Pellet girl

When talking about Amy Madison being a rat in Something Blue, Buffy had the following line: “So she did a good spell – but the plan kind of sucked. I mean, she’s the one stuck eating pellets out of a plastic cup.” This line was deleted from the episode.

Andy Umberger

Andy Umberger played the recurring role of Anya’s boss D’Hoffryn. Andy appeared twice more in Joss Whedon’s shows - he also played Doctor Ronald Meltzer in the Angel episode ‘I Fall To Pieces‘, and he played Dortmunder Captain in the Firefly episode ‘Serenity’. Andy has also been in First Daughter (with Marc Blucas), Coach Carter, Friends, The West Wing, ER, 7th Heaven, The X Files, NYPD Blue, Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane and Bull.

Nick Marck

Nick Marck was a regular Buffy director and also directed the Angel episode ‘The Ring‘. He has directed The Wonder Years, American Gothic, Dawson’s Creek, The X-Files, Dark Angel and Malcolm in the Middle.

D’Hoffryn

D’Hoffryn was head of the vengeance demons, with the power to make humans into demons, if they show enough talent. He monitors events on Earth from a demon dimension called Arashmaha. D’Hoffryn was responsible for making Anyanka and Halfrek vengeance demons, and offered to do so for Willow in Something Blue, but she declined. He became a type of father figure for many of his demons, even attending Anya’s wedding in Hell’s Bells, though he quickly became angry when they went against his wishes. When Anya decided to become human again, D’Hoffryn killed Halfrek to spite her, in Selfless.

Alpert tomb

The Alpert tomb is a memorable tomb which can often be spotted when the Scoobies are wandering through Sunnydale’s graveyard. The tomb is named after Buffy producer Marc David Alpert. The tomb can be seen in Becoming (Part 1) (Angel comes out from behind it to fight Buffy when the other Scoobies are being ambushed), Revelations, The Zeppo, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Killed By Death, Something Blue (when Buffy wants her wedding photos taken there), Superstar, Real Me, and Grave.

Answer machine

In Something Blue, Buffy and Willow still have the same recording on their answering machine that they did in The Harsh Light of Day.

Breaking out the red

In Once More with Feeling, Spike wears a red shirt over his black t-shirt (and under his trademark black coat.) This was the look that he had from his very first episode (season two’s School Hard) until after Something Blue in season four. For some reason, after Something Blue he only wore a red shirt again one time (in this episode.)

Bridal shop

There is a bridal shop in downtown Sunnydale. Whilst under Willow’s spell in Something Blue, Buffy goes there to admire wedding dresses for her future wedding to Spike.

Demon magnet

Xander’s relationship with the praying mantis in Teacher’s Pet is joked about in several later episodes, such as I Robot, You Jane, Inca Mummy Girl, Anne (in which Cordelia says of Xander, “He’s always been attracted to monsters” and later mentions Ampata from Inca Mummy Girl, calling her “some hot little Inca mummy girl”), What’s My Line? (Part 2) and Something Blue, when Willow says, “Let’s look at your bio: Insect Lady, Mummy Girl, Anya… you’re a demon magnet.” In First Date, Xander says, “Another demon woman was attracted to me” after his date Lyssa turned out to be evil.

Here’s my talisman

Willow met D’Hoffryn in Something Blue, when a spell she did impressed him and he offered her a job as a vengeance demon. She refused, but he left a talisman with her so that she could contact him if she changed her mind. She uses this to summon D’Hoffryn in Selfless.

Kiss the Librarian

Spike drinks blood from a novelty mug which says ‘Kiss the Librarian’ in Something Blue and Hush.

Lesbian Alliance foreshadowing

At the beginning of Something Blue, Riley is helping some girls put up a sign in the University which reads “Lesbian Alliance.” This must be an effort to allude to the coming of Amber Benson and the ensuing Willow/Tara storyline in the next episode - Hush.

Low-alcohol

Willow’s friends overreact when they see her drinking a low-alcohol beer in the Bronze in Something Blue. She’s reminded by Buffy that when she got drunk she turned into a cave woman (in Beer Bad).

Prisoner Spike

In Pangs, Spike goes to the Scoobies for help after the Initiative chipped him. They tie him up and later question him as to what he knows about the Initiative (seen in Something Blue). Spike then lives with Giles for some time, and stays with Xander (Hush, Doomed) before moving into his own place in A New Man. It’s all very buddy-movie-tastic.

Remembering you

When originally shown, the Buffy episode Pangs was immediately followed by an episode of Angel called ‘I Will Remember You‘, where Buffy shows up in LA, angry at Angel for not telling her he’d come back to town. In Something Blue, Buffy mentions having seen Angel in L.A. for five minutes (seen in ‘I Will Remember You‘) though fans will remember that she actually saw him for much longer. Angel became human again, and he and Buffy became a couple, realising they had everything they wanted. When Angel realised the consequences (he wouldn’t be able to brood as much) he asked the Powers That Be to make him a vampire again. They reversed time so that only Angel would remember the events of that day.

Rugg’s Field

UC Sunnydale has a park-like area known as Rugg’s Field. Riley takes Buffy there for a picnic in Something Blue.

Shirt pyjamas

In Goodbye, Iowa, Anya is wearing Xander’s shirt from Something Blue as a pyjama top.

Slayage alternatives

Buffy shows some ingenious ways of killing demons, and the gang have some great suggestions too. Here’s a list of alternative ways of killing, seen or mentioned on the show:

• Hummus and Ebola: In Graduation Day (Part 2), Oz suggests, “We attack the Mayor with hummus.” Cordelia later suggests, “No, we’ll get a box with the Ebola virus and… or it doesn’t even have to be real. We can just get a box that says Ebola on it and… chase him! … With the box!”
• Drowning and licking: In Something Blue, When Spike’s in the bath-tub at Giles’ apartment, he yells, “Passions is on! Timmy’s down the bloody well, and if you make me miss it, I’ll…” Giles yells back at him “You’ll do what? Lick me to death?” In the same episode, Anya and Xander drown a Pargo demon to kill it (the only way, apparently).
• Nuzzling: In Buffy vs Dracula, Riley says to Giles about his being found with Dracula’s ladies: “You were gonna nuzzle ‘em to death?”
• Rocket launcher: In Him, Buffy attempts to kill Principal Wood with a rocket launcher, something she killed the Judge with in Innocence.
• Puppets: In Get It Done, Xander says, “Puppets! That’s it. The First hates puppets. Now if we can just airlift Kermit, Fozzy the Bear and Miss Piggy into town, The First will be a-runnin’.”

Un-mixy things

In Something Blue, Buffy tells Riley that, “cars and Buffy are like, un-mixy things”. She’s not kidding - the last time we saw her drive was in Band Candy when she crashed her mother’s car.

Blink 182

The band Blink 182 thanked Seth in the sleevenotes for their album ‘Enema Of The State’. Their song ‘All the Small Things’ is playing at the Bronze in Something Blue, when Willow’s doing her “brave little toaster” dance.

Arashmaharr

Arashmaharr is a world or dimension in which D’Hoffryn, the head of the vengeance demons, resides. In Something Blue, Anya attempted to summon D’Hoffryn using the spell, “Blessed be, the name of D’Hoffryn. Let this space be now a gateway to the world of Arashmaharr, where demons are spawned.”
In Selfless, Willow uses D’Hoffryn’s talisman and the spell, “Beatum sit in nomine D’Hoffrynis. Fiat hoc spatium porta ad mundum Arashmaharris” to summon the demon. This is the latin translation of the original spell that Anya was trying to use in Something Blue.

Pargo demon

Seen briefly in Something Blue, the Pargo demon had red skin and sharp teeth. It attacked Xander in his basement after Willow called him a “demon magnet”. The Pargo demon can only be killed by drowning.

Vengeance demons

Anyanka was the first vengeance demon we met (The Wish). She was the patron saint of scorned women, though we discovered in Older and Far Away that other vengeance demons specialise in different areas, such as mistreated children. A vengeance demon is either summoned or appears in human form. Each demon has a necklace that is their power centre. D’Hoffryn was the leader and father-figure of the vengeance demons, with the ability to turn humans into demons if he felt they were talented enough (learnt in Something Blue).

Brave Little Toaster

Xander said of Willow, “I believe that’s the dance of a brave little toaster” in Something Blue after her break up with Oz. This is the title of a 1987 Disney cartoon about a toaster and some other cute household appliances (never thought I’d say that) who try to find their owner after he leaves them behind.

One Million Years B.C

In Something Blue, Buffy says, “Anyone remember when Buffy had the fun beer-fest and went one-million years B.C.?” to which Xander replies, “Sadly without the fuzzy bikini.” This is a reference to the 1966 movie One Million Years B.C., which starred Racquel Welch as a bikini-wearing cave woman.

Passions

In Something Blue, Spike reveals himself to be a fan of the NBC supernatural soap Passions (”Passions is on! Timmy’s down the bloody well and if you make me miss it, I’ll…”). He has a discussion with Joyce about it in season five’s Checkpoint, and in Real Me, Giles says, “I watched Passions with Spike. Let us never speak of it”. Passions returned the favour and referenced Buffy in an episode - Hecuba: “I wonder what else is on the Mirror Channel…ooh…Fang! oh- unsuspecting victim. Go you bloodsuckers! Go! Oh! Oh, damn that Buffy! I don’t know what Spike sees in that girl!”

Something blue

The title of the episode Something Blue comes from the wedding rhyme: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. It is considered good luck for a bride-to-be to be armed with all of these things before chancing going down the aisle.

Steel Magnolias

In Something Blue, Willow mentions Steel Magnolias a movie starring Julia Roberts, made in 1989 (”We could eat sundaes and watch Steel Magnolias and you can tell me how at least I don’t have diabetes.”)

The English Patient

In Something Blue, Willow calls Spike “the undead English Patient”. She’s referring to the 1996 movie The English Patient, starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas. Kristin’s sister Serena appeared as Gwendolyn Post in the Buffy episode Revelations. In Beauty and the Beasts, Faith says that even your average, “Mr. I-Love-The-English-Patient”, has some beastly qualities hidden somewhere. Apparently a love of The English Patient suggests masculine sensitivity!

Wind Beneath My Wings

In Something Blue, a mislaid spell by Willow magics Buffy and Spike into getting engaged. After the spell had been reversed, Spike revealed to Buffy’s friends that the Slayer wanted ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ played for their first dance. The overly sentimental song was sung by Bette Midler on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Beaches.

Zagat’s Guide

In Something Blue, Spike mentions The Zagat’s Guide, which is a popular American guidebook: “Comfy? I’m chained in a bathtub drinking pig’s blood from a novelty mug. Doesn’t rank huge in The Zagat’s Guide.”

Seen at 23.50 minutes:

Spike’s reflection can be seen multiple times in Giles’ glass bookcase.

Seen at 29.52 minutes:

When the demon throws Xander onto the tool bench, a large piece of paper falls to the floor. Xander rolls onto the floor, and when he gets up, the paper is back on the bench as if it never left.