Episode Trivia
Absent family
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
When Buffy tells Tara’s family that “we’re family” in the episode 5.06 Family, both Joyce and Riley are missing. Both characters left the show later that season.
Amy Adams
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
Amy Adams, who played Tara’s cousin Beth in 5.06 Family, played Marvel Ann in the movie Psycho Beach Party with Nicholas Brendan, and Brenda Strong in Catch Me If You Can with Amy Acker (Fred in Angel). She played Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions 2, the role played in the first movie by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Amy has also appeared in Enchanted, The Last Run, Standing Still, Something Borrowed, The West Wing, Smallville, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane, Charmed and That ’70s Show.
Amy was nominated in the best supporting actress category in the 2006 Academy Awards for her role in Junebug.
April Fools
details | 6 comments | suggested by Jess
April Fools is a dress shop in Sunnydale, owned by Mrs Finkle. It specialises in formal wear. In 3.19 Choices and 3.20 The Prom, Cordelia briefly worked in April Fools after her father lost all his money through tax evasion. In 5.06 Family, Harmony comes home to Spike’s crypt laden with bags from the shop, saying everything was on sale.
Bad Hank
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Buffy reveals in 5.06 Family that her father is currently living in Spain with his secretary and is not returning Buffy’s calls.
Birthday gal
details | 7 comments | suggested by Jess
Tara is the only Scooby apart from Buffy to have a birthday on-screen, which is seen in 5.06 Family.
Bloomingdales
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Buffy says of Tara’s birthday present in 5.06 Family,
“I saw a really cute sweater at Bloomies but I think I want me to have it”.
She means the department store Bloomingdales.
Bubble blower
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Willow blows bubbles at Buffy’s birthday party in 5.12 Checkpoint, which she also did at Tara’s birthday in 5.06 Family.
Common Slayer
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
Glory discovered that Buffy was the Slayer in the episode 5.06 Family:
“A Slayer? Oh, god, please don’t tell me I was fighting a Vampire Slayer. How unbelievably common. If I had friends and they heard about this…”
Demon woman
details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess
Tara always believed that she was part demon, due to some handy women-repression by the male members of her family. She purposefully messed up a demon-finding spell with Willow in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa, as she was ashamed of what she thought she was. Tara discovered in 5.06 Family that her father had been lying to her, and she was just a normal human girl.
Donny Maclay
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
Donny was Tara’s brother who, along with Tara’s father and cousin, visited her on her birthday in 5.06 Family. He aided his father to repress the women of the family by pretending they turned into demons on their 20th birthdays.
Ezra Buzzington
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Ezra Buzzington played the bartender at Willy’s Bar in 5.06 Family. He wrote, directed and produced Irascible which also starred Camden Toy. Ezra has also appeared in Art School Confidential, The Rain Makers, The Big Empty, Zen Noir, Secretary, The Man from Elysian Fields, Ghost World, Me, Myself & Irene, Magnolia, Fight Club and 27 Pieces of Me.
Kevin Rankin
details | add a comment | suggested by Jess
Kevin Rankin, who played Tara’s brother Donny in 5.06 Family, has appeared in Hulk, Birds of Prey and Philly. He is no relation to Steve Rankin, who played Tara’s father in the same episode.
Lei-ach
details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess
The Lei-ach were a family of demons sent by Glory to kill Buffy in 5.06 Family. They had white and red faces and long, forked tongues. The Scoobies were blinded by a spell placed on them by Tara and were unable to see the Lei-ach to fight them properly until the spell was released.
Magic box jars
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
The jars behind the counter at the Magic Box contain ingredients named after the cast and crew. There’s Tony’s Heads, Charisma Charms and Boreanaz Beads.
Megan Gray
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Megan Gray, who played Sandy in 3.16 Doppelgangland, 5.06 Family and 5.08 Shadow, played Emma Jones in Dawson’s Creek. She has also been in Welcome 2 Ibiza, Picking Up Chicks with Harland Williams and Giving It Up.
Melanie Doane
details | 1 comment | suggested by LadySings
The song that Willow and Tara dance to at the end of the episode 5.06 Family is called “I Can’t Take my Eyes Off You” by Canadian singer Melanie Doane. It appears on her 1998 album ‘Adam’s Rib’. The song has a different meaning one would assume. Melanie Doane says on her website: “Sometimes I watch too much T.V. Mostly when I’m lonely. This song, ‘I Can’t Take my Eyes Off You’, is for my special lover, the TV. I wrote it with my friend Kevin who’s also from Halifax and watches too much TV too.”
So dear to me
Always keep me company
Who needs to go outside
I will be your silent brideI can’t take my eyes off you
Nothing ever needs to be said
You send your message
right into my head
You fill me up when I’m alone
So soothing is your monotoneI can’t take my eyes off you
I can’t take my eyes off youSo maybe you’re not as real
as the others
But I choose you over all my past lovers
For they have come and they have gone
but I can always turn you onI can’t take my eyes off you
I can’t take my eyes off you
Miss Congeniality
details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess
In 5.06 Family, Buffy calls Glory “Miss Congeniality”. This is an award given out at beauty pageants which is voted for by the contestants themselves. It goes to the most friendly contestant. Sandra Bullock starred in a movie entitled Miss Congeniality in 2000, which had a sequel in 2005.
Miss Kitty Fantastico
details | 27 comments | suggested by Jess
Miss Kitty Fantastico was a black and white kitten belonging to Tara and Willow. The girls discussed getting a cat in 4.19 New Moon Rising. She appeared in 4.20 The Yoko Factor, 4.22 Restless and 5.06 Family then disappeared for three seasons. Her absence was finally explained in 7.21 End Of Days, when Dawn implied that Miss Kitty had died:
“Xander, my crossbow is not out here. I told you, I don’t leave crossbows around all willy-nilly… Not since that time with Miss Kitty Fantastico.”
Mr. Maclay
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Tara’s father, Mr. Maclay, appeared in the episode 5.06 Family. He was a domineering man who led all women in his family to believe they were half demon. Buffy and the other Scoobies stood up to him when he tried to take Tara away, and he was never seen again.
Sandy
details | 15 comments | suggested by Jess
When Vampire Willow was at the Bronze in 3.16 Doppelgangland, she bit a girl named Sandy. Riley later met the girl in Willy’s Bar in the season five episode 5.06 Family. He realised she was a vampire, so Vampire Willow or another vampire must have followed through and sired Sandy. Riley staked Sandy in 5.08 Shadow, after allowing her to bite him.
Steve Rankin
details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess
Steve Rankin, who played Tara’s father in 5.06 Family, played Jerry Benson in All My Children, which also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar. He has appeared in Trapped, Pearl Harbor, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Men in Black, L.A. Confidential and Apollo 13. Steve was the stunt fight coordinator for Tumbleweeds. His TV work includes appearances in episodes of The X Files, The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Millennium, American Gothic, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Alien Nation.
Willy’s Place
details | 6 comments | suggested by Jess
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.
[Goof] POV
details | add a comment | suggested by Jess
During Buffy’s fight with the invisible demons in 5.06 Family, there are several mistakes when we see Buffy’s point of view. The light above the door is low, but during the fight with the demons it’s brighter. The bench is on the right, but during the fight it’s in the centre.
[Goof] Wrong kitty
details | add a comment | suggested by Meghann
The Miss Kitty Fantastico that we see at the beginning of 5.06 Family has white front legs, but the cat seen in 4.20 The Yoko Factor and 4.22 Restless had black front legs.