It’s three months after the death of Buffy and things seem to be straightening out for the Scoobies. The Buffybot is happily taking over Buffy’s slaying work. Giles even leaves for England, realising he’s not needed in Sunnydale anymore. However, believing Buffy is in a hell dimension, the Scoobies, masterminded by Willow, try to resurrect the Slayer using a complicated spell and a vase from E-Bay. Meanwhile a gang of biker demons realise Buffy is a just robot and come to wreck the town. The Scoobies think their spell is ruined, but we see Buffy come to life in her coffin…
| Airdate: | 2 October 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer: | Marti Noxon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Director: | David Grossman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cast: |
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Dawn: "Check. One mindless automaton coming up."
Behind the Scenes Trivia
Bargaining credits
Anthony Stewart Head was listed as a guest star in the credits from Bargaining (Part 1). Alyson Hannigan’s credit from that episode was changed to “Alyson Hannigan as Willow”.
Bargaining Edits
The gruesome scene of Buffy being resurrected was cut when Sky One and the BBC showed Bargaining (Part 1) in the UK. Other edited scenes included Willow killing the deer; Willow choking up the snake; Tara’s comment about the vampire taking pescription medication; everything at Dawn’s school before they are in the classroom and Xander being unable to give Giles some alcohol because a guy would not buy it for them.
Bargaining in Australia
When Bargaining premiered in Australia, the two parts were aired over two weeks, instead of as one episode. They were therefore out of alignment with Angel by a week. Later, because of the way the episodes were shown (or not shown) during the French Open, Buffy was two weeks behind Angel. The final three episodes were then aired over two days.
Bargaining in the UK
The U.K. video boxsets split the episode Bargaining into its two separate parts. Each one had a set of credits at the beginning of the episode. The DVD release then combined the two episodes together again.
Costume drama
Some of the Scooby Gang members wore clothes with numbers on them in the episode Bargaining (Part 1). Willow wears ‘11′, Xander wears ‘13′ and Dawn wears ‘7′. In Flooded, Dawn wears shirts with the numbers 2 and 55 on them. Many fans thought they were some kind of cryptic clue from Joss Whedon, predicting future episodes… It turns out they’re not, but hey, it’s fun to speculate!
Marzipan in your pie plate
In her commentary with David Fury for the season six DVD, Marti Noxon said the marzipan comment by the Buffybot in Bargaining (Part 1) (”That’ll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo!”) was a shout out to Jane Espenson, a fellow Buffy writer, who always thought the word marzipan was funny.
Sarah’s achievement
There is a green surf board in Xander’s apartment (seen in Bargaining (Part 1)). An unconfirmed fan rumour has it that the board is actually the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award presented to Sarah Michelle Gellar at the Teen Choice Awards in August 2001. It seems unlikely though, as this episode was recorded in July 2001. The award is a joke in itself - how old do they think Sarah is?!
Spike lookalike
When Giles is at the airport in Bargaining (Part 1), there is someone who looks just like Spike in the background.
Upset Alyson
Alyson Hannigan found it extremely difficult to film the scene in Bargaining (Part 1), where she stabs the deer. She was very upset at the thought of Willow doing this and had a model of a deer which she had to “kill”. Marti Noxon says that Alyson cried the whole day and eventually most of the more gory scenes where cut out.
Cast and Crew Trivia
Franc Ross
Franc Ross, who played the lead hellion demon Razor in Bargaining, played ‘Monty Reynolds’ in Joss Whedon’s Firefly episode ‘Trash’.
Geoff Meed
Geoff played Andrew Vorba in Never Kill A Boy On the First Date and Mag, one of the biker-demons in season six’s Bargaining (Part 1) and Two. Born in Texas, Geoff began as a stuntman working in the Universal Studios Hollywood Tour. From there he began work as an actor, and performed all his own stunts. His TV and film credits are extensive, having worked on Port Charles (as Bruno), Enterprise, ER, Judging Amy, Charmed and Babylon 5. He also played ‘Hitman’ and ‘Seedy Guy’ in Spike’s favourite soap, Passions. Geoff played Kowalski in the movie as lame as it’s title: Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996). He has had five original plays produced in Los Angeles. He directed four of them, and starred in all five.
Paul Greenberg
Paul Greenberg, who played the vampire who discovered that Buffy was actually a robot in Bargaining (Part 1), has been in As Good As It Gets and played various roles on The Jenny McCarthy Show. He was a writer for MTV’s Jackass and played a dinner guest in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode ‘Porno Gil’.
Robert Vito
Roberto Vito appeared as the character ‘Cute Boy’ in the two-parter Bargaining Part 1 and Bargaining Part 2. He has also appeared on the television soap opera Port Charles as Neil Kanelos from 2000 to 2001. He went on to appear in My Best Friend’s Wife, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary.
Character Trivia
Razor
Razor was the aggressive leader of the Hellion biker demons. He had retractable blades on the end of each finger, and red eyes. Tara killed him with an axe in the back after he tried to hurt Willow in Bargaining (Part 2).
Continuity
Beware, vamps
When the Buffybot is injured in Bargaining (Part 1), it says, “Vampires - beware”. In Intervention, the Buffybot said, “Vampires of the world beware.”
Bitch fight
Anya and Giles’s slap fight over the effigy in Bargaining (Part 1) is similar to Xander’s bitch fight with Harmony in The Harsh Light of Day.
Buffybot upgrades
In Bargaining (Part 1), we see that Willow has fixed the Buffybot after it was decapitated in The Gift. She’s given it a homing device so it goes to her when it’s broken and has even programmed in a few post-slayage puns. Willow has tried to remove any of the Buffybot’s original programming to do with Spike. He commissioned the robot to be his sex toy in I Was Made to Love You.
Buried alive
In Nightmares, Buffy has a nightmare of being buried and crawling out of her grave, which actually happens to her in season six’s Bargaining.
Flight 3982
Flight 3982 was the flight that Giles took to London from Sunnydale airport in Bargaining (Part 1). The flight went via Los Angeles.
Giles’s letter
On the UK video release of Bargaining (Part 1), Giles does a voiceover reading his letter instead of Xander reading it out to the Scoobies.
Inside Out
In the Angel season four episode ‘Inside Out‘, the demon Skip says the following line to Angel about Cordy ascending to a higher plain: “Whoa, wait. Nobody comes back from paradise. Okay, a Slayer once but…” This is a reference to Buffy coming back from Heaven in season six’s Bargaining (Part 1).
Not Buffy at all
At the end of each credit sequence there is a long close up of Buffy just before the episode starts. The close up at the end of seasons six and seven is not really Buffy at all. In season six, it’s actually the Buffybot from The Gift and in season seven it is the First Evil in Buffy’s form from Lessons.
Tara’s pancakes
Tara offers to make Dawn some pancakes (”Funny shapes, or…”) in Wrecked. She made them for Dawn in Bargaining (Part 1), saying, “Funny shapes or rounds?”
Where’s Hank?
Hank Summers, an already absent father, reaches new bad-father heights in the episode Forever by not showing up to his ex-wife’s funeral. Buffy says she’s not been able to contact him as he is in Spain (which we learnt about in Family).
In Bargaining (Part 1), Dawn says that her father “said he’d call today” which is the first time we’re told he has been in touch with his daughter since Joyce Summers died. He has no idea that Buffy has also died.
Music Trivia
Static-X
When we see the vampires riding to Sunnydale on their bikes in Bargaining (Part 1), the song ‘Permanence’ by Static-X can be heard.
Willow Stabs Bambi
The music playing during the scene where Willow kills the deer in Bargaining (Part 1) is called “Willow Stabs Bambi”.
Mythology Trivia
Osiris
In Egyptian mythology, Osiris was a god who became Lord of the Dead and Resurrection after his brother killed him and he was resurrected. In the Buffyverse, Osiris is summoned to perform resurrection spells on Joyce (by Dawn in Forever), Buffy (by Willow in Bargaining (Part 1)) and Tara (by Willow in Villains).
Resurrection
Dawn performed a resurrection spell after her mother died in Forever, taught to her by Doc. She needed dirt from Joyce’s grave, a photo of her mother and the egg of a Gorrah demon. She cancelled the spell when she realised it would be too painful for herself and her sister if their mother came back ‘wrong’.
Buffy died a supernatural death so her friends were able to perform a ritual to resurrect her (Bargaining (Part 1)). To do this, the Scoobies formed a sacred circle around Buffy’s grave, each holding a black candle. Willow anointed herself with Vino de Madre (the blood of a baby deer) from the Urn of Osiris, and poured the rest onto Buffy’s grave. She asked Osiris to return Buffy, and was tested by having her arms slashed by invisible knives, and being forced to vomit snakes. Buffy came to life in her coffin and had to dig her way out.
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).
References
Backstreet Boys
In Bargaining (Part 1), Anya says the desert gnome in Cairo who sold her the Urn of Osiris also threw in a Backstreet Boys lunch box for Xand…. ahem… a “friend”. Backstreet Boys were an American boy band whose hits included ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’ and ‘Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)’.
Dadaism
In Bargaining (Part 1), the Buffybot says a bizarre selection of words, to which Spike says, “What’s with the Dadaism, Red?” In The Freshman, Buffy says to Xander, “Thanks for the Dadaist pep talk, I feel much more abstract now.” Dadaism was the nihilistic artistic movement in the early twentieth century. The movement was based on irrationality, anarchy, cynicism and the rejection of laws of beauty. It was based mainly in France, Switzerland and Germany as a protest over World War I, but it was also in America, where it occurred mainly in New York at Alfred Stieglitz’s gallery ‘291′. After 1922, many Dadaists abandoned the movement as they turned to surrealism.
Discovery Channel
The Discovery Channel is referenced a few times in the show. Anya mentions she wants to see a programme about monkeys on the Discovery channel in Bargaining (Part 1). Buffy says she saw a behaviour modification chip on the Discovery Channel in The I in Team. Spike name checks the channel in Fool For Love.
Dude, Where’s My Car?
We see in Bargaining (Part 1) that Sunnydale Cinema is showing Dude, Where’s My Car? Kristy Swanson, who played Buffy in the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a cameo role in Dude, Where’s My Car?
eBay
Anya buys the last known Urn of Osiris on eBay in Bargaining (Part 1). For those who have been living in a cave, eBay is an online auction house where you can buy just about anything - I mean anything.
In Ground State, Gunn says “But if it’s at an auction house, can’t we, you know, just eBay the thing?” In A Hole in the World, Knox says to Fred of the mysterious sarcophagus, “I couldn’t find any invoice on it. I thought maybe you went crazy on eBay.”
Grrr…Argh…
Tara gives Giles a little rubber monster as a leaving present in Bargaining (Part 1) and says “Grrr…argh”, which is clearly a reference to the monster in the Mutant Enemy logo seen at the end of every Buffy episode.
Hanson
The vampire who discovered that Buffy was a robot in Bargaining (Part 1) wore a Hanson t.shirt. They were a boy band in the 1990s consisting of three long haired brothers, whose most famous single was “MmmBop”.
The Fury
In Bargaining (Part 1), Willow talks to Xander telepathically, to which Xander replies, “I know, I know, I don’t have to talk when I answer you but I saw The Fury and that way lies spooky carnival death.” The Fury is a 1978 thriller movie starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Brian De Palma. It’s about a young man who has psycho-kinetic powers (the ability to inflict pain on others by thought).
Word salad
After the Buffybot’s “Marzipan in your pie plate” line in the episode Bargaining (Part 1), Willlow says she, “was trying to program in some new puns and [she] kinda ended up with word salad.” ‘Word salad’ is a term used to describe incoherant speech patterns sometimes heard from people suffering from schizophrenia.
Goofs
Seen at 02.02 minutes:
Why do only Anya and the Buffybot have stakes when hunting vampires?
Seen at 02.03 minutes:
Who is looking after Dawn when all the Scoobies are patrolling?
Seen at 03.03 minutes:
At the beginning of Bargaining, the camera pans up to Willow, who is on top of a crypt in the graveyard. You can see what seems to be a part of the camera on the very right of the screen
Seen at 32.44 minutes:
After Willow gets the last ingredient for the spell, she goes to the Magic Box, where Tara tells her she’s late. Willow then says to her friends, “I thought we weren’t gonna meet till later.” So, what is she late for?
Seen at 39.55 minutes:
Why did the Scoobies construct an obvious headstone for Buffy if they wanted everybody to think she was still alive? Even though it’s ‘hidden’ in the woods, someone could easily walk past and see it.
Seen at 41.31 minutes:
The idea that the demon bikers wouldn’t raid the town of Sunnydale just because they thought the Slayer was there is a bit unbelievable. If they banded together, that amount of demons with motorbikes could easily have killed Buffy.
Quotes
Giles: "I'm fine. I just need to ... to die for a minute."
Spike: "Oh, poor Watcher. Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea?"
Xander: "House of chicks, relax. I am a man, and I have a tool."
Anya: "I used to punish people like this when I was a demon. I made them double-check spreadsheets for all eternity."
Anya: "Aren't you Mister Dicey Semantics?"
Anya: "I was being patient, but it took too long."
Dawn: "Check. One mindless automaton coming up."
Tara: "You found the last known urn of Osiris on eBay?"
Anya: "He drove a really hard bargain, but I finally got him to throw in a limited edition Backstreet Boys lunchbox for ... a friend."
Xander: "Scenario: We raise Buffy from the grave, she tries to eat our brains. Do we, a) congratulate ourselves on a job well done..."
Anya: "She's not the descendant of a long line of mystical warriors. She's the descendant of a toaster oven."