Act Three

5GG) "Hello, salty goodness!" (00:27:35) CORDELIA: Considering the events of the third season of Angel, in which Angel and Cordelia have fallen in love, it is interesting to see Cordelia's inital reaction to meeting Angel--being instantly attracted to him. Another interesting thing to note is how Buffy and Cordelia seem to have the same taste in men; they both are attracted to Owen, and both to Angel. This is perhaps meant to further Joss' original metaphor of Cordelia being a representation of who Buffy once was (See 1N).--suggested by a post by Rahael, Sat, 06/01/02 at 14:35:58 See 5K, 5T, and 5HH for more on what Buffy is attracted to in a man.

5*1)"That boy is gonna need some serious oxygen after I'm through with him." (00:27:40) THE FUNNY: That boy hasn't needed serious oxygen for around 2 centuries! See 11DDD.

5HH) "Hey." (00:28:32) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "There is an awkward 'guy beat.'"--"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1

ANGEL MEET OWEN, OWEN MEET ANGEL: "Owen is a very Romantic (with a capital R) figure obviously. He is both solitary, morbid, into poetry and good looking. The joke is the tense stand off with Angel, who is a pretty Romantic figure himself. Buffy obviously goes for a type."--Rahael, Sat, 06/01/02 at 14:35:58 See 5K, 5T, and 5GG for more on what Buffy is attracted to in a man.

DEAD AND DEADER: "We see Buffy attempting...[to have a social life,] but she keeps ending up with the reclusive figures, one who is undead, and the other fascinated by it. The symbol of the watch (see 5X) can be a reminder of man's mortality--the sands of time slipping past."--Rahael, Fri, 06/14/02 at 09:39:36

5II) "What's he doing here?" (00:28:50) FIRST MET: This is the first time on the show that we see Xander speak to Angel. His dislike for him is apparent, even before he discovers Angel's vampy secret. To begin with, Xander hates Angel, because Buffy is attracted to Angel, and not to him. That hatred will later be given a more solid reason to back it up--the fact that Angel is a vampire (see 7T). As a reaction to Xander's dislike of Angel, Angel seems to dislike him as well. As a male, Angel, interestingly, probably sees Xander as as much of a threat to getting in the way of him being with Buffy, as Xander sees of him, and as they both see of Owen!

5JJ) "We knew it would happen eventually..." (00:29:05) FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: This line is very sweet, since it truly has been Willow's dream, for her entire life, and just the ability to pretend that they are dating makes Willow very happy. Despite how unlikely it seems at this point that it will ever happen, Xander is attracted to Willow, almost despite himself and sometimes even without his conscious knowledge, an attraction that will first become apparent in the first moments of the second season premiere, When She Was Bad (see 13G), and will be more fully explored during the middle of the third season.

5KK) "The funeral home?" (00:29:26) BUFFY SMART: Buffy may not be able to come up with a plausible lie on the spot, herself (see 5S), but she definitely is smart enough to pick up on Xander and Willow's clues, and follow through, accordingly.

5LL) Buffy kisses Owen. (00:30:20) FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "ANGLE: XANDER, ANGEL, AND CORDELIA...All watching the kiss, all with differing degrees of the same reaction."--"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, available from Pocket Books, Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season One, Volume 1

5MM) "She's the strangest girl..." (00:30:26) BUFFY STRANGE?: This is identical to Gile's reaction to Buffy earlier in the episode. See 5Y.

5NN) "I hid." (00:31:55) CONTINUITY CHECK: When Giles tells Buffy that, by hiding, he proved himself to be more than a match for the brethren, it perfectly echoes Xander's declaration in The Witch: "I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide until it goes away."

Act Four

5OO) "They told me about you. While I was sleeping." (00:36:44) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: The question as to whether a vampire's sire sends telepathic messages to it, so that when it rises, it knows its purpose, is first raised here. This instance, however, is obviously not the best evidence, since Andrew Borba has retained the mental imbalance he had before death. But is this line an actual expression of what happens in the rest period between the time someone is vamped, and then rises, or the ramblings of an insane vamp? The fact that he attacks Buffy might point to yes, but that could just be accounted for the fact that he has become evil, due to the replacement of his soul with the demon spirit. A more clear instance of a vamp awakening with the full knowledge of the fact that Buffy is the Slayer occurs in the second season's Phases, when Theresa awakens, vamped, and tells Buffy that "Angel sends his love" (see 27*1). It has never been expressly answered on the series, but perhaps, it depends on the strength of the sire. The stronger vamps might have stronger telepathic abilities, to pass information on to the newly-vamped, before they rise. Or any vampire, perhaps, has the option. Or, in the case of Theresa, Angelus might have told Theresa what to do upon awakening. But is the fact that they are evil when they awaken a result of their soul-lackage or psychically-transmitted information, from the sire or perhaps from the demon itself?--Rob, suggested by posts by Sophist, Sat, 06/01/02 at 17:05:55 and Kitkat, Sun, 06/02/02 at 01:12:38

5PP) "Give her a sec." (00:38:01) FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: Xander tells Willow not to let Buffy know yet that Owen is still alive, because it might throw her off her fight. As long as she thought Owen was dead, Buffy was fighting all the more strongly against this very strong, crazy vampire. This foreshadows the second season finale, Becoming II, when Xander does not tell Buffy that Willow would be striving to return Angel's soul, fearing that if she even had the slightest belief that Angel's soul might come back, she would hesitate from killing or harming him. The debate over whether Xander's actions were completely for Buffy's own good, or self-motivated, out of jealousy, will not be completely analyzed here. Suffice it to say, however, that Xander's "betrayal" (if you call it that) is foreshadowed here, where Xander does show keen insight in not disturbing the Slayer as she fights. If she knew Owen was alright, her happiness about that knowledge might have distracted her.

5QQ) "...maybe we'd finish at Ben & Jerry's..." (00:38:55) POP CULTURE TIME: "Ben & Jerry's" is, of course, the popular Vermont-based ice cream company, whose diverse flavors include the famous Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey.

MORE ON ICE CREAM: In Welcome to the Hellmouth, Willow had been expecting to go out for ice cream with her date also. Like Owen, her expectations were not exactly met, either!

5RR) "I never thought that nearly getting killed would make me feel so alive." (00:40:45) THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OWEN: See 5T for an explanation of "Owenosity."

5SS) "I was 10 years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher..." (00:42:02) BUFFYVERSE MYTHOLOGY: This line confirms that the job of Watcher is one that is passed down from generation to generation, and is no more of a choice than being called as the Slayer is. Giles' comment that his father was a Watcher, and his grandmother confirms that a woman can be a Watcher, but it does not answer what decides which child of each generation will be the Watcher...First-born? The child that displays a special quality? All answers must be mere speculation.

GILES' BACKSTORY: This is our first true glimpse into Giles' background. Although we have had a very few hints that Giles was not always the well-mannered, calm man we know today, this is the first time we are explicitly told that Giles was just like any other kid. He did not choose to be a Watcher, just as Buffy had not chosen to be a Slayer. And just as Buffy tried to turn away from her duty at the beginning of the series, so did Giles when he was young. In the second season's The Dark Age, we will learn that his rebellion was far more serious and potentially self-destructive (and destructive to others) than Buffy's (see 20FFF).--Shadowkat, Sat, 06/01/02 at 08:16:17, paraphrased by Rob

TIME AND TIDE WAIT...: Giles' age when he was told he was destined to be a Watcher was 10 years old, which is close to the time on both Xander and Owen's watches (see 5X), both of which read 10 of 5. "...[T]hat could point to a kind of 'Time/Destiny' theme...Buffy wants to be a normal teenage girl. But because she is the Slayer, the minute...[she tries to only be a normal] teenager, her chance of being normal disappears."--Rahael, Fri, 06/14/02 at 09:39:36, partly paraphrased by Rob

5TT) "Dangerman." (00:42:35) POP CULTURE TIME: "Dangerman was a 1960's TV spy series filmed in England starring Patrick McGoohan. It is best known now as the prequel for McGoohan's next series, The Prisoner. The title song from Dangerman, Secret Agent Man was a hit song of the times and had the lines, 'They're givin' you a number, and takin' 'way your name," foreshadowing the events of The Prisoner."--Cactus Watcher, Sat, 06/01/02 at 07:38:06

5UU) "You're careful." (00:42:42) THE ANSWER: Buffy learns here that keeping her Slayer identity a secret isn't as important as making sure that those who know about it, and are a part of her life, know how to handle it. Xander and Willow know that Buffy's the Slayer, but do not help her due to the thrills and excitement. They do so because (a) she's their friend (b) they want to help, by doing whatever they can, to save the world. Owen, on the other hand, did not understand the gravity of the situation. He is in a similar situation to Xander and Willow--he's quiet, hasn't done many exciting things in his life before meeting Buffy, etc, but he wants to be a part of Buffy's life for the danger, and not for the true purpose--saving lives. That is why the two can't mesh. In order for a relationship of Buffy's to succeed, the boy must know her secret identity (keeping it secret obviously does not work for long, for e.g., Owen, Riley), and be willing to accept it, and help her with it. Although she is discouraged here, this situation does not cause Buffy to write off having a social life all together, but it does make her aware that she must be careful about who she brings into her life, and, by so doing, puts in danger.

5VV) "And I should have been there." (00:42:58) LESSON LEARNED: "The never failing theme of duty/responsibility versus fun is explored in this episode. Buffy clearly learns the lesson of responsibility by the end, both in terms of failing in her own duty by going awol, and in terms of putting others in danger (Giles, Owen)."--Rahael, Sat, 06/01/02 at 14:35:58

5WW) "I don't have an instruction manual." (00:43:08) CONTINUITY CHECK: In What's My Line II, we learn that Giles is telling a bit of a fib here (see 22GG). There is, in actuality, a Slayer Handbook, but one can almost guarantee that no Watcher had ever had to train a Slayer like Buffy. Giles, in fact, tells Buffy that he had to throw away the Handbook when he first started to train her, because she was such a special case. There was no Handbook that could truly teach Giles about Buffy, and that's also a nice addition to the Giles-as-father metaphor. Most parents discover that, no matter how many parenting books are out there, none can truly tell them how to raise their children. That is something each person must learn and adapt to, by him or herself.

5XX) "I must say, as a Slayer, you're doing pretty well." (00:43:17) GILES: This line is a major breakthrough in Buffy and Giles' relationship, because it is the first vocal confirmation Giles ever gives Buffy that she is a good Slayer, and that he is proud of her. Although his actions over the last few episodes have implied that he likes Buffy, his words, even at the start of this episode, were always more scolding and instructional, like most Watchers are with their Slayers. This is the first time Giles acknowledges that, even though she is not the Slayer he had been prepared for, that he accepts and likes her. In later episodes, he will even go further to reassure her that not only does he accept her, but he prefers her, with all her imperfections, over the idea of having any other Slayer to train.

5YY) "No more Anointed One." (00:43:27) MORE IRONIC TWISTAGE: Due to Andrew Borba's great strength and pseudo-Biblical mad rantings, Buffy and Giles assumed that he was the Anointed One. In a classic Buffy twist, however, the audience's expectations are given a complete 360 degree turn. The Anointed One is not the scary militia guy from the bus...but the little boy who had been afraid of him.--Shadowkat, Sat, 06/01/02 at 08:16:17, paraphrased by Rob