On a few occasions (in both Buffy and Angel), a personality disorder test is mentioned and one of the questions to determine one’s sanity is if the subject ever wanted to be a florist. Additionally, whether you like shrubs or not seems to help determine your career aptitude, while a flower shop is a cover for the government conspiracy for which Riley Finn works.
Answering questions on their career aptitude tests during career week at school in 2.09 What’s My Line? (Part One):
Xander: “Is murder always a crime?”
Buffy: “Do I like shrubs?”
Xander: “That’s between you and your god.”
Buffy: (to Willow) “What’d you put?”
Willow: “I came down on the side of shrubs.”
Buffy: “The Watcher Council shrink is heavy into tests. He’s got tests for everything, T.A.T.s, Rorschach, associative logic. He even has that test to see if you’re crazy that asks if you ever hear voices or you ever wanted to be a florist.”
Willow: “Ooo, I used to want… Wait. Florist means crazy, right? I never wanted to do that.”
Buffy (on phone): “No, no, Finn is his last name. Yeah. Well, did he used to work there and then he got transferred Oh, is this actually a flower shop, or is this one of those things where I’m supposed to play along to show that I know it’s really secret ops? Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Oh, OK, right. Well, if some guy named Finn shows up to buy flowers � Yeah. Thanks.” (hangs up, turns to Spike) “Wrong number. Or a giant government conspiracy, one or the … Spike?”
Fred: “Don’t y’all think this is some kind of government conspiracy? ‘Cause my friend, Levon, says the government’s always taking kids and experimentin’ on ‘em. Did anybody else have to take a personality disorder test recently? They ask you about politics and your bowel movements and if you want to be a florist…”
Related episodes: 2.09 What's My Line? (Part One), 3.16 Doppelgangland, 4.06 Spin The Bottle, 7.13 The Killer In Me
Comments on this trivia
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somethingblue on November 15th, 2005 at 2:04 am
Incidentally, my mother is a third generation florist so I come from a long line of apparently insane people (but we kind of figured that anyway!) That’s one of the reasons I love Buffy so much - something for everyone and makes us all feel special!
Angel242 on November 17th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
HHAHAH that’s so good it makes you feel good knowing Joss reckons your insane…;)
mairceridwen on November 17th, 2005 at 7:48 pm
See, I actually come from a long line of insane people who are actually insane.
somethingblue on November 19th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
well, I can say from experience that you definitely have to be insane to want to be a florist, so it’s an accurate psychological testing point…
HarFang on April 15th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hmm, and remember what happened to Spike when he drank off of a flowerperson at Woodstock ? (I guess that hilarious speech immediately earnt him a place in the hearts of all viewers !)
Talmah on May 1st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Hi everyone !
Errr … Can someone just tell me from which episode of BTVS the article’s picture came ?
Is that really Buffy strangling Oz ?
HarFang on May 1st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I think it’s in What’s My Line 1, when Buffy is completely freaking out because Spike has placed a contract on her head. Oz bumps into her, or looks at her the wrong way, and she overreacts a bit.
Talmah on May 2nd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I check it out and you’re right HarFang.
Good look !