Josh Jacobson, played the teenager saved by Buffy in The Gift. He has also been in Who’s Your Daddy?, MTV’s Undressed, Not Another Teen Movie, Malcolm in the Middle, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Gilmore Girls.

In The Weight of the World, Spike says, “Kewpie doll for the lady.” The Kewpie doll first appeared in 1912. It’s creator Rosie O’Neill named the doll after its Cupid-like characteristics.

The date on Joyce’s head stone in Buffy’s mind in The Weight of the World says that Joyce was born in 1958, which means she died when she was 43. When Buffy was born, Joyce would have been between 21 and 23.

Alexandra Lee, who played the young Buffy in The Weight of the World, has also been in Alone with a Stranger, Mad TV, CSI: Crime Scene Inestigation, That ’70s Show, Scrubs and ER. Alexandra did not reappear on Buffy, but she is seen in photographs in future episodes as ‘Young …

In The Weight of the World, Giles discovers that Dawn’s blood is the key (no pun intended) to the ritual that will allow Glory to open the dimensional portal to return home. Giles says, “Once the blood is shed at a certain time and place, the fabric which separates all …

The General of the Knights of Byzantium fills Buffy and Dawn in about Glory and the Key in Spiral. He says of Glory, and her fellow hellgods:

“Along with the beast, they were a triumvirate of suffering and despair, ruling with equal vengeance. But the Beast’s power grew beyond even what …

Xander twice name checks “Sgt. Rock” in the episode Spiral. He is referring to DC Comics’ all-action war hero created by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert.

In Spiral, Xander tells Spike, “Or you can be Undead Man Walking”, which is a reference to the book Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean, which was made into a film in 1995 starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. The story centres on a nun, who befriends a convicted …

Anya references Bugs Bunny cartoons in Spiral when she suggests a new way to kill Glory, “We should drop a piano on her. Well, it always works for that creepy cartoon rabbit when he’s running from that nice man with the speech impediment.” She later hits a Knight with a …

In Tough Love, Xander calls Dawn “Dawn Giovanni”, this is a reference to Don Giovanni, an opera composed by Mozart which was first performed in 1787.

In Tough Love, Willow mentions Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Girls, which was a strict Victorian school in the book A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Buffy and Professor Lillian discuss Haiku in Tough Love. Haiku are short Japanese poems, consisting of 17-syllable verses of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

Glory’s brain-sucking effect was achieved by Clare Kramer pushing her fingers into a dummy head covered in blue material. In post-production, the blue head was digitally removed by computer and replaced by the victim’s head.

Buffy drops out of college officially in Tough Love, so she can take care of Dawn. She says in that episode that she hopes to be back next semester.

Leland Crooke, who played Professor Lillian in Buffy’s Tough Love, also played Archduke Sebassis in Angel’s season five. He has also appeared in Dead Man Walking, Enterprise, The Lone Gunmen, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and ER.