Episode Trivia
Better left unsaid
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In the original promotion for the episode 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Spike was shown saying, “I mean, who doesn’t like skin?” but this line wasn’t aired in the episode.
Button, button
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In his crazed state during 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Spike says, “Button, button, who’s got the button?” This is a children’s game where a button is hidden and must be found. The line was also used by Wonka in the 1971 film version of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Camden Toy
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Camden Toy played one of the Gentlemen in 4.10 Hush, Gnarl in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place and a Turok-Han in season seven. Camden also played a character called The Prince of Lies in the Angel episode 5.13 Why We Fight. Camden has also been in Irascible (which he also produced and edited), The Works, My Chorus, Deja Vu, The Devil May Care and Faith. His resume website lists his special skills as “Physical Comedy, Street Performance, Juggling, Coin Roll, Dialects, Cooking”. Camden enjoys meeting fans at various Buffy and Angel conventions around the world.
Dawn’s issues
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This line of Dawn’s was deleted from 7.03 Same Time, Same Place:
Dawn: “Instead everyone just keeps secrets, and suffers alone, and then we’re supposed to be all sympathetic when they start ripping the skins off people or dragging their sisters to the basement! I may have some stuff to work through.”
Demons, demons, demons
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The website Dawn uses in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, called ‘Demons, Demons, Demons’, was first used by Cordelia on Angel in the episode 1.16 The Ring. The website is also used by Sahjhan and Cordy in 3.10 Dad.
Ew ! Ew! Thumbs?!
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Buffy kills Gnarl by gouging his eyes out with her thumbs. Xander exclaims in disgust :
“Ew! Ew! Thumbs?! I can’t believe you did that !”
Caleb later does the same thing to him in 7.18 Dirty Girls.
Flayed
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, there are a lot of references to Willow’s flaying of Warren in 6.20 Villains.
Gnarl
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Gnarl was a parasite-demon with long fingernails that secreted a poison, which he used to paralyse his victims. The paralysis is permanent, but wore off when the demon was killed. Gnarl slowly cut off strips of his victim’s skin and ate it, while they are still alive. Gnarl also drank his victim’s blood. His weak spot was his eyes, and Buffy killed him by poking her thumbs into them in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place.
Guestless
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7.03 Same Time, Same Place is the first episode of the series in which there are no guest stars credited at the start of the episode.
It’s gotta rhyme
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A glimpse of Spike becoming more like his human self, William, is shown in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place. He says to Buffy
“What’s a word that means glowing? It’s gotta rhyme.”
William asked the same thing of a waiter in the season five episode 5.07 Fool For Love, while composing a poem about his love interest, Cecily. This is also part of the same speech he made to his mother in 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me - after he sired his mother and she was no longer sick.
Location
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Willow and Anya perform the same demon-finding locator spell that Willow and Tara did in 4.14 Goodbye Iowa.
Lord of the Rings
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The demon Gnarl in the episode 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, is very similar to the Lord of the Rings character Gollum. Jane Espenson confirmed that this was intentional in a post at the Bronze Beta:
“Collect the money on the bet. There was some Gollum in the history of Gnarl.”
In 5.18 Intervention, Xander says that Buffy called Glory’s minions “hobbits with leprosy”. He’s referring to J.R.R. Tolkien’s creatures from his book The Hobbit and the trilogy the Lord of the Rings. Hobbits are like men, but are much smaller, with large hairy feet. They are home-loving and enjoy food, parties and smoking pipes. Glory later calls Spike “Precious”, which is fitting as the Lord of the Rings character Gollum refers to the One Ring as “my precious”.
In 6.11 Gone, Warren says to Jonathan, “Oh, cheer up, Frodo”. Frodo Baggins is a character from Lord of the Rings. In 7.22 Chosen, the scenes of the thousands of CGI Turok-Han in the Hellmouth was clearly influenced by the scenes in the Mines of Moria in the Lord of the Rings movie The Fellowship of the Ring.
In 5.11 Damage, Andrew reacts to Spike’s reappearance by comparing it to Gandalf’s resurrection in The Fellowship of the Ring (”more beautiful than ever”) before weeping on Spike’s shoulder and whispering “Frodo, he’s alive.”
In 5.21 Power Play, Gunn calls Drogyn “Aragorn.” Aragorn is the name of a long-haired character in The Lord of the Rings, played in the movie version by actor Viggo Mortensen.
Magic Box
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Giles opened the new Magic Box shop in 5.05 No Place Like Home and took on a new member of staff - Anya. He first eyed up the prospect of opening a magic shop in 5.02 Real Me, after the previous owner was found dead. Giles dressed as a wizard for the grand opening but Buffy told him, without words, how very silly he looked.
The Magic Box is located at 5124 Maple Court in downtown Sunnydale. The phone number there is 803-555-8966. Their slogan is “Your one-stop spot to shop for all your occult needs. Let us make it easy”, which Tara says in 5.08 Shadow is great in a hard-to-read way.
A sign at the Magic Box warns customers that “Shoplifters will be transfigured”.
The magic box was trashed by Olaf the Troll in 5.11 Triangle, but miraculously restored by the next episode, 5.12 Checkpoint. It was finally destroyed completely by Willow in 6.22 Grave after she consumed dark magics and fought Giles there. We see in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place that the Magic Box has an “Unsafe” sign on the outside, presumably because the building was structurally damaged.
Mix up
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Anya mentions a “mix up” that she had with the Scoobies, which occurred in 7.02 Beneath You.
Moving walls
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Xander comments that the blueprints for the school basement have become useless, as it seems like the walls move. This is probably the doing of the Hellmouth.
Phone number
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The phone numbers shown in Buffy’s address book under the heading ‘Family Numbers’ in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place are: Buffy’s work (555-0101), Xander’s office (555-0168), Dawn’s cell phone (555-0193). Giles’ number is on speed dial on the phone in the living room. 555 is the number commonly used for fictional numbers. Willow saw these numbers when looking for the Scoobies and didn’t think of calling them.
Red
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In 4.04 Fear, Itself, Xander calls Buffy “Red”. Spike called Willow “Red” in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place and 4.20 The Yoko Factor, and Faith called Willow this in 4.15 This Year’s Girl. Kennedy also calls Willow “Red” in 7.22 Chosen, when they’re in the Principal’s office getting ready for Willow to work her mojo.
Reused demons
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The Gnarl demon suit from 7.03 Same Time, Same Place was used again in the episode 7.07 Conversations With Dead People. The costume was painted black and used in the scene where a demon is seen over Joyce’s body.
Room swap
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We see in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place that Buffy has moved into her mother’s old bedroom and Willow is now sleeping in Buffy’s old bedroom. Previously, Willow and Tara had been using Joyce’s old room, when they moved into the Summers’ house after Buffy died.
Safety first
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Buffy doesn’t seem to lock her doors. In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Willow just walks into Buffy’s house through the back door whilst Buffy is out. In a place like Sunnydale, you’d be more careful. Vampires need an invite but burgler’s don’t!
Same name… almost
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In 6.15 As You Were, Anya says to Xander: “Well, the Gnarals are teleporting in in twenty minutes” This is very similar and pronounced the same as Gnarl from season seven’s 7.03 Same Time, Same Place.
Sexy spells
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In the episode 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Willow asks for Anya’s help with a locator spell, and Anya asks if it will be sexy. This is a possible reference to the sexed-up Draconian Katra spell which Willow and Tara performed in 4.16 Who Are You?.
Sherlock Holmes
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In the episode 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Dawn says, “it’s smellementary!” This is a twist on the famous phrase “it’s elementary”, used by Sherlock Holmes. He was a fictional detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle, and featured in many stories in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Skin cuts
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The BBC and Sky One in the UK heavily cut the part of 7.03 Same Time, Same Place where Gnarl peels and eats Willow’s skin.
The Bill
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In an episode of The Bill (shown on 25th November 2003) a picture of Gnarl, the demon in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, appeared on a locker. The Bill is a long-running UK police drama series.
The many faces of the Whedonverse
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In order to describe the state or reaction of a character, there have been several variations using the word ‘face’:
2.09 What’s My Line? (Part One):
Buffy: What’s up?
Angel: Nothing.
Buffy: Only you don’t have a nothing face. You have a something face. And you don’t have to whisper. Mom’s in L.A. till Thursday. Art buying, or something.
Buffy: “Then what? What’s with the dire?”
Angel: “It’s uh, it’s nothing.”
Buffy: “No, you have ’something’ face.”
Joyce: “I’m just glad I could find it. There. Try it now. I let down the hem and loosened it a little around the hood.”
Buffy: “Oh, it feels better. Oh, no. Someone is getting nostalgic face.”
Joyce: “I’m sorry. I’m thinking about the little girl who wore that. What is it? Five? Six years ago.”
Cordy: “Wait you’ve got pensive face.”
Angel: “I’ve always got pensive face.”
Cordy: “Well, pensive-r face.”
Giles: “Buffy, I don’t want to ask you to betray any confidences, and I certainly don’t want to interfere–”
Buffy: “Uh-oh, you have ‘but-face.’” (Off his look) “You look like you’re gonna say ‘but.’”
Dawn: “Great. Now I look like a wet rat.”
Lisa: “Yeah, you know you can’t go out there looking all cry-faced. That’ll just give Kirsty more ammo.”
Dawn: “So Giles is blaming Giles, and we’re blaming us. Is anyone gonna blame Willow? (to Buffy) Oh, don’t give me shock face. I mean, will anyone around here ever start asking for help when they need it?”
Viscera
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In 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, Drusilla says, “Ooh, such a pretty house you have, sweet William. It smells of daffodils… and viscera.” Dawn told Xander and Buffy in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place that viscera is guts.
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.
Yellow crayons
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Xander writes his “Welcome Home, Willow” sign in yellow crayon, which is something that featured heavily in his speech to stop Willow destroying the world in 6.22 Grave. Xander also refers to this speech in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place and, from the looks it, has related the story to Buffy and Dawn many times.
[Goof] Dawn
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When Xander and Buffy put Dawn on the couch in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, she is clearly face up as they begin to set her down. Yet the following shot shows her face down.
[Goof] Demon goo
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Buffy wipes her hands on her trousers after poking out Gnarl’s eyes in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place. The trousers don’t seem to be dirty. Later, when she talks to Willow in the bedroom, we see that she has changed her top but not her trousers, which should have demon goo on them.
[Goof] Spike’s blue shirt
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In 7.03 Same Time, Same Place, Spike rips off the hideous blue shirt (which I’m still having nightmares about) that he wore in 7.02 Beneath You saying the ‘disguise’ didn’t work. But he’s wearing it again this week. I know he’s insane, but still…
[Goof] Willow’s skin
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Willow’s skin and the amount of strips taken from it by Gnarl in 7.03 Same Time, Same Place changes in different scenes.