31A) I Only Have Eyes For You. MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "It is this song that James Stanley, the murder suicide jock from 1955, played when he shot himself in the music room (which is an extremely painful place to be shot)...There are two versions of this song but the 1934 release is the one used as well as being more well known than the 1975 reworking:

'My love must be a kind of blind love,
I can’t see anyone but you.
And dear I wonder if you find love,
An optical illusion too?

Chorus:
Are the stars out tonight?
I don’ know if it’s cloudy or bright,
Cause I only have eyes for you dear.
The moon may be high,
But I can’t see a thing in the sky,
Cause I only have eyes for you.
I don;t know if we’re in a garden,
Or on a crowded avenue.
You are here, so am I,
Maybe millions of people go by,
But they all disappear from view,
And I only have eyes for you.

I know the thrill of nature’s wonders,
I know they’re lurking everywhere;
I’m sure I’m making many blunders,
By passing up these wonders rare..."--Celebaelin, Tues, 05/06/03 at 00:09:14

"It's been reported...on a number of Buffy sites that James and Grace could not have listened to this song in 1955 as it was not written until 1959. This is [not entirely true]. Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote I Only Have Eyes For You in 1934 for the film Dames. (http://www.tinytim.org/articles/essay.html) It is sung by Dick Powell on a ferryboat, and is reprised by Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and the chorus in the movie's Broadway show. It's also often played throughout the movie as background music (http://us.imdb.com/Soundtracks?0025028) (a). I Only Have Eyes For You [became a] Big Band standard...Big Band was played on television for adults until the early 1960's. Rock-and-Roll really was only for kids (b). The Flamingos parlayed the song into a Top Ten hit in 1959, which is when it became hugely popular[; this is the version used in this episode, which takes place in 1955] (a). While strictly speaking anachronistic, the version we hear on the show was entirely in keeping with the style of slow dancing music for high school kids of the mid 1950's, something of big band origin with a different arrangement. (b) "--(a) Rhys, Tues, 05/06/03 at 05:07:22; (b) Cactus Watcher, Tues, 05/06/03 at 05:43:12

"This is the third out of four consecutive episodes to have a musical title. So far, it is also the only one of the several BtVS/AtS eps with song titles to actually use the song on the soundtrack."--KdS, Tues, 05/06/03 at 03:15:15

Teaser

31B) Splendid is the band tonight. CONTINUITY CHECK: "...Splendid, of course, is the band that will be seen much later... and more memorably, in season 7's Conversations with Dead People performing [the Joss Whedon-penned song,] 'Blue.'"--MaeveRigan, Tues, 05/06/03 at 13:14:16

31C) Behind Buffy a boy approaches her. THE BRONZE: "The upper balcony of The Bronze is not always a very safe place to be. Spike and Drusilla hunted up here, and Spike has yet another go at getting Buffy to embrace her Dark Side here in Dead Things. Buffy here is not seduced by the most undark Ben. Although the balcony is high up, it's not necessarily nearer heaven. It's more shadowed than the ground floor, morally as well as visually, being a place where dodgy things can go on unobserved by the crowd, and where couples go to make out. It also provides an overview and a site for contemplation. It seems to be a place where people go when they feel themselves to be separate fron the herd, whether because of private pain, like Buffy now, because they are predators isolating victims, or to exercise god-like superiority, like Amy and Willow in Smashed."--MsGiles, Wed, 05/07/03 at 06:53:11

31D) "You mean the Sadie Hawkins thing? The deal where the girls ask the boys?" POP CULTURE TIME: "According to the Old Farmers' Almanac (http://www.almanac.com/redletter/redletter.1199/rl13.html): 'November 13 - Sadie Hawkins Day. Not a typical holiday, Sadie Hawkins Day was the invention of Al Capp, creator of the 'Li'l Abner' cartoon strip. Capp conceived of a day in Dogpatch, U.S.A., when all the unmarried ladies could pursue (literally) their men. If caught, the hapless bachelors were soon trudging down the aisle. This fictional world so captured people's imaginations that Sadie Hawkins Day passed into the realm of modern folklore. The first Sadie Hawkins Day took place on Wednesday, November 9, 1938 [NB--the original Sadie Hawkins Day cartoon appeared in 'Lil Abner' on November 15, 1937, so November 9, 1938 probably pinpoints the first time the day was celebrated in the real world], but it's usually celebrated on the nearest Saturday to accommodate all the 'girls-ask-boys' school dances and other events."--Rhys, Tues, at 05/06/03 at 08:59:11

31E) "In fact, you've kind of been All-Work-And-No-Play Buffy." DULL BUFFY: "'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,' goes the proverb. The same applies to make Jill a dull girl, we presume. This may also be a vague allusion to Stephen King's The Shining and its film version, in which the protagonist types nothing but this phrase over and over instead of actually writing his next novel, then goes mad and tries to kill his family. Delightful. Invisi-Buffy will tease her social worker with it in the sixth season's Gone."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 05/06/03 at 14:11:44

31F) "You came, you saw, you rejected." ET TU BRUTE: "A play on [Julius] Caesar's famous 'veni, vidi, vici,'" translated into English, "I came, I saw, I conquered."--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24

31G) "I slept with him, he lost his soul, now my boyfriend's gone forever, and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends." ASSIGNING BLAME: "Buffy is allowing some of her anger and grief to come out, in this statement, also showing how she is turning the blame in on herself. The loss of Angel is particularly hard to articulate and deal with, as so much of him is there still. Even his love for her is there in a strange, twisted form. It is also hard to find someone or something to blame, to get angry at, to displace the grief onto. The loss of his humanity was brought about by her, his, Jenny's and the Gypsies' actions, and they all acted with the best intentions, except perhaps for the Gypsies. But even though the Gypsies' desire for vengeance might be open to criticism, this same desire for vengeance resouled Angel and gave Buffy her most powerful helper for her first, crucial, year at the Hellmouth, and her first experience of love."--MsGiles, Wed, 05/07/03 at 06:53:11

CARPE DIEM: Willow is again giving Buffy the oft-repeated Buffyverse advice to be impulsive and seize the day...which may not be so wise. See 27XXX.

31H) "...but that's not your fault." BLAMING YOURSELF: It is clear here that, despite Giles' words (see 26GGG), Buffy still blames herself for what happened to Angel, for sucuumbing to passion. The events of this episode will help her come to grips with the fact that she is not to blame.

31I) He takes a step back, raises a revolver, pulls the hammer back and aims it at her. GUNS BAD: See 7SS and 18FFF.

Act One

31J) "You just went O.J. on your girlfriend!" POP CULTURE TIME: "A reference to football hero O.J. Simpson's murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in a criminal trial, but later held liable by a civil jury for wrongful death."--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24

31K) "What would Sunnydale High do without you around to incite mayhem, chaos and disorder?" ASSIGNING BLAME: See 13K.

31L) "I'm no stranger to conspiracy. I saw JFK." POP CULTURE TIME: "JFK is a reference to Oliver Stone's movie about the assassination of President John Kennedy. Stone accepted as true a mélange of conspiracy theories about the assassination (a) The central character (Kevin Costner) is based on Jim Garrison, former District Attorney of New Orleans, who brought the only criminal investigation connected to the assassination to trial (b)." Ironically, we learn in this episode that Snyder is involved in a conspiracy of his own.--(a) Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24, with additions by Rob; (b) Tyreseus, Mon, 05/05/03 at 21:43:19

31M) "Pathetic little no-life vegan." FRUIT AND VEGGIES: "A Vegan is someone who eats nothing that comes from animals (including dairy products). Snyder’s derisive comment is ironic when you realize that the last principal was eaten by students (The Pack--see 6FF) and he will also be eaten (Graduation Day II)."--Tyreseus, Mon, 05/05/03 at 21:43:1

31N) Cut to the computer science class. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, this scene was preceded by one between Xander and Cordy, which, although interesting (it includes another rare moment of Cordy caring for someone other than herself), was ultimately unnecessary. Xander's line in particular unnecessarily overstates the central theme of the episode:

"CORDELIA: Okay. So what's up with Buffy?

XANDER: How many times do we have to go over this? Nothing's up with Buffy. We're just good friends

CORDELIA: No, I mean, what's up with Buffy? Like, is she okay?

XANDER: Sorry. I'm not used to you addressing subjects not directly related to... you. (then) She's fine. I guess. Why?

CORDELIA: She only blew off Ben Straley - the most eligible hunk in town. He's totally rad and his father owns a department store. I mean, he's the guy I'd be going out with if I wasn't so obviously brain damaged. No offense.

XANDER: Oh no. Why would I be offended?

CORDELIA: Anyway. Ben told Lynette who told Charity - that Buffy wouldn't even give him the time of day.

XANDER: Good for her. She's providing much needed life experience for the reflection-deprived.

CORDELIA: The guilt thing's just getting a little old, you know. Everybody's told her what happened to Angel isn't her fault.

XANDER: Yeah. Everybody except the one guy she needs to hear it from."--"I Only Have Eyes for You" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4

31O) "I bet you'll think coding is pretty cool. I mean, if you find two-digit, multi-stacked conversions and primary number clusters a big hoot." SUBBY WILLOW: It's interesting to see how comfortable Willow is becoming with her substitute teaching gig. In many ways, the confidence she is gaining here foreshadows and helps her character's future evolution. The dichotomy between Willow the shy wallflower and Willow the up-and-coming witch is shown most clearly in the similar classroom scene in her dream from Restless. Incidentally, essayist Sarah Vowell uses this quote of Willow's in her book, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, to demonstrate how Willow has been able to become cool by not taking herself seriously and making her nerdiness accessible to others: "Willow is not a self-hating nerd. She is a self-deprecating nerd. While...Giles...is the butt of other people's dork jokes, Willow, a postmodern nerd, peppers her cerebral monologues with one-liners that make light of her own book learning...See what she did...here [with the 'number clusters' joke]? She neither hid her knowledge or annoyed anyone. She made knowing arcane specifics seem funny and fun."--"The Partly Cloudy Patriot" by Sarah Vowell, available through Simon & Schuster Books, p. 114, with additions by Rob

31P) "And I found a bunch of files and Internet sites on paganism and magic and stuff." WITCHY WILLOW: And thus it begins...

31Q) "She told me it was a rose quartz...And it has healing powers." POWER OF SUGGESTION: The fact that Giles acquires the rose quartz in this episode probably further leads him to conclude that the poltergeist is Jenny. The timing is perfect, particularly regarding Willow's comments about its "healing powers," for Jenny to have tried to contact Giles after he received the pendant.

31R) Buffy can't help but close her eyes for a moment. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "The WHOLE CLASS IS BORED BEYOND BELIEF. Many of them can barely keep their eyes open. MOVE IN ON BUFFY As she fights sleep. But Miller's voice is like white noise."--"I Only Have Eyes for You" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4

31S) James goes up to the desk and hands in his paper also. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "...Buffy nears the TEACHER'S DESK. Sees a beautiful young teacher, GRACE NEWMAN, who smiles kindly as she takes papers. The kids file out, except for JAMES, who lingers. He's big, handsome - not at all boyish. He hands Miss Newman his paper. CLOSE ON THEIR HANDS Which TOUCH as she takes the paper from him. BACK ON JAMES AND MISS NEWMAN There is obvious heat between them. It flusters Miss Newman."--"I Only Have Eyes for You" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4

31T) "How are you enjoying that book I loaned you? The Hemingway." LITERATURE CORNER: "'The Hemingway' is probably A Farewell to Arms, which is generally believed to be partly autobiographical, based on Hemingway's experiences in World War I, in which he served as an ambulance driver, and his romance with a Red Cross nurse after he was injured by a mortar shell."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 05/06/03 at 14:11:44

31U) "...a little case of chalkboard Tourette's?" MEDICALLY SPEAKING: "Tourette's Syndrome is 'a rare disease characterized by involuntary tics and by uncontrollable verbalization involving especially echolalia and the use of obscene language; called also Tourette syndrome."--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24

31V) "All sounds like Hellmouth Lite to me." POP CULTURE TIME: It has become standard for low-fat foods to be described as "Lite" on their labels. Xander is referring to the fact that this latest Hellmouthy event seems pretty tame and lightweight compared to some of the previous ones (see 10S). But what becomes clear is that Buffy's internal problems regarding Angel are what makes this scenario so personalized for her.

31W) ...and sees Xander's torn shirt. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Now XANDER and BUFFY enter, tripping. Xander looks a mess - what with his ripped shirt and all."--"I Only Have Eyes for You" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks, Inc., as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4

31X) "Loch Ness Monster?" MYTHOLOGY TIME: "The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, is one of the most popular modern-day superstitions. Rumors and reported sightings of a mysterious [dinosaur-shaped] creature in and around Loch Ness, Scotland have been ongoing for nearly half a century, although no conclusive evidence has ever been presented to prove or disprove the creature’s existence. Of course, in Buffyverse, it very well might."--Tyreseus, Mon, 05/05/03 at 21:43:19

31Y) "This was 'I'm dead as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.'" POP CULTURE TIME: "A slight variation on Albert Finney's famous line from Paddy Chayefsky's movie Network, usually quoted as 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!' I heard this for years before I ever saw the movie & was surprised to hear that it's actually 'I'm as mad as hell, & I'm not going to take this anymore!' The movie was about how awful, violent, & pandering the TV industry had become...Come to think of it, the planned killing of the star live on his show could be seen as the (il)logical culmination...of today's reality TV trend."--anom, Tues, 05/16/03 at 00:30:13

31Z) "Well, despite the Xander-speak, that's a fairly accurate definition of a poltergeist." BUFFYVERSE METAPHYSICS: "A poltergeist is a ghost so plagued by the problems it faced in life that its anger and confusion somehow allow it to effect physical objects (unlike Willow in Halloween--see 18NNN--, but like Maude Pearson--from the Angel episode, Room W/ A Vu). Many of James' poltergeist activities occur by possessing living human beings (e.g., when Buffy's teacher is lecturing on the New Deal but writing 'Don't walk away from me bitch!' on the board.)"--Masquerade, "I Only Have Eyes For You" Analysis, from http://www.atpobtvs.com

31AA) "So it's a normal teenager, only dead." METAPHORICAL GOODNESS: "This exchange may be as close as BtVS ever comes to a flat-out statement of the show's general metaphor."--MaeveRigan, Tues, 05/06/03 at 14:11:44

31BB) "Now we're Dr. Laura for the deceased." POP CULTURE TIME: "Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the second most popular radio talk show host in the country, syndicated nationwide. With a call-in format, Dr. Laura dispenses advice to people about nearly any topic. Televised for a brief while, Dr. Laura came under extreme fire for her belief that gay people are abnormal and her often fundamentalist views on gender roles and morals, values and ethics. Dr. Laura continues to host her radio show and write books."--Tyreseus, Mon, 05/05/03 at 21:43:19

Act Two

31CC) "Jenny." POOR GILES: "Giles for once completely misinterprets what is going on, and it becomes clear that his feelings for Jenny ran deep, in spite of his reserved manner. He cannot believe that she is gone. Although his feel ings, and loss, are not complicated by the self-destructive anger and confusion which relates the past tragedy to Buffy and Angel, he does feel guilty about her death. Angelus's games with Jenny's body will have reinforced this, making him all to aware that Angelus killed Jenny because of Giles' relationship with Buffy."--MsGiles, Fri, 05/09/03 at 04:14:32

31DD) "Jasmine." A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME: "Possibly the first reference to the flower, which fills the garden around the Hyperion, Angel's home in seasons 3 & 4 of Angel. The goddess Big Bad of Angel Season 4 would be named Jasmine for her love of the fragrance. Itís unlikely that this early reference was foreshadowing, but the symbolism of the night-blooming flower as a metaphor for Angel is not diminished."--Tyreseus, Mon, 05/05/03 at 21:43:19

31EE) "It'll be perfect when we want the sunlight to kill us." OUR HOUSE: "First appearance of the Crawford Street house, sometimes referred to by fans as the Garden Mansion, where Angel(us) will live for the rest of his period as a BtVS regular. Sometimes Angel(us)ís tastes in art are portrayed as not changing much since the 18th century, but the fact that he picks such a Modernistic, even Brutalist, building as a home suggests otherwise."--KdS, Tues, 05/06/03 at 03:15:15

"The architecture of the Crawford Street house is interesting in terms of both culture and symbolism. Traditionally, vampires have lived in romantic castles or pre-19th century manor houses. By contrast, BtVS vampires tend to live in abandoned slums or the detritus of post-industrial decay. Angelus is rather more finicky, but he still goes for an aggressively modernist building. Another notable example of the ironic use of modernist architecture in a more or less Gothic horror is the remarkable Bauhaus country mansion, more than a little reminiscent of Crawford Street, designed by Boris Karloff as a necrophiliac, devil-worshipping traitor in the 1934 version of The Black Cat. (The film features a quite remarkable art deco Satanist temple interior...) Going beyond architecture, the openness of the house is interesting given the association of basements and cellars in BtVS with repressed darkness. By contrast, although Angelus can’t go out in daylight he has no fear at all of the open air. His evil is all the way out on the surface, nothing to hide any more. Spike, as is his usual strength and weakness, thinks practically rather than symbolically and just complains about the hazards."--KdS, Tues, 05/06/03 at 06:30:38

Interestingly, Spike usually chooses to live underground. For example, by the sixth season, "he is not just in a mausoleum (which appears to be sunken, because there are steps down into it) but actually sleeping in a cave *below* the mausolem, accessed through a hole in the ground. Hiding from the open air, trying to work through (or avoid maybe) the issues of identity the chip throws up."--MsGiles, Fri, 05/09/03 at 03:24:16

31FF) "You should never be cowed by authority. Except, of course, in this instance, when I am clearly right and you are clearly wrong." GILES' PAIN: ME wisely uses the opportunity that the poltergeist plot provides here to address Giles' feelings of loss regarding Jenny. Whereas on a lesser show, Jenny's death would not be spoken of or remembered the episode after it happened, a palpable loss is felt for the rest of the season. In the fifth season, the death of a much-loved recurring character, Joyce, will cast even more of a shadow on the lives of the characters for the rest of the season. Both are examples, though, of characters who died non-magical ways and whose deaths are more shocking because of their "realness," as opposed to the myriad supernatural deaths on the show. Interestingly, Buffy's resurrection in the sixth season, an unnatural event, will prove to be just as devestating.

31GG) "He misses her. He can't think. Just a little more fallout from my love life." ASSIGNING BLAME: Another clue that Buffy still blames herself. See 29UUU.

31HH) "Dog spit is cleaner than human." DOG EAT DOG: The validity of this statement has become quite a subject of controversy among veteranarians. "In case you thought this to be a totally frivolous investigation, veterinarian Dr. Tjeerdo Polderman actually studied the issue in university (on the basis that he would inevitably be asked the question)...'It's like comparing apples to oranges," he stated. "Not many of the bugs in a dog's mouth are of any danger to humans, although they may be dangerous or infectious to other dogs. The real dangers are posed from the mouth of an animal of the same species.' For that reason, Dr. Polderman explained, he would rather be bitten by a dog than a human -- and having sustained several dog bites over the course of his career, he knows what he's talking about...Canine behaviourist Ann Jackson also examined the question while studying microbiology. One of her assignments required her to collect smears from the mouths of several species of mammal including dogs and humans. While the swab from the dog's mouth took three days to grow a bacterial culture, the swab from the human's mouth sprouted a growth within only 24 hours.

Good grief, Charlie Brown. Snoopy's kiss is cleaner than Schroeder's? Poor Lucy...As with all great scientific debates, one must allow room for some amount of old-fashioned common sense. You're probably taking all this with a grain of salt, thinking about the bizarre hygiene habits of our canine friends. Dr. Polderman did acknowledge dogs' shortcomings in this department. 'Humans don't lick their behind or have uncontrolled worm infestations,' Dr. Polderman rightly observed adding that our personal hygiene habits tend to keep the amount of bacteria in our mouths under control. But, he added, toothpaste and mouthwash kill some of the good bacteria in our mouths leaving behind the more resistant bacteria. In a dog's mouth, it's more of a free-for-all where good bacteria is left to duke it out with the bad bacteria -- nature's own Listerine...After talking to the experts and weighing the facts, the next time my dog displays a burst of saliva-coated affection towards our littlest family member, I'll be able to say with some comfort and authority: 'You know, a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's.'"--from http://www.nsnews.com/issues98/w110998/mouth.html

31II) "Your dreams are getting wicked accurate, Buff." DREAM A LITTLE DREAM: See 1D.

31JJ) "He looks so normal on this picture. He was smart, too. He made the honor roll." LOOKING NORMAL: This is often said when a person turns out to be a murderer--he looked so nice and normal, he was polite, a good student, etc.--as if all murderers look like monsters, to match their deeds. The frightening truth is most people who give in to their most forbidden, primal desires, like murderers, look like the rest of us.

31KK) "He's a murderer and he should pay for it." UNFORGIVING BUFFY: "She is falling into the destructive pattern represented by the James/Grace tale, of pain, lashing out, destruction, blame and self-hate. Although she has not yet killed Angelus, she knows in her heart she will have to, and deep down she knows that her feelings for him will not end, any more than James' have for Grace. Unable to hate him, she will hate herself."--MsGiles, Wed, 05/07/03 at 06:53:11

31LL) "The quality of mercy is not Buffy." SHAKESPEAREAN LINKAGE: "From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice:

'The quality of mercy is not strained,
It falleth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes....
(Act IV, Sc. 1, ll. 184-187.)--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24

31MM) "Do you realize that the girls have to ask the guys? And pay and everything?" NON-PROGRESSIVE CORDY: "Up until Xander, Cordy seemed pretty definite about deciding who she dated, she hasn't exactly been a shrinking violet. It's probably the financial aspect that bugs her the most. Cordy likes the power she wields over boys due to her looks and wealthy family, and sees being served and paid for as part of the price she can exact with that power."--MsGiles, Fri, 05/09/03 at 04:14:32

31NN) "Obviously, some hairy-legged feminist." XANDER, BEING ALL IRONICAL: "Xander attributes this view to Cordy, rather than espousing it himself: sometimes he's more enlightened than she in respect of gender issues.

Hairy legs: the (initially mainly Euro/American) feminist movement, originating in the late 19th century, campaigned (in the context of enfranchisment debates and the abolition of slavery) for women to have equal political and economic rights with men. In 60s and 70s the emphasis shifted: with political but not financial equality achieved, and in a culture increasingly dominated by the visual media, the objectification of women through their visual presentation in advertising, fashion and the media was identified as a site to continue the debates. As part of an effort to get women to be taken more seriously in work (to be paid equally, accepted as managers, and allowed into traditionally male areas of work) campaigners like Germaine Greer pushed for a revision of the female image, advising a rejection of clothing and cosmetics (and body hair shaving) which constructed women as sexual objects, and thereby allowed men to trivialise and dismiss them. The backlash, 'post-feminism', regarded these views as embarrassing, naive and outdated, and suggested that women could make change on the basis of merit and hard work alone. In Cordy's case, she's fine with the way things are."--MsGiles, Fri, 05/09/03 at 04:14:32

31OO) "Well, we need to nip this thing in the bud." IDIOM TIME: "This phrase 'comes from gardening & means to cut something off before it can develop into full flower.'"--MaeveRigan, Tues, 05/06/03 at 14:11:44

31PP) "We're on a Hellmouth. Sooner or later, people are gonna figure that out." SUNNYDALE CONSPIRACY THEORIES: "This is our first hint that Snyder is more than the average jerk principal. He knows about the evil but acts to suppress that knowledge."--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24 See 1Z, 6II, 9T, 15Lx4, 31QQ, 34LLL, 42XX and 42YY.

31QQ) "...with the Mayor." SUNNYDALE CONSPIRACY THEORIES: This is our first proof that the Mayor of Sunnydale is fully aware of it being a Hellmouth and our first indication that the Mayor may not be such a nice guy. Mayor Richard Wilkins will be the Big Bad of Season Three. See 1Z, 6II, 9T, 15Lx4, 31PP, 34LLL, 42XX and 42YY.

31RR) "I've done some homework and found the only solution is the final solution." OOPS!: "This seems strange coming from Willow, the only major Jewish character. The ‘Final Solution’ was the Nazi solution to the 'Jewish Problem’: genocide. Maybe she's too young to make the connection, but the meaning of the phrase is pretty well known, & Willow is so well informed about so many subjects that it's hard to believe she wouldn't realize the implications."--anom, Tues, 05/16/03 at 00:30:13

31SS) "Nuke the school?" FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: All in good time, Xander. All in good time. This actually will occur during the climactic events of Graduation Day II.

31TT) "I saw that movie! Even the priest died." POP CULTURE TIME: "A reference to the movie The Exorcist, starring Linda Blair. Max von Sydow played the priest."--Sophist, Mon, 05/05/03, at 20:28:24

31UU) "We need to create a Mangus-tripod." BUFFYVERSE METAPHYSICS: "The purpose of the 'Mangus-tripod' is to bind the spirit --to keep it from doing harm. Willow , Xander, and Cordelia go to positions around the school that create a triangle. Buffy goes to the balcony where Grace died--James' 'hot spot'. At midnight, each lights a candle and recites: 'I shall confront and expel all evil, out of marrow and bone, out of house and home, never to come here again.'"--Masquerade, "I Only Have Eyes For You" Analysis, from http://www.atpobtvs.com

31VV) "I made us all scapulas." MAGICKALLY INCLINED: "...'scapulars,' defined at m-w.com as 'a: a long wide band of cloth with an opening for the head worn front and back over the shoulders as part of a monastic habit; b: a pair of small cloth squares joined by shoulder tapes and worn under the clothing on the breast and back as a sacramental and often also as a badge of a third order or confraternity.'...Willow's scapulars...are 'b', with the spell-recipe stuff (incl. smelly sulfur) sewn into the squares. That description sounds somewhat like the 'breastplate' that held the Urim & Thumim, described in [the Old Testament book,] Leviticus as part of what the High Priest wore for sacrificial services, which may be the origin of 'scapular' as a religious garment."--anom, Tues, 05/16/03 at 00:30:13

"Scapulars are still worn by very religious Catholics. I wore one growing up. Usually there are two images on the string, one of which lies on your back and the other on your chest...The [nuns] told us kids all sort of (rather unlikely) stories about the protective qualities of scapular. (Strangely, many of these centered around the Holocaust. I have no idea what to make of that.) The scapular was supposedly given to a St. Simon (there were many) by the Virgin Mary. The biggest story about the scapular was that if you used the sacramental in the proper way (wore it continuously, had in blessed by a priest when you first put it on, didn't commit any mortal sins), you would go straight to Heaven when you died, skipping that pesky Purgatory thing! entirely. (There were a few other things that bestowed this rather remarkable benefit, like doing the Stations of the Cross right before you kicked the bucket.) Of course, post-Vatican II these sorts of things were supposed to be downplayed (they couldn't exactly go back on them entirely), but it's not easy to change the habits and beliefs of a few million people with just a say-so, particularly when the majority of teachers and religious are, well, really old. Needless to say, I and the other more anxious children, clung to our scapulars like venial-sin-lifejackets."--dream of the consortium, Fri, 05/09/03 at 09:12:29

Part Two