Episode Trivia
Amy Powell
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Amy Powell, who played the newsreader in 3.15 Consequences, played the same role in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa and 4.16 Who Are You? Amy also played a reporter in The Bird Cage and 7.11 Showtime.
Channel 14 News
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The Channel 14 News is seen in a few episodes: 3.15 Consequences (Joyce and Buffy watch the news about Alan Finch’s murder), 4.14 Goodbye Iowa (when Adam kills a boy), 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day (when a road caves in due to Spike’s tunnelling) and 4.16 Who Are You? (when hostages are held in a church by vampires).
Dead children
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Unlike Angel, children in Buffy the Vampire Slayer don’t die very often. The first child to be vamped was The Anointed One (by the Master in 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date). He was killed by Spike in 2.03 School Hard, after being exposed to sunlight.
The first child actually to be killed on Buffy was in 2.18 Killed By Death, in which a child was killed by Der Kindestod in the hospital. We also saw a flashback to Buffy’s cousin Celia’s death in that episode. The only other kid killed on the show was in season four’s 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, in which a small boy was killed by Adam, using his Polgara skewer.
We saw two ‘dead’ children in 3.11 Gingerbread but it was later revealed that they were not actually children, but a demon disguised as kids.
Dr. Angleman
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Dr Angleman was a doctor in the Initiative. He was the head of the Xenomorphic Behaviour Modification field at the Initiative, and helped Professor Walsh to create Adam. Angleman was killed by Adam in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa.
Floppy boy
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Adam says he is a, “kinematically redundant, biomechanical demonoid. Designed by Maggie Walsh. She called me Adam and I called her mother. In addition to organic material, I’m equipped with GP-2/D-11 Infrared detectors. A harmonic decelerator, plus DC servo.” Yeah, all that and he’s still only got a floppy-disk drive.
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?
Giles’s tattoo
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Giles’s tattoo, the mark of Eyghon, can be seen in the episodes 3.06 Band Candy and 4.14 Goodbye Iowa. It was first seen in 2.08 The Dark Age.
Goldilocks
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Spike calls Buffy “Goldilocks” (after the children’s story Goldilocks and the Three Bears) twice in Buffy: in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, he says,
“Got to hand it to you goldilocks - you do have bleeding tragic taste in men I’ve got a cousin married to a regurgitating Frovalox demon that’s got better instincts than you.”
In 6.11 Gone, he says:
“So what should I call you then? Pet? Sweetheart? My little goldilocks?”
Hostile Seventeen
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Hostile Seventeen was the Initiative’s code name given to Spike after they captured him in the episode 4.07 The Initiative. Interestingly, Riley told Buffy in 4.12 A New Man that he had captured or killed seventeen ‘Hostile Sub-Terrestrials’ (or HSTs, the Initiative name given to demons).
In 4.18 Where The Wild Things Are, Spike goes to a party held by the Initiative boys. Xander calls out:
“Hey! What a surprise! hostile 17! Can I get you a drink Hostile 17?”
In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Riley recognises Spike as Hostile 17. Spike attempts to fake an accent to disguise himself but gives up.
In 7.13 The Killer In Me, when Buffy has Spike’s chip removed, the Initiative soldier calls Spike Hostile 17.
In 7.01 Lessons, Adam refers to Spike as “Number 17″.
Initiative rooms
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Buffy and Xander accost Dr. Angleman in room 1317210. Leading off from this room are the rooms A18 and A17. Dr. Angleman is killed outside room A18.
It’s Raining Men
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Buffy and Xander spoof The Weather Girls song It’s Raining Men:
Buffy: “…it’s raining monsters.”
Xander: “Hallelujah.”
J. B. Gaynor
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J. B. Gaynor (John Bernard Gaynor) played the kid skewered by Adam in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa. He can also be seen in Venomous, Hellraiser: Inferno, The Contract, Come On, Get Happy: The Partridge Family Story (what a great title!), I’m Losing You, Touched by an Angel, Grounded for Life, Chicago Hope, Boy Meets World and Frasier.
Lou Reed
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Lou Reed’s song ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (from his album New York) plays in Willy’s bar in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa.
Mirror, mirror
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, we see the mirror ball in Xander’s basement which he hung in 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day.
No bets
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The following lines were deleted from 4.14 Goodbye Iowa for length:
Willow: “I bet you will.”
Buffy: “No. No bet. I will make it work.”
Road Runner
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The Scoobies watch a Road Runner cartoon called ‘Wild About Hurry’ on Xander’s TV in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa.
Saverio Guerra
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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.
Shirt pyjamas
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Anya is wearing Xander’s shirt from 4.09 Something Blue as a pyjama top.
Soldier Boy
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A large part of the episodes 2.14 Innocence and 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two) rely on Xander’s recollection of the events of 2.06 Halloween, when he became a soldier for a short time. In 2.14 Innocence he says he still has all his memories of being a soldier, including:
“Procedure, ordnance, access codes, everything.”
Xander’s military knowledge was a great plot device help to Buffy writers when they needed lots of gun power easily. We discover in the episode 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day that Xander has lost his power when he has a girly scrap with Harmony, though in 4.13 The I In Team, he says:
“My pseudo-soldier memory bank tells me that’s a tracer.”
In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Anya says:
“It’s not like he was in the ‘Nam. He was G.I. Joe for one night.”
In 7.09 Never Leave Me, Xander realises that Spike has a “trigger”, to which Willow replies,
“Is this left over from your days in the Army?”
He admits that knowledge comes from Army movies.
In 7.12 Potential, Dawn says to Xander:
“Well, you had that sexy Army training for a while.”
Thespia
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, Willow tells Tara about the demon-finding spell:
“When the potion mixes and Thespia is called, it creates this mist over the parts where the demons are. It even makes different colours for different breeds.”
She then embarks on the spell:
“Thespia, we walk in shadow, walk in blindness. You are the protector of the night. Thespia, goddess, ruler of all darkness, we implore you… open a window to the World of the Underbeing.”
In Greek mythology, Thespia was the daughter of the River God Asopus and his wife Metope. The city of Thespiae was named after her.
Willy the Snitch
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Willy was a human bartender who owned Willy’s Place, a demon bar in Sunnydale. Various Scoobies beat Willy up, threatened to beat him, or paid him money, to get information about new demons in town. Willy usually knew what was going on in town, but pretended not to.
Willy’s Place
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Sunnydale had a bar called Willy’s Place which catered for the vampire and demon population. It was first seen in 2.09 What’s My Line? (Part One) when Angel went there to question the bartender, Willy the Snitch. The bar was also seen in 3.10 Amends, 3.13 The Zeppo, 4.14 Goodbye Iowa and 5.06 Family. In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Xander suggests trying to get information at Willy’s place.
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] Adam’s disk
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa Adam puts a second floppy disk in his drive without having taken out the first disk.
[Goof] Buffy’s bandana
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Buffy takes the bandana out of her hair and wraps it around Riley’s hand in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa. A few moments later, she’s wearing it again. The bandana appears and disappears throughout the scene.
[Goof] Order of events
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When Buffy describes what took place in the sewers in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, she says that the gate slammed down, and then she tried to use the gun. She actually used the gun first.
[Goof] Riley’s hand
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In 4.14 Goodbye Iowa Riley points at Forrest with his left hand as he says, “You better not be saying what I think you’re saying.” In the next shot, Riley is pointing with his right hand.
[Goof] Worried Giles
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The same shot of Giles looking concerned is used twice at the beginning of 4.14 Goodbye Iowa.