Air day

Surprise was the last episode to air on a Monday in the U.S. It aired on Tuesdays from the next episode on, so the second part (Innocence) was shown the day after Surprise.

Emmy Awards

A bone of contention with many who love Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the fact that it is often overlooked by the Emmy Awards. The show has won in these categories: Christophe Beck’s score to Becoming; and ‘Best Make-Up’ for Surprise and Innocence. Joss Whedon was nominated for the ‘Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series’ award for Hush (interesting considering most of the episode has no dialogue!) and Chosen was nominated in the ‘Special Visual Effects for a Series’ category. Beer Bad received an Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series’ in the 52nd Annual Emmy Awards. Hell’s Bells got 3 Emmy nominations: Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series, Outstanding Make-up for a Series (non-prosthetic), and Outstanding Make-up For A Series (Prosthetic).

Not yet a woman

The following conversation was deleted from the final cut of Surprise:

Sarah on love scenes

Sarah Michelle Gellar discussed love scenes on Buffy in an interview with The Independent newspaper in June 2002:

Sunnydale docks

The docks shots in the episode Surprise were filmed in San Pedro, California. The water was warmer than expected because of a warm, El Nino current.

Wanker

Spike calls Dalton a “wanker” in Surprise. The BBC wouldn’t allow the use of the word (and it was cut when shown in the UK), but it’s full meaning doesn’t seem to be widely known in the U.S., which is why Joss was able to get away with it there. The word originally meant someone who masturbates but it became common in British slang as a someone who is detestable.

Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson played Luke in Welcome to the Hellmouth and The Harvest and The Judge in Surprise and Innocence. Brian has played a shape shifting character on two different shows: The X-Files and Birds of Prey. Brian has also been in Charmed (as Cronus in ‘Oh My Goddess’), Falcon Crest, Three Amigos, Star Trek: Generations, Walker, Texas Ranger, Dragonheart, Perfect Target and Knight Rider.

Eric Saiet

Eric Saiet played the bespectacled vampire Dalton in the episodes What’s My Line? and Surprise. He has been in Godzilla, Ugly Naked People, Groundhog Day and Ferris Beuller’s Day Off.

Roger Stoneburner

Roger Stoneburner played a vampire in Surprise and Becoming (Part 2). He also played a vampire in the Angel episode ‘Disharmony‘. He is a stuntman and did stunts for Spider-Man, Carnivale and The X Files.

Vincent Schiavelli

Vincent Schiavelli, who played Jenny’s uncle in Surprise and Innocence, is a well known face on TV and film. His movies include: Tomorrow Never Dies (as Dr. Kaufman), The People vs. Larry Flynt (as Chester), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (as Frederickson). Vincent played the Organ Grinder in Batman Returns, which may be where the organ grinder’s monkey in Buffy’s dream in Surprise comes from. He was also the voice of Mr. Bailey in the Hey Arnold cartoon and movie. Vincent is the author of three cookbooks, based on Sicilian food.

Dalton

Dalton was a bespectacled vampire who helped Spike and Drusilla to steal the Du Lac cross and translate the Du Lac manuscript in What’s My Line?. He was destroyed by The Judge in Surprise.

Uncle Enyos

Enyos was Jenny’s uncle and member of the Kalderash clan. Enyos came to Sunnydale in Surprise to ensure that Jenny was keeping a close eye on Angel, as the Kalderash people had given Angel his curse. When Angel lost his soul he killed Enyos, who was found by Jenny and Buffy in Innocence.

Arm in a box

Cordelia references Buffy episodes Surprise and Innocence when she tells Doyle about Spike in ‘In the Dark‘:

“Oh, and this one time he and Dru raised this demon that burned people from the inside. It was this whole weird thing with an arm in a box.”

Bad birthdays

Buffy celebrates her 20th birthday in Blood Ties. Her party comes to a staggering halt when Dawn discovers she’s the Key and freaks out. This isn’t the first (nor last) time that Buffy’s birthday has gone wrong. In Surprise, Buffy slept with Angel on her 17th birthday which prompted him to turn evil and start killing her friends. In Helpless, the Watcher’s Council forced a test on Buffy on her 18th birthday by removing her powers and seeing how she coped with a crazed vampire. In Older and Far Away, Dawn unwittingly made a wish with a vengeance demon that none can leave her, forcing the Scoobies to be stranded in Buffy’s house at her birthday party.

Carpe Diem

Buffy’s motto, which means “seize the day”. In Welcome to the Hellmouth, Buffy tells Willow “seize the moment, because tomorrow you might be dead.” In Surprise, Willow reminded Buffy about “Carpe diem” in their chat about whether Buffy should sleep with Angel. And look what happened then.

Chips ‘n’ dips

In Surprise, when the gang discuss Buffy’s birthday party, Xander and Cordy have the following conversation:

Xander: “You’re cooking?”
Cordelia: “Well, I’m chips and dips girl.”
Xander: “Horrors! All that opening and stirring.”
Cordelia: “And shopping and carrying.”

Later, in Dead Man’s Party, Cordelia seems to be resigned to her fate as “chips and dips girl”:

Cordelia: “I’m the dip.”
Xander: “You gotta admire the purity of it.”
Cordelia: “What? Onion dip. Stirring, not cooking. It’s what I bring.”

Dreams do come true

In Buffy’s first dream sequence in Surprise, Drusilla stakes Angel in the heart from the back. He then reaches out to Buffy and dies. In Becoming (Part 2), Buffy stabs Angel in the heart - and he reaches out to her before dying.

Jenny’s car

Jenny Calendar drove an old Volkswagen Beetle, seen in Surprise when she gave Buffy a lift to the Bronze.

Monkey Pants

Seth Green said in an Ultimate TV chat that the line, “I mock you with my monkey pants” in What’s My Line? (Part 2) was an idea of Alyson Hannigan’s. She had dreamt that Seth said that, and Joss Whedon decided to include it in the episode. In her commentary for the season four DVD, Marti Noxon claims that the part after Oz’s compliment about Willow’s smile was all ad-libbed by Seth and Alyson.
The story doesn’t end there - in the episode Surprise, Buffy dreams that Willow says to her in French, “the hippo stole his pants”. Many fans think that this is a reference to Oz’s line to Willow about animal crackers. The full conversation between Oz and Willow runs as follows (Oz used a French accent for the monkey’s line):

Surprise party

Why, why, WHY do Buffy’s friends throw surprise parties for the Slayer? Let me repeat that… The Slayer. Who has demons and vampires jumping out at her all the time, and has really sharp reflexes. Who carries a weapon nearly all the time. Now that’s the kind of girl you really don’t want to be jumping out on! The Scoobies threw Buffy surprise parties in Surprise and A New Man.

They’re back

Spike and Drusilla appear in Surprise for the first time since What’s My Line? (Part 2). Spike was damaged badly in that episode and is now in a wheelchair.

Anything

The song that plays during Buffy’s dream in Surprise is an original song called “Anything”, written by Buffy composers Shawn K. Clement and Sean Murray and performed by Cari Howe.

Rasputina

The song ‘Transylvanian Concubine’ by Rasputina plays during Drusilla’s party in Surprise.

The Judge

The Judge was a demon brought forth a thousand years ago to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity. His body was dismembered by an army and the parts were buried in every corner of the Earth (despite the fact that it’s a sphere). Spike and Dru arranged for all the parts to be sent to Sunnydale where they reassembled him (Surprise). Buffy killed him using a rocket launcher (Innocence) and the Scoobies kept the thousands of pieces apart so he was unable to reassemble.
The Judge was played by Brian Thompson, who also played Luke in season one.

Claddagh Ring

Angel gave Buffy a Claddagh Ring for her 17th birthday in Surprise. The ring depicts a heart and crown, held by two hands. It symbolises love, loyalty and friendship. The ring originated in the small fishing village of Claddagh in Galway, Ireland, around 400 years ago. The ring can be worn in several different ways, each sending its own message. When worn on the right hand with the heart facing outward toward the nail, the ring signifies one whose heart is free. When the heart is facing inward, toward the knuckle of the right hand, it indicates that the heart is no longer available. And finally, if the ring is to appear upon the left hand, it traditionally means that love has been plighted.
In 1984 the people of Claddagh presented a specially commissioned Claddagh ring to Ronald Reagan. Scott Hope tried to give Buffy a Claddagh ring (which just smacks of desperation), but it freaked her out because she associated it with Angel, who she had had to kill in Becoming.
The letter ‘a’ in ‘Claddagh’ is pronounced as in ‘cat’ (Cla-da) rather than the mangled way in which David Boreanaz says it (Claw-daw). Any self respecting Galway vampire would know this!

Denny’s

In Surprise, Xander references restaurant Denny’s when he says, “It’s sad, granted. But let’s look at the upside for a moment. I mean, what kind of a future would she have really had with him? She’s got two jobs — Denny’s waitress by day, Slayer by night…”

Jack and the Beanstalk

Xander says to Buffy in Surprise, “You ground his bones to make your bread,” referring to the events of season two’s opener When She Was Bad, when Buffy destroyed the Master’s bones. It’s also a reference to the classic fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, where the giant shouts: “Fee fi fo fum. I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.”
In Gingerbread, Xander says, “I don’t know about you but I’m gonna go trade my cow in for some beans.” This is another reference to Jack and the Beanstalk.

King Henry IV

Giles says in Surprise, “Discretion is the better part of valour.” This is a paraphrase of a line from Shakespeare’s play King Henry IV in which Falstaff says, “The better part of valour is discretion”. (Part 1 Act V Scene 4).

WP (Widespread Panic)

A black and white oval sticker with the letters “WP” can often be seen in Sunnydale. The sticker is for a band called Widespread Panic. Examples of episodes in which this is seen include:
Inca Mummy Girl: behind Xander when he says to Ampata, “Why’d you run away?”.
Halloween: next to Cordelia when she’s dressed as a cat and talking to Oz (on Oz’s locker door), and when Willow walks into the library when she’s a ghost, there is one on the bulletin board to her right. There is also a sticker on the bathroom wall, seen behind Buffy’s right shoulder when she an Willow look through the book.
Reptile Boy: at the beginning of the episode, behind Xander’s left shoulder in Buffy’s room.
Bad Eggs: behind Jonathon’s right shoulder on the locker when he is being attacked.
Surprise: on the locker behind Cordelia when she is talking to Xander and behind Xander when he calls Giles a party weasel. A colourful Widespread Panic poster can also be seen behind Joyce in Buffy’s dream.
Phases: when Buffy is in the Bronze looking for the werewolf, a WP sticker can be seen on a pillar behind her right shoulder.
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: poster in Xander’s room and behind Xander when Harmony tells him he should learn a second language so more girls can reject him. A sticker can also be seen on the locker behind Cordelia when Harmony is telling her off for breaking up with Xander.
Becoming (Part 2): at the beginning of the episode, when the cop is arresting Buffy in the hall, you can see a WP sticker on the lockers behind her.
Dead Man’s Party: on a guitar case behind the drums during the party.
A New Man: behind Giles when he’s at Buffy’s party.
Wild at Heart: a colourful WP poster (not the sticker) can be seen to the right of Oz’s bedroom door.
The Yoko Factor: in Buffy and Willow’s dorm room.
The Replacement: on the payphone that Xander uses to call Buffy.

Seen at 04.11 minutes:

Buffy tells Angel that Drusilla may still be alive because they never found her body. However vampires turn to dust when they die therefore there would not be a body if she were dead.

Seen at 41.27 minutes:

How could Angel get an erection? Surely vampires have no heart beat, therefore no blood flow, therefore they can’t get erections.

Seen at 41.33 minutes:

Buffy’s arm keeps moving around in different shots of her in bed. One moment her arm is straight down by her leg and in the next shot it’s tucked up to her head.

Seen at 41.37 minutes:

How did Angel get dressed so fast in between the time he woke up in bed and running outside in the rain?