Episode Trivia
Additional writers
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When a writer has finished their version of an episode, it is often changed by the other writers slightly, in order to flesh out various scenes. In 5.02 Real Me, Marti Noxon wrote the scene in which Riley and Buffy talk in the graveyard because David Fury (who wrote the episode) felt he wasn’t too good at writing relationships. In that episode, Jane Espenson came up with the idea of Dawn dripping ice cream on her chin.
Adoption
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Kristine Sutherland revealed Joss’s initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season five:
“I knew that Joyce was going to die suddenly. Initially when we talked, before I went to Italy, Joss’s idea was that Joyce adopted a five or six year old girl. It was interesting how that idea of adoption actually became The Key, and this whole other thing.”
Alpert tomb
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The Alpert tomb is a memorable tomb which can often be spotted when the Scoobies are wandering through Sunnydale’s graveyard. The tomb is named after Buffy producer Marc David Alpert. The tomb can be seen in 2.21 Becoming (Part One) (Angel comes out from behind it to fight Buffy when the other Scoobies are being ambushed), 3.07 Revelations, 3.13 The Zeppo, 2.16 Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered, 2.18 Killed By Death, 4.09 Something Blue (when Buffy wants her wedding photos taken there), 4.17 Superstar, 5.02 Real Me, and 6.22 Grave.
Bob Morrissey
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Bob Morrissey, who played the crazy guy who talks to Dawn in 5.02 Real Me, played the same character in 5.20 Spiral and 5.21 The Weight Of The World. He appeared as Dr. Gregson in the Angel episode 3.01 Heartthrob. He has also been in The Terminal, Northern Exposure and Soul Plane.
Brad Connick
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Brad was a student who stood Harmony up in tenth grade. She later killed him and sired him as a vampire, making him her minion. When he and the other minions killed Mr. Bogarty at The Magic Box, Brad stole a statue of a unicorn for Harmony. Buffy beheaded him in 5.02 Real Me.
Brian Turk
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Brian Turk, who played Mort in the episode 5.02 Real Me, appeared as ‘Trucker’ in the movie American Pie 2 with Alyson Hannigan. Brian has also appeared in Carnivale (as Gabriel), Big Fat Liar, Artificial Intelligence: AI (as Backstage Bull), The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Beverly Hills, 90210. He played a character called Spike in Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
Chaney Kley Minnis
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Chaney Kley Minnis, who played Harmony’s minion Brad in 5.02 Real Me, starred as Kyle Walsh in the movie Darkness Falls with Emma Caulfield. He also played Brandon in Legally Blonde.
Crazy talk
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The crazy guy who approaches Dawn in 5.02 Real Me tells her :
“You don’t belong here.”
We learn later in the season that crazy people can see Dawn for what she really is - a mystical ball of energy called the Key. The guy also says “curds and whey” which is a reference to the dream Buffy had in season three’s 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two). In that dream, Faith foreshadows Dawn’s arrival and calls her Little Miss Muffet. We also see a cat on the bed in the dream. In this episode, the crazy guy says to Buffy:
“That’s why I’m a cat. Quiet. See, cat’s in the cupboard.”
This may be another small bit of continuity from Buffy’s dream two seasons ago.
Cyrus
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Cyrus was a vampire and one of Harmony’s minions in 5.02 Real Me. He aided Harmony to kidnap Dawn, but was then staked by Buffy. Cyrus was played by Tom Lenk, who returned to play Andrew Wells.
Dawn’s age
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
David Fury says in his DVD commentary for 5.02 Real Me that Dawn was originally supposed to be much younger than she ended up - about 12 years old. When Michelle Trachtenberg came to read for the role they decided she was perfect, and made the character older so they could cast her. This explains why Dawn is unusually bratty for a fourteen year old.
Game of Life
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In 5.02 Real Me, Xander and Anya look after Dawn for Buffy. Anya brings a few board games with her including the Game of Life. Later, when they’re playing the game, they have the following conversation:
Anya: “Oh, crap. Look at this! Now I’m burdened with a husband and several tiny pink children, more cash than I can reasonably manage…”
Xander: “That means you’re winning.”
Anya: “Really?”
Xander: “Yes. Cash equals good.”
Anya: “Oh! I’m so pleased. Can I trade in the children for more cash?”
She suggests they play again in 5.10 Into The Woods but Dawn in reluctant as Anya won last time.
Giles’s second car
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
In 5.02 Real Me, we see that Giles has brought a new sporty red convertible BMW. This ties in well with his semi-mid-life crisis played out in season four. Being an unemployed librarian and ex-member of the Watcher’s Council must pay pretty well.
Giving up on men
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Joyce apparently knows nothing about Willow and Tara’s relationship in 5.01 Buffy Vs Dracula as she says:
“Oh, when you girls are older you’ll understand. It’s hard to date. Sometimes you just…feel like giving up on men altogether.”
She seems to have found out before the next episode as Dawn mentions in her diary in 5.02 Real Me that:
“I told Mom one time I wished they’d [Willow and Tara] teach me some of the things they do together. And then she got really quiet and made me go upstairs.”
Harm’s unicorns
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In 5.09 Harm’s Way, Tamika comments that Harmony’s desk (and thermos) are covered with unicorns. We know that she loves the mythical animals from the Buffy episode 5.02 Real Me.
Harry Potter
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The popular book series Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is referenced a few times in Buffy. In 5.02 Real Me, Dawn says,
“I’m not going to Hogwarts”.
This is a reference to Hogwarts is the school for wizards that Harry attends.
In 7.01 Lessons, Willow refers to the Head Master at Hogwarts school when she wonders why Giles went:
“all Dumbledore on me”
In 7.10 Bring On The Night, Andrew says,
“An evil name should be something like Lex or Voldemort.”
He’s referring to Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor and Voldmort, who appears in the Harry Potter books.
In 7.19 Empty Places, while Anya is giving her talk about the Turok-Han in the basement, Kennedy goes up to the kitchen where Faith asks:
“Shouldn’t you be at Hogwarts?”
In 2.19 Belonging, Lorne says
“This reading room - to die for. Raked stage, rocking chair, fabulous colours. I’m tempted to just show up tomorrow morning with Harry Potter”.
Kristine on Michelle
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Kristine Sutherland (Joyce) said of Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn):
“She was such an extraordinary presence on the set. She’s so open and energetic and present that the relationship just happened. It was really nice - it was the kind of thing that you couldn’t really script. It had to happen or not - and it did. It was really exciting. At one point I talked to Joss and he was so pleased that it was all working.
“Everything just became energised by Michelle’s presence. It was so nice to bring in this whole new person, and the character and storyline. I think she just bonded with everybody. I certainly bonded with her straightaway - I enjoyed having two daughters, and it was so instant that once it was there, it was as if she had always been there.”
Little Miss Muffet
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In 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two), Faith says (as a foreshadowing of the arrival of Buffy’s sister Dawn):
“Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0″
In the season five episode 5.02 Real Me, Dawn is approached by a mad man who calls her “curds and whey”. This is a line from the popular children’s nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet.
In 5.05 No Place Like Home, Glory says:
“I’m just going to sit on this tuffet…”
This is apt as she’s looking for the Key, which is in the shape of Dawn.
Monopoly
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Faith says in 3.04 Beauty And The Beasts:
“Get out of jail free, huh?”
This is a reference to the board game Monopoly, which has a card which allows the player to leave jail. In 5.13 Blood Ties, Buffy tells Dawn she has a “get-out-of-jail-free card”, and in 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, Anya says:
“Spike’s got some sort of ‘get out of jail free’ card that doesn’t apply to the rest of us”.
In 5.02 Real Me, Monopoly is one of the games that Anya brings when she and Xander babysit Dawn.
Mort
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Mort was a huge vampire who was one of Harmony’s (dissatisfied) minions. He dislocated Anya’s shoulder and kidnapped Dawn in 5.02 Real Me. He was staked by Buffy using a wooden unicorn horn. “Mort” is French for death.
Mr. Bogarty
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Mr. Bogarty was the owner of a magic shop who was found dead by the Scoobies in 5.02 Real Me, leading to Giles buying the shop.
Passions
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In 4.09 Something Blue, Spike reveals himself to be a fan of the NBC supernatural soap Passions:
“Passions is on! Timmy’s down the bloody well and if you make me miss it, I’ll…”
He has a discussion with Joyce about it in season five’s 5.12 Checkpoint, and in 5.02 Real Me, Giles says:
“I watched Passions with Spike. Let us never speak of it”.
Passions returned the favour and referenced Buffy in an episode:
Hecuba: “I wonder what else is on the Mirror Channel…ooh…Fang! oh- unsuspecting victim. Go you bloodsuckers! Go! Oh! Oh, damn that Buffy! I don’t know what Spike sees in that girl!”
Spinal Tap
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In 5.02 Real Me, Buffy warns Giles that magic shop owners have the life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer. This is Spinal Tap is a ‘rockumentary’ directed by Rob Reiner and starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. It follows a fake heavy metal band on their tour of America. The band’s drummers regularly die in mysterious ways: such as gardening accidents, or choking on (someone else’s) vomit.
In 3.13 Waiting In The Wings, Cordelia says:
“You want to wander around backstage like Spinal Tap for the next…ever?”
She’s referring to a scene in This is Spinal Tap, in which the band get lost backstage before a gig.
Superman
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Comicbook hero Superman has been epitomised in many comics (by DC Comics), movies, TV shows (eg. Lois and Clarke, Smallville - in which James Marsters played Brainiac), cartoons (eg. The Adventures of Superman) and even a musical. He and the world he lives in have been referenced many times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel:
- 1.05 Never Kill A Boy On The First Date: Buffy says, “even Clark Kent has a job”, alluding to Superman’s alter-ego.
- 2.05 Reptile Boy: Xander’s chances of ever belonging to a fraternity of rich and powerful men are rubbished by Cordy as likely only “in the Bizarro world.” The Bizarro world is a weird, back-to-front version of the real world in Superman.
- 2.11 Ted: Cordelia says of Buffy, “But she’s like this Superman.”
- 3.09 The Wish: Cordelia says to vamps Willow and Xander:
“No. No! No way! I wish us into Bizarro Land, and you guys are still together?! I cannot win!”
- 3.12 Helpless: Oz and Xander discuss which colour Kryptonite hurts Superman. Writer David Fury said in his DVD commentary for the episode that he wasn’t sure which Kryptonite was which so wrote this scene as such.
- 3.13 The Zeppo: there are a few references to Superman: Xander’s line, which he acknowledges as a “Jimmy Olsen joke”:
“But, gee, Mr White, if Clark and Lois get all the good stories I’ll never be a good reporter”
He also name-checks the Daily Planet’s editor Perry White, Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent, and his colleague Lois Lane. Cordelia’s jibe “You must feel like Jimmy Olsen” is another reference to the Daily Planet’s youngest photographer.
- 4.11 Doomed: Forrest says to Riley,
“Granted they’re a little rarer than the one’s you grew up with on that little farm in Smallville.”
Smallville, Kansas, was the small town where Clark Kent (Superman) grew up.
- In 4.17 Superstar, Xander mentions Kryptonite again.
- 5.02 Real Me: Xander says, “She can turn this place into the fortress of solitude again”. Superman built the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole as a place where he could relax and keep his souvenirs.
- 6.11 Gone: Andrew mentions Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor. Buffy also mentions Bizarro World again.
- 6.21 Two To Go: Andrew says:
“Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury edition”.
- 7.10 Bring On The Night: Andrew says, “An evil name should be something like Lex” He’s referring to Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor.
- 1.19 Sanctuary: While Faith flips through the channels, we briefly see a Superman cartoon.
- 1.21 Blind Date:
Wesley: “The human eye is only capable of registering a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. But if Brewer were somehow equipped to see outside that range…”
Cordelia: “She’d be Superman.” - 4.02 Ground State: Gwen says “what are you, Lex Luthor?” to Elliott when she finds out he’s double-crossed her.
- 5.10 Soul Purpose: Lindsay references Superman when he’s talking about Spike:
“I mean, he hasn’t sewn a big red S on his chest yet, but he’s getting there.”
- 5.12 You’re Welcome: Cordelia ends her seeming obsession with the Bizarro world when she says:
“What Bizarro-world did I wake up in?”
Tara as outsider
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The scene in 5.02 Real Me where Willow and Tara are talking about Tara being an outsider was added later because the episode was too short and it was felt that something was missing.
Tom Lenk
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Tom Lenk played Andrew Wells and Cyrus, one of Harmony’s minions, in 5.02 Real Me. Tom was born in Westlake Village, California, on June 16th, 1976. His full name is Thomas Loren Lenk. He attended Moorepark College and later UCLA’s theatre programme. In 1997, Tom won the Carol Burnett Award and Scholarship before touring with the European cast of Grease playing the role of Doody.
Tom’s father Fred is a computer programmer, and his mother Pam is a teacher in the Pleasant Valley School District. Tom can be seen in Bandwagon (a movie starring Emma Caulfield), Window Theory, Straight-Jacket, And Then Came Summer, Boy Next Door, Boogie Nights (as Uncle Floyd’s Kid), Popular, Joey and Judging Amy. The character of Andrew became popular and was brought back as part of the Scoobies in season seven. Tom can also be seen as Andrew in the Angel episode Damage.
In January 2005, Tom wrote and starred in Will You Be My Special Friend?, which featured various special guests including Emma Caulfield, Danny Strong and Adam Busch.
Tom appeared as Lord of the Rings character Frodo in Alyson Hannigan’s 2006 movie Date Movie.
Tucker’s brother
details | 10 comments | suggested by Jess
Tom Lenk played two characters in Buffy - Cyrus in 5.02 Real Me and Andrew Wells in seasons six and seven. A small piece of continuity for these two characters is that others find it hard to remember who they are. In 5.02 Real Me, when Harmony is talking to her minions about “the plan”, she can’t remember Cyrus’s name, and asks him what it is.
In 6.04 Flooded, Warren confuses Andrew with his brother Tucker (seen in 3.20 The Prom):
Warren: “Oh, or else what? You’ll train another pack of devil dogs to ruin my prom? Ha! Graduated!”
Andrew: “That wasn’t me! How many times do I have to say it? The prom thing was my lame-o brother, Tucker.”
Additionally, in 6.11 Gone, 6.12 Doublemeat Palace and 7.09 Never Leave Me, Buffy, Xander and Spike all say they have no idea who Andrew is.
Vampire invitation rule
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In vampire mythology (and the Whedonverse), a vampire cannot enter a person’s home unless it has been invited. This is first seen in the Buffy episode 1.07 Angel:
Angel: “It’s all right. A vampire can’t come in unless it’s invited.”
There has been some debate as to whether Buffy actually invited Angel into her home in that episode, but she does quickly say to him, “Get in! C’mon!” as they’re being chased by vampires. When Angel first became a vampire he returned home to kill his family. From 1.15 The Prodigal:
Father: “Be gone, unclean thing! A demon can not enter a home where it’s not welcome. He must be invited!”
Angel: “That’s true. - But I was invited.”
Angel looks to the doorway. His father turns and sees Angel’s sister slumped against the wall.
Dad: “Och!”
Angel: “She thought I returned to her – an angel.”
A vampire can enter a public place such as a school or hospital (this is seen in 2.17 Passion and 2.18 Killed By Death). In 2.17 Passion Angel says the sign outside the school says ‘Romatia transicara edicatorum’ which translates to ‘Enter all ye who seek knowledge’. Vampires can also enter hotel rooms, which are considered public. In 2.09 The Trial, Angel says to Gunn after he has entered a motel room:
Angel: “Oh, Motel, public accommodation. She didn’t live here.”
Another vampire invitation rule is clarified in 5.02 Real Me: only someone who lives in a residence can invite a vampire in:
Xander: “Yeah, actually, she– Harmony– kind of happened to sort of get an invite.”
Buffy: “You guys can’t invite her in. I mean, only someone who lives here can…
If the owner of a house is dead, a vampire can enter. This is seen in 3.21 Graduation Day (Part One) when Angel enters the home of the dead Professor. It is also seen explicitly in 1.15 The Prodigal (Angel can only enter the home of Kate’s father after he has been killed) and in 2.04 Untouched (Angel enters when a victim on life support dies). In the latter example we see a visible barrier ripple when Angel tries to enter.
When a vampire is invited into a home once, it can enter again at any point, unless a reversal spell is done. The spell was first seen in 2.17 Passion, after Angel lost his soul and started stalking Buffy. The last words of the incantation (read by Willow at Buffy’s house) are “Hicce verbis consensus rescissus est,” which translates into English roughly as “By these words permission is rescinded.” Buffy uninvited Spike from her home in 5.14 Crush, Harmony was uninvited in 5.02 Real Me, and Dracula was uninvited in 5.01 Buffy Vs Dracula.
There have been several goofs/continuity errors concerning vampires and invitations in the Whedonverse:
- When Angel and Buffy are running from the Three in 1.07 Angel, they take refuge in Buffy’s house. As they close the door, one of the Three gets his arm through the door before Buffy forces him back out. But he was a vampire and also uninvited, so how did he get his arm in?
- A similar event occurs in 2.16 Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered - when Drusilla pushes Buffy’s door down, her hands go into the house - but Drusilla was never invited in.
- Angel says that he needs an invitation to enter Buffy’s dorm room in 4.20 The Yoko Factor, but Sunday and her gang didn’t need one in 4.01 The Freshman. This doesn’t count only for Buffy - the vamps are able to access Eddie’s room as well, and presumably they can get into the rooms of the other students they killed. How do they do that?
- In 1.17 Eternity, how can Angel jump through the window into Rebecca’s apartment to save her from the intruder? He was never invited in, and Rebecca only said to him to “Stop by”. Is this enough of an invitation?
- In 1.18 Five By Five, Faith is torturing Wesley in the apartment of the man she injured previously in the episode. When Angel finds them, he walks straight into the apartment… no invite needed. If Faith had killed the man, Angel would not have required an invitation. However, in 1.19 Sanctuary, the following dialogue is heard between Kate and a fellow officer:
Kate: “So do we think she is the one who threw the party here?”
Kendrick: “The guy who lives here identifies her as the woman who mugged him. Put him in the hospital, stole his keys, his wallet. We’re lifting prints now. My bet is - we get a match.”It’s apparent he is alive, therefore Angel should not have been able to enter his apartment. (It’s possible that Angel called the victim to ask permission to enter but this would be a very strange conversation indeed!)
- There is some confusion over who invited Spike back into the home he shared with his mother in 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, but this could have been a servant who lived there.
- In 5.15 A Hole In The World, Angel and Spike enter Lindsey and Eve’s residence without an invitation.
Walking for the camera
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Usually on Buffy when people were walking and talking in front of the camera they had to walk unnaturally slowly as there was often not enough room to walk at normal pace. This applied particularly for scenes set in Sunnydale’s main street which contained the cinema and the Espresso Pump, as that set was very small.
What’re you doing
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In 5.11 Triangle, Dawn asks Buffy what she’s doing and the Slayer replies, “playing soccer”. When Dawn asked Buffy what she is doing in 5.02 Real Me, she got the answer “my boyfriend”.
Willow’s stage fright
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Willow gets stage fright, which was first hinted at in 1.09 The Puppet Show when she ran terrified from the stage during a talent contest. In 1.10 Nightmares, Willow was forced to sing a piece from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly on stage but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Her stage fright was also explored in the episodes 4.22 Restless (when she was in front of her class and everyone was laughing at her) and - to a lesser extent - in 6.07 Once More, With Feeling when she was the only main character not to sing a great deal.
In 4.20 The Yoko Factor, Tara suggested to Willow that she take sophomore Psych but Willow suggested drama instead. In 5.02 Real Me we saw Willow berate Buffy as the Slayer didn’t have the time to take drama class with her. In 4.22 Restless, Willow has a dream about having stage fright about the drama class, who are performing a play without actually having any classes.
You’ve got to laugh
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
David Fury mentioned in his DVD commentary for 5.02 Real Me how uncomfortable Sarah Michelle Gellar feels with acting laughing on screen, seen in 5.02 Real Me when Buffy laughs at the thought of Harmony having minions. We also see it when she laughs with Giles in the episode Grave. Fury says, “it’s hard to seem spontaneous” when ‘acting’ laughing.
Young actors on set
details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess
The following was a stage direction for 5.02 Real Me, referring to the fact that younger actors are only allowed to spend a certain amount of time on set and doubles are often used to fill in:
Dawn (or perhaps someone who looks like her from the back) runs past, flings open the back door and takes off.
[Goof] Buffy’s boots
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When Mort lifts Buffy up by her neck in 5.02 Real Me, we see that she is wearing white high heeled boots, but in the next shot she’s wearing light brown boots.
[Goof] Harmony’s speech
details | add a comment | suggested by Jess
In the scene where we first see Harmony and her minions in 5.02 Real Me, at one point Harmony is talking and the camera focuses on a minion placing a unicorn on a table. We can see Harmony in the background and she clearly isn’t talking.
[Goof] Out of sync
details | 6 comments | suggested by Mel
In 5.02 Real Me, there are two instances where the lip movements and the words spoken are out of sync. The first time is when Buffy, Giles and Dawn are in the car driving to the Magic Box (7.23 minutes into the episode). Giles says, “Dawn, will you stop fiddling with the radio and sit down?” but you can see that his lips aren’t in time with his words.
The second time is when Joyce is getting ready to go out and Xander has arrived to babysit Dawn (17.55). Xander says to Joyce, “Have fun. Not too much fun, though”. We can see Xander’s face and hear his voice but it’s clear that his lips aren’t moving.
[Goof] Willow’s hair
details | add a comment | suggested by Jess
Willow’s hair changes between when she goes into the magic shop and when she stands behind the counter in 5.02 Real Me.