Asian Dan

In the season four DVD commentary for Wild at Heart, Seth Green, Joss Whedon, and Marti Noxon mention the frequent appearances of the extra they call “Asian Dan”. He can also be seen in the episode Earshot.

Change of play

Buffy’s class discuss Shakespeare’s Othello in the episode Earshot. In the original script, they discussed Henry VIII (you can still see this written on the board later in the episode) but Joss Whedon rewrote the scene to make it have more meaning to Buffy’s feelings.

Columbine

The episodes Earshot and Graduation Day (Part 2) were delayed by the network because of the events at Columbine High School, in which two students shot and killed several of their fellow students. It was felt that the events of the Buffy episodes (which contained violence at school) might have upset some viewers so close to the tragedy. Some Buffy fans were mad at the decision, as they felt the show held a good message for unpopular kids, but the decision was mostly supported by the Buffy crew.

Demon tails

Jane Espenson said that Joss Whedon normally hates having demons with tails on the show, as the tails almost never look realistic. The demons in Earshot have tails, though, as Jane had written a joke about Buffy checking to see if she had one.

Freddy Munson

According to The Watchers Guide Volume 2, the character Freddy Iverson (the editor of Sunnydale High’s newspaper in Earshot) was originally called Freddy Munson.

Giles’s bump

Anthony Stewart Head came up with the idea of Giles walking into the tree at the end of Earshot, when Buffy told Giles she knew he slept with Joyce.

Oops, no mouth

In the original scene of Buffy fighting the telepathic demons in Earshot she said, “Say ‘Uncle.’ Oops. No mouth.” This was deleted from the episode in it’s final cut.

School clocktower

The Sunnydale High School clocktower was constructed especially for the episode Earshot.

Keram Malicki-Sánchez

Keram Malicki-Sánchez, who played Freddie Iverson in Earshot, has had a busy career. He studied classical music and Gregorian singing for eight years and then began acting on stage, with roles in Oliver!, Mame and Evita in Toronto. At the age of ten, Keram launched his music career, singing on various records. He recorded a full length album in South America when he was 14 years old. He was signed to a major label there and had two songs which entered the charts. The same year, Keram was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his performance in an adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper.
At fifteen, Keram formed the band Blue Dog Pict. The band released three albums and toured across North America. At seventeen Keram founded an independent record label and production company called Constant Change. Keram played the lead role of Chris Black in Skin Deep which won the People’s Choice award at the Berlin film festival. Keram also appeared in films such as American History X, Happy Campers, Crazy/Beautiful and John Q (in which he played another character called Freddie).
Keram is currently a music producer as well as an actor who and scores independent films and animations. Keram’s father is Polish and his mother Ecuadorian. He speaks English, French, Polish, and Spanish.

Lauren Roman

Lauren Roman, who played Nancy in earshot, and Sarah Michelle Gellar worked together previously in the soap opera All My Children, where Lauren played Laura Kirk English and Sarah played Kendall Hart.

Regis Kimble

Regis Kimble, who directed the episode Earshot, also designed the title sequence of the spin-off show Angel.

Wendy Worthington

Wendy Worthington, who played the rat poison-wielding lunch lady in Earshot, is a recognisable face from TV and film. She can be seen in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, Catch Me If You Can, Cast Away, Father of the Bride Part II and in Mannequin: On the Move. Wendy has also appeared in Charmed, Ally McBeal, That ’70s Show, Suddenly Susan, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Chicago Hope, Diagnosis Murder, Seinfeld and Picket Fences.

Freddie Iverson

Freddie Iverson was the cynical editor of Sunnydale High’s newspaper. He thought Oz was after him as he wrote a terrible review of Oz’s band Dingoes Ate My Baby in Earshot.

Hogan Martin

The Sunnydale High jock in Earshot was named after a gymnast Jane Espenson went to school with. She used his name, Hogan Martin, as she felt it was very memorable for building up the cast for the ‘whodunnit’ at the end of the episode. Hogan and Oz also had one of the best pieces of dialogue in Earshot:

Larry Blaisdale

Larry was Sunnydale High’s school bully (Halloween, Phases) who was “outed” by Xander and transformed himself into being comfortable with his sexuality (Earshot). Larry helped his classmates to battle with the Mayor’s Ascension. The last we saw of Larry was him being thrown into the air by the Mayor’s tail, which killed him.

Chicken and stars

In Earshot, Joyce offers “chicken and stars” soup to Buffy. She offers it to Dawn in the season five episode Blood Ties, after Dawn discovers she’s the Key.

Demon deformities

In Birthday, Cordelia checks to see if she has any demon deformities, including horns and a tail. These are also the first things that Buffy checked herself for in the Buffy episode Earshot when she gained an aspect of a demon.

Fantasies are fun

In Earshot, when the Scooby gang is trying to find out who the potential killer is, Willow questions Jonathan:

Later, in season four’s episode Superstar, Jonathan performs a spell to make his fantasy of being rich and powerful true.

Giles and Joyce

Whilst under the influence of the drugged Band Candy, Giles and Joyce have sex on the hood of a police car. Twice. Buffy discovers this in Earshot when she reads her mother’s mind, and later mentions it again to Giles when she’s in Faith’s body in Who Are You?

Grateful Johnny

Jonathan shows his gratitude to Buffy in The Prom for saving his life in Earshot when he presents the Slayer with the “Class Protector” award. He later went for special counselling after trying to commit suicide, where he learnt a few spells which would prove useful to him in seasons four and six.

Jonathan’s gun

The gun Jonathan has in Earshot is made by “Sturm, Ruger and Company Inc. - Arms makers for responsible citizens.”

Knocked out

In Buffy vs Dracula, Giles falls into Dracula’s basement, where he is surrounded by the sisters. After he falls he says, “Good show, Giles. At least you didn’t get knocked out for a change.” In A New Man, Giles says he has a “tendency to get knocked on the head”. He’s not kidding. Giles has been knocked unconscious in the episodes:

• The Witch (by vampires who want to raise the Master again)
• Never Kill a Boy on the First Date (by Andrew Vorba in the crematorium)
• Prophecy Girl (by Buffy, to stop him from trying to help her)
• When She Was Bad (by the vampires attempting to raise the Master)
• Passion (by Angelus, after Giles attacks him for killing Jenny)
• Becoming (Part 1) (by a group of vampires who take him to Angelus)
• Beauty and the Beasts (shot with a tranquilizer gun)
• Homecoming (by Lyle Gorch and Candy).
• Revelations (by Gwendolyn Post, in his office)
• Gingerbread (by the MOO mob as they come to take Buffy away. When Cordy wakes him up shes says, “I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this craziness and found you all unconscious… again. How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you’re going to wake up in a coma.”)
• Earshot (he doesn’t get knocked out in this episode - but he does walk into a tree in a very amusing manner)
• Flooded (by the Mfashnik demon as it breaks ino Buffy’s house. Giles later says, “Well, I know I’m back in America now. I’ve been knocked unconscious”).

One down… one gone

In the episode What’s My Line (Part One), Spike’s vampires steal the DuLac cross from a tomb in the graveyard. Buffy stakes one of the two vampires and then watches Dalton (the other vamp) running away for his life, saying, “One down, one… gone.”
In Earshot, Buffy fights two telepathic demons at the beginning of the episode. She kills one of the two, and then says, “One down, one… gone” again.

Sunnydale High Sentinel

The school paper is called the Sunnydale High Sentinel, seen in Earshot. It has an obituary section (which Oz likes to read) and Cordelia checks it out for comments on the cheerleaders. The editor is Freddie Iverson.

Willow and Percy

In Doppelgängland, Principal Snyder makes Willow teach Percy in order to keep his grades up so he can play basketball. He made Willow coach students previously in the episode Go Fish. Snyder refers to the events of that episode as “the swim team debacle of last year”. Willow continues to coach Percy until graduation (We see that he’s “needy” in Earshot).

Willow the bad cop

In Go Fish, Willow questioned Jonathan about the Swim Team and he admitted to peeing in the school swimming pool. In Earshot, Willow interrogated Jonathan again, whilst questioning him about the threat on the school.

Aspect of the demon

Some demons have the ability to ‘infect’ those who come in contact with them with an aspect of themselves. In Earshot, Buffy became infected when she absorbed the blood of a telepathic demon and began to read the minds of those around her.

Azarath

In Earshot, Giles and Wesley are still drawing a blank about the Mayor’s Ascension, despite Buffy and Angel’s attempts to get information from Faith in Enemies. They both confirm that the Mayor’s Ascension is not related to the ritual flaying of the demon Azarath.

Telepathy

Telepathy is the ability to communicate via the mind (telepathically). Buffy encountered some demons with no mouths that communicated telepathically in Earshot. She killed one and its blood infected her with its mind reading ability.
Willow’s magical power became so strong that she was able to communicate telepathically with her friends (Bargaining (Part 1), Grave, Showtime).

Berk

In Earshot, when Giles and Wesley are talking about the demon heart needed to cure Buffy’s telepathy, Giles says, “Who’s going to get the demon heart? Berk!” The word Berk (Berkeley Hunt) is Cockney rhyming slang for ‘cunt’.

Descartes

Oz’s thought in Earshot, “We think, therefore she is” comes from Descartes’s theory of consciousness. Descarte’s most famous statement is “cogito ergo sum”, translated as “I think, therefore I am”.

Othello

Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. In Earshot, Buffy develops telepathy after touching the blood of a mouthless demon. She goes to school and is able to excel in her English class using her new-found skill. The class are studying Othello.

Pierce Brosnan

In Earshot, Xander says Wesley has “Pierce-Brosnany-eyes”. Brosnan played James Bond.

The Bangles

Buffy reveals in Earshot that Principal Snyder has The Bangles song ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ stuck in his head.

Seen at 00.38 minutes:

If the demons were telepathic, why didn’t they anticipate Buffy’s moves when they were fighting?

Seen at 16.50 minutes:

When Buffy and Angel are talking at the mansion, Angel’s necklace moves from inside his shirt to outside as the camera switches angles.

Seen at 33.04 minutes:

When Angel is sitting on Buffy’s bed, sun is shining in but he doesn’t burst into flame.

Seen at 36.13 minutes:

When Buffy first looks up at the clock tower, the clock says 12:40, but when she looks back up a moment later, it says 12:10. Shortly before this scene, it says 11:00.

Seen at 36.48 minutes:

How was Jonathan going to kill himself with that high-powered rifle considering it was so long and his arms were so short?

Seen at 40.47 minutes:

The lunch lady’s stunt double is clearly nowhere near the same shape or size as the actress.