Anchovies, you’re so delicious

In the episode Conversations with Dead People, Dawn eats a pizza, whilst singing, “Anchovies, anchovies, you’re so delicious. I love you more than all the other fishes.” During her DVD commentary, writer Jane Espenson says she included this song because some “unmentioned pizza chain” has stopped offering anchovies on their pizzas and she wrote this song in protest.

Cassie not Tara

In Conversations with Dead People, Cassie tells Willow that Tara cannot be there herself because of Willow’s destructive behaviour following her death. The original script had Tara coming to her girlfriend but Amber Benson (who played Tara) didn’t want to appear. She felt her character was so loved by herself and Buffy fans that it would be a shame to spoil her by making her evil.
The original script for the episode shows what form the Willow/Tara scenes would have taken:

Halfrek as the First

Drew Goddard has said Buffy writers wanted Kali Rocha (Halfrek) to return as the First in Conversations with Dead People but she was too busy with other projects and unable to make it.

Hidden First

The script for Conversations with Dead People mentioned The First Evil by name, even though it was not yet mentioned in the actual dialogue of the show.

Jesse as the First?

Eric Balfour, who played Xander and Willow’s best friend Jesse in the first two episodes of Buffy, was rumoured to have been offered the chance to return as Jesse/the First in the episode Conversations with Dead People.

Jonathan and Andrew’s car

The car scenes in Conversations with Dead People featuring Jonathan and Andrew were actually filmed in a studio, with crew members shaking the car to make it look as though it were moving.

Joss Whedon’s favourite episodes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon spoke to USA Today in May 2003 (after the final episode had aired) about his favourite Buffy episodes. They are as follows:

1. Innocence: “It’s a mission-statement show, and one of the ones where I first found out what we could do.”
2. Once More, With Feeling: “What am I going to say?”
3. Hush
4. The Body
5. Doppelgängland: “Because one Willow is certainly not enough.”
6. The Wish: “Very bleak, very fun. It went to a dark place, and that’s really exciting to me. That’s where I live.”
7. Becoming (Part 2): “Buffy loses everything. Also, it had a sword fight. I love sword fighting.”
8. Restless: “Most people sort of shake their heads at it. It was different, but not pointless.”
9. Conversations with Dead People: “I’m very fond of ‘Conversations with Dead People.’ I just thought structurally and tonally it was very interesting and had a lot to say. And I got to write another song.”
10. Prophecy Girl: “Because that was my first time, besides telling directors what to do, that I actually got to direct. And it was the first time I got to kill Buffy, and the first season ender, and it was the first time I realized I could take everything we did in the season and tie it in a bow.”

Learning about Jonathan

Danny Strong, who played Jonathan, read the script from the episode Conversations with Dead People with Tom Lenk (Andrew) on their way home from a convention. He apparently skipped the part where his character’s death was described and Tom had to break the news to him.

Maybe I’m the First

In Jane Espenson’s audio commentary for Conversations with Dead People, she said that Joyce had a line that was removed from the script. After Dawn performed her spell, she thought that she had brought Joyce back from the dead.

Dawn: “They said I couldn’t bring you back.”
Joyce: “Well maybe I’m the first.”

This ties in with the fact that Joyce was supposedly the First in that scene.

Reused demons

The Gnarl demon suit from Same Time, Same Place was used again in the episode Conversations with Dead People. The costume was painted black and used in the scene where a demon is seen over Joyce’s body.

Sunnydale High mark two

The classroom used in Lessons was the classroom set used in the first three seasons at Sunnydale High. The library set in which we see Willow and Cassie in Conversations with Dead People was the old school library set from seasons one to three.

Where were you

Nicholas Brendon (Xander) and Emma Caulfield (Anya) do not appear in the episode Conversations with Dead People. This is a first for Nicholas Brendon, but not for Emma Caulfield. James Marsters appears in the episode but has no dialogue.

Azura Skye

Azura played the enigmatic Cassie Newton in season seven’s Help and Conversations with Dead People. She is named after the gemstone Azurite. Azura means Blue, so her name can be read as “Blue Skye”. She was nominated for ‘Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series’ for her role as Jane in Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane (1999) at the Young Star Awards. Azura has also been in 28 Days, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , CSI: Miami, Judging Amy, Smallville, Chicago Hope, Touched by an Angel and John Doe. She was “Interview Teenager” in the movie EdTV.

Jonathan M. Woodward

Jonathan M. Woodward played Holden Webster in Conversations with Dead People, Knox in Angel and Tracey in Joss Whedon’s space Western Firefly, in the episode ‘The Message’. Jonathan made his movie debut playing a doctor in the TV movie Wit. Whilst filming, Emma Thompson (who played a cancer patient in the movie) apparently bared her backside on the opening day of filming to help Jonathan, her co-star, relax. He’s also been in Diagnosis Murder and Pipe Dream.

Cassie Newton

Cassie Newton was a Sunnydale High student who predicted her own death in Help. Despite Buffy’s attempts to save her, she died of a heart abnormality. The First Evil later assumed her shape to visit Willow in Conversations with Dead People. The production team at Buffy created a website in the guise of Cassie.

Holden Webster

Holden was an ex-schoolmate of Buffy’s who was sired as a vampire by Spike. When he rose as a vampire in Conversations with Dead People, he and Buffy had a heart to heart in between fighting, as they had both attended Sunnydale High together. Holden attempted to ‘Psych 101′ Buffy and she revealed her feelings about being a Slayer to him. Holden revealed his sire to Buffy, shocking her as she believed Spike was ‘good’. Buffy staked Holden.

Amazon

The Amazons were a group of powerful female warriors who lived without men. They only met men when they wanted to reproduce and would then kill the father. If the child was male, the child would also be killed. In The Body, Tara says, “Strong like an Amazon” to Willow and in Conversations with Dead People, Cassie/The First repeats Tara’s words, “Strong like an Amazon” to Willow when trying to convince her she’s Tara.

Exact time

Conversations with Dead People is the only episode with a specific date and time given at the beginning of the episode - November 12, 2002; 8.01pm. It’s the same date as the original airdate of the episode. This is the second episode which shows the title at the beginning. The first was Once More, With Feeling.

I dated that ringworm

Newly-sired vampire Holden tells Buffy in Conversations with Dead People that Scott Hope, her ex-boyfriend from season three, came out of the closet and is now gay. This is possibly a reference to the fact that Fab Filippo, the actor who played Scott, went on to star in America’s version of Queer as Folk.

Joyce or the First?

When Dawn’s mother appears to her in Conversations with Dead People, the circumstances are different to when the First appears to others. She is surrounded by light and Dawn had to fight to make her mother heard as some force seemed to be stopping her. This led fans to believe that it was really Joyce visiting her daughter. Buffy writer Jane Espenson later revealed that Joyce was supposed to be the First, but it wasn’t completely clear.
In End of Days, Buffy asks Xander to take Dawn away from Sunnydale. This could be what Joyce meant (if it was Joyce) when she said, “When it is very bad, Buffy will not choose you” in Conversations with Dead People: Buffy didn’t choose Dawn to help her.

Kit again

In Conversations with Dead People, Dawn talks to her friend Kit on the phone. The two met in Lessons on their first day at Sunnydale High.

Microwave

In Potential, Andrew asks if they’re going to get the microwave fixed, a reference to Conversations with Dead People when Dawn smashed the microwave after it went all evil. In First Date, we see Andrew setting up the new microwave and reading the instruction manual: “‘Getting the most out of your new microwave.’ Oh, nice. ‘Clock, comma, setting the’ … page 3.”

Mommy?

In The Body, when Buffy finds Joyce’s body, she says “Mom? Mom? Mommy?” Dawn repeats this phrase in Conversations with Dead People, when she thinks Joyce is trying to communicate with her.

Nemeses

In Conversations with Dead People, Holden says to Buffy, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we became nemeses?” to which Buffy replies, “Is that how you say it?” This is a reference to the season six episode Gone, where Warren, Andrew and Jonathan reveal themselves to Buffy and struggle to say they are her “arch-nemsis-es”.

Pizza or blood?

Anya tries to help Buffy get rid of a stain on her shirt in First Date. She says, “it’s blood, or maybe pizza.” In Conversations with Dead People, Dawn ate pizza whilst holding the shirt. She got a stain on it, but said, “Never mind, she’ll think it’s blood”.

Starting with your bottom

Andrew and Jonathan talk about a dream that they’ve been having in Mexico in Conversations with Dead People. Andrew translates the dream’s phrase as “It eats you, starting with your bottom.” Obviously, this is a reference to the ongoing “From beneath you, it devours” phrase (started in Beneath You) which they’ve mistranslated. We see a flashback to the boys having the dream in Storyteller.

Summers taste

The music Dawn plays in the kitchen when she is alone at home in Conversations with Dead People is similar to the music Buffy played while washing dishes in Listening to Fear.

Troll logic

In Triangle, Xander said to Olaf the troll, “You are one crazy troll. I’m not choosing between my girlfriend and my best friend. That’s insane troll logic!”
Olaf said to Anya in Selfless, “Your logic is insane and happenstance, like that of a troll. It is no wonder the bar matrons talk of you.” In Conversations with Dead People, Buffy said to Holden, “OK, you know, this is beyond evil. This is insane troll logic.”

Willow’s encounter

Willow never met Cassie Newton but she says she recognises her in Conversations with Dead People from her picture, which we saw in Help.

Blue and Angie Hart

Joss Whedon and singer Angie Hart wrote the song at the beginning of the episode Conversations with Dead People. The song is called ‘Blue’ and Angie Hart sings the main vocals. This is singer Angie’s third appearance on the show: she was previously in The Freshman and I Only Have Eyes For You singing with her band Splendid, and we heard her song ‘Tomorrow We’ll Wake’ in Forever. She also played Lucy in an episode of Firefly. Angie’s (now ex) husband is Jesse Tobias, who fronted the band Splendid. He helped Joss to write some of the music for Once More with Feeling. The lyrics of ‘Blue’ are:

Splendid

Splendid play their track “Charge” in the Bronze in I Only Have Eyes For You. In The Freshman Splendid perform “You and Me” in the Bronze. Their unreleased song “Tomorrow We’ll Awake” plays during Xander and Anya’s bedroom scene in Forever.
Angie Hart, the lead singer of Splendid, co-wrote the song “Blue” with Joss Whedon. This song played at the beginning of the episode Conversations with Dead People.
Angie’s ex-husband Jesse Tobias, who was also in Splendid, helped Joss and Christophe Beck to arrange Joss’s songs for the musical episode Once More, With Feeling.

Casting spell

In Conversations with Dead People, Dawn is confronted by an evil spirit in her house, which seems to be trying to stop her mother from contacting her. The spirit is most probably the First attempting to torment her. She performs a casting spell to get rid of the spirit, and performs it from memory - so she must have been practising witchcraft for a while.

Seal of Danthalzar

The Seal of Danthazar is a circular metal object which covers a portal over the Hellmouth, located under Sunnydale High. It is activated by a ritual involving blood letting and a knife inscribed with Tuaric: “The blood which I spill, I consecrate to the oldest evil.” Andrew stabbed and killed Jonathan over the Seal in Conversations with Dead People, though his blood had no effect on it, because he was anaemic.
In Never Leave Me, Spike was tied to a wooden wheel, mystical symbols were cut into his chest, and his blood opened the Seal. When the Seal is opened, Turok-Han (ancient vampires) are able to enter the world.
Lyssa attempted to open the seal using Xander’s blood in First Date, but Buffy saved him. The Seal was closed using Andrew’s tears in Storyteller, but in Chosen, Buffy and the potential Slayers opened the wheel using their blood, and entered the Hellmouth below.

Back to the Future

Andrew says “Think McFly” in Conversations with Dead People. He’s referring to the movie trilogy Back to the Future, made in the 1980s in which McFly is the last name of the main character, Marty (Michael J. Fox). More specifically, he’s using the phrase Biff (the thug/bully) used to use to intimidate Marty’s father, the hapless George McFly (played, memorably, by Crispin Glover in the first movie).
The building used as Buffy’s old school Hemery High (in Becoming (Part 1)) was the clocktower from the Back to the Future trilogy.
The demon who pretends to be Future Xander visiting his younger self in Hell’s Bells is reminiscent of Back to the Future II in which Biff time-travels back to visit himself when he was young to tip him about betting.

Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, starring Bruce Campbell, is alluded to a few times in Buffy. In Amends, the First screams, “Dead by sunrise”, which could be a nod to the subtitle of Evil Dead 2, namely, “Dead by Dawn”. In Crush, Xander says to Spike, “Hey evil dead you’re in my seat”. In Conversations with Dead People, Buffy says, “Yeah, what I really need is emotional therapy from the evil dead.” In Deep Down, Gunn says, “Evil Dead was probably just messing with us.”
The scene in Restless in which Xander is being pursued by the first Slayer down a long corridor (eventually leading to his parents’ basement) is highly reminiscent of a similar scene in The Evil Dead, in which Ash (Bruce Campbell) is being chased by the entity. Another visual reference to Evil Dead can be seen in After Life. The scene in which Anya become possessed is similar to a scene in the movie in which Linda (Ash’s girlfriend) gets possessed by evil spirits.
Sam Raimi was executive producer of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hit movie The Grudge.

Hellraiser

In Conversations with Dead People, Andrew references Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, saying: “Everything’s shifting around. I feel like we’re in Hellraiser. I hate Pinhead.”

Indiana Jones

Warren calls Jonathan “Short Round” in Conversations with Dead People and Entropy. He was Indiana Jones’ partner, played by Jonathan Ke Quan, in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In All the Way, Zach says to Janice, “Pumpkins, very dangerous, you go first”. This is a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Indiana Jones sees snakes in his way. His friend Salla says “Asps, very dangerous, you go first”.
In Awakening, Angel says, “Wood. Why did it have to be wood?” after he sets off the booby trap. This is a paraphrase of Indiana Jones’s famous line “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” from the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Much of the action in Angel’s fantasy in Awakening is inspired by Indiana Jones movies. In Soulless, Angelus says to Wesley, “Here’s one for you. What’s the deal with Angel and Raiders of the Lost Ark?”

Poltergeist

In Conversations with Dead People, the First wreaks havoc on the Summers house. In amongst the chaos and terror, suddenly we glimpse all the kitchen chairs have been stacked on the kitchen table. This is a visual reference to the classic horror film Poltergeist, in which a young girl is mysteriously possessed by forces within her home.

Star Trek

There are many cast/crew links between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the long-running cult sci-fi show Star Trek. Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) played Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for seven years. Dominic Keating, who played Blair in the episode Helpless, later went on to star in Star Trek: Enterprise as Lt. Reed. Jennifer Hetrick, who played the teacher Ms. Moran in Homecoming (whom Buffy asked for a reference) played the girlfriend of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Buffy writer Jane Espenson wrote an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Accession’. Star Trek has also been referenced numerous times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

• In Prophecy Girl, Xander says, “Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I’m freaked and I intend to stay that way.” Upset by Giles’ reserve, he is referencing Star Trek’s emotionless cyborgs from the episode ‘The Best of Both Worlds’. Locutus was the name given to Captain Pickard (Patrick Stewart) when he was captured, and ‘assimilated, by the Borg.
• In Homecoming, Cordelia woos the nerds at Sunnydale High by saying, “Are you kidding? I’ve been doing the Vulcan death grip since I was 4.”
• In Consequences, Cordy calls Wesley, “Giles the next generation” in a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• In Out of My Mind, Buffy says, “You’re like my fairy godmother and Santa Claus and Q all wrapped up into one… Q from Bond not Star Trek“.
• In The Replacement, the two Xanders say, “Kill us both Spock” - a reference to a Star Trek episode where Kirk is split two - one being good and one bad.
• In Flooded, the nerds vote with the Star Trek Vulcan salute, which is the same salute that Cordelia used to impress the ‘geeks’ in Homecoming.
• In Smashed, Spike tells the nerds, “You can play holodeck another time” - he means the virtual reality technology used in Star Trek.
• The nerds compare Buffy’s time loop in Life Serial with an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called ‘Cause and Effect’ (Andrew: “I just hope she solves it faster than Data did on the ep of TNG where the Enterprise kept blowing up.”)
• In As You Were, Buffy says. “they’re like really mean Tribbles”, referring to the popular, but quick breeding, pets on board the Starship Enterprise.
• After her visit to the nerds’ ‘lair’ in Doublemeat Palace, Willow says that they had numerous pictures of the “Vulcan women from Enterprise“. She’s referring to Jolene Blaylock, who played T’pol in UPN’s Star Trek show.
• The episode Normal Again is similar to the season five episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called ‘Far Beyond the Stars’. In that episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko imagines that he is a science fiction writer living on 1950s Earth and writing about a station full of aliens called Deep Space Nine. He hallucinates that the people he knows in the 1950s are futuristic aliens and is thrown into an asylum.
• In Seeing Red, Andrew references Star Trek: The Next Generation when he discusses who’s boss of the nerds: “Warren’s the boss. He’s Picard, you’re Deanna Troi. Get used to the feeling, Betazoid.” In that episode, Xander realises that the nerds had love poems in their lair written in Klingon.
• In Grave, after the Magic Box has been destroyed, a William Shatner book can be seen on the floor.
• In Conversations with Dead People, we learn that Andrew learned Klingon (a language in Star Trek) from a dictionary in two and a half weeks.
• In Dirty Girls, Andrew hilariously confuses Faith’s murder of a Volcanologist with a Vulcan:
  

  Andrew: “Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family, not even the most pacifist and logical of races…”
  Amanda: “What the hell are you talking about? I thought Faith killed a volcanologist.”
  Andrew: “Silly, silly Amanda. Why would Faith kill a person who studies Vulcans?”

Star Wars

George Lucas’s Star Wars films are a cult phenomenon. They are referenced numerous times in the Buffyverse. The original trilogy included the movies Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983) and the movies The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) were made later on.

• In When She Was Bad, when Xander and Willow play Guess the Movie from the tag line (Willow: “Use the Force, Luke.”,
  Xander: “Do I even have to dignify that with a guess?”)
• In School Hard, Spike told Angel that, “You were my Yoda!” Yoda was the ancient Jedi master who became the mentor and teacher for both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.
• A visual reference to Star Wars can be seen in The Zeppo, when Xander runs into the corridor and runs back out with the gang members chasing him. Han Solo does the same thing in Star Wars.
• In Choices, Buffy says that Faith has turned to ‘the dark side’.
• In The Freshman, Xander confuses the Star Wars Jedi code quoted by Yoda in The Phantom Menace. (”Hate leads to anger…no wait…Fear leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side”). Also in that episode, the old frat house that the vampires are holed up in is the Psi Theta house. If you write those two greek letters together, and pronounce them together, you get Sith.
• In Fear, Itself, Xander says to Oz, “Sensing a disturbance in the Force, Master?”
• Buffy using the chain to choke Sobek the snake-demon in Shadow is reminiscent of Princess Leia killing Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi.
• In Forever, Ben calls Glory’s minions “Jawa rejects” after the small hooded and robed creatures in Star Wars.
• In Life Serial, Andrew paints a Death Star from Star Wars on the side of the gang’s van. It’s the Empire’s revised design from Return of the Jedi, which Jonathan says is flawed.
• In the episode Two To Go, Andrew says, “We’ve got maybe seconds before Darth Rosenberg grinds us all into to Jawa burgers and not one of you bunch has the Midichlorians to stop her.” These are all Star Wars references: Darth is a title given to a Sith Warrior (such as Darth Vader); Jawas are the hooded creatures who live on Tatooine, and Midichlorians are micro-organisms which exist in all living things. Andrew says, “Laugh it up, Fuzzball” which is a quote from Star Wars. Andrew also later says in Two To Go, “…in a galaxy far, far away” - yet another Star Wars reference.
• In All the Way, Tara and Willow see a couple dressed as Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker kissing in the Bronze. Willow asks, “Do they know they’re brother and sister?”
• In Smashed, we see that the three nerds own a mint condition (though out of its packaging) 1979 Boba Fett action figure. Though Boba Fett was first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (made in 1980), the earliest Boba Fett figure was made in 1979, before the film was released.
• In Dead Things, Jonathan and Andrew play fight with green light sabres.
• In Entropy, Warren calls Jonathan “Padawan”.
• In Conversations with Dead People, Jonathan and Warren have the following conversation: Warren: “Come on, “If you strike me down…” Andrew: “I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine…That boy is our last hope.” Warren: “No, there is another.” These are all quotes from Star Wars.
• In Potential, Xander says to Andrew, “Say Skywalker, and I smack you.” He is, of course, referring to Star Wars‘ Luke Skywalker.
• In Showtime, Andrew says, “I’m bored. Episode I bored.” He’s referring to George Lucas’s disappointing movie Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
• In Never Leave Me, Warren/The First says, “I’m like Obi Wan”. He also says to Andrew, “We’re right in the trench, and the exhaust port’s in sight.” This is a reference to the scene in Star Wars in which the Death Star is under attack.
• In Bring on the Night, Andrew says, “I’m like Vader in the last 5 minutes of Jedi with redemptive powers minus a redemptive struggle of epic redemption which chronicles…” He’s referring to the last scenes of the final Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi.
• In Storyteller, there are two framed Star Wars comics on the wall in Andrew’s opening scene.
• In Dirty Girls, Andrew says, “But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side.”

The Indigo Girls

In Conversations with Dead People, Cassie tells Willow she can picture her suicide scene, “candlelight, The Indigo Girls playing, picture of your dead girlfriend on your bloody lap…” The Indigo Girls are folk singers with a large lesbian fanbase.

Seen at 08.15 minutes:

When Dawn unplugs the TV, we see two different shots of her. In one, she’s holding the plug upwards, in the other it’s pointing towards the floor.

Seen at 16.10 minutes:

When Jonathan and Andrew are talking on the walkie-talkies, the light from a torch is shining on Jonathan, yet Andrew never points his torch toward Jonathan.

Seen at 35.40 minutes:

When Dawn has cast the demon out, her mouth and lips are covered with blood. The blood disappears in the next scene.