7.18 Dirty Girls

Summary:
In which a new foe and an old friend arrive in town.
Airdate:
15 April 2003
Writer:
Drew Goddard
Director:
Michael Gershman
Cast:

"You protecting vampires? Are you the bad Slayer now? Am I the good Slayer now?"
Faith

Episode Trivia

Andrew on Faith

Andrew on Faith

details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess

There are many flashbacks to previous episodes in 7.18 Dirty Girls when Andrew describes Faith’s past to the potentials. The episodes include 3.03 Faith, Hope And Trick, Revelations, 3.13 The Zeppo, 3.14 Bad Girls, 3.15 Consequences, 3.17 Enemies, 3.19 Choices and 4.15 This Year’s Girl.
Andrew’s speech goes as follows:

“Faith: her name alone invokes awe. Faith: a set of principles or beliefs upon which you’re willing to devote your life. The Dark Slayer. A lethal combination of beauty, power and death. For years and years - or to be more accurate - months, Faith fought on the side of good, terrorizing the evil community. But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side. She wrapped evil around her like a large evil Mexican serape. She became a cold-blooded killer. Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family, not even the most pacifist and logical of races.”

Andrew’s stories

Andrew’s stories

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Molly reminds Andrew that he’s not supposed to be telling stories anymore. Buffy demanded this in 7.16 Storyteller after he kept lying about the murder of Jonathan.

379.jpg

Caleb

details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess

Caleb posed as a Southern preacher, but was in actual fact the right-hand man of the First. He was in charge of the eyeless Harbingers who killed potential slayers in an effort to destroy the slayer line. He took an active part in this also, by blowing up the Watcher’s Council headquarters in England, and by setting a bomb in an effort to Faith and some of the potentials. During a battle with the Scoobies, Caleb pushed Xander’s eye out with his thumb, blinding him. Buffy’s power was no match for the strength of Caleb but she eventually split him in two - twice - using the scythe she found in his lair.

4056.jpg

Caridad

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Caridad was the potential Slayer who Xander fantasised about talking with in bed in 7.18 Dirty Girls (the first girl who told him she’d never had a boyfriend, and that she was scared). She also appeared in Touched and End of Days. Caridad survived the bomb blast at the end of the episode Touched, but didn’t appear for the final fight in 7.22 Chosen so went AWOL somewhere along the line.

Carrie Southworth

Carrie Southworth

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Carrie Southworth, who played Betty in 7.18 Dirty Girls, appeared in the Firefly episode ‘The Train Job’ as an immigrant woman. She also played a murdered girl in the movie Soul Survivors with Eliza Dushku.

Change of figure

Change of figure

details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess

When Xander dreams in 7.18 Dirty Girls, there are small dog and cat figures behind his bed. When he wakes up, there are model cars there.

Christie Abbot

Christie Abbot

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Christie Abbot who played the ‘helpless girl’ in 7.18 Dirty Girls, appeared in the movie The New Guy with Eliza Dushku.

4057.jpg

Colleen

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Colleen was the second girl who Xander fantasised about in 7.18 Dirty Girls. She only appeared in his fantasy so it’s possible that she wasn’t a real potential Slayer. In Xander’s fantasy, Colleen and Caridad told him:

Colleen: “I’ve never been with a man before, either.”
Xander: “Colleen…”
Colleen: “I’ve never been with her in front of a man before.”
Caridad: ” I’ve never been with her in front of a man, neither.”

Cordelia and Xander’s seeing abilities

Cordelia and Xander’s seeing abilities

details | add a comment | suggested by Meghann

The following is an eerie comparison between Cordelia and Xander…

In 1.10 Parting Gifts, Barney refers to Cordelia as being a Seer when she’s put on auction:

Barney: “Next up lot 32. We’re very lucky to have this here today. It’s a rare, and beautiful find.”
Cordelia: “I’m really not a seer. I only had a vision once, and I’m pretty sure it was just something I ate!”
Barney: “The magnificent eyes of a seer. Your very own pipeline to the Powers That Be, folks. The possibilities are endless. Keep the girl as a slave, remove the head as a trophy, or simply harvest the eyes, in any case a unique party icebreaker. It doesn’t get any better than this. Let’s start the bidding at 2,000…”

From the next episode 1.11 Somnambulist:

Wesley: “Quiet all around then. Well, I’ll keep myself available. The situation can only escalate. We made a most effective team, I felt. Vanquishing that empathy demon in such short order.”
Cordy: “Yeah, well, nobody gauged out my eyes, so I’m happy.”

Over on Buffy, we witness the following conversation between Dawn and Xander in 7.12 Potential:

Dawn: “Maybe that’s your power.”
Xander: “What?”
Dawn: “Seeing. Knowing.”
XANDER: “Maybe it is. Maybe I should get a cape.”
Dawn: “Cape is good.”
XANDER: “Yeah.”

Before gauging out Xander’s eye in 7.18 Dirty Girls, Caleb says:

Caleb: “You’re the one who sees everything, aren’t you? Well, let’s see what we can’t do about that.”

Dania Ramirez

Dania Ramirez

details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess

Dania Ramirez played Caridad in season seven. She has also been in Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, Fat Albert, She Hate Me, The Ecology of Love, Little Black Boot, Cross Bronx and 25th Hour.

Ew ! Ew! Thumbs?!

Ew ! Ew! Thumbs?!

details | add a comment | suggested by HarFang

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.

Eyeless

Eyeless

details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess

When Buffy sees Xander fighting vampires in 3.02 Dead Man’s Party, she says:

“It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”

Xander actually loses an eye in season seven’s 7.18 Dirty Girls.

Faith and comas

Faith and comas

details | 4 comments | suggested by Smash

Faith has had bad luck with comas - her first being the result of a fight with Buffy at the end of 3.21 Graduation Day (Part One). She is stabbed with her own knife, but jumps off her balcony onto a moving truck before she can kill her. She then shares a dream with the also unconscious Buffy.
In the Angel episode 4.15 Orpheus, she drugs herself, and is bitten by Angelus, leaving her in a second coma, during which she shares a dream (of sorts) with both Angel and his evil alter ego.
Faith is knocked unconscious by an explosion for most of 7.18 Dirty Girls, and at the end of 7.22 Chosen, says, “I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week.” Dangerous request, considering her track record!

Faith smoking

Faith smoking

details | 5 comments | suggested by Jess

Faith smokes cigarettes in the episode 7.18 Dirty Girls, which is the first time we’re seen her do this in Buffy. It’s possibly a habit she picked up in prison. Eliza Dushku smoked in real life but has since quit.

Faith’s back

Faith’s back

details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess

Faith arrives back in Sunnydale in the episode 7.18 Dirty Girls. We last saw Faith in Buffy (literally) in the season four episode 4.16 Who Are You? but she appeared on six episodes of Angel since then. Faith is annoyed that nobody told her that potential Slayers were being killed, and that she was a target herself. She references an attack in prison, where somebody tried to stab her (shown in the Angel episode 4.13 Salvage). The knife was the same as the one the Bringers have. Faith flirts with Spike, much to the annoyance of Buffy. Faith slept with Buffy’s boyfriend Riley in season four (though she was in Buffy’s body at the time). Buffy’s still smarting from it.

Falcon Crest

Falcon Crest

details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess

In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Kennedy says the vineyard is evil, to which Spike replies, “Kind of like Falcon Crest“. This was a soap opera (1981-1990) which centred around a family that owned a vineyard.

Glitter

Glitter

details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess

Faith says in 7.18 Dirty Girls that the last movie she saw in prison was Glitter. The movie was made in 2001 and starred Mariah Carey. It was a huge flop.

1483.jpg

Godzilla

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Godzilla is a massive, nearly invincible dinosaur/lizard-like creature with incredible strength and destructive fire. Godzilla has starred in 22 movies produced from 1954 to the present. Godzilla has been referenced in Buffy a few times. In 1.04 Teacher’s Pet, Xander says:

“We’re on Monster Island”

He’s referring to the island where Godzilla lives. Xander says in 2.05 Reptile Boy:

“Godzilla’s attacking downtown Tokyo! Aargh, Aargh!”

In 5.14 Crush, Harmony calls Drusilla “Droodzilla”, which is probably a reference to Godzilla.
In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Amanda says,

“Matthew Broderick can kill Godzilla. How tough is he?”

This is a reference to the 1997 movie Godzilla, starring Matthew Broderick which disappointed many fans (like Xander and Andrew).
In 2.11 Redefinition, Merl says:

“I heard about your girls - Godzilla, Darcilla, whatever”.

Hospital girls

Hospital girls

details | 1 comment | suggested by lydston

The scene in 7.18 Dirty Girls, when Buffy and Willow visit Shannon in hospital, is very similar to the scene in 1.10 Nightmares when Buffy and Giles visit Laura, the girl who was beaten by the Ugly Man. Both girls are lying in bed in the hospital, badly bruised, deliver vital clues - (”I have something of yours” and “Lucky Nineteen”), and have been attacked by the episode’s villain. Though Caleb saying he has something of Buffy’s is a red herring to lead her to the vineyard, it is true - he has her scythe.

3677.jpg

Kristy Wu

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Kristy Wu played potential Slayer Chao-Ahn in season seven. She has also played Scarlett in Return to Halloweentown, Regina in Cry Wolf, Alice Wong in Future Tense, Liz in Drive Me Crazy and Lisa in Moesha.

Mary Wilcher

Mary Wilcher

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Mary Wilcher played the potential Slayer Shannon in 7.18 Dirty Girls, 7.19 Empty Places and 7.22 Chosen. She appeared in Son of the Beach as a character named Buffy and played Marguerite in MTV’s Undressed.

Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

In 6.20 Villains, Andrew says, “I miss Ferris Matthew. Broadway Matthew - I find him cold.” He’s talking about actor Matthew Broderick who is probably best remembered as Ferris Bueller in the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He has also appeared in Godzilla (referenced in 7.18 Dirty Girls), Inspector Gadget (with Michelle Trachtenberg) and Election. Broderick appeared on Broadway in The Producers.

May I?

May I?

details | 3 comments | suggested by MagicBone

When Faith returns to Sunnydale in 7.18 Dirty Girls, she meets Buffy and Spike in the graveyard. While fighting a vampire that Spike was going kill, Faith says “May I?” and takes a stake that Buffy had in her pocket. This is a callback to 3.03 Faith, Hope And Trick (Faith’s first episode) when she does the same thing after meeting Buffy and the gang for the first time outside of the Bronze.

2838.jpg

Met me before?

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Faith returns to Sunnydale in season seven’s 7.18 Dirty Girls, after leaving in 4.16 Who Are You?. She meets Spike again, but naturally he doesn’t recognise her as the last time they met she was in Buffy’s body. She reminds him when they chat in Buffy’s basement and he tells her he remembers her speech:

“Like you could ride me at a gallop till my knees buckled. Squeeze me till I popped like warm champagne. That’s not the kind of thing a man forgets.”

2144.jpg

Molly

details | 2 comments | suggested by Jess

Molly was the potential Slayer who seems to have attended the Dick Van Dyke School for Extraordinarily Bad English Accents. She arrived in Sunnydale with Giles in 7.10 Bring On The Night, and kindly told Buffy her house was a “bit of a mess”. Molly was killed by Caleb in 7.18 Dirty Girls.

974.jpg

Nathan Fillion

details | 11 comments | suggested by Jess

Nathan played the preacher Caleb in season seven and Captain Mal Reynolds in Firefly, a short-running TV show created by Joss Whedon. Nathan also played Mal in the 2005 Firefly movie Serenity. He originally auditioned for the part of Angel many years ago. He and Anthony Stewart Head have acted together before: Nathan starred in Two Guys and a Girl, in which Anthony guest-starred in an episode called ‘Two Guys a Girl And a Mother’s Day’ in 1999. Nathan played Father David in Wes Craven’s Dracula 2000. He has also been in Saving Private Ryan and Miss Match (along with Charisma Carpenter).

Rachel Bilson

Rachel Bilson

details | 3 comments | suggested by marvin21st

Rachel Bilson, who played Colleen in 7.18 Dirty Girls (the second girl in Xander’s dream), played Summer Roberts in The O.C. and has also been in Unbroken, That ’70s Show and 8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter (which starred Buffy’s John Ritter - Ted).

Ray Charles

Ray Charles

details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess

In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Caleb calls the Bringers “the Ray Charles brigade.” Ray Charles, like the Bringers, was blind (but not evil).

249.jpg

Revello Drive

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

Scenes at Buffy’s house were originally shot on location, but later the interior was re-built on a soundstage. The location used for the exterior of Buffy’s home was 1313 Cota Drive in Torrance. It can be found just 3 blocks away from Torrance High School (used for the location of Sunnydale High). Bear in mind that people live there and most likely don’t want to be disturbed, so don’t go gawking at the house!
Buffy’s fictional address is 1630 Revello Drive. This is discovered in the episode 1.07 Angel when Buffy rang the paramedics after her mother was bitten by Darla. The address was also mentioned again in 5.16 The Body (again when Buffy rings for an ambulance) and in 7.18 Dirty Girls, when Shannon asks Caleb to take her to Revello Drive.

See ya, vamps

See ya, vamps

details | add a comment | suggested by Jess

The last episode to feature a vampire (the regular kind, not Turok-Han, and not including Spike and Angel) was 7.18 Dirty Girls.

Seeing. Knowing.

Seeing. Knowing.

details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess

After Xander accurately realises how she’s feeling in 7.12 Potential, Dawn says to him:

“Maybe that’s your power… Seeing. Knowing.”

Coincidentally, Xander is blinded in one eye by Caleb in 7.18 Dirty Girls. Nice one, Dawn.
Shortly before thumbing his eye out, Caleb refers to Xander as “the one who sees things”. Before the fight, Xander says, “everything’s got eyes” when he talks to the potentials.

4058.jpg

Shannon

details | 6 comments | suggested by Jess

Shannon was the potential Slayer who was picked up by Caleb in his car at the beginning of 7.18 Dirty Girls. He gave her a message for Buffy and stabbed her in the leg, before pushing her from the moving vehicle. She survived and gave Buffy the message: “He said, “I have something of yours.”" She also appeared in the episodes 7.19 Empty Places and 7.22 Chosen.

Signals

Signals

details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess

In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Buffy tells Xander that her signal will be lots of yelling. Willow said the same thing when she dressed as Vampire Willow in 3.16 Doppelgangland.

1591.jpg

Star Trek

details | 7 comments | suggested by Jess

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:

663.jpg

Star Wars

details | 15 comments | suggested by Jess

George Lucas’s Star Wars films are a cult phenomenon. They are referenced numerous times in the Buffyverse. The original trilogy included the movies Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983) and the movies The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) were made later on.

1637.jpg

The Bible

details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess

The Bible is referenced a few times in the Buffyverse.
In the episode 1.07 Angel, the Master says, “out of the mouths of babes”, which is from Psalms 8:2.
Absalom, the religious vampire in 2.01 When She Was Bad, was named after a character in the Bible. Absalom was the third son of King David. He turned against his father and challenged him for the kingdom of Israel. The story is told in the second book of Samuel (2 Samuel 13:20 - 19:10).
The title of the episode 3.03 Faith, Hope And Trick is from the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:13:

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

In 4.10 Hush, as Buffy and Willow are first walking through town after their voices have been stolen, they walk past a group of Christians reading from the bible. The verse they’re reading is Revelations 15:1:

“Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for in them the wrath of God is ended.”

In 7.09 Never Leave Me, Quentin Travers quotes Proverbs 24:6: and Proverbs 24:6.

“O, by wise council, you shall make your war.”

In 7.18 Dirty Girls, Caleb says to Faith,

“Well you’re the other one. The Cain to her Abel. No offence to Cain, of course.”

In the Bible, Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain murdered Abel out of jealousy.

3349.jpg

The mission’s what matters

details | 4 comments | suggested by Jess

Principal Wood and Buffy had the following exchange in 7.18 Dirty Girls:

Buffy: “Some of these girls haven’t even been tested in battle.”
Robin: “Then, I guess, maybe you should test them… Remember, Buffy, the mission’s what matters.”

In the next episode, 7.19 Empty Places, the Slayer decides to act upon his words, but Robin turns on her, leading to her being kicked out of the house.

Where are you going?

Where are you going?

details | 3 comments | suggested by Jess

The people of Sunnydale start leaving the town in the episode 7.18 Dirty Girls, for no apparent reason. Nothing huge has happened recently to force them to do this, except for some trouble at the High School. They’ve withstood much worse events in the past without a murmur of complaint: The Mayor turned into a giant snake and started to eat people before the high school was blown up; the town was attacked by creatures from another dimension in 5.22 The Gift, which left massive craters in the streets; and this is without mentioning the massive numbers of casualties suffered from an infestation of vampires and demons. The town has a massive mortality rate. People are used to this. So what’s making them leave?

3611.jpg

Xander’s patch

details | 1 comment | suggested by Jess

Xander wears an eye patch when he is dressed as a pirate in 6.06 All The Way. Xander’s eye was removed by Caleb in season seven’s 7.18 Dirty Girls and he then had to wear an eye patch. He even references the costume when he’s in hospital in 7.19 Empty Places:

“Well, to go with the eye patch, to really complete the look. I think I still have that costume from Halloween.”

[Goof] Willow’s outfit

[Goof] Willow’s outfit

details | 8 comments | suggested by Jess

In 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, Willow wears a different outfit to the one she did in the Angel episode 4.15 Orpheus (in which she left L.A. to return to Sunnydale with Faith). Did she change in the car?

Latest Trivia

Latest Comments

Recently Updated