Recap / Buffy the Vampire Slayer S3E6 "Band Candy"

Willow: What's happening?
Buffy: I don't know, but it's happened to a whole lot of grown-ups.
Willow: They're acting like a bunch of—
Buffy: They're acting like a bunch of us!
Willow: [indignant] I don't act like this.

Directed by Michael Lange

Written by Jane Espenson & Douglas Petrie

Welcome to the debut of writer Jane Espenson! Mayor Wilkins is meeting with Mr. Trick, who says he has outsourced a job to someone who's worked in Sunnydale before, and can give the Mayor what he needs. Wilkins says he's made "certain deals" to get where he is today, and one of his campaign donors requires a tribute.

At school the next day, the Scoobies come upon Principal Snyder handing out boxes of candy. Snyder gives them each a box of chocolate bars and summarily orders them to sell it to raise money for new band uniforms. Buffy manages to talk her mother into buying half of her stock. Having gotten rid of those, Buffy says she's gotta run, as Giles is expecting her to train. Joyce opines that Giles is monopolizing Buffy's time, but she's already out the door.

The library. Buffy cops out of training early, explaining that Joyce is on the warpath, and breezily exists. Giles smells a rat.

Sure enough, Buffy goes to the mansion to bring Angel some fresh blood. He says he's getting stronger.

When she arrives home, Buffy finds her mother and Giles waiting for her. Cue the fireworks. After Giles steps in to mediate (telling them not to "freak out"), Buffy is sentenced to her room, leaving the adults to munch on chocolate bars. At a factory somewhere in Sunnydale, a workman is about to do the same thing, but Ethan Rayne stops him.

"Trust me, you don't wanna eat that."

The next day, Giles fails to show up for study hall. Worried, Buffy goes to Giles' place and finds her mom sitting on the couch. Giles explains that they are rescheduling her activities to lessen her burden, and Joyce hands Buffy her car keys and invites her to drive herself home. Delighted, Buffy snatches the keys and leaves in a cartoon cloud of dust. Joyce makes a "whew" face, and wonders if Buffy sensed anything amiss. "No way!" says Giles, lighting up a cigarette as Joyce takes a bottle of Kahlua out from hiding. Wat.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow arrive at the Bronze to find it largely populated by adults acting like...well, teenagers. Snyder comes up and puts his arms around the two of them (!), then snorts that the other teachers are wasted. Teen Snyder is fun, though a bit clingy to the "Scoobies." Buffy decides to find out what's going on, and Snyder tags along. They all pile back into the jeep to find Giles.

Speaking of which: Giles - sorry, Ripper - and Joyce are downtown, behaving like a couple of lovestruck teenagers. Joyce stops to admire a jacket in a store window ("Very Juice Newton.") Ripper swings a garbage can into the window, breaking it as the alarm goes off. He grabs the jacket and A Clockwork Orange-type hat as Joyce giggles mischievously.

Buffy observes a lot of adults hanging out, and realizes that something's missing — namely, vampires. They quickly deduce that the candy is cursed, and that the whole exercise must be a diversion. Buffy grabs Snyder and asks if he knows where to get the candy, which he does. Oz and Willow head off to the library to research the problem while Buffy and Snyder head to the source, which is...

...a factory at which a crowd of people are clamoring for more candy. Buffy wins a free trip to Therapyville as she sees Ripper and Joyce making out. Finally, Buffy jumps up onto the loading dock and finds Ethan inside the factory. Buffy and Ripper chase him down and make the weaselly warlock reveal the plan. He says the candy was just to render the town helpless while Trick and his vampires collect a big tribute for some demon named Lurconis, but he doesn't know the what. We get an answer to that question as a troop of vamps enter an unsupervised maternity ward and steal all of the newborns.

Ripper has a flash of memory: Lurconis is related to filth, so he probably resides in the sewers. Down below, the ritual is underway, where hooded vamps chant ominously while the Mayor looks on. Buffy drops in and engages Trick's vampire minions in combat while Ripper and Joyce wheel the babies to safety. Wilkins beats a hasty retreat. Trick and Buffy get ready to rumble, but Ripper hauls off and throw a solid left to Trick's face — but he's unfazed. He shoves Ripper into the Lurconis' feeding pool, distracting Buffy long enough for Trick to make his escape. A rumbling starts, and an enormous, snake-like head emerges from a nearby tunnel. Buffy, thinking quickly, rips open a gas line, forming a jet of fire that sets Lurconis ablaze.

At school, a sober Principal Snyder commandeers Willow, Oz, Cordelia and Xander to help clean up some graffiti. Buffy puts the damage done to her mom's car in perspective by reminding Joyce and Giles, "At least I got to the two of you before you actually did something." Giles and Joyce hastily walk in opposite directions.

Tropes:

• Accent Slip-Up: Giles shifts to a lower-class accent, not all that dissimilar to Spike's accent (And fairly close to Anthony Head's real one with James Marsters even basing Spike's on it), while under the influence of the candy and reverted to his Ripper days. He eventually goes the other way, shifting back towards his usual Received Pronunciation voice, when he realises he'd previously read about Lurconis and knows where to find it.
• Actor Allusion: When she and Willow find their teachers at the Bronze, Buffy makes a reference to "Let's Do the Time Warp Again," from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Anthony Stewart Head played Frank N. Furter in the 1990-91 West End revival of that show at London's Piccadilly Theatre.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Ripper gets Joyce all weak in the knees.
• All Just a Dream: Joyce feels as if her adult life was this.
• Ambiguous Syntax: Someone painted "KISS rocks!" on the students' lockers. Willow is briefly confused over why anyone would kiss rocks.
• Animalistic Abomination: Lurconis resembles a gigantic snake.
• Are You Sure You Can Drive This Thing?: Buffy drives to the Bronze even thought she failed her driving test, with Willow in the passenger's seat. Willow gets increasingly anxious, despite Buffy's relaxed-ness. They make it to the Bronze which they discover is full of middle-aged people acting like teenagers due to cursed candy; then Buffy attempts to drive to Giles' house, which results in a crash.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: Giles (by the sound) cocks the gun when he points it at Ethan, and Buffy appears to put it in her belt still cocked—not a great idea.
• Badass Normal: Ripper easily flattens and disarms an armed cop. However, he's no match for a vampire like Trick.
• Bad Boss/Make an Example of Them: Trick accuses a worker of sampling the product, and snaps his neck. Ethan cringes, and asks Trick how he knew. Trick, offhandedly, remarks, "I don't. Now I know no one else will."
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: Virtually a Running Gag.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Buffy wishes that her parental figures would stop forcing her to be responsible. When the adults lose their ability to act responsibly, Buffy sees the disasters that can result when no one does what they are supposed to do, e.g. vampires can steal babies to feed to giant demon snakes if no one cares to watch out for such things. The Reset is rarely complete though - quite a few memories and changes were kept until the end of the show.
• Brainless Beauty: Teenage Joyce wasn't exactly an intellectual prize-winner, coming off as petulant, impulsive and easily led. However, she is still rather sweet at heart, her maternal instinct coming out with the babies.
• Brand X: Milkbars. They're cocorific!
• Brick Joke: When Buffy meets Melaka Fray, a Slayer from 200 years in the future, in the Season 8 comics.
  Fray: Summers, you drive like a spaz!
  Buffy: And that phrase stood the test of time?
• Bubblegum Popping: Joyce
• Buffy Speak: Buffy assures Angel she's "full of carefulness".
• Bullying a Dragon: Ripper tries to pull rank with Buffy. Buffy very coldly asks him if he really wants to fight her. Ripper suddenly realises that he needs to grab a smoke.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Buffy returns home to find Joyce waiting for her. Buffy babbles that Giles kept her, until he slowly emerges from the dining room. Buffy, call a lawyer, because you are busted. Joyce and Giles are up in arms that Buffy would try to play them off one another.
• Captain Obvious: Willow getting with the weirdness. "Hey, this is not normal! [Off Buffy's look] Maybe that goes without saying."
• Chekhov's Classroom: Giles coaching Buffy on how to fight blind early in the episode later helps her find Ethan when he hides in a chocolate crate.
• Chekhov's Gun / Benevolent Architecture: The Mayor calls his secretary regarding concerns about exposed gas pipes in the sewers. (Yeah, but the cell phone signal down there is phenomenal.) Buffy kills Lurconis via said pipes and an exposed flame.
• Comically Missing the Point: Buffy tries to snap Joyce out of it by pointing out the damage she caused to the car. "Oh my God!" — Buffy looks satisfied — "What was I thinking when I bought the geek machine?" Buffy can't believe her ears, and Giles busts out laughing behind her.
• Continuity Nod
  • In the scenes where Giles is wearing only a tee shirt, a Mark of Eyghon tattoo is clearly visible on his left inner forearm.
  • One of Cordelia's leftover homecoming queen flyers is hanging in Xander's locker.
  • It becomes obvious that the real reason Buffy isn't allowed to drive is because Joyce doesn't want her taking off again. Buffy cracks that she could just as easily get a bus ticket. Joyce is unamused.
  • Angel asks after Scott, apparently not up-to-date on Buffy's social life. Buffy needs a moment to recall who that is, then hem and hews about everything being "fine."
  • Oz guesses that Giles was probably pretty together as a teenager, so even if he ate the candy, he should be okay. However, Willow and Buffy, who were there for "The Dark Age," quickly disabuse him of that notion. "Giles at sixteen? Less Together Guy, more Bad-Magic-Hates-The-World-Ticking-Time-Bomb Guy."
  • How does Buffy already have a talent for hearing while blind? Oh that's right, she fought an insane invisible girl.
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Ethan notices a crowbar on the desk in front of him, and picks it up and sneaks toward Buffy, whose back is turned. Ripper comes out of nowhere and presses the gun to Ethan's neck, execution style. Whoops.
• A Day in the Limelight: Not to the extent of other examples, but this episode is noticeably Giles- and Joyce-heavy.
• Description Cut: Buffy whines that "us and the undead are the only people in Sunnydale working this late!" Cut to Mayor Wilkins thanking Mr. Trick for coming so late... well, "early," in his case.
  • Joyce suggests that she and "Ripper" watch TV, and seductively says, "I know how to order pay-per-view." Giles wants to go out, and Joyce suggests the Bronze. Giles: "Not bloody likely. That place is dead." We cut to a hoppin' Bronze, where the crowd is entirely made up of seniors and middle-aged adults.
• Did They or Didn't They?: Giles and Joyce are seen kissing passionately as the scene cuts away. Later cleared up in "Earshot."
  "YOU HAD SEX WITH GILES?! ON THE HOOD OF A POLICE CAR?!? TWICE?!?!?"
  • Further clarified in "Who Are You".
    When I had psychic power, I heard my mom think that you were like a stevedore during sex. (...) What's a stevedore?
• Dirty Coward: Snyder elects to stay behind in the hospital, "In case the babies, you know, uh... find their way back." Ripper mockingly calls him on it.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Xander losing his train of thought as Willow's leg creeps up his shin.
  Xander: The band. Yeah. They're great. They march.
  Willow: Like an army. ...Except with music instead of bullets, and...usually no one dies.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Joyce and Giles, feuding parents who share custody.
  • Joyce and Giles lighting up after Buffy has gone makes it look like they were smoking dope. The adults addiction to the 'candy' and their zippy reaction afterwards resembles hard drugs.
• Don't Come A-Knockin': The rocking police car as a Sexy Discretion Shot.
• Double Take: Buffy peels into the candy factory parking lot in her jeep, then stomps right past Giles and Joyce, who are snogging. She does a double take so hard, it nearly sends her into another zip code.
• Dramatic Gun Cock: Giles steals a coat for Joyce and a hat for himself, but then a policeman points his gun at them, yelling "Hold it!"
  • Giles uses one to threaten Ethan Rayne, who was trying to sneak up behind Buffy and clock her while she's on the phone with Willow.
• Drives Like Crazy: Quoth Principal Snyder: "Woo, Summers, you drive like a SPAZ!"
• Drunken Song: Willow's doctor and two other men singing an a cappella rendition of "Louie, Louie."
  Buffy: No vampire has ever been that scary.
• Eating the Eye Candy/Walking Shirtless Scene: Buffy stares enraptured at a naked-to-the-waist Angel doing Tai Chi.
• Eats Babies: The Mayor arranges for numerous chaotic events to occur so babies can be kidnapped from a hospital to sacrifice to Lurconis.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Snyder whining about his stolen candy sends the gears in Buffy's head spinning.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Ethan Rayne may fill the role of villain whenever he appears on the show, but he is clearly disturbed when Mr. Trick snaps the neck of one of the warehouse workers just to set an example.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: As a training exercise, Giles blindfolds Buffy, hands her a ball, and asks her to throw it at him. She throws it in the wrong direction, he starts to wax sarcastic, and the ball bounces back and hits him in the head.
  Giles: It's not that simple, is it— (ball bounces off his head) Ow.
• Fauxdian Slip: Willow takes a book from Xander, and the contact of their thumbs is enough to set off the hormones again. Cordelia, thumbing through a book of her own, turns to Willow and asks, "You wanna swap?" Willow's eyes momentarily grow to the size of dinner plates.
• Five-Finger Discount: Giles and Joyce helping themselves to some new threads.
  • A nerd running up from behind Snyder and snatching his candy bar.
• Flat "What": Buffy's bug-eyed response to being offered the jeep. "What. [beat] Excuse me, I meant what?"
• Footsie Under the Table: Xander and Willow play a little footsie in the back row of the Science Lab, as The Guitar Of Infidelity twangs — Musicalis Interruptus as Cordelia suddenly turns to speak to them and we hear a distinct double-thump as their feet slam back against their chairs.
• Foreshadowing: "C: All systems tend towards chaos." Boy, do they ever.
  • And that goes not only for this episode, but for the series as a whole — what's another synonym for chaos?
  • Trick's says the Mayor's request is little out of his area, but that he can subcontract it to someone who's "worked your town before." Who worships Chaos, as it happens.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Snyder forces his way into the Scooby Gang like a jerk dork that they have to put up with.
• Fun with Acronyms: Cordy says that she had a philosophy book that was a year overdue, and Giles made her pay the huge fine. The book was perfect for starting conversations with college boys — but, of course, that was in Year BX. ("Before Xander.") Aw.
• Gilligan Cut: Joyce complains that Giles is monopolizing Buffy's time, and Buffy replies, "I know. And does he ever say he's sorry?" Cut to the library:
  Buffy: [with Giles tying a blindfold on her] Ow.
  Giles: Sorry.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: When Buffy tries to pull him and Joyce apart, Ripper gets insolent and pulls rank.
  "No, you listen to me. [points aggressively] I'm your Watcher, so you do what I tell you. Now, sod off!"
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Both Joyce and Giles smoke.
• Got Volunteered / Book Ends: Snyder ordering the Scoobies to sell band candy (even through they're not in the band) and at the end of the episode, getting them to clean up the vandalized lockers.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: When Angel asks about Scott Buffy starts to say this, then figures it's smarter to pretend otherwise. After all, she and Angel are Just Friends now.
• Hidden Depths: Lampshaded when Cordelia says she excels at standardized tests, which earns her looks from everybody else. "What? I can't have layers?"
  • Snyder is revealed to have once been an overbearing but generally nice teen. It makes one wonder how exactly he ended up as he did. He also reveals he practices Taekwondo in his spare time.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: One of the organisers of the feeding eventually falls into the water himself and gets swallowed by the demon of the episode.
• Horrifying the Horror: Mr. Trick looks disturbed by the Mayor's cabinet full of evil doodads.
• How Did You Know? I Didn't: A Bad Boss example. Mr. Trick accuses a worker of sampling the cursed product and Neck Snaps him. Ethan Rayne asks Trick how he knew the worker was stealing. Trick replies that he didn't "And now no-one else will either."
• Human Sacrifice: The entire plot occurs so that the Mayor can obtain some babies to sacrifice to Lurconis.
• Hypocritical Humor: Mother & daughter snit a little about Buffy's summer holiday, but Buffy declares she's home to stay. ...Predictably, she then says she's got to leave, as Giles is expecting her.
• I Meant to Do That: Saying Buffy's a bad driver is like saying Churchill was an influential leader. Willow very nervously asks Buffy if she knows that she's driving with the parking brake on. Buffy, nonchalantly: "Uh-huh!"
• Improbable Infant Survival / Complexity Addiction: Baby abduction and murder are presented as something so shocking that the antagonists have to compromise a whole factory of theirs and disorganise the whole city in their attempt to do that. It would’ve probably been much easier to simply brute-force their way into the hospital and kidnap the babies.
  • Except there would have been a huge outcry despite Sunnydale Syndrome, and an investigation that even the Mayor might not be able to control. The idea was to make everyone blame their own irresponsible behavior for the missing babies, rather than some villain.
• Is There a Doctor in the House?: On seeing the wackiness at the Bronze, Buffy suggests calling for a doctor, only for Willow to see her family doctor shirtless and Crowd Surfing. Well, trying to crowd surf.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Buffy realizes something's amiss because there are no vampires about. "Soup's on, but no one's grabbing a spoon."
• I Was Beaten by a Girl: Following Ethan's interrogation, Snyder cackles that Buffy kicked his ass. He tries to impress Joyce by throwing some shadow punches at Ethan, who's tied up.
• Important Haircut: In front of a mirror, Ripper tries to muss up his hair (a tall order, considering Giles' hairline) while mumbling about getting a band together.
• Improbable Aiming Skills / Exactly What I Aimed At: Giles gives blindfolded Buffy a dodge ball, and tells her throw the ball at him. She lets the ball fly, and it hits the wall behind the checkout counter.
  Giles: Not that simple, is i— [the ball bounces back and hits his head] — ow.
• Improvised Weapon:
  • Buffy ignites a gas line with one of the many Hollywood Torches that have been lit for the ritual feeding.
  • Buffy and Giles are sitting in a graveyard, studying for Buffy's SATs, (homework... with vampire slaying!) when a vamp appears behind Giles.
    Buffy: Roll.
    Giles: What? (turns, sees vamp, and rolls away)
    Buffy: (after dusting the vamp with her pencil) Hmm. I broke my No. 2 pencil. We'll have to do this again sometime.
    (Giles calmly produces another pencil)
• Ironic Echo: Joyce parrots her daughter's "And yet" when Buffy says she's a good mom, but the best moms let their daughters drive. Heh. Toss another candy bar to Joyce for the snark!
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Buffy asks Ethan what's going on, and informs him he's in a "talk or bleed situation." Giles shouts over to just hit him. Buffy asks which demon the "tribute" is for, but Ethan says he can't recall. Pop! Buffy hits him, and Giles jumps up and punches the air in glee.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ripper's cocky, violent and irresponsible, but he's still got Giles' good heart.
• Kill It with Fire: Buffy improvises a flamethrower out of a sewer pipe and nearby torch to kill Lurconis.
• Kinky Cuffs: Buffy says they'll need something with which to tie Ethan up. Joyce further traumatizes her daughter as she shyly produces a pair of handcuffs.
  Buffy: NEVER tell me.
• Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy: A slight variation; Mr. Trick tells Mayor Wilkins, "I know a beast who knows a guy."
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Snyder: “Everybody expects me to do everything around here because I'm the principal. It's not fair.” (Looks at the camera then shifts his look and walks away.)
• Leeroy Jenkins / Idiot Ball: Tough guy "Ripper" getting between Buffy and Mr. Trick, getting himself into trouble and giving Trick his chance for escape.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Joyce and Giles tacitly agree on this regarding their teenage romance.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Trick tells Buffy that normally he lets other people do his fighting, but "I just gotta see what ya got!"
  Buffy: Just tell me when it hurts.
• Literal-Minded: Angel remarks on how late it is for visitors, and asks how Buffy got away. Buffy snarks that she "started a fire in the prison laundry room and rode out in the garbage truck", which Angel takes at face value. But then, he did just spend centuries in Hell.
  • Snyder orders the Scoobies to repaint a row of lockers that have "KISS ROCKS" spray-painted on them. Willow wonders why anyone would want to kiss rocks, but then her brain catches up with her mouth.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The promo implied that Giles' teen hoodlum self would attack Buffy. As it turns out, even Ripper's not that crazy.
• No Smoking: When a chain-smoking Ripper gets bitchy, Buffy yanks the ciggy from his mouth and stomps on it.
  • After chasing Ethan around the warehouse, poor Giles is out of breath. "That's what smoking will do to you," chides Buffy.
• Not Himself: Giles' lapse into youth slang. He also starts to put on a lower-class accent.
  • Snyder tells an aged female teacher that "the big pinhead librarian didn't show up" for class. He says he doesn't want to cover for him, and orders her to do it. She rolls her eyes, and as she leaves, he whines how people expect him to do everything just because he's the Principal.
  • The teacher in question, Miss Barton, enters the classroom and gets the students' attention. She tells them to pretend to read until they're sure that "Commandant Snyder" is gone, and then "we're all outta here!"
    Xander: Does anyone else want to marry Miss Barton?
    Cordelia: Get in line.
  • Joyce happily forking over her car keys. If this isn't a clear sign that something is off, then nothing is.
• Not so Dire: Buffy is sitting on a blanket next to a grave with Giles reading a passage that sounds like it could be demon lore. However, he then asks her which of three choices best describes the theme of the—
  Buffy: "B! We haven't had 'B' in forever."
  • And at the end of the episode, Buffy is apparently talking over last night's events with Giles.
    Buffy: It was just too much to deal with. It was like nothing made sense anymore. The things that I thought I understood were gone. I just felt... so alone.
    Giles: Was that the math or the verbal?
    Buffy: Mostly the math.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Buffy walks in on her mom, saying "You know Giles, all slay all the time." Cue Giles stepping into view.
  • The factory's deserted except for Ethan, who's on the phone with his back to Buffy. He tells whoever's on the other end that the town is "wide open." Buffy calls his name, and he turns around while still holding the receiver. "Might wanna hurry." Gulp.
  • Buffy and Willow's reaction when they realise that Giles has had the candy too, and is therefore reverting to Ripper.
• Ominous Latin Chanting/In the Hood: The vampire monks summoning Lurconis.
• Only One Name/Shout-Out: Snyder tells the girls to just call him 'Snyder" — "like Barbarino."
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The first hint we get that something is wrong (apart from Ethan Rayne being the one making the candy bars), is Snyder being petulant, a teacher being petulant back, and Giles not showing up for work. Then Joyce pulls out a bottle of liquor and Giles lights a cigarette.
• Orphaned Punchline: Buffy sharing a dream she had with Oz and Willow.
  "...and then I was being chased by an improperly filled-in answer bubble screaming, 'NONE OF THE ABOVE!'"
• The Pen Is Mightier: Giles is making Buffy rehearse for her SAT tests during graveyard patrol when a vampire attacks them. She stakes it with her pencil, then cheerfully points out that it's broken, so she can't do the questionnaire. Giles calmly produces another pencil.
• Person as Verb: When the candy is handed out for sale, Buffy asks Snyder for advice "before we go all Willy Loman here" (yet another Shout-Out to Death of a Salesman - Whedon seems to love this play).
• Phlebotinum-Induced Stupidity: Ethan Rayne selling chocolate that make people act like particularly irresponsible teenagers. This is notable because "book smarts" aren't affected so much as common sense was. Buffy winds up having to be the responsible, mature one.
• Phrase Catcher: Willow tells Buffy that Oz is the highest-scoring person not to graduate in Sunnydale High history. Yes, Buffy points out, we already know that he's the quintessential smart slacker, dear. Xander and Cordelia drop in, and Oz explains he's helping the girls with SAT prep.
  Willow: [smiling proudly] He's the highest-scoring...
  Cordelia: —We know. We did the impressed thing already.
  • When Snyder foists some band candy on the Scoobies, Buffy protests that they're not in the band. "And if I'd handed you a trombone," Snyder says icily, "that would have been a problem, Summers. It's candy. Sell it." We then Jump Cut to the Summers kitchen:
    Joyce: But you're not in the band.
    Buffy: [eyeroll] And yet.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Angel says he'll get better and leave Sunnydale, which will be best for both of them. There's a noticeable pause before Buffy agrees with this statement.
• Political Overcorrectness: Xander sides with Buffy against the SATs, saying, "Personally, I think it, uh, discriminates against the uninformed."
• Red Shirt: Buffy kicks one of the vampire mooks into feeding pool, giving us our first view of Lurconis. CHOMP.
  • Cue Oh, Crap! moment when Trick throws Giles into the same pool.
• Rescue Sex: Ripper ends up beating the crap out of a cop and taking the gun as Joyce bats her eyes at him. The two proceed to make out on the hood of the policeman's car.
• The Reveal: When did Ethan Rayne get into the confectionery biz?
• Shaped Like Itself:
  • Joyce wants to know what Buffy was up to at the Bronze. She replies, "Bronze things! Things of Bronze!"
  • Snyder comes across the Scoobies and ominously observes they "look like four young people with too much time on [their] hands." Sensing more KP duty coming, everyone shakes their heads in negative. "Busy as a bee, actually," says Cordelia. "Bee-like!"
• Smells Sexy: After Angel takes her joke about sneaking out of the school in a garbage truck too literally, Buffy invites him to smell her. The UST immediately ratchets up a notch.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Giles and Joyce assume Buffy is bunking off so she can party. Buffy plays along because she's covering up a far greater secret — she's tending a Back from the Dead Angel.
• Tagalong Kid: Snyder was apparently one of these when he was younger.
• Teenage Wasteland: Albeit with the "teenagers" being brainwashed adults.
• That Didn't Happen: Unfortunately Joyce and Giles are so embarrassed over this incident they never follow it up. However, years later, after Joyce's death however Giles is seen playing "Tales of Brave Ulysses" while Drowning His Sorrows.
• Twisted Echo Cut
  Joyce: Honey, don't you think Mr. Giles is monopolizing an awful lot of your time?
  Buffy: And does he ever say he's sorry?
  (Cut to the library. Buffy yelps as Giles tightens a blindfold around her head)
  Giles: Sorry.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Xander/Willow and Buffy/Angel. This is not going to end well.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Snyder, of all people, used to be a socially awkward, mildly annoying but generally friendly Tagalong Kid.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Wilkins, whom Buffy didn't see, quickly withdraws when she shows up. Trick is anxious to test her strength, but wisely decides to split once Lurconis is toast.
• Villainous Demotivator: The Mayor and Mr. Trick discuss this week's debacle. Trick tries to spin it that he did him a favor, as there's one less demon to pay tribute to. The Mayor warns Trick not to do him any more favors.
• Wait Here: Buffy dragging her mom into the warehouse and giving her a stern, "STAY."
• Waxing Lyrical: Upon seeing all the old people in the Bronze, Buffy remarks, "Let's do the time warp again!"
  • Which counts as an Actor Allusion, since Anthony Head starred in a production of The Rocky Horror Show pre-Buffy.
• We Need a Distraction: What the Evil Plan is about; Ethan creates chaos with the cursed candy, Trick's minions steal the babies while the adults are skiving off, and afterwards everyone blames their own irresponsibility for the disappearances.
• We Will Meet Again: From an open manhole, Trick yells, "You and me, girl! There's hard times ahead."
  Buffy: They never just leave. Always gotta say somethin'."
• What the Fu Are You Doing?: Snyder took tae kwon do at the Y!
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Ethan somehow gets away again, despite being handcuffed. Wilkins wants to know what Trick did with him; Paid for services rendered, Trick shrugs. Buffy presumably ditched Ethan at the factory, and someone released him later.
  • Giles steals a gun from a police officer which Buffy takes away and places in her belt. Its fate is never revealed (though given Buffy's occasional comments about how much use a gun is in her work it's doubtful she kept it).
• You Can Run, but You Can't Hide: In the factory, Ethan seems to have lost Buffy and co. Buffy asks for silence as she hones her super-hearing. She spins and kicks through a wooden crate, finding Ethan. "Look. A box full of farm-fresh chicken."
• You Owe Me: Giles is blindfolding Buffy, and she wonders why she puts up with these things.
  "Because it is your destiny. And because I've just bought twenty Cocoa-riffic candy bars."
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Averted with Ethan Rayne, whom Trick just pays off as per his contract.
• You Must Be Cold: Noting that Joyce looks cold, Ripper breaks a window and steals a fur coat for her.
• Your Eyes Can Deceive You: Giles tying a blindfold around Buffy to test her attack response in complete darkness.
  "Okay, you're just doing this to take funny pictures of me."
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Back at the main drag, Ripper taunts a cop. "Copper's got a gun! You'll never use it though!" He flails his arms hilariously. We see that the cop has band candy in his pocket. "Will too!", he whines.

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"WOO, Summers, you drive like a spaz!!"