Additional writers

When a writer has finished their version of an episode, it is often changed by the other writers slightly, in order to flesh out varoius scenes. In Real Me, Marti Noxon wrote the scene in which Riley and Buffy talk in the graveyard because David Fury (who wrote the episode) felt he wasn’t too good at writing relationships. In that episode, Jane Espenson came up with the idea of Dawn dripping ice cream on her chin.

Adoption

Kristine Sutherland revealed Joss’s initial plans for the Summers family, at the beginning of season four:

Dawn’s age

David Fury has mentioned that Dawn was originally supposed to be much younger than she ended up - about 12 years old. When Michelle Trachtenberg came to read for the role they decided she was perfect, and made the character older so they could cast her. This explains why Dawn is unusually bratty for a fourteen year old.

Kristine on Michelle

Kristine Sutherland (Joyce) said of Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn):

Walking for the camera

Usually on Buffy when people were walking and talking in front of the camera they had to walk unnaturally slowly as there was often not enough room to walk at normal pace. This applied particularly for scenes set in Sunnydale’s main street which contained the cinema and the Espresso Pump, as that set was very small.

You’ve got to laugh

David Fury mentioned in his DVD commentary for Real Me how uncomfortable Sarah Michelle Gellar feels with laughing on screen, seen in Real Me when Buffy laughs at the thought of Harmony having minions. We also see it when she laughs with Giles in the episode Grave. Fury says, “it’s hard to seem spontaneous” when ‘acting’ laughing.

Young actors on set

The following was a stage direction for Real Me, referring to the fact that younger actors are only allowed to spend a certain amount of time on set and doubles are often used to fill in:

Bob Morrissey

Bob Morrissey, who played the crazy guy who talks to Dawn in Real Me, played the same character in Spiral and The Weight of the World. He appeared as Dr. Gregson in the Angel episode ‘Heartthrob‘. He has also been in The Terminal, Northern Exposure and Soul Plane.

Brian Turk

Brian Turk, who played Mort in the episode Real Me, appeared as ‘Trucker’ in the movie American Pie 2 with Alyson Hannigan. Brian has also appeared in Carniv� le (as Gabriel), Big Fat Liar, Artificial Intelligence: AI (as Backstage Bull), The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Beverly Hills, 90210. He played a character called Spike in Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Chaney Kley Minnis

Chaney Kley Minnis, who played Harmony’s minion Brad in Real Me, starred as Kyle Walsh in the movie Darkness Falls with Emma Caulfield. He also played Brandon in Legally Blonde.

Tom Lenk

Tom Lenk played Andrew Wells and Cyrus, one of Harmony’s minions, in Real Me. Tom was born in Westlake Village, California, on June 16th, 1976. His full name is Thomas Loren Lenk. He attended Moorepark College and later UCLA’s theatre programme. In 1997, Tom won the Carol Burnett Award and Scholarship before touring with the European cast of Grease playing the role of Doody. Tom has written three plays. Tom’s father Fred is a computer programmer, and his mother Pam is a teacher in the Pleasant Valley School District. Tom can be seen in Bandwagon (a movie starring Emma Caulfield), Window Theory, Straight-Jacket, And Then Came Summer, Boy Next Door, Boogie Nights (as Uncle Floyd’s Kid), Popular, Joey and Judging Amy. The character of Andrew became popular and was brought back as part of the Scoobies in season seven. Tom can also be seen as Andrew in the Angel episode ‘Damage’.
In January 2005, Tom wrote and starred in Will You Be My Special Friend?, which featured various special guests including Emma Caulfield, Danny Strong and Adam Busch.
Tom appeared as Lord of the Rings character Frodo in Alyson Hannigan’s 2006 movie Date Movie.

Brad Connick

Brad was a student who stood Harmony up in tenth grade. She later killed him and sired him as a vampire, making him her minion. When he and the other minions killed Mr. Bogarty at The Magic Box, Brad stole a statue of a unicorn for Harmony. Buffy beheaded him in Real Me.

Cyrus

Cyrus was a vampire and one of Harmony’s minions in Real Me. He aided Harmony to kidnap Dawn, but was then staked by Buffy. Cyrus was played by Tom Lenk, who returned to play Andrew Wells.

Mort

Mort was a huge vampire who was one of Harmony’s (dissatisfied) minions. He dislocated Anya’s shoulder and kidnapped Dawn in Real Me. He was staked by Buffy using a wooden unicorn horn. “Mort” is French for death.

Mr. Bogarty

Mr. Bogarty was the owner of a magic shop who was found dead by the Scoobies in Real Me, leading to Giles buying the shop.

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.

Crazy talk

The crazy guy who approaches Dawn in Real Me tells her “You don’t belong here”. We learn later in the season that crazy people can see Dawn for what she really is - a mystical ball of energy called the Key. The guy also says “curds and whey” which is a reference to the dream Buffy had in season three’s Graduation Day (Part 2). In that dream, Faith foreshadows Dawn’s arrival and calls her Little Miss Muffet. We also see a cat on the bed in the dream. In this episode, the crazy guy says to Buffy, “That’s why I’m a cat. Quiet. See, cat’s in the cupboard.” This may be another small bit of continuity from Buffy’s dream two seasons ago.

Giles’s second car

In Real Me, we see that Giles has brought a new sporty red convertible BMW. This ties in well with his semi-mid-life crisis played out in season four. Being an unemployed librarian and ex-member of the Watcher’s Council must pay pretty well.

Giving up on men

Joyce apparently knows nothing about Willow and Tara’s relationship in Buffy vs Dracula as she says, “Oh, when you girls are older you’ll understand. It’s hard to date. Sometimes you just…feel like giving up on men altogether.” She apparently finds out before the next episode as Dawn mentions in her diary in Real Me that, “I told Mom one time I wished they’d [Willow and Tara] teach me some of the things they do together. And then she got really quiet and made me go upstairs.”

Harm’s unicorns

In Harm’s Way, Tamika comments that Harmony’s desk (and thermos) are covered with unicorns. We know that she loves the mythical animals from the Buffy episode Real Me.

Tucker’s brother

Tom Lenk played two characters in Buffy - Cyrus in Real Me and Andrew Wells in seasons six and seven. A small piece of continuity for these two characters is that others find it hard to remember who they are. In Real Me, when Harmony is talking to her minions about “the plan”, she can’t remember Cyrus’s name, and asks him what it is.
In Flooded, Warren confuses Andrew with his brother Tucker (seen in The Prom):

Additionally, in Gone, Doublemeat Palace and Never Leave Me, Buffy, Xander and Spike all say they have no idea who Andrew is.

What’re you doing

In Triangle, Dawn asks Buffy what she’s doing and the Slayer replies, “playing soccer”. When Dawn asked Buffy what she is doing in Real Me, she got the answer “my boyfriend”.

Willow’s stage fright

Willow gets stage fright, which was first hinted at in The Puppet Show when she ran terrified from the stage during a talent contest. In Nightmares, Willow was forced to sing a piece from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly on stage but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Her stage fright was also explored in the episodes Restless (when she was in front of her class and everyone was laughing at her) and - to a lesser extent - in Once More, With Feeling when she was the only main character not to sing a great deal.
In The Yoko Factor, Tara suggested to Willow that she take sophomore Psych but Willow suggested drama instead. In Real Me we saw Willow berate Buffy as the Slayer didn’t have the time to take drama class with her. In Restless, Willow has a dream about having stage fright about the drama class, who are performing a play without actually having any classes.

Invitation addendum

Another vampire invitation rule is clarified in Real Me: only someone who lives in a residence can invite a vampire in. So, for example, Xander couldn’t invite a vampire in Buffy’s house.

Game of Life

In Real Me, Xander and Anya look after Dawn for Buffy. Anya brings a few board games with her including the Game of Life. Later, when they’re playing the game, they have the following conversation:

She suggests they play again in Into the Woods but Dawn in reluctant as Anya won last time.

Harry Potter

The popular book series Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is referenced a few times in Buffy. In Real Me, Dawn says, “I’m not going to Hogwarts”. This is a reference to Hogwarts is the school for wizards that Harry attends.
In Lessons, Willow wonders why Giles went “all Dumbledore on me”, referring to the Head Master at Hogwarts school. In Bring on the Night, Andrew says, “An evil name should be something like Lex or Voldemort.” He’s referring to Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor and Voldmort, who appears in the Harry Potter books.
In Potential, Andrew plays with the snakeskin for the spell, and says “at your ssservice, Missss Rosenberg, sssir”. This is also a reference to Harry Potter - Harry can speak to snakes, and does so in film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which is when the snake says “at your ssservice, Mister Potter, sssir”.
In Empty Places, while Anya is giving her talk about the Turok-Han in the basement, Kennedy goes up to the kitchen where Faith asks, “Shouldn’t you be at Hogwarts?”
In Belonging, Lorne says “This reading room - to die for. Raked stage, rocking chair, fabulous colours. I’m tempted to just show up tomorrow morning with Harry Potter”.

Little Miss Muffet

In Graduation Day (Part 2), Faith says, “Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0″ (a foreshadowing of the arrival of Buffy’s sister Dawn). In the season five episode Real Me, Dawn is approached by a mad man who calls her “curds and whey”. This is a line from the popular children’s nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet. In No Place Like Home, Glory says, “I’m just going to sit on this tuffet…” which is apt as she’s looking for the Key, which is in the shape of Dawn.

Monopoly

Faith says in Beauty and the Beasts, “Get out of jail free, huh?” This is a reference to the board game Monopoly, which has a card which allows the player to leave jail. In Blood Ties, Buffy tells Dawn she has a “get-out-of-jail-free card”, and in Lies My Parents Told Me, Anya says, “Spike’s got some sort of ‘get out of jail free’ card that doesn’t apply to the rest of us”.
In Real me, Monopoly is one of the games that Anya brings when she and Xander babysit Dawn.

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!”

Spinal Tap

In Real Me, Buffy warns Giles that magic shop owners have the life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer. This is Spinal Tap is a ‘rockumentary’ directed by Rob Reiner and starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. It follows a fake heavy metal band on their tour of America. The band’s drummers regularly die in mysterious ways: such as gardening accidents, or choking on (someone else’s) vomit.
In Waiting in the Wings, Cordelia says, “You want to wander around backstage like Spinal Tap for the next…ever?” She’s referring to a scene in This is Spinal Tap, in which the band get lost backstage before a gig.

Superman

Comicbook hero Superman has been epitomised in many comics (by DC Comics), movies (starring the late Christopher Reeve), TV shows (eg. Lois and Clarke, Smallville), cartoons (eg. The Adventures of Superman) and even a musical. He and the world he lives in have been referenced many times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel:

• In Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, Buffy says, “even Clark Kent has a job”, alluding to Superman’s alter-ego.
• In Reptile Boy, Xander’s chances of ever belonging to a fraternity of rich and powerful men are rubbished by Cordy as likely only “in the Bizarro world.” The Bizarro world is a weird, back-to-front version of the real world in Superman.
• In the episode Ted, Cordelia says of Buffy, “But she’s like this Superman.”
• In The Wish, Cordelia says to vamps Willow and Xander, “No. No! No way! I wish us into Bizarro Land, and you guys are still together?! I cannot win!”
• In Helpless, Oz and Xander discuss which colour Kryptonite hurts Superman. Writer David Fury said in his DVD commentary for the episode that he wasn’t sure which Kryptonite was which so wrote this scene as such.
• In The Zeppo, there area few references to Superman: Xander’s line, “But, gee, Mr White, if Clark and Lois get all the good stories I’ll never be a good reporter”, which he acknowledges as a “Jimmy Olsen joke”. He also name-checks the Daily Planet’s editor Perry White, Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent, and his colleague Lois Lane. Cordelia’s jibe “You must feel like Jimmy Olsen” is another reference to the Daily Planet’s youngest photographer.
• In Doomed, Forrest says to Riley, “Granted they’re a little rarer than the one’s you grew up with on that little farm in Smallville.” Smallville, Kansas, was the small town where Clark Kent (Superman) grew up.
• In Superstar, Xander mentions Kryptonite again.
• In Real Me, Xander says, “She can turn this place into the fortress of solitude again”. Superman built the Fortress of Solitude in the North Pole as a place where he could relax and keep his souvenirs.
• In Gone, Andrew mentions Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor. Buffy also mentions Bizarro World again.
• In Two To Go, Andrew says, “Lex Luthor had a false epidermis escape kit in Superman Versus the Amazing Spider-Man Treasury edition”.
• In Bring on the Night, Andrew says, “An evil name should be something like Lex” He’s referring to Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor.
• In the Angel episode Blind Date, Wesley says, “The human eye is only capable of registering a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. But if Brewer were somehow equipped to see outside that range…” to which Cordelia replies, “She’d be Superman.”
• In You’re Welcome, Cordelia ends her seeming obsession with the Bizarro world when she says, “What Bizarro-world did I wake up in?”

Seen at 07.23 minutes:

In Real Me, there are two instances where the lip movements and the words spoken are out of sync. The first time is when Buffy, Giles and Dawn are in the car driving to the Magic Box (7.23 minutes into the episode). Giles says, “Dawn, will you stop fiddling with the radio and sit down?” but you can see that his lips aren’t in time with his words.

The second time is when Joyce is getting ready to go out and Xander has arrived to babysit Dawn (17.55). Xander says to Joyce, “Have fun. Not too much fun, though”. We can see Xander’s face and hear his voice but it’s clear that his lips aren’t moving.

Seen at 08.52 minutes:

When Giles pulls his car in to see Willow and Tara, he gets out of the car and just throws the keys back into the front seat before walking off. Great security!

Seen at 10.14 minutes:

Willow’s hair changes between when she goes into the magic shop and when she stands behind the counter.

Seen at 15.41 minutes:

In the scene where we first see Harmony and her minions, at one point Harmony is talking and the camera focuses on a minion placing a unicorn on a table. We can see Harmony in the background and she clearly isn’t talking.

Seen at 37.57 minutes:

When Mort lifts Buffy up by her neck, we see that she is wearing white high heeled boots, but in the next shot she’s wearing light brown boots.