36A) Dead Man's Party. MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "The title of this episode is most likely taken from the Oingo Boingo song, and album, of the same name. Oingo Boingo, the quintessential quirky New Wave '80's band, is probably best known these days as the starting point for movie score composer Danny Elfman.
Dead Man's Party
by Oingo Boingo
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder
Waiting for an invitation to arrive
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive
CHORUS:
I was struck by lighting
Walkin' down the street
I was hit by something last night in my sleep
It's a dead man's party
Who could ask for more
Everybody's comin', leave your body at the door
Leave your body and soul at the door...
(Don't run away it's only me)
All dressed up with nowhere to go
Walkin' with a dead man
Waitin' for an invitation to arrive
With a dead man...Dead Man...
Got my best suit and my tie
Shiny silver dollar on either eye
I hear the chauffeur comin' to the door
Says there's room for maybe just one more . . .
CHORUS"--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 11:45:50
Some of the occurrences in the episode match the song's lyrics. I was struck by lightning, walking down the street. I was hit by something last night in my sleep..."Note, one of the people we're shown turning into a zombie is a burn victim, and one is hit by Giles as he's driving to the Summers house. Of course, the guy Giles hits is most likely already zombified, but still. He is 'struck' while 'walking down the street.'"--Anneth, Fri, 06/20/03 at 12:00:01
Teaser
36B) "Oh! Buffy." UNDER PRESSURE: Obviously, things are not yet back to normal in the Summers home since Buffy's return. There is a palpable tension in the house, to the point that just hearing Buffy enter the room startles Joyce.
36C) "It's angry at the room, Mom. It wants the room to suffer." INTUITIVE BUFFY: As usual, Buffy's suspicions end up being correct. Obviously, here she's just responding to the mask's angry face, but she certainly is right about its evillness.
36D) "You have no appreciation of primitive art." HERE AND NOW BUFFY: This ties in to the fact that, much like Spike, Buffy does not go for tradition or history. As Giles said about Buffy in the first season episode, Angel, "She lives very much in the 'now', um, and, uh, history, of course, is, is very much about the, uh... the 'then' (see 7LL)."
36E) "You going out?" FORESHADOWY GOODNESS: This soon after Buffy's return, Joyce is worried about letting Buffy out of the house, not knowing if she'll take off again and not come back. A fear that proves to not be completely unwarranted later in the episode (see 36SSS).
36F) "I-I just want to put this whole thing behind us, get back to normal." MAIN THEME FROM "DEAD MAN'S PARTY": "This desire is expressed a lot throughout the episode. The trouble is that no one knows what normal is anymore. No one wants to acknowledge that everything has changed."--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
36G) Xander is taken completely by surprise and just stares back at her. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, the teaser ended here, and Act One picked up with Buffy's next line.--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36H) "Didn't anyone ever warn you about playing with pointy sticks?" FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "...she smiles at Xander, unable to contain how glad she is to see him."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36I) "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." FORESHADOWY SADNESS: "The ouchiest foreshadowing ever. Not so funny now, hey? Poor old Xander."--Tchaikovsky, Fri, 06/20/03 at 06:34:53
36J) "Jeez, Buff!" FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "He opens his arms and they move to HUG EACH OTHER. It's about to be a nice moment, but suddenly A PISSED OFF VAMPIRE TACKLES XANDER."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36K) "Nighthawk?" FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Buffy looks down and sees A FISHER PRICE STYLE WALKIE TALKIE affixed to Xander's belt. She glances back at him - dubious."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
IDIOM TIME: "'Nighthawk' [or 'night owl] is a term for someone who likes to stay up late." Edward Hopper's famous painting of people eating, late at night, in an all-night diner, is entitled Nighthawks.--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18, partial paraphrasing and small additions by Rob
POP CULTURE TIME: 'Nighthawk' is also the name of a Marvel Comics character: "Created as a sort of anti-Batman in Daredevil #62 (March 1970) by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, Nighthawk started out as spoiled millionare Kyle Richmond, who turned to magical self-enhancement and a life of crime out of sheer boredom. Eventually, Richmond turned over a new leaf and wound up joining The Defenders, a loosely-aligned supergroup featuring such Marvel stalwarts as Doctor Strange and the Hulk. In the mid-70s, Defenders writer Steve Gerber used Richmond's alienation as a central focus in his wildly eccentric tales of existential angst, absurdist superhero smash-em-ups and interlocking criminal conspiracy theories (with several potential world-dominating villains working at cross-purposes). Richmond was killed off in the mid-80s by writer J. Marc DeMatteis (Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams)--but no good (or even bad) superhero ever stays dead. He was revived for his own 2000 miniseries, and I think he's back with the Defenders again. Joss, Marvel Comics fan supreme, must have taken his inspiration from old Bird Nose (the Hulk's nickname for Nighthawk)."--cjl, Mon, 06/23/03 at 09:40:53
BIRDWATCHING: "Nighthawks are fascinating birds but not hawks. They can be seen at dusk catching flying insects in a display of aerial acrobatics that would humble a Frigate Bird. I don't know their range but I've seen them in Northwest Wyoming and Southeast New Mexico. It may be a stretch to suggest that this is a foreshadowing of Xander's bug eating in Buffy vs Dracula. Nighthawks are related to whippoorwills. Xander being a poor whipping boy with a friend called Will is probably a coincidence. They're also called goat-suckers."--tost, Wed, 07/02/03 at 14:17:54
36L) "Hey, guys." BUFFY RETURNS: "The gang is on the ground while Buffy stands above them. She is playing her part, coming in and rescuing them, however one can sense the resentment on the Scoobies’ part. With this gesture she has exposed their incompetence, showing that for all their codenames and strategies they could never be as good as Buffy."--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
36M) They just keep staring back. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, we see the Scoobies move over to greet Buffy after this encounter, but the decision to have the teaser end here increases the awkwardness of the situation and shows the underlying tension that will erupt later in the episode. All is not right, and the gang just standing and staring at Buffy, not moving in to hug or anything, underlines that and makes for a very tight teaser.--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
Act One
36N) "Mad? Just because you ran away and abandoned your post and your friends and your mom and made him lay awake every night worrying about you?" BUBBLING TO THE SURFACE: Xander's sarcastic line here, the bitterness of which is slightly tempered by humor, foreshadows the scene later at the party where he will let all of his feelings out at her, without any niceties. See 36WWW.
36O) His face remains expressionless for a long moment. LINKAGE: Giles' reaction to Buffy's return mirrors Joyce's almost exactly, emphasizing his status as Buffy's father figure. See 35Kx4.
36P) "How, how did you find her?" WORD TWISTINESS: A great example of Buffy not understanding a British turn-of-phrase of Giles'. By "how did you find her," Giles meant, "In what condition was she when you found her?" or "How did she take your return?" Buffy misunderstands, thinking Giles is asking how she was able to find her.
36Q) "Hey, so you're not wanted for murder anymore." SUBTLETY: The off-hand way he imparts this information to Buffy is not just an example of classic, understated Oz (see 16RR), but also a nice metanarration on the fact that the importance of Buffy's possible imprionment as a plot device is no longer necessary, and so, instead of spending an unnecessarily long amount of screen time in detailing the police's decision to drop the charges against Buffy, the issue is quickly resolved. Because the tumultuous emotions surrounding Buffy's return are much more interesting to the writers.
36R) "I think the relevant question is why wouldn't you? Bel-gium!" POP CULTURE META: "Xander's comment to Buffy about Belgium may have been a reference to the movie If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium, since BtVS moved to Tuesday the previous year."--tost, Sun, 06/22/03 at 15:42:28
36S)
He smiles as he listens to the conversation in the living room, pleased that
they are getting along so well again so quickly. FROM THE ORIGINAL
SHOOTING SCRIPT: The original script makes it clear, and it comes across
on screen this way as well, that Giles is not so much pleased at the conversation
per se, as the transcript suggests, but at hearing Buffy's laughter. Hearing
her so at ease and carefree for a brief moment gives him hope that everything
will return back to normal, smoothly, soon.--"Dead Man's Party"
by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire
Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36T)
Giles shakes himself out of his reverie and puts his glasses back on. FROM
THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Hidden from the others by a cabinet,
they do not see Giles' mask fall for a moment. He fights tears, his relief is
palpable. But...he pulls it together. Puts his WASP face back on as he moves
back into the...LIVING ROOM."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti
Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
The Script Book, Season Three, Volume
36U) "This whole Rambo thing is over. I'm thinking more sporty, like Hilfiger maybe." POP CULTURE TIME: "Is the whole Rambo thing so over that we need to annotate it? The Rambo movies began with the 1982, First Blood, which was successful enough to spawn the really big hit, Rambo: First Blood, Part II, which made the crazed [and incredibly violent] Vietnam vet character played by Sylvester Stallone an international pop-culture icon, but not one most of us really want our children to emulate. There was also Rambo III in 1987. Notice that no-one has written a book entitled What Would Rambo Do? Tommy Hilfiger is an over-rated fashion designer whose line of clothing prominently displays his name and has been an essential part of high school and college wardrobes for several years."--MaeveRigan, Mon, 06/23/03 at 12:15:13
36V) "You wish." BONDAGE FUN: "More retrospective foreshadowing of Xander's interest in 'bondage fun,' which will eventually lead him to an almost disastrous stringing up over the Seal of Danzalthar over the Hellmouth in season 7's First Date."--MaeveRigan, Mon, 06/23/03 at 12:15:13
36W) Snyder looks at Joyce and Buffy intently from behind the desk. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "CLOSE ON JOYCE Who...is sporting a stern and intimidating 'Mom Face'."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36X) "I have not only the right, but also a nearly physical sensation of pleasure at the thought of keeping her out of school. I'd describe myself as tingly." RAT BASTARD: Snyder is apparently still high on the power of having had Buffy expelled in Becoming II (see 34III).
36Y) "I noticed as I came in this morning that Hot Dog on a Stick is hiring. You will look so cute in that hat." FORESHADOWY BADNESS: "A bit of foreshadowing for the similarly initialed episode Doublemeat Palace, which of course featured Buffy in an infamous hat. This dire fear of the service industry is something that comes up again for Xander in season 4 and of course in season 6 for Buffy. I might suggest that it represents a very middle class fear of sliding down the socio-economic ladder, except having worked some of these jobs, I’d agree with the fear."--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
36Z) "This isn't over. If I have to, I'll go all the way to the Mayor." THE MAYOR: Another subtle reference to the Mayor, whose involvement with and/or knowledge of the supernatural evils in Sunnydale was first hinted at in I Only Have Eyes For You (see 31QQ). Of course, the Mayor will be the Big Bad of Season Three. Incidentally, Joyce will finally go "all the way to the Mayor" when she heads MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Occult) in Gingerbread.
36AA) "Wouldn't that be interesting." FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: In the original script, this is followed by an amusing short scene, that expands on Joyce's "rodent man" comment later (see 15CC and 36NN), and foreshadows Giles' brave stand at the end:
GILES: Well. How did it go?
JOYCE: (furious) Have you ever noticed his teeth? They're like tiny, little rodent teeth.GILES: Oh, dear...
JOYCE: Horrible gnashing little teeth. You just want to pull them out with pliers.
GILES: Perhaps there's some way he can be over-ruled..."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36BB) She checks her watch, and then lets her arms droop, disappointed. She walks over to a bench and sits down to watch and wait for her friend. She watches all the people going by. Her expression starts to get sad and a little bit annoyed as she checks her watch again. ABANDONMENT: Willow explains her reason for standing Buffy up here later in the episode. To some (myself included), her explanation really helped in allowing the audience to understand (if not condone) her actions; to others, she came off as selfish and self-absorbed. See 36PPP.
36CC) "Oh, I'm Pat..." WHAT'S IN A NAME?: This episode is "notable in part for the introduction (and later evaporation...) of the character Pat, whose platitudes are indeed, pat: (from dictionary.com: 'Pat - trite or glib; superficially complete or satisfying'.)."--Anneth, Fri, 06/20/03 at 09:17:03
POP CULTURE TIME: "One of the more famous television Pats was the recurring character Julia Sweeny created for [the popular sketch comedy series] Saturday Night Live. Her Pat was an androgynous person, in fact the whole joke was that nobody could figure out if Pat was male or female."--LadyStarlight, Fri, 06/20/03 at 18:29:25
36DD) "I, um, I sort of took it upon myself to look after her while you were...you know, off and away or what have you, and..." PATTIVE AGGRESSIVE: This is one of two barely-concealed judgmental statements of Pat's, regarding Buffy's abandonment of her mother. See 36BBB.
36EE) "Well, between, uh...your situation and reading 'Deep End of the Ocean', she was, uh, she was just a wreck. You can imagine." LITERATURE CORNER: "The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard was an Oprah's Book club selection, and concerned the kidnapping of a child and the difficulty of his return to the family years later. Pat’s right, could there be a worse book for Joyce to be reading that summer?"--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
36FF) "We never have guests for dinner. Indulge your mother?" FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: When Joyce says this, she gives the same "Mom Face" earlier described in her meeting with Snyder, but that time it wasn't so persuasive (see 36W). In the original script, Buffy asks here, "So how come that works on me - but not on other people?" Joyce replies, "It's genetic."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36GG) It's a photo of her with Willow and Xander. CONTINUITY CHECK: This now-famous photo is shown numerous times in the show's run, usually when a character is feeling sad and/or nostalgic. Usually, it is in Buffy's bedroom. What it is doing in the basement is anybody's guess!
36HH) "How about, um... Good-bye, stray cat, who lost its way. We hope you find it." DIGGING DEEPER: "Is Buffy the stray cat in this episode? Out wandering for so long and finally returning not quite the same as before."--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
36II) Once out, it continues hissing and growling as it walks off. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "INT. BUFFY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Buffy gets into bed and turns out the light - but she just lies there with her eyes open. She looks toward the window and the night shadows playing on the wall. It all looks unfamiliar, cold. INT. JOYCE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Joyce is asleep and unaware of THE MASK on her wall as IT'S EYES START TO GLOW. EXT. BACKYARD - NIGHT The ground where the stray cat lies buried MOVES. Then a PAW merges from the dirt and the CAT CRAWLS AND SCRATCHES ITS AY OUT OF THE GRAVE - A ZOMBIE PET. INT. JOYCE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Now the eyes in the mask BURN RED. EXT. BACKYARD - NIGHT The zombie cat straggles across the yard and stops under JOYCE'S BEDROOM WINDOW. It looks up toward the window and MEOWS in a discordant, otherworldly tone."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
LITERATURE CORNER: "Seems like a shout out to Stephen King’s book, Pet Semetary, which also featured a formerly dead cat returning in a stinky zombie-like manner."--ponygirl, Fri, 06/20/03 at 20:59:18
Act Two
36JJ) The school is deserted. She walks past the empty lounge toward the library. The doors are wide open, and she looks in for a moment. It's just as deserted as the rest of the school. LINKAGE: The imagery of the dream itself, empty classrooms (empty chairs at empty tables, for you Les Miserables fans) on a brightly lit day, implies Buffy's fears that the world has moved on without her. Similar imagery and symbolism will be effectively used in the seventh season's Empty Places. Later in the third season, in The Wish, the empty school is used to show that something is wrong with the world, however that scene is set in Cordelia's POV. In each case, however, it is a reflection of Buffy's emotional state (in The Wish, the alterna-Buffy is distant, cold, and cynical).
36KK) The sun shines brightly down on the quad...She stops when she sees Angel coming towards her... LINKAGE: This dream links with Buffy's dream of seeing Angel in the sunny cemetary in Innocence (see 26MM), on the beach in Anne (see 35J), and the sunlit church and its exterior in Graduation Day. Interestingly, in none of these situations does Angel combust in the direct sunlight, however in the last dream, Buffy herself does.
36LL) "You should be." HARSH REALITY: A trademark example of how the easy route is never taken on Buffy. In this dream, Angel is not kind or reassuring, as he would most likely be in real life. He is painfully honest, and almost threatening in his remark. Buffy's subconscious, as in Anne, is creating an Angel who subtly chastises Buffy for what she has done to him.
36MM) Cut to the kitchen. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "Joyce is pouring herself some coffee as Buffy looks in the fridge. The tension between them is not quite 'cut with a knife' thick - but it's getting there."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36NN) "At least he seems more reasonable than that nasty little horrid, bigoted rodent-man." LINKAGE: Add Joyce's line to the proud Sunnydale tradition of referring to Snyder as a rodent. This line was also a follow-up to an earlier joke that appeared only in the original shooting script of this episode. See 15CC and 36AA.
36OO) "Care to throw in a little foot-binding?" HISTORICAL GOODNESS: Chinese foot-binding is known as of one of history's most egregious cases of female subordination: "So exactly what is foot binding? In a nutshell it was an attempt to stop the growth of the feet. It usually began somewhere between the ages of four and seven. Possibly even later if the family was poor and needed their daughter to do work around the house or farm. A bandage, ten feet long and two inches wide was wrapped tightly around the foot, forcing the four small toes under the sole of the foot. This made the feet narrower but at the same time it made the feet shorter because it also forced the big toe and the heel closer together by bowing the arch of the foot. The bandage was tightened each day and the girl was put into progressively smaller and smaller sized shoes. The entire process usually took about two years at the end of which the feet were essentially dead and utterly useless. Binding the feet was the easy part, being bent so out of shape the feet required lots of core. Thc feet had to be washed and manicured on a daily basis. If they weren't manicured properly the toe nails could cut into the instep and infection could set in. If the bindings were too tight they could cut off circulation which could lead to gangrene and blood poisoning. The feet had to be massaged and given hot and cold compresses to help relieve the pain and help improve circulation. If all this isn't bad enough, corns would develop on the toes that were bent under and would have to be cut off with a knife. But wait! It gets worse! With the lack of circulation flesh would rot and fall off and sometimes the toes would ooze pus. The pain was said to have been excruciating especially if this process was begun at a later age. The ideal foot would fit into a shoe only three to four inches long. A Chinese saying says, 'Every pair of small feet costs a bath (kang) of tears'. It is difficult to imagine the suffering that these women had to endure...Foot binding began late in the T'ang Dynasty (618-906) and it gradually spread through the upper class during the Song Dynasty (960-1297). During the Ming period (1368-1644) and the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) the custom of foot binding spread through the overwhelming majority of the Chinese population until it was finally outlawed in the 1911 Revolution of Sun Yat-Sen. In fact, the only peoples to avoid this custom were the Manchu conquerors, The Hakka Chinese migrant groups in south China and the mean people, the lowest class of people in China who were below the social norms. The practice of foot binding lasted for approximately one thousand years. During this time, approximately one billion women had their feet bound...
Foot binding stopped concubines and wives of the rich from straying or running away from beatings. Confucian teachings at this time stressed the superior status of men over women as a basic element of social order and this was certainly an effective method of restraint. Foot binding began as a luxury among the rich; it made the women more dependant on others and less useful around the house. This was especially hard on the poor who needed help around the house or farm. It soon became a prerequisite for marriage. It was even a just reason for a man to call off marriage if he found out that the woman that had been arranged for him to marry did not have bound feet. It came that foot binding was the only right thing to do for a daughter. Many lower class families who really could not afford to bind their daughters feet, due to the loss of labor she would have contributed to the family, did so an anyway in hopes that she would be able to 'marry up' into the middle class. It is sad because there are very few accounts of women who were successful. These women would end up suffering trying to work in the fields tottering on their bound feet. A mother was obligated to bind her daughters feet or she almost certainly would never get married. The bound foot woman had to walk with all of her weight on her heels and tottered as she walked. This was considered very charming, since a bound foot woman was largely restricted to her home, bound feet became a symbol of chastity. The thinking was that the bound foot, once it was formed, could not be unlocked like a chastity belt...
Speaking of chastity, bound feet became a major erotic zone...It was believed that the way foot binding made a woman walk strengthened the vagina and made it more narrow. The girls' buttocks and 'jade gate' were believed to develop to such a degree that she could grip her husbands 'jade spear' more tightly. It was also thought that with the smaller feet the nerves were more concentrated and that this made them a major erogenous zone. Poetry and writings from this period express a great infatuation even an obsession bordering on perversion, for small feet. There was also a large number of pornographic paintings and engravings with scenes of men fondling women's feet. It's no wonder that men were so adamant about their wives having bound feet...In 1895, the first anti-foot binding society was formed in Shanghai. Soon after branches of the anti-foot binding society began to form in other major cities and across the country. The main point of the anti-foot binding society was that the pain a woman went through in the foot binding process and through her life was an obstacle to her education. Society members would not bind their daughters feet and would register with the society the names and ages of all their children. This way all registered members were able to find mates for their children. Registered members were not allowed to let their children marry women with bound feet. They were allowed to many nonmembers but only if they did not have bound feet. Finally in 1911 with the revolution of Sun Yat-Sen foot binding was officially outlawed. Thus, the end of foot binding was at hand."--Information taken from http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html
36PP) "Buffy, you made some bad choices. You just might have to live with some consequences." META: Almost certainly unintentional, but both Choices and Consequences are the names of later season three episodes.
36QQ) "I just wish you didn't have to be so secretive about things. I mean, it's not your fault you have a special circumstance. They should make allowances for you." LINKAGE: Funnily enough, Joyce's attitude here is similar to Cordy's neo-Fascist dogma she expressed in Ted (see 23RRR).
36RR) "Mom, I'm a Slayer. It's not like I need to ride a little bus to school." SPECIAL NEEDS: Buffy is referring to the fact that, in many public school systems, the "special ed" students, or developmentally and/or physically disabled students are driven to school in small buses, to accommodate their special needs.
36SS) "Is that the right term? I mean, it's not offensive, is it?" PC: The concept of political correctness is being parodied here. See 13VV.
36TT) "Welcome to the Hellmouth Petting Zoo." LINKAGE: Buffy, Willow, and Xander visited the Hellmouth Zoo in The Pack (see 6A).
36UU) "You know, I wanted Forest Pine or April Fresh, but Mom wanted Dead Cat." PUNGENT AROMAS: Buffy is riffing on different scents in which household deoderizing sprays, such as Lysol, are available.
36VV) Oz is inspecting it closely, apparently not bothered by its stench. WOLFY OZ: The fact that Oz isn't bothered by the smell is in most likelihood a residual werewolf affect. In Lovers Walk, it is confirmed that he has a strong, wolf-enhanced sense of smell, even when he is not in wolf form.
36WW) "It looks dead. It smells dead. Yet it's movin' around. That's interesting." THE WONDER OF OZ: Another ingeniously succinct Ozism.
36XX) "...USA Today..." POP CULTURE TIME: USA Today is the most popular international American newspaper, known for being the only major newspaper to use color print, in its photos and numerous polls and graphs.
36YY) "I'm the dip." THAT'S PUNNY: Cordelia unwittingly becomes the butt of her own joke. She is, of course, telling them that she is bringing dip (the food) to the party, but is literally saying she is the dip, which is slang for idiot.
36ZZ) "And what'll we talk about at a gathering anyway? 'So, Buffy, did you meet any nice pimps on your travels? And oh, by the by, thanks for ruining our lives for the past three months.'" INSENSITIVE XANDER: This is one of the more overtly nasty things Xander says in the run of the show. Whether you believe it to be forgivable or not depends on where your sympathies lie in the argument: (a) with Buffy (in other words, she did nothing wrong; her friends are selfish and mean); (b) with the Scoobies (in other words, Buffy abandoned them, and they have every right to be angry at her); or (c) both sides are equally to blame, both said and did awful things to each other. For more on this debate, see 36WWW.
36AAA) "She doesn't want to talk about it, we don't want to talk about it, so why don't we just shut up and dance?" POP CULTURE TIME: "Shut Up and Dance is probably a reference to the 1990 Paula Abdul album of the same name, though it's also a record label and a song by the band Liberty X."--Anneth, Mon, 06/23/03 at 10:50:57
36BBB) "Not thinking about more flights of fancy, I hope." STRIKE TWO: The second, even less thinly veiled moment of bitchery on Pat's part. See 36DD.
36CCC) "MOM!" SHALLOW NOTE: As it plays on the screen, this is one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's most perfect moments of comedy on the show, with brilliant timing and execution. This is echoed later at the end of Buffy Vs. Dracula.
36DDD) Lots of people are there, and the party is in full swing. FROM THE ORIGINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT: "DINGOES ATE MY BABY jam in the living room. There are too many people - most of whom Buffy doesn't even know - crammed into the room. It's a weird vibe. Buffy wanders, not knowing what to do with herself."--"Dead Man's Party" by Marti Noxon, available through Pocketbooks Inc. as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Script Book, Season Three, Volume 1
36EEE) Dingoes Ate My Baby are set up in the corner of the living room and are playing "Never Mind". MUSICALLY SPEAKING: Interesting song choice here. The title suits the as-of-yet unspoken tension between the Scoobies and Buffy perfectly, and the denial on their part that there is a problem. The lyrics also have "overtones of foreshadowing, of Seasons 5, 6, and 7:
You can send me a savior
That lives till the end of time
The promise of heaven
But that only leaves me dry
Too many saviors
And I won't die
I never cried, but I needed more from you
I found my life without you now
And I never mind
I'm only half as blind
Isn't it interesting how those few lyrics can be interpreted to foreshadow Buffy's Season 5 death, Season 6 resurrection, alienation, and Season 7 emotional distancing, eventual power-sharing ('too many saviors/and I won't die') and...uh...Xander's casualty?"--Anneth, Mon, 06/23/03 at 10:50:57
36FFF) "I-I was just sort of hoping it would be...us." WHAT BUFFY WANTS: This line is extremely important, because it is confirmed here that when the Scoobies earlier decided that Buffy would rather have a loud party than a quiet evening to talk with her friends, they were actually projecting their own discomfort on her.
36GGG) "That's why, with the party, 'cause we're all glad you're back." SCOOBY SPEAK: See 13CCC and 35G.
36HHH) "I got another rope over me / But I won't hang / I can feel you covet my faith..." MUSICALLY SPEAKING: "Four Star Mary song Sway, played by Dingos at Buffy's party. Faith, of course, is introduced in the very next episode, wherein the Scoobs become enamored of her and Buffy becomes jealous."--Anneth, Mon, 06/23/03 at 10:50:57
36III) "Except you were kinda turning me on with that whole Boy Slayer look." MALE SLAYER?: This line later set off an on-line rumor that Xander would one day become a male Slayer. Joss has snickered at the idea.
36JJJ) "Having Buffy home, I-I thought it was gonna make it all better, but in some ways, it's almost worse." CONTINUITY CHECK: Overhearing the worst possible part of a conversation seems to be a Summers family trait. In Blood Ties, Dawn overhears Buffy saying to Joyce, "It won't matter because she's not real. We're not her family. We don't even know what she is," and does not realize that Buffy was actually only voicing Dawn's feelings to Joyce, not saying that they were true.