History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E16BewitchedBotheredAndBewildered

* LegFocus: The raincoat Buffy wears when trying to seduce Xander is so low cut that it exposes a great deal of her bare legs. The camera lingers on them to indicate that she's [[SexyCoatFlashing not wearing anything else under them]].

* CreatorInJoke: This is the first episode which we see the grave with the name "Alpert" on the tomb. This is named after producer Richard Alpert. The tomb can be seen again throughout the series, in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed By Death]]", "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E21BecomingPart1 Becoming, Part 1]]", "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo The Zeppo]]", "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E9Something Blue Something Blue]]", "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E17Superstar Superstar]]", "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E2RealMe Real Me]]" and "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]] ".

* JediMindTrick: Amy on her teacher.

-->'''Willow:''' I want you, Xander... to be my first.
-->'''Xander:''' --Baseman! ''Please'' tell me we're talking about baseball!

* ShesGotLegs: The raincoat Buffy wears when trying to seduce Xander nicely shows off her legs.

* AnAxeToGrind: After saving Cordelia from getting pummeled by his entourage, Xander and Cordelia run into a mob led by a fire axe-toting Willow. She sobs as she tells him she loves him so much: "[[IfICantHaveYou I'd rather see you dead than with that bitch!]]" She moves forward and raises the axe, but Harmony rushes from behind and grabs the handle. She wrestles with Willow as the two mobs confront each other.

* [[KickTheDog Nail a Puppy to a Door]]: We'd explain, but Buffy wants us to skip it. She doesn't have a dog, she doesn't want to know, skip it.

* [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Why Don't You Just Rip Out the Slayer's Lungs?]]
-->'''Angelus:''' [[ComplexityAddiction It lacks poetry.]]
-->'''Spike:''' Doesn't have to. What rhymes with "lungs"?

* BalefulPolymorph: Amy turns Buffy into a rat and tries to do the same to Jenny.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: How badly did Xander screw up? This is one of the few times Giles is seen genuinely angry and Oz punches him in the face (though he's mellow as per usual).

** Willow hides in Xander's bed, wearing one of his shirts.

* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind / VillainousRescue: Angelus leans in to make a Valentine's Gift out of Xander (possibly siring him, [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E15Phases as per Theresa]]) when, after a surprise blow, Angelus suddenly goes flying into a tree. Relieved, Xander gasps, "Buffy!". He looks up to see -- Drusilla, also in game face. Angelus can't believe it, but Dru tells him she's finally found a "real man." [[UpToEleven You have got to be kidding.]]

* UpToEleven: Xander being accosted by Joyce Summers, then Drusilla.

On his way out, Xander sees Harmony and other girls viciously attacking Cordelia for what she had done to Xander two nights earlier. He rescues her and takes her outside, outside only to find an axe-wielding Willow leading other Sunnydale females. Xander and Cordelia flee to Buffy's house, only to find Joyce (‼) pawing over him. Angelus arrives and attacks Xander, but he is saved by Drusila, who is also under the spell. The mob arrives and the two vampires leave. The mob breaks into the house with knives and sticks. Cornered in the basement, Xander reveals to Cordelia that he meant the spell for her (leaving out the part about it being a mode of revenge). She is touched.

* KnifeNut: Once free of Drusilla, Cordy and Xander are accosted by a kitchen knife-wielding Joyce, who ominously tells Xander that they have to "end it". Eeek.

* SadlyMythtaken: Invoking Diana "goddess of love and the hunt" for a spell meant to make someone fall in love, or at least lust, with someone else. While Diana was indeed a goddess of the hunt, she was not a love goddess and was famously virginal (one of the three virgin goddesses along with Minerva and Vesta) and not particularly fond of the male gender. Of course, [[FridgeBrilliance this could be why the spell went so horribly wrong]].

* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying: A subtle one: Buffy transforms into a ''male'' rat. The same goof occurs when Amy is turned into a rat. While it was probably a goof, it could be looked at as Amy's spell-casting not going exactly right.

** When Spike bemoans that he's not simply ripping Buffy's lungs out, Angelus claims it lacks poetry, Spike retorts, "Doesn't have to. What rhymes with lungs?" This refers to his past as a (not very good) poet which will be revealed in the Season 5 episode "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove}} Fool For Love]]".

** Amy will call on Hecate again in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E11Gingerbread}} Gingerbread]]" to turn herself into a rat.

** Engaging in his usual self-depreciation, Xander says he might find a better love interest than Cordy "in a parallel universe". Cue "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish}} The Wish]]", in which Cordelia accidentally creates an AlternateUniverse that introduces Xander's future LoveInterest Anya to the series.

-->'''Spike:''' I don't know. What rhymes with lungs?

* TemptingFate: Xander looks out the window in Buffy's room, notes that the mob hasn't found them yet, and opines that they should be safer there. Out of nowhere, Angelus sticks his head through the window and quips, "[[WalkInChimeIn Works in theory.]]" He grabs Xander and yanks him out.

* TorchesAndPitchforks: The Mob of women after Xander.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Giles informs Buffy that according to records, Angelus is prone to "brutal displays" around Valentine's Day. Buffy asks for an example, which Giles is reluctant to give her. The next morning, Buffy marches in to see Giles and slaps the "Soon" note down in front of him, and demands to know what she can expect from Angelus. Well, wish granted. By the time Giles tells her about the time Angelus nailed a [[PreciousPuppy puppy to some girl's door]], Buffy (steely resolve of the previous day gone) [[TooMuchInformation tells him to skip it]].

** The first act of this episode spends a lot of time discussing Angelus' "brutal displays of affection" and love of playing mind games with his victims, including slaughtering pets and elaborate stagings of his murders. It seems like {{Fauxshadowing}} in this episode, where his attack on Xander is stopped by Drusilla and overshadowed by the more immediate threat of the love mob, but it all pays off in [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion the next episode]].

* SadlyMythtaken: Invoking Diana for a spell meant to make someone fall in love, or at least lust, with someone else. Part of Diana's domain was virginity. Of course, [[FridgeBrilliance this could be why the spell went so horribly wrong]].

* SpannerInTheWorks: Angelus tends to be at his most sadistic on Valentine's Day, and intends to kill somebody as a "gift" for Buffy, eventually choosing Xander. Xander's love spell spoils his entire plan, particularly when it ends up affecting Drusilla.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Angelus tends to be at his most sadistic on Valentine's Day, and intends to kills somebody as a "gift" for Buffy, eventually choosing Xander. Xander's love spell spoils his entire plan, particularly when it ends up affecting Drusilla.

* HeadDesk: Once alone with Xander, Joyce immediately takes the opportunity to give him a back rub, causing Xander to slam his head on the table in frustration.

** The same thing happens later when Xander is [[BerserkBoardBarricade trying to block the entrance to Buffy's basement]].

* BigBad: The much-used phrase "Big Bad" is introduced, when Buffy refers to Angelus as the "[[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight big bad thing in the dark]]." However, the term would later be shortened to "Big Bad" in the Season 3 episode "Gingerbread". The term "Big Bad" has since been used to describe the principal villain of each season of Buffy and Angel (as well as the principal villain [[TropeNamers in every other form of media, ever]]).

* BreatherEpisode: This episode is rather light-hearted compared to the two episodes before and after it: the generally-serious "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E15Phases}} Phases]]" and the WhamEpisode "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E17Passion}} Passion]]".

-->'''Buffy:''' I remember coming on to you, I remember begging you to undress me... and then a sudden need for cheese. [[AboveTheInfluence I also remember that you didn't.]]

* CreatorInJoke: This is the first episode which we see the grave with the name "Alpert" on the tomb. This is named after producer Richard Alpert. The tomb can be seen again throughout the series, in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath}} Killed By Death]]", "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E21BecomingPart1}} Becoming, Part 1]]", "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E13TheZeppo}} The Zeppo]]", "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E9Something Blue}} Something Blue]]", "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E17Superstar}} Superstar]]", "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E2RealMe}} Real Me]]" and "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave}} Grave]] ".

* {{Not H|imself}}erself: Buffy opines that what happened with Xander is Cordy's loss, and suggests that they hang out that evening and comfort each other. Xander jokingly asks if lap-dancing will be included. Buffy pauses a bit too long before responding with: "Play your cards right..."

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Passion" was originally in this episode's place, but the Buffy creators had to concoct something in a hurry to accommodate Creator/SarahMichelleGellar's absence for hosting ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. Joss Whedon claims, "We wrote it in a matter of days. We were like, 'We have to think of something that will turn Sarah into a rat for four days.'"

* ShoutOut: An ''[[ComicBook/Marvel2099 X-Men 2099]]'' poster is seen on the wall next to Xander's bed above his nightstand. Joss Whedon is an avowed ''ComicBook/XMen'' fan, citing Kitty Pryde as inspiration for the Buffy character, as well as writing a 24-issue run for ''Astonishing X-Men'' in 2008.