 3.02 Dead Man’s Party, 2.19 I Only Have Eyes For You, 4.01 The Freshman, 4.02 Living Conditions and 4.05 Beer Bad. He was in the Angel episode 2.04 Untouched.
Jack
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Jack was the manager of the student campus bar at UC Sunnydale. He disliked pretentious students and served them Black Frost beer which had been bewitched by his warlock brother-in-law. Anyone who drank the beer (including Buffy) turned into a Neanderthal, seen in 4.05 Beer Bad.
Kal Penn
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Kal Penn, who played Hunt in 4.05 Beer Bad, also played “Fez Boy” in the Angel episode 3.02 That Vision Thing. He can also be seen in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, The Arrangement, Cosmopolitan, Superman Returns, Love Don’t Cost a Thing, All About the Andersons and ER.
Kim Ferron
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‘Nothing But You’ by Kim Ferron plays on the jukebox in the bar in 4.05 Beer Bad.
Lauren Christy
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When Buffy bumps into Riley in the college pub in 4.05 Beer Bad, the song ‘Perfect Again’ by Lauren Christy plays in the background.
Lee Goulding & Gary Corcoran
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During Buffy’s dream about Parker in 4.05 Beer Bad, we hear Lee Goulding & Gary Corcoran’s ‘Some People Say’ from Gale Music Library.
Luscious Jackson
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The music video Buffy watches in 4.05 Beer Bad is Luscious Jackson’s video for ‘Lady Fingers’. Jill Cunniff, one of the vocalists for the band, knew Joss Whedon as a child.
Michael Beardsley
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Michael Beardsley played an uncredited college student in 4.05 Beer Bad. He appeared in the Angel episode 1.06 Sense And Sensitivity as an accident onlooker. He had other uncredited roles in Men in Black II, Crazy Beautiful, Dude, Where’s My Car? and The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
Paige Moss
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Paige played the werewolf Veruca. She appeared with Seth Green previously in the 1998 film Can’t Hardly Wait. Paige has also been in The Ranch, It’s All Relative, Beverly Hills, 90210, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, ER, The Ranch, Diagnosis Murder and ‘The Muffin Tops’ episode of Seinfeld.
Quest for Fire
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, Xander says:
“How much beer would you say a person needed to consume before they started seriously questing for fire?”
Quest for Fire is a movie, made in 1981, about three prehistoric men who search for a new source of fire.
Shot again
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The shot of Sunnydale campus shown at the start of 4.05 Beer Bad is the same one used in 4.01 The Freshman. You can even see Buffy walking up the middle of the screen holding the folder and wearing the dress she wore in that episode. The same shot was reused in 4.10 Hush, after the Gentlemen are destroyed.
Smile
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Smile’s ‘The Best Years’ (from the album Girl Crushes Boy) plays in the Bronze as Oz brings Willow a drink in 4.05 Beer Bad.
THC
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The name of Veruca’s band is Shy, but the music is actually perfomed by the real band THC. They play the song ‘Overfire’ in 4.05 Beer Bad. George Sarah, who can be seen on the piano in Shy’s performances, is actually THC’s songwriter. He collaborated with Anthony Stewart Head on his album ‘Music For Elevators’. Shy play ‘Dip’ and ‘Need to Destroy’ in 4.06 Wild At Heart.
In the Angel episode ‘1.02 Lonely Hearts‘, when team Angel arrives at the club we hear “Girlflesh” by THC.
The Grotto
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In 4.02 Living Conditions, Buffy refers to The Grotto, where she is going for coffee, which is on campus. We see the grotto in 4.05 Beer Bad, when Willow and Parker talk.
Tracey Forbes
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Tracey Forbes wrote the episodes 4.05 Beer Bad, 4.09 Something Blue and 4.18 Where The Wild Things Are. She has also worked on ReGenesis, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, The Huntress, BeastMaster, Relic and PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal.
UC Sunnydale pub
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There is a pub on campus at UC Sunnydale, seen in 4.05 Beer Bad. There is a Welsh flag behind the bar in the pub (the green and white flag with a red dragon on it).
Veruca
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Veruca was a confident singer with band Shy and student at UC Sunnydale. She flirted with Oz, making Willow jealous. Even the fact that her rival was named after a fungal foot infection didn’t help Willow’s cause. Oz discovered she too was a werewolf, though they felt differently about their condition - Veruca embraced it and he didn’t want to harm anyone. Oz locked the two in a cage before they turned one full moon, and Willow discovered them naked together the next morning. Veruca intended to hurt Willow but Oz ended up killing her when he was a werewolf.
Veruca like Faith
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, when Oz notices Veruca from the band Shy, Willow jealously says that Veruca “dresses like Faith”, referencing Buffy’s nemesis.
Wild Turkey
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, Willow refers to Wild Turkey (”I’m pregnant by my stepbrother who’d rather be with my best friend and he’s left me with no place to live and no food except this bottle of Wild Turkey, which I drunk all up”). It is a brand of American bourbon whiskey.
Xander’s tache
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Here’s the prop direction for Xander’s ID in 4.05 Beer Bad:
“FAKE I.D. showing Xander with a big Tom Selleck moustache.”
Yummi Sushi pyjamas
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Buffy wears ‘yummy sushi pyjamas’ (”That probably would have sounded more commanding if I wasn’t wearing my yummy sushi pyjamas.”). They are made by the same company, The Cat’s Pyjamas, that made the butterfly pyjamas she wore in 4.05 Beer Bad. The Yummi Sushi flannel PJs cost $86.
[Goof] Parker’s hands
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While Parker talks to Willow in 4.05 Beer Bad, he gestures with his arms. At one point, he folds them in front of himself, but there’s an immediate cut to a shot where his left arm is still extended towards Willow.
[Goof] Willow’s cup
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In 4.05 Beer Bad, Willow drinks from the cup that Oz brought her, then sets it down, touching the rim with one hand, but from another angle, that hand is nowhere near the rim.
[Goof] Xander’s ID
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When Xander holds up his fake ID in 4.05 Beer Bad, the shots from behind him show that he’s holding the license with his thumb and middle finger, but in the shots facing him, he’s holding it on the right with his thumb and index finger.