5.04 Out Of My Mind

"The guy's really starting to bug me in that special "I want to shove something wooden through his heart" kind of way."
Buffy

Episode Trivia

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Ben

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Ben was the hospital intern who cared for Joyce when she first went to the hospital suffering from headaches in 5.04 Out Of My Mind. Ben was a mortal who shared his body with hellgod, Glory, through no fault of his own. Ben at first he tried to protect Dawn from Glory, but he ultimately turned on her, and delivered her to Glory to be sacrificed. Giles suffocated him in order to kill Glory in 5.22 The Gift.

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Charlie Weber

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Charlie Weber, who played hospital intern Ben in season five, made his first appearance in the episode 5.04 Out Of My Mind. His character became a pivotal one in the season, after the revelation that he shared the same body with evil hellgod Glory. Charlie has done some modelling in the past and appeared in print ads for designers like Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren. Charlie has also appeared in Cruel Intentions 3, Charmed, The Drew Carey Show, The Broken Hearts Club, Dead Above Ground, The Crawl Space and The Kiss.

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Dawson’s Creek

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There are a few connections between angsty teen drama Dawson’s Creek and Buffy. Katie Holmes, who played Joey in Dawson’s Creek, was originally cast as Buffy Summers but she turned the part down to continue school. Several Buffy actors have appeared in Dawson’s Creek, including Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), Bianca Lawson (Kendra), Adam Kaufman (Parker Abrams), Megan Gray (Sandy), Meredith Salinger (Grace Newman) and Alex Breckenridge (Kit). Nick Marck, a Buffy director, has also directed some episodes of Dawson’s Creek.
Nicholas Brendon (Xander) is friends with Joshua Jackson, who plays Pacey on the show.
In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Spike watches Dawson’s Creek on TV.
In 7.22 Chosen, Buffy says to Angel:

“Are you gonna go all Dawson on me everytime I have a boyfriend?”.

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Dreamin’ of you

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Spike realised he had a major crush on Buffy in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, after he had a dream about her kissing him. This was the beginning of a major story arc for him which covered the next three seasons, and the beginning of one of the most controversial stories in the show. Fans either loved the “Spuffy” arc or hated it.

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Erik Betts

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Erik was a regular Buffy and Angel stuntman and is married to Melissa Barker, who played one of Buffy’s stunt doubles from season five onwards. Erik appeared in many Buffy episodes including 5.04 Out Of My Mind (as Agent Brown), 5.12 Checkpoint (as a Knight of Byzantium), 6.05 Life Serial (Predator Demon), 6.08 Tabula Rasa (as a vampire), 7.08 Sleeper (as a vampire), 7.16 Storyteller (as a vampire), 7.15 Get It Done (as a demon), 7.21 End Of Days (as a Turok-Han) and 7.22 Chosen (as a Turok-Han). Erik also played The Keeper in the Angel episode 4.21 Peace Out.
He has been a regular stuntman for Alias, She Spies, The Shield, V.I.P., Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, The Jamie Foxx Show (stunt double for Jamie Foxx) and Martial Law. Erik was a stuntman for the movies 18 Fingers of Death!, Crash, Torque (stunt double for Ice Cube), Bringing Down the House and Cradle 2 the Grave. He was the gymnastics trainer for Wild Wild West.
In 1996, Erik broke his right hip and thigh whilst taping a kids TV show. He was in intensive care for two weeks, had five surgeries and almost three years of rehab to get fit again. Erik was director Sam Raimi’s choice for doubling actor Tobey Maquire for Spider-Man, but was told by the costume designer that his shoulders were too large for the costume.

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George Orwell

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In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Buffy says:

“It’s so unfair. It’s like Big Brother can spy on you all the time, and the second I have something to say, no one will listen.”

Big Brother comes from George Orwell’s 1948 novel 1984 in which the Government spies on it’s people. Big Brother is now also the name of a reality TV show (named after Orwell’s novel) which places contestants in a house which is watched 24 hours a day by people who have nothing better to do.

Harmony’s staking

Harmony’s staking

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In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Harmony says that Spike staked her before. This occurred in 4.03 The Harsh Light Of Day, when he staked her whilst she was wearing the Gem of Amarrah which made her invincible.

Insecure Riley

Insecure Riley

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In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Riley tells Buffy he worries that she won’t like him if he doesn’t have his super-strength given to him by the Initiative. He mentions Buffy’s relationship with Angel and the fact that Dracula drank from her in 5.01 Buffy Vs Dracula. She says if she wanted a boyfriend with super powers she’d be dating Spike, which she eventually does, sort of, in season six. Riley’s insecurities eventually lead him to leave Buffy for secret Government work in 5.10 Into The Woods.

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James Bond

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Local anaesthetic

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I raised the issue of whether the doctor would use only a local anaesthetic on Spike during his brain surgery in 5.04 Out Of My Mind and received an email in reply from J.C:

“Brain surgeries performed with local anaesthetics are common since the brain has no sensitivity nerves. General anaesthetics always have a risk of patients dying from an overdose of anaesthetics. So generally speaking, if they can keep it local they do it. Also, cases where people suffer some kind of neurological condition (Parkinson’s disease or hallucinations for example) it’s good if you can communicate with patients while performing the operation, it makes it easier to find problem areas.”

There you go, though I think I speak for all of us when I say “euw”!

Nickelback

Nickelback

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When Riley plays basketball in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, we hear the song ‘Breathe’ by Nickelback.

Not going to die

Not going to die

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In 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Buffy says to Riley, “you are not going to die” to which he replies “I bet you say that to all the boys”. Buffy says something similar to Angel in 3.22 Graduation Day (Part Two) when Angel has been poisoned by Faith. She tells Angel, “You’re gonna live. You have to live.”
So Riley’s statement is sort of true and Buffy has told both her long term boyfriends that they are not going to die.

Peter Pan

Peter Pan

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When Tara’s little light comes to guide Willow in 6.02 Bargaining (Part Two), Xander asks the witch how long Tara has been Tinkerbell. This is a reference to the fairy in J. M. Barrie�s novel Peter Pan.
Previously, in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, we hear Willow and Tara’s conversation, when they’re searching for Riley:

Tara: “How’d you do that? With the light?”
Willow: “Oh, you know. You taught me.”
Tara: “I taught you teeny Tinkerbell light.”

In 5.02 Just Rewards:

Spike: “Necro here’s gonna give me my body back… after I take yours for a test drive, fix his little problems. And here’s the kicker: I go in, and you go pfft! Off to never-never-come-back land.”

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Rebecca Rand Kirshner

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Rebecca Rand Kirshner was an executive story editor and writer on Buffy. She wrote the episodes 5.04 Out Of My Mind, 5.09 Listening To Fear, 5.19 Tough Love, 6.08 Tabula Rasa, 6.16 Hell’s Bells, 7.04 Help, 7.12 Potential and 7.20 Touched. Rebecca was also a writer on Gilmore Girls, Las Vegas and Freaks and Geeks, and wrote (with Mira Friedmann) the story ‘Sonnenblume’ for Tales of the Slayer.

Salamander Eyes

Salamander Eyes

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In 5.11 Triangle, Willow uses salamander eyes in her ball of sunshine spell, which cost $10 for twelve. These were last mentioned in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, when Giles said,

“No, these are salamander eyes, it’s the cataracts which give them their newt-like appearance. They’re really equally effective, though, it’s just a matter of overcoming snobberies.”

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Smokin’

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The issue of vampire’s breath arises again in the episode 5.04 Out Of My Mind, when Harmony attempts to smoke. She chokes on the smoke which seems impossible as vampires can’t breathe. This isn’t really a goof as such, as it could be seen as her just not being used to having smoke filling her throat. A certain amount of artistic license has to be allowed for this kind of mythology. Yes, vampires shouldn’t really be able to smoke, cough or be out of breath. But if we’re going to be picky - vampires aren’t real either so that’s kind of a goof too!

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Soup and pillows

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The following is a stage direction from the script for 5.04 Out Of My Mind, referring to how well Buffy and Dawn are taking care of Joyce after her return from the hospital:

“She’s got a blanket over her, a bowl of soup next to her, and enough pillows to feed an army that eats pillows tucked under her head.”

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Star Trek

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There are many cast/crew links between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the long-running cult sci-fi show Star Trek. Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) played Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years. Dominic Keating, who played Blair in the episode 3.12 Helpless, later went on to star in Star Trek: Enterprise as Lt. Reed. Jennifer Hetrick, who played the teacher Ms. Moran in 3.05 Homecoming (whom Buffy asked for a reference) played the girlfriend of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Buffy writer Jane Espenson wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Accession’. Star Trek has also been referenced numerous times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Tachicardia

Tachicardia

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Tachicardia is an overactive heart, resulting in a racing pulse. Riley suffered from it as a withdrawal symptom from the drugs that The Initiative had been feeding him. It was fixed in 5.04 Out Of My Mind.

Tarot cards

Tarot cards

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Tarot cards have been used twice in the show - Tara uses them in The Magic Box in 5.04 Out Of My Mind and Drusilla used them in 2.09 What’s My Line? (Part One).

Teenage daughter headache

Teenage daughter headache

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The first episode to suggest that there was a problem with Joyce’s health was 5.03 The Replacement when she told an arguing Buffy and Dawn that:

“this must be my teenage daughter headache”.

Joyce collapsed in 5.04 Out Of My Mind and was taken to the hospital where she was declared fit. They doctors were wrong - they discovered she had a brain tumour in 5.08 Shadow and she eventually died of an aneurysm in 5.15 I Was Made To Love You.

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Time Winters

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Time Winters, who played Dr. Overheiser, the Initiative doctor who pretended to remove Spike’s chip in Out Of Mind, played famous vampire Nosferatu in Nosferatu L.A. ‘02. He has also appeared in Pitstop, True Vinyl, A Little Princess, Poison Ivy, Doc Hollywood, L.A. Story and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Time has appeared in many TV shows including Providence, Chicago Hope, Early Edition, Babylon 5, Murder, She Wrote, Picket Fences, MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Cheers.

What are you?

What are you?

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Before she fainted in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Joyce realised there was something strange about Dawn. We saw this before in 5.02 Real Me, when a crazy guy told her she wasn’t real. It occurs again in 5.09 Listening To Fear when a mental patient says something similar to Dawn. We discover in 5.13 Blood Ties that people ‘removed from reality’ can see Dawn - or the ‘Key’ - for what she really is: a mystical ball of energy designed to fit an inter-dimensional lock.

[Goof] Bad surgery

[Goof] Bad surgery

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How did the Initiative doctor perform brain surgery on Spike without shaving any of his hair off in 5.04 Out Of My Mind? Or affecting his hairline in any way?

[Goof] How did he see?

[Goof] How did he see?

details | 2 comments | suggested by Mel

In the episode 5.04 Out Of My Mind, Graham answers the hospital door only to be knocked out with an unconscious security guard by Harmony. Later, when Buffy and Riley arrive at the hospital Graham tells them that it was Hostile 17 (Spike) and Harmony that did it. How did he see who it was? Harmony was smaller than the security guard so he couldn’t have seen her. He certainly wouldn’t have seen Spike, who was a few paces behind Harmony. Graham was unconsious when Spike and Harmony took the doctor (or he would have no doubt tried to stop them) and he didn’t start to wake till Buffy and Riley arrived.

[Goof] Spike’s reflection

[Goof] Spike’s reflection

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Spike’s reflection can be seen in the tin holding the penny in 5.04 Out Of My Mind.

[Goof] Stunt double

[Goof] Stunt double

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You can clearly see Riley’s stunt double in the scene where he fights Harmony in 5.04 Out Of My Mind.

[Goof] Sweaty

[Goof] Sweaty

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After Riley’s basketball game in 5.04 Out Of My Mind, the amount of sweat on his back changes in different shots.

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