Line callbacks

[Afterthebattle]

We had a thread like this on the old SlayAlive. It was originally created by tkts (now known as hawkeye). I thought it was very interesting.

A lot of lines are repeated in the Buffyverse. Which ones are repeated deliberately?

I remember we talked about the "Spike is not my boyfriend"-thing, which is definitely repeated on purpose:

Blood Ties
Glory: He wakes up; tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth.
Buffy: He is NOT my boyfriend.

Gone
Ms. Kroger: Um, Miss Summers, if you and your boyfriend would like to-
Buffy: He is NOT- ... not my, my boyfriend,

Seeing Red
Buffy: ... She was hurting and she did this really stupid thing.
Xander: With your boyfriend.
Buffy: He's not my boyfriend.

Sleeper
Bouncer: This guy your boyfriend or something?
Buffy: No, I-I just—I need to find him, as soon as possible.

Chosen
Buffy: You're not getting the brush off. Are you just gonna come here and go all Dawson on me every time I have a boyfriend?
Angel: Aha! (points) Boyfriend!
Buffy: He's not. But...he is in my heart.

What lines do you remember?

EDIT: There's also a scene from The Harsh Light of Day where Parker asks if Buffy and Spike used to go out. Pretty funny in hindsight:

Parker: It's okay. You did a good thing for your friend. Did uh, you and he use to go out?

Short burst of hysterical laughter from Buffy. She stops abruptly.

Buffy: Um, no. No we really, really didn't.

[Brian]

One that sticks out is "Guns--these things? Never useful" or something like that.

[Just Willow]

I just remember Andrew's lines where he says something and someone else is like "show me" and he says "well, I didn't buy them, but....." "SHOW ME THE KNIFE"

I think he does that with Warren as the First, and with Anya while robbing the hospital and I think there's another one...

[TabulaRasa]

I'm pretty sure that every time willow is evil or undead or something she says "Bored now." at least once. I know she does it both times we see her as a vamp and I kind of recall her saying it when she goes all Black Willow.

[Just Willow]

I love her saying "Bored now". SO badass, yet such a simple line.

[Styx]

"Bored Now" my favourite line from Willow, I think it was said in 'The Wish'.

[Chain]

Here are some of the one's I added on the old thread.

Get out get out GET OUT!: This line was obviously said by Dawn but it was also said by Glory in The Weight of the World. (I don't think this line was deliberate)

Just a Girl: This line was used by that army guy and Adam/Spike in Yoko Factor and again by the boy in the alley in the beginning of The Gift. Both times, each character was referring to Buffy. (Definitely deliberate)

I'm not getting any older: Angel said this line in both Consequences & Chosen. (not certain)

And I think I'm kinda gay: was said by Willow in both Doppelgangland and Tabula Rasa. (not certain)

The earth is doomed: was said by Giles in both The Harvest and Chosen. (Definitely deliberate)

You're a hell of a woman: was told to Buffy by Riley in As You Were and Spike in Touched. I don't know if this line was intentional or not. (not certain)


Here's a new one I remember...

I'd like to test that theory: was said by Giles in Two to Go and again by Willow in season 8. (Definitely deliberate)

[Just Willow]

Nice, Chain. I never even thought of most of those!

[Hawkeye]

This isn't a direct callback, but I just realized while writing a post in the thread about "The Gift" as a series finale that Dawn's final line of the series -- "Yeah, Buffy, what are we gonna do now?" is reminiscent in some ways of her "Where do we go from here?" in OMWF. Only this time, instead of plaintive and a little hopeless, it's full of hope and possibility.

[Jess]

Here endeth the lesson.
It was said 3 times in the series. Once by the Master in season 1. Second by Spike in Fool For Love, and Buffy in Showtime.

[Chain]

It's about power: Was said by Buffy, The First and Dark Willow. I forgot the episodes each was said in. (Definitely deliberate)

[Afterthebattle]

This is not exactly a callback, but the style is similar.

Buffy season 6 - Smashed:

BUFFY: Hi. How've you been?

AMY: Rat. You?

BUFFY: Dead.

AMY: Oh.


Angel season 4 - Orpheus:

WILLOW: How've you been?

CORDELIA (JASMINE): Higher power. You?

WILLOW: Ultimate evil. But I got better.

[Crazy for BtVS]

"The hardest thing in this world is to live in it." -- Said by Buffy to Dawn in 'The Gift', then said by Dawn in 'OMWF'. That one always sticks out in my mind.

[Chain]

I'm reading S8 and I just came across another one.

Summers, you drive like a spaz: was said by Fray in Time of Your Life. I believe it was Part 3 and of course it was said by Snyder in Band candy.

[JDP]

I just remember Andrew's lines where he says something and someone else is like "show me" and he says "well, I didn't buy them, but....." "SHOW ME THE KNIFE"

I think he does that with Warren as the First, and with Anya while robbing the hospital and I think there's another one...
The other one is with Jonathan-slash-The First, in First Date.

Sooooo Andrew!


I have something that vaguely looks like a callback, but I'm really not sure it was done on purpose. I remember 2 instances and I think there's another one. It involves the panicking and hesitating Willow.
In Listening to Fear:

We can't call Buffy...
I wanna call Buffy!
(Tara) You can't.
In The Weight of the World:

I think we should move her.
Unless we shouldn't...
Should we?

Third instance, in Same Time, Same Place:

What you did?
You didn't do anything...
Did you?


Fourth instance, in Bad Girls:

She can't
You can't
Can you?


And during my last rewatch I noticed something that could be called a "shot callback" (therefore more a director thing than a writer one).
Before the said shot, Buffy is struggling badly. Sometimes very very badly.
When the shot starts there's nobody on screen, the frame is static and then we see Buffy getting up, sometimes in slow motion.
After the shot, the strong Buffy is back and kicks every ass on her way.

It happens at least in:

Bargaining (she's just gone out of her grave, totally scared, and her friends are being beaten)
Normal again (she's completely confused by her "double life" while her friends are about to be killed)
End of Days (a few scenes ago she was giving up fighting, and a bunch of potential slayers are in deep trouble in front of 3 Turok-Hans)
Chosen (she's just been stabbed and the newly called slayers are dying one by one around her)

And then, every time, my hero comes back.

[Enisy]

This isn't a direct callback, but I just realized while writing a post in the thread about "The Gift" as a series finale that Dawn's final line of the series -- "Yeah, Buffy, what are we gonna do now?" is reminiscent in some ways of her "Where do we go from here?" in OMWF.

I think that was actually a callback to Jenny's "Well, what do we do now?" in Prophecy Girl -- the last finale paying a tribute to the first finale.

Aside from that (and aside from the lines already mentioned) I can recall...

- Buffy's "Close your eyes" in Becoming #2 (callback to Darla in Becoming #1).
- Tara's "There's a world without shrimp? I'm allergic" in Triangle (callback to Anya's "You could have, like, a world without shrimp" in Superstar).
- Spike's "Father. God, how I must hate you" in Tabula Rasa (callback to Giles's "Spike's like a son to me" in Restless).
- Buffy's "Dawnie, I have to" in Dead Things (callback to The Gift).
- Spike's "Make me what I was, so Buffy can get what she deserves" in Grave (callback to and subversion of Warren's "Because you deserved it, bitch!" in Villains).
- Spike's "The thing... beneath... beneath you" in Beneath You (both the title and the line are a callback to Buffy's "You're beneath me" in Fool for Love).
- Spike's "But she'd see the sky when we were inside, and it'd make her so happy" in Selfless (callback to his "You can't see the stars, love. That's the ceiling. Also, it's day" in Innocence).
- Cassie's "You're strong, like an Amazon, remember?" in Conversations with Dead People (callback to Willow's "Strong like an Amazon?" in The Body).
- Buffy's "Is that how you say the word [nemeses]?", also from Conversations with Dead People (callback to Warren's "We're your archnemesises...es" in Gone).
- Spike's "Not as good as those onion blossom things" in Empty Places (callback to his "Especially since the flowering onion got remodeled off the sodding menu" in Crush, which in turn is a callback to "They've got this onion thing" in Triangle).
- Buffy's "I liked it better when you were kissing" in Last Gleaming #4 (callback to Always Darkest).
- Spike's "I'm fairly certain I never mentioned..." reply, also from Last Gleaming #4 (callback to his "Angel and me have never been intimate. Except that one..." in Power Play).
- Dawn's "Is this the one where Angel and Spike get it awwn?" in Last Gleaming #5 (callback to Always Darkest).
- Buffy's "Wow, thank God you've got my back" and Spike's "Well, who else does right now?" reply in Last Gleaming #5 (possible callback to her "You sent away the one person that's been watching my back" in Empty Places).
- Buffy's "Let's go to work" in Last Gleaming, Part 5 (callback to Angel in Not Fade Away).

Might think of more later. :)

[Afterthebattle]

"You're a pig, Spike". Said by Buffy in The Harsh Light of Day and in Something Blue. Probably intentional.

[Afterthebattle]

"It was the best night of my life." Spike says this in Fool for Love and End of Day. First one about killing a slayer, second one about holding a slayer, watching her sleep. Remarkable change. I don't think it's intentional, though.
Oh, and by they way ...



WILLOW: How've you been?

CORDELIA (JASMINE): Higher power. You?

WILLOW: Ultimate evil. But I got better.

Is anybody else reminded of:

She turned me into a newt!

A newt?

... I got better.

[Matt]

Afterthebattle a better call back for that is this:


Buffy - "Hi. How've ya been?"
Amy - "Rat. You?"
Buffy - "Dead."
Amy - "Oh."

[Afterthebattle]

matt114 I know, I mentioned it in the same posts I quoted from ;). Smart people think alike, huh :D? I just remembered the Monty Python quote later and thought it was similar too, maybe Monty Python was a source of inspiration ... Who knows :).

[Mike Aspinwall]

Let's go to work: Angel said it in Not Fade Away and Buffy said it in Last Gleaming.

[Afterthebattle]

I don't know if this one is intentional:

Becoming pt. 2

SPIKE: I don't want to hurt you, baby. *punches Drusilla* Doesn't mean I won't.

Two to Go

BUFFY: I don't want to hurt you.

*Willow punches Buffy*

WILLOW: Not a problem.

BUFFY: I said I didn't want to. *Punches Willow* Didn't say I wouldn't.

[Matt]

matt114 I know, I mentioned it in the same posts I quoted from ;). Smart people think alike, huh :D? I just remembered the Monty Python quote later and thought it was similar too, maybe Monty Python was a source of inspiration ... Who knows :).

whoops didn't even notice lol

[Afterthebattle]

Found another one. And this one is pretty awesome!

Halloween

Buffy returns to her old self and looks at Spike.

BUFFY: Hi, honey. I'm home.


End of Days

SPIKE: Honey, you're home.

BUFFY: Yeah.

[Chain]

Here's one I remember. One scene is from Judy in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been and the other is from Spike in Seeing Red.

Judy: "Because I'm not what I say I am. I've been passing since I was 15 years old."
Angel: "Passing?"
Judy nods: "For white. My mother was colored, my father - I didn't even know him! My blood isn't pure. - It's tainted."
Angel: "It's just blood - Judy. - It-it's all just blood."
Judy: "Nobody believes that! Not even my mother's family. I'm not one thing or the other. I'm nothing."

Spike: You know, everything always used to be so clear. Slayer. Vampire. Vampire kills Slayer, sucks her dry, picks his teeth with her bones. It's always been that way. I've tasted the life of two Slayers. But with Buffy...It isn't supposed to be this way. It's the chip. Steel and wires and silicon. It won't let me be a monster. And I can't be a man. I'm nothing.

Also remember Dawn saying "I'm nothing" in Blood Ties.

Dawn: "I'm nothing! I'm just a thing the monks made so Glory couldn't find me. I'm not real."

[TimeTravellingBunny]

We had a thread like this on the old SlayAlive. It was originally created by tkts (now known as hawkeye). I thought it was very interesting.

A lot of lines are repeated in the Buffyverse. Which ones are repeated deliberately?

I remember we talked about the "Spike is not my boyfriend"-thing, which is definitely repeated on purpose:

Blood Ties
Glory: He wakes up; tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth.
Buffy: He is NOT my boyfriend.

Gone
Ms. Kroger: Um, Miss Summers, if you and your boyfriend would like to-
Buffy: He is NOT- ... not my, my boyfriend,

Seeing Red
Buffy: ... She was hurting and she did this really stupid thing.
Xander: With your boyfriend.
Buffy: He's not my boyfriend.

Sleeper
Bouncer: This guy your boyfriend or something?
Buffy: No, I-I just—I need to find him, as soon as possible.

Chosen
Buffy: You're not getting the brush off. Are you just gonna come here and go all Dawson on me every time I have a boyfriend?
Angel: Aha! (points) Boyfriend!
Buffy: He's not. But...he is in my heart.

What lines do you remember?

EDIT: There's also a scene from The Harsh Light of Day where Parker asks if Buffy and Spike used to go out. Pretty funny in hindsight:

Parker: It's okay. You did a good thing for your friend. Did uh, you and he use to go out?

Short burst of hysterical laughter from Buffy. She stops abruptly.

Buffy: Um, no. No we really, really didn't.
It's interesting that the first time (as far as I know) that Buffy said the "He's not my boyfriend" line, it was about Angel, in season 3.

From Revelations:

Buffy: What are you guys talking about?
Oz: Oddly enough, your boyfriend. Again.
Buffy: He's not my boyfriend. Really, truly, he's... I don't know.

A few definitely intentional callbacks:

Cordelia says "Hello, salty goodness!" when she sees Angel for the first time in Never Kill A Boy on the First Date. She says it again in season 4 of AtS, when she sees Angel in Spin the Bottle when everyone has lost their memories and reverted back to their teenage selves.

Within the same episode - Buffy repeating Spike's line "You always hurt the one you love" in Dead Things, explaining how she realized that Warren was the one who killed Katrina.

From Witch - Xander asking Willow for advice on whether to ask Buffy out:

Xander: That's why you're so cool! You're like a guy! You're my guy friend that knows about girl stuff!
Willow: Oh, great. I'm a guy.

later in the same episode, drunk-like Buffy under Catherine's spell:

Buffy: I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?
Xander: I don't think it was your fault.
Buffy: Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend! (leans her head on his shoulder) Do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander?
Willow: We gotta to get her to a...
Xander: (stops Willow with a gesture) Let her speak!
Buffy: I'll tell you! You're not like other boys at all.
Xander: Well...
Buffy: You are totally, and completely one of the girls! (to Willow) I'm that comfy with him.

I don't know if this one is intentional or not, but it's certainly great (both episodes were written by Marti Noxon):

Angel breaking up with Buffy in The Prom:

Angel: You deserve more. You deserve something outside of... demons and darkness. You should have someone who can take you into the light. Someone who can make
love to you-
Buffy: I don't care about that.
Angel: You will. And children-
Buffy: Children? Can you say jumping the gun? I kill my goldfish.
Angel: Today. But you have no idea how fast it goes, Buffy. Before you know it, you'll want it all - a normal life.
Buffy: I'll never have a normal life.
Angel: Right. You'll always be a slayer. But that's all the more reason why you should have a real relationship instead of this... this freak show.

Wrecked, the morning after between Buffy and Spike:

Buffy: Shoe, need my shoe.
Spike: What's the hurry, luv?
Buffy: The hurry is I left Dawn all night. And don't call me love.
Spike: You didn't seem to take issue with that last night. Or with any of the other little nasties we whispered.
Buffy: Can we not? Talk?
Spike: I just don't see why you have to run off so quick. Thought we could-
Buffy: Not gonna happen. Last night was the end of this freak show.

Also, the beginning of that scene from Wrecked:

Buffy: When ... When did the building fall down?
Spike: I don't know. Must have been sometime between the first time and the, uh...
Buffy: Oh. Oh my God.

which is a bit similar to Spike waking up from his dream in Out of My Mind:

Spike: Oh, God, no. Please no.

I'm not sure how many people have noticed the mirrored "I love you" - "No, you don't" dialogue from Dead Things and Chosen. Actually, there are also some other similar lines like "I have to do this/I gotta do this".

Dead Things alley scene:

Spike: You're not going in there.
Buffy: I have to do this. Just let me go.
Spike: I can't. I love you.
Buffy: No, you don't!
Spike: You think I haven't tried not to?
Buffy: Try harder!

Chosen:

Spike: Go on, then.
Buffy: No! No, you’ve done enough! You could still—
Spike: No, you’ve beaten them back. It’s for me to do the
cleanup.
Faith: Buffy, come on!
Spike: Gotta move, lamb. I think it’s fair to say, school’s out for
the bloody summer.
Buffy: Spike!
Spike: I mean it! I gotta do this.
Buffy: I love you.
Spike: No, you don’t. But thanks for saying it. Now, go!

Also, talking about the alley scene, another denial - in the scene just before that Buffy told Dawn "I'm sorry" and Dawn replied "No, you're not."

Then there's also the "my girl" stuff with Faith/Angel/Spike and Buffy:

The ending of Enemies - Buffy apparently having some doubts about Angel because he's just pretended to be Angelus way too convincingly:

Angel: Is there anything I can do to make it better?
Buffy: Look, I know you only did what I asked. And we, we got what
we wanted.
Angel: I never wanted it to go that far.
Buffy: I know that. It's not even a question of that. It's just,
after ... I need a little bit of a break. Please. (walks away)
Angel: You still my girl?
Buffy: Always. (leaves)

A few episodes earlier in Consequences:

Faith: (approaches Buffy) But that's not it. That's not what bothers you so much. What bugs you is you know I'm right. You know in your gut we don't need the law. We *are* the law.
Buffy: No.
Faith: Yes. You know exactly what I'm about 'cause you have it in you, too.
Buffy: No, Faith, you're sick.
Faith: I've seen it, B. You've got the lust. And I'm not just talking about screwing vampires.
Buffy: Don't you *dare* bring him into this!
Faith: (taunting her) It was good, wasn't it? The sex? The danger? Bet a part of you even dug him when he went psycho.
Buffy: No! (continues walking)
Faith: (follows) See, you need me to toe the line because you're afraid you'll go over it, aren't you, B? You can't handle watching me living my own way, having a blast, because it tempts you! You know it could be you!
Buffy stops, faces her and backhand punches her in the jaw. Faith comes up smiling wickedly.
Faith: There's my girl.
Buffy: (tries to get away) No. I'm not gonna do this.
Faith: (doesn't let her go) Why not? It feels good. Blood rising.

A little earlier, Buffy and Faith talking about the guy Faith killed:

Buffy: (in disbelief) And that's it? You just live with it? You see the dead guy in your head every day for the rest of your life?
Faith: (steps closer) Buffy, I'm not gonna *see* anything. I missed the mark last night and I'm sorry about the guy. I really am! But it happens! Anyway, how many people do you think we've saved by now, thousands? And didn't you stop the world from ending? Because in my book, that puts you and me in the plus column.
Buffy: We help people! It doesn't mean we can do whatever we want.
Faith: Why not? The guy I offed was no Gandhi. I mean, we just saw he was mixed up in dirty dealings.
Buffy: Maybe, but what if he was coming to us for help?
Faith: What if he was? You're still not seeing the big picture, B. Something made us different. We're warriors. We're built to kill.
Buffy: To kill demons! But it does *not* mean that we get to pass judgment on people like we're better than everybody else!
Faith: We *are* better!

And in Dead Things, when Buffy thinks she's killed a human, Spike uses the same argument to stop her from going to the police:

Spike You are not throwing your life away over this.
Buffy: It's not your choice.
Spike: Why are you doing this to yourself?
Buffy: (tearful) A girl is dead because of me.
Spike: And how many people are alive because of you? How many have you saved? One dead girl doesn't tip the scale.
Buffy: That's all it is to you, isn't it? Just another body!
Spike: (sighing) Buffy-
She attacks him. He blocks a couple of punches but then she gets in and hits him in the stomach.
Buffy: You can't understand why this is killing me, can you?
Spike: Why don't you explain it?
She hits him a few more times. He takes it, not fighting back.
Spike: Come on, that's it, put it on me. Put it all on me. (She kicks him) That's my girl.
Buffy: (yelling) I am not your girl! (continuing to punch him in the face)
You don't ... have a soul! There is nothing good or clean in you. You are dead inside! You can't feel anything real! I could never ... be your girl!

"You can't feel anything real" (addressed to him or to herself?) of course calls back to the end of Once More, With Feeling:

Buffy: This isn't real, but I just want to feel...
Spike: I died so many years ago... But you can make me feel...

and at the end of Dead Things, Buffy tells Tara

Buffy: He's everything I hate. He's everything that ... I'm supposed to be against. But the only time that I ever feel anything is when... Don't tell anyone, please.

Later in Entropy she insists again, to Spike, that those feelings (his or hers? It's not that clear here) are not "real":

Spike: I've tried to make it clear to you, but you won't see it. Something happened to me. The way I feel ... about you ... it's different. And no matter how hard you try to convince yourself it isn't, it's real.
Buffy: I believe it is. For you.

And this one is just so awesome that I wrote an LJ entry about it (http://boot-the-grime.livejournal.com/1786.html). It struck me when I watched AtS Waiting in the Wings, which originally aired just a day before Dead Things, that the scene between the Prima Ballerina (who felt stuck and going through the motions even before she literally was made to repeat the same performance every night) and her lover Stefan (that Cordelia and Angel re-enact when they're possessed by their spirits) is basically a hyper-romanticized version of S6 Spuffy.
Focus just on the lines that come from the two dead people in the Cordy/Angel scene:

(They're in Prima Ballerina's dressing room. Cordelia says: She would wait for him here.)
I want you... to undress me. It's just another costume. I want you to see who I really am. You're the only one who can.
[Stefan] Is that what you want?
[Ballerina] Please, I...
[Stefan] You want me to make love to you right here?
[Ballerina] You know I do.
[Stefan] (moving closer to her now) But you're afraid.
[Ballerina] (worried) What if he finds us?
[Stefan] I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything.
CORDELIA: (in a husky whisper) [B]I'm only alive... when you're inside me.

Which recalls Buffy singing in OMWF: "I just want to be alive" and is practically the same thing Buffy says in Dead Things, that she only ever feels something when she's having sex with Spike: "But the only time that I ever feel anything is when..."

Season 8 comics feature a lot of callbacks.

I'm pretty sure that when glowified Buffy tells Angel in #36: "...But you have my heart", it's a deliberate callback/contrast to Buffy telling Angel in Chosen, about Spike: "He is in my heart". Especially since Whedon wrote both.

Season 8 also has a lot of callbacks to itself (even visually: Jo Chen's cover for #40 is a callback to her cover for #1:

#1 cover - confident Buffy smiling and holding the Scythe
#40 cover - sad Buffy holding the broken Scythe

and the first panel of #40 is the callback to #:

#1 opening panel: shot of Earth from space
Buffy (narration): "The thing about changing the world is... Once you do it, the world's all different."

#40 opening panel: a different shot of Earth, with a similar narration: "The trouble with changing the world is..."
which is continued at the end of the issue:
"You don't. You just inch it forward, a bit at a time, and watch it slip back, like the Greek guy with a rock. And you hope that when you're done, you've moved it up a little, changed it just enough. You hope."

There's also an interesting contrast between lines about facing the "darkness" between Decoy Buffy in #5 and Buffy:

#5 The Chain:
The slug: The Slayer. She will truly face the blackness? Not turn and run back to the light?

Decoy Buffy (narration at the end, as she is dying): There is a chain between each and every one of us. And like the man said, you either feel its tug or you ignore it. I tried to feel it, I tried to face the darkness like a woman and I don't need any more than that. You don't have to remember me. You don't know who I am. But I do.

#2 The Long Way Home part 2:
Buffy's dream:
(after kissing Xander and making his head pop off, the window breaks and something starts pulling her out through the window)
Buffy (desperately trying to resist the pull): No, no, I can't go outside, I'm afraid of the dark.
Xander's head: Buffy, you are the dark.
Buffy: That's what I meant.

#10 Anywhere But Here
- Willow (to Buffy): You really are afraid of the dark, aren't you?
(She meant it literally there, they were walking through a dark corridor)

#37:
Buffy (in her fantasy): You're my dark place, Spike.

[JDP]

"Does it matter?"
- Riley in New Moon Rising
- Robin in Lies My Parents Told Me

The sentence is rather common so it might not be intentional, but the aggressive tone both Riley and Robin use and the similar context (need for revenge) make me wonder.

In any case, I hate the 2 instances equally.

[Chain]

Wow I never even noticed a lot of the one's you all named. Especially the mirrored "I love you"..."No, you don't" between Buffy and Spike. Also, I mentioned on the old thread that "You always hurt the ones you love" are the exact words being sung when Cordy's radio comes on (Angel episode Rm w/a Vu). It seems to be a big theme in the Buffyverse (although unintentionally at times).

In reference to Andrew being "Tucker's Brother". One scene is from Gone and the other is from Never Leave Me. Both lines are intentional.

Buffy: Who are you?
Andrew: Andrew. I summoned the flying monkeys that attacked the high school? During the school play, you know?
Warren: It's Tucker's brother.
Jonathon: Yeah, it's Tucker's brother.
Buffy/Willow: Oh.

Spike: Did I hurt anybody?
Buffy: You took a good bite out of Andrew.
Spike: Who?
Buffy: Tucker's brother.
Spike: Oh.

I don't know if this is a line callback but they're pretty similar (at least to me).

Angel (pretending to be Angelus): "It's good to have the taste of a Slayer back in my mouth.

Spike: I still have Buffy taste in my mouth.


Giles and Owen referring to Buffy in Never Kill a Boy On The First Date...

Giles: She is the strangest girl. ... Owen: She's the strangest girl.

[TimeTravellingBunny]

Wow I never even noticed a lot of the one's you all named. Especially the mirrored "I love you"..."No, you don't" between Buffy and Spike.

Someone on LJ (I wish I could remember who so I could credit them) made a picspam about those two scenes.

http://i55.tinypic.com/o791cw.png

Here's another one: in #40, in Buffy's nightmare/flashback to the events of #39, we see Angel - just out of his Twilight-possessed state after the Seed is broken - asking "Buffy, what happened? Did we win?" "What happened" is obviously a callback to Becoming II and Angel's confusing after he has just been re-souled: "What's happening?" That one must be intentional, but I don't know about the other one: "Did we win?" is the same thing Spike (recently chipped and tied up to the chair) said in "Pangs" after Buffy killed the native American spirit guy. In both cases "Did we win?" was absurd under the circumstances, for different reasons.

[AwfulPoet]

This one is definitely deliberate.

Referring to the Orb of Thesulah.

In Passion
Shopkeeper (to Jenny): He was a good customer. Well, no, there you go. One Thesulan Orb. Spirit vault for the rituals of the undead. I don't get many calls for those lately. Sold a couple as new age paperweights last year. Yeah, I just love those new-agers, boy. They helped to send my youngest to college. By the way, you do know that the transliteration annals for the ritual of the undead were lost. Without the annals, the surviving text is gibberish.

In Becoming Part 1

WILLOW: I need about a day, and... an 'Orb of Thesulah'? Whatever that is.

GILES: Spirit vault for rituals of the undead. I've got one. I-I've been using it as a... paperweight.

[Chain]

- Tara's "There's a world without shrimp? I'm allergic" in Triangle (callback to Anya's "You could have, like, a world without shrimp" in Superstar).


Oh. This reminds me of Illyria's line in Underneath .."And one world with nothing but shrimp. I tired of that one quickly."

I'm sure it's also a callback to Anya's line "You could have, like, a world with no shrimp. Or with, you know, nothing but shrimp."

[JDP]

It's an AtS callback but there's no equivalent thread in the relevant forum (and it indirectly concerns Buffy) so I post it here.

In Shells, Spike's in a private jet, crossing the Atlantic, emptying tiny bottles of alcohol:
"Can't even get drunk."

In The Girl in Question, Angel's in a private jet, crossing the Atlantic, emptying tiny bottles of alcohol:
"Really can't get drunk off these things."

Can't be more deliberate, especially since Steven S. DeKnight is the (co-)writer of both episodes.

[Drusilla]

Oz When he just entered the show. He said a couple of times when he saw Willow

"Who is that girl?"

[Afterthebattle]

"Now that was fun!" Said by Spike in Lover's Walk and in The Yoko Factor. Never noticed it before, but I'm pretty sure it's intentional.

[Afterthebattle]

Here's another one. Buffy and Darla reactions after sleeping with Angel:

Innocence (2x14):

Buffy: “I-I don't understand. Was it m-me? Was I not good?”

ANGEL – Epiphany (2x16):

Darla: “I-I don't understand. Was I ... Was it ... not good?”

[TimeTravellingBunny]

Here's another one. Buffy and Darla reactions after sleeping with Angel:

Innocence (2x14):

Buffy: “I-I don't understand. Was it m-me? Was I not good?”

ANGEL – Epiphany (2x16):

Darla: “I-I don't understand. Was I ... Was it ... not good?”
Yeah, that one was definitely intentional, with all the parallels between "Surprise" and "Reprise" (sic). He also compared Buffy to a prostitute in Innocence, insulting her by saying she was like a pro, while Darla references actually having been a prostitute: "I used to do this professionally".

[Chain]

Found a few more after my recent re-watch of Buffy. I'm not sure which are intentional and which aren't.

Buffy: “One down, one… gone.” (What's My Line Part 1 & Earshot)

The Master: “You're prettier than the last one.” (Nightmares)
Whistler: “She must be prettier than the last Slayer”. (Becoming Pt.1)

Tara: “You think you know ... what's to come ... what you are. You haven't even begun.” (Restless)
Dracula: “You think you know what you are, what's to come. You haven't even begun.” (Buffy vs. Dracula)

One scene was between Spike/Glory in Intervention and the other is between Buffy/Ken in Anne.

Glory: “The vampire is lying to me”.
Spike:“Yeah, but it was fun.”

Ken: “That... was not... permitted!”
Buffy: “Yeah, but it was fun.”


Buffy & Nikki: “The mission is what matters.” (Lies My Parents Told Me)


Both lines are from the episode Lessons.

Buffy: "It's real. It's the only lesson, Dawn. It's always real."
Dawn: "Lesson one: it's always real."


Both lines are from Spike.

Spike: "The girl needs some monster in her man ... and that's not in your nature. No matter how low you try to go." (Into the Woods)
Spike: "What can I say? The girl just needs a little monster in her man." (As You Were)


And again ...

Spike: "Home, sweet home." (School Hard & Lovers Walk)


Both lines for Spike again…pretty similar.

Spike: “Hello, Cutie”. (Becoming Pt.1)
Spike: “Hello, Gorgeous”. (The Initiative)


I noticed both Warren and Dark Willow refer to Buffy as “super bitch”.

Dark Willow: "Get off, super bitch." (Two to Go)
Warren: “I was wondering when super bitch would show up”. (Seeing Red)


I also noticed Spike and Angel say something that’s very similar to Buffy. Both during the times she found out they had a soul.

Angel: But I wanted to. I can walk like a man, but I'm not one. I wanted to kill you tonight. (Angel)
Spike: I dreamed of killing you. I think they were dreams. (Beneath You)

[Afterthebattle]

Buffy being "just a girl" is also brought up two times.

The Yoko Factor (4x20):

Mr. Ward: Buffy Summers. Our data banks don't have much on her.
McNamara: She's just a girl.

The Gift (5x22):

Teen: But ... you're just a girl ...
Buffy: That's what I keep saying.

[Roowsj]

I love her saying "Bored now". SO badass, yet such a simple line.

Bored now rocks! Even as Vampire Willow she uses that line... seems evil willow (wicca or vamp) is always bored some how..

Greets Roos

[Hawkeye]

Bored now rocks! Even as Vampire Willow she uses that line... seems evil willow (wicca or vamp) is always bored some how..

I love Vamp Willow, but at the same time, I bet she's been the source of some incredibly annoying behavior by semi-goth girls who don't realize that you pretty much have to have Alyson Hannigan-level charisma to pull it off without just being irritating...

[Afterthebattle]

I noticed another thing. When Xander and Cordelia kiss for the first time on Buffy, and when Angel and Cordelia kiss in Angel season 3, Cordelia and Xander's reactions are pretty much the same:

What's My Line pt. 2:

Xander: We so need to get outta here!

Waiting in the Wings:

Cordelia: We so need to be out of here!

I'm not sure if it's intentional. Probably not.

[Afterthebattle]

The thing about Slayers being "the law" also comes up two times:

Consequences (3x15):

Faith: “You know in your gut we don't need the law. We are the law.”


Selfless (7x05):

Buffy: “There's no mystical guidebook, no all-knowing council. Human rules don't apply! There's only me. I am the law.”

Says a lot about how much Buffy's changed over the years.

[JDP]

In Storyteller, we have the fastest line callback ever:

Andrew: "It’s going to get relevant in a second because Jonathan’s going to go to the bathroom."
[CUT]
Jonathan: "I’m going to go to the bathroom."

Also the most intentional ever.

[Just Willow]

In Storyteller, we have the fastest line callback ever:

Andrew: "It’s going to get relevant in a second because Jonathan’s going to go to the bathroom."
[CUT]
Jonathan: "I’m going to go to the bathroom."

Also the most intentional ever.

I LOVE that line. So funny and silly and childish and clever.

[TimeTravellingBunny]

The thing about Slayers being "the law" also comes up two times:

Consequences (3x15):

Faith: “You know in your gut we don't need the law. We are the law.”


Selfless (7x05):

Buffy: “There's no mystical guidebook, no all-knowing council. Human rules don't apply! There's only me. I am the law.”

Says a lot about how much Buffy's changed over the years.
I don't know about that; in the first case, Faith was saying that they are above HUMAN law; in the second, Buffy was saying that human laws do not apply to the supernatural world, and this is where she is the law. Which had been her stance throughout the show.

[Afterthebattle]

TimeTravellingBunny Now that I think about it, I think you're right :).

[zamolxis]

From The Yoko Factor:

Xander: (to Willow) Oh! And superior. Don't forget that. (to Buffy) Just because you're better than us doesn't mean that you can be all superior!

From Empty Places:

ANYA: You really do think you're better than we are.

But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. You've never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us.

It looks like a call back line to me.

[Afterthebattle]

In season 6 Spike tells Buffy:

"You try to be with them, but you always end up in the dark. With me." Dead Things (6x13).

In Lessons (7x01), The First (as Drusilla) tells Spike:

"You'll always be in the dark with me."

I'm not sure if it's intentional, but it would make a lot of sense if it was since. Spike is trying to drag Buffy into the darkness, the same way The First will try to drag him into the darkness later when he is struggling towards the light.

[TimeTravellingBunny]

I've just rewatched Lovers Walk - many lines and moments from this episode (by Spike in particular) gain so much more significance after you've seen the entire show, but this is the first time I caught this awesome line callback in season 6:

Lovers Walk
(Spike's last words in the episode before walking away, after he's decided to get Dru back by finding her, tying her up and torturing her)
Spike (smiling): Love's a funny thing.

Seeing Red
(in that 'conflicted Spike' scene in the crypt after you-know-what)
Clem: Love's a funny thing.
Spike: Is that what this is?

[spuffyspangellover]

I've just rewatched Lovers Walk - many lines and moments from this episode (by Spike in particular) gain so much more significance after you've seen the entire show, but this is the first time I caught this awesome line callback in season 6:

Lovers Walk
(Spike's last words in the episode before walking away, after he's decided to get Dru back by finding her, tying her up and torturing her)
Spike (smiling): Love's a funny thing.

Seeing Red
(in that 'conflicted Spike' scene in the crypt after you-know-what)
Clem: Love's a funny thing.
Spike: Is that what this is?


I just realized this the other day and I literally gasped out loud when I heard Clem said that.

[Afterthebattle]

I don't think this one has been mentioned before ...

Graduation Day pt. 2:

BUFFY: My brain hasn't processed everything yet. It's not really functioning at the higher levels; it's pretty much, "fire bad, tree pretty". Anything more complex...
(...)
GILES: There is a certain dramatic irony in the way things turned out. A synchronicity that almost borders on predestination, one might say.
BUFFY: Fire bad. Tree pretty.

Beer Bad:

CAVE BUFFY: Fire bad!

Flooded:

BUFFY: We burn the house to the ground and collect the insurance. Plus, fire? Pretty.

[kenzier]

This isn't a line callback per se, but rather I find the whole episode of Selfless to be a callback to one line in Family:

Anya in Family: I'm just so excited. They come in, I help them ... they give us money in exchange for goods ... you give me money for working for you ... I have a place in the world now. I'm part of the system.


Also, in always saw some weird parallels between Dead Things and Seeing Red, both written by Steven S. DeKnight:

Dead Things:
SPIKE: There still isn't anything to connect this to you.
BUFFY: It doesn't matter.
SPIKE: It wasn't your fault!
BUFFY: I killed her!
SPIKE: It was an accident. It just happened.
BUFFY: Nothing just happens.

Seeing Red:
BUFFY: It just happened, okay?
XANDER: (chuckles bitterly) Oh, like, uh, "Say, you're evil. Get on me"?

Dead Things:
BUFFY: There has to be! This just can't be me, it isn't me. (starting to cry) Why do I feel like this? Why do I let Spike do those things to me?

Seeing Red:
SPIKE: (desperate) Why do I feel this way?
CLEM: (shrugs) Love's a funny thing.
SPIKE: Is that what this is?


From The Yoko Factor:

Xander: (to Willow) Oh! And superior. Don't forget that. (to Buffy) Just because you're better than us doesn't mean that you can be all superior!

From Empty Places:

ANYA: You really do think you're better than we are.

But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. You've never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us.

It looks like a call back line to me.

Also:

Conversations with Dead People
BUFFY: I feel like I'm worse than anyone. Honestly, I'm beneath them. My friends, my boyfriends. I feel like I'm not worthy of their love. 'Cause even though they love me, it doesn't mean anything 'cause their opinions don't matter. They don't know. They haven't been through what I've been through. They're not the slayer. I am. Sometimes I feel—(sighs) this is awful—I feel like I'm better than them. Superior.

[Afterthebattle]

The whole killer or slayer-thing is brought up a couple of times. Two times related to Faith's arc:

Bad Girls:

Buffy: Faith, we need to talk about what we're gonna do.
Faith: There's nothing to talk about. I was doing my job.
Buffy: Being a Slayer is not the same as being a killer.

Who Are You?:

Forrest: Yeah, you're a killer.
Faith (in Buffy's body): I am not a killer! I am the slayer!

But it's also related to Buffy's arc:

Buffy vs. Dracula:

Dracula: Why else would I come here? For the sun? I came to meet the renowned ... killer.
Buffy: Yeah, I prefer the term slayer. You know, killer just sounds so...
Dracula: Naked?
Buffy: Like I ... paint clowns or something. I'm the good guy, remember?

I also noticed a connection between some of the discussions about the source of the slayer's power. Dracula says that her power is rooted in darkness. Later on, we find out that it's the truth - the shadow men forced a demon's essence inside of the First Slayer.

Get It Done:

Shadow man: We are at the beginning. The source of your strength. The well of the slayer's power.

This ties nicely to what Buffy tries to deny in Restless:

Buffy: You just have to get over the whole primal power thing. You are not the source of me.

Those two episodes always felt strongly connected to me. There's even a visual callback to Restless in Get It Done - look:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p320/Afterthebattle_2006/restless-getitdone.png

As Buffy said in Intervention: I know this place.

[Afterthebattle]

I remember we talked about the "Spike is not my boyfriend"-thing, which is definitely repeated on purpose:

Blood Ties
Glory: He wakes up; tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth.
Buffy: He is NOT my boyfriend.

Gone
Ms. Kroger: Um, Miss Summers, if you and your boyfriend would like to-
Buffy: He is NOT- ... not my, my boyfriend,

Seeing Red
Buffy: ... She was hurting and she did this really stupid thing.
Xander: With your boyfriend.
Buffy: He's not my boyfriend.

Sleeper
Bouncer: This guy your boyfriend or something?
Buffy: No, I-I just—I need to find him, as soon as possible.

Chosen
Buffy: You're not getting the brush off. Are you just gonna come here and go all Dawson on me every time I have a boyfriend?
Angel: Aha! (points) Boyfriend!
Buffy: He's not. But...he is in my heart.

There was another callback to this in On Your Own pt. 2:

Dowling: When did you and your vampire boyfriend decide to play spaceship?
Buffy: Spike's not my boyfriend. Did he say that?

[Afterthebattle]

I just noticed another one and I find it hilarious:

Triangle
Xander: You are one crazy troll, I ... I'm not choosing between my girlfriend and my best friend. That's insane troll logic.

Selfless
Olaf: Ha, ha, ha! Sweet Aud! Your logic is insane and happenstance, like that of a troll.

I'm pretty sure Buffy used the line also at some point. I just don't remember when.

Edit: It was in Conversations with Dead People: "OK, you know, this is beyond evil. This is insane troll logic."

[Afterthebattle]

This isn't a "callback" per se, but did anyone notice Buffy's cute tendency to confuse names of demons?

Nightmares:

Buffy: Could I be seeing Billy’s asteroid body?
Giles: Astral body

Bad Eggs:

Xander: Alright, Willow said something. Uh, a name. What was it?
Buffy: A bozo! Not a bozo.
Xander: A bezoar.

Becoming pt. 1:

Buffy: And you're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?
Giles: Acathla.

Faith, Hope & Trick:

Buffy: Oh, the one that nearly bit me mentioned something about 'kissing toast'. He lived for kissing toast.
Giles: (alarmed) You mean, Kakistos?
Buffy: Maybe it was taquitos. Maybe he lived for taquitos. What?
Giles: Kakistos.

Graduation Day pt. 1:

Buffy: The Mayor had a box of spiders that he had to eat. The Box of... I want to say Gravlax?
Giles: Gavrok.

Showtime:

Buffy: Wh-what is Botox's eye?
Giles: Beljoxa's Eye.

Potential:

Buffy: Best we can tell, he -- or, more precisely, it -- was putting a lot of stock in that ubervamp thing. The Chaka Khan.
Dawn: Turok-han?

If I find more examples I'll add them ;).

[RosieMary]

There are far more than I realised initially. 'Bored now' will always be a favourite. Foreshadowing baby.

[Afterthebattle]

RosieMary That's the beauty of it, I think. There are so many callbacks on the show - I've never seen anything like it on TV. The writers paid an insane amount of attention to what they were making, and they added so many small details. I just love it. It's one of the things that makes it worth re-watching the show over and over and over :) ...

[Afterthebattle]

Can't believe I forgot about this one:

Who Are You?:

Faith (as Buffy): I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne, and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more.

Dirty Girls:

Faith: I may have said a few things...
Spike: Like you could ride me at a gallop 'til my knees buckle, squeeze me 'til I pop like warm champagne. That's not the kind of thing a man forgets.

:D

[Scarygothgirl]

Probably not intended but I noticed:
The Havest
Buffy: What do I want?
Angel: To kill them all!

When She Was Bad
Angel: What are you going to do?
Buffy: Kill them all!

[Afterthebattle]

That one is so awesome Scarygothgirl! I definitely think it was intended :).

[JDP]

I looked up in this thread and I didn't see it mentioned, so here's another one.

Willow in The Wish, looking at a recently slain demon:
"Isn't he gonna go 'poof'?"

Willow in Hell's Bells, looking at a recently slain demon:
"Anyone else waiting for it to go 'poof'?"

The scenes are very similar, so I think it's intended (especially since both are important Anya episodes).

[Bunny Hearts]

An indirect line callback I just noticed last night.

Who Are You
Spike: (to Faith in Buffy's body) I get this chip out, you and me are gonna have a confrontation.
Faith: Count on it.

Touched, 7 episodes after Spike gets his chip out, he and Faith have a confrontation.

[SuzyLee123]

Not a line call back and probably not deliberate but, have seen this one mentioned a couple of times as possible foreshadowing: the way people are grouped together in Tabula Rasa/Grave

Willow and Xander - wake up together in TR and of course are together at the end of Grave
Giles and Anya - again wake up together in TR and again are togther in the Magic Box and the end of Grave
Buffy and Dawn - I'm not sure if they wake up right near eachother but they very quickly group together and again are together at the end of Grave
Spike - Spike wakes up on his own and is of course separate from the rest in Grave being in Africa
Tara - Tara again wakes up on her own and is dead by Grave

Not sure I'm convinced its deliberate, but it is interesting

[JDP]

I don't think this one has been mentioned before ...

Graduation Day pt. 2:

BUFFY: My brain hasn't processed everything yet. It's not really functioning at the higher levels; it's pretty much, "fire bad, tree pretty". Anything more complex...
(...)
GILES: There is a certain dramatic irony in the way things turned out. A synchronicity that almost borders on predestination, one might say.
BUFFY: Fire bad. Tree pretty.

Beer Bad:

CAVE BUFFY: Fire bad!

Flooded:

BUFFY: We burn the house to the ground and collect the insurance. Plus, fire? Pretty.

There's another instance in Beer Bad. Not said by Buffy, but it's actually more faithful to the original line in Graduation Day. It happens at the bar, when Xander tries to defend himself with his lighter, and one of the Cro-Magnon guys says:

Fire. Bad... Fire… pretty.

[SuzyLee123]

School Hard
Giles looks up from the diaries. Angel is gone. They all look around.

XANDER
That's it, I'm puttin' a collar with
a little bell on that guy.

All the Way
She hits the landing, turns -- and nearly runs into Spike. She gasps, glares.

BUFFY (cont'd)
Bell. Neck. Look into it.
Buffy moves over to the shelves. Spike follows her.

SPIKE
Come with a nice leather collar, does it?

[JDP]

This one is clearly intentional (that's even more obvious when you know that both episodes were written - and directed - by Marti Noxon).

Anya, in Into the Woods:
"Oh, who ordered more chicken feet? The ones we have aren't moving at all."

Anya, in Forever:
"Yes, sit down. We have some very amusing chicken feet you could play with."

[Just Willow]

JDP there's another chicken feet reference somewhere in season 5. Maybe around Triangle? Anya talks about giving children chicken feet for Christmas or something, and Willow is laughing about children playing with chicken feet and cuddling with them at night and stuff

[JDP]

Just Willow: it's in Into the Woods too, just after the first quote I made:

Anya: Who ordered more chicken feet? The ones we have aren't moving at all.
Xander: That' generally what happens when you cut them off the chicken.
Anya: I'm serious... Maybe we should do a holiday promotion - one free with every purchase.
Giles: Ah yes, what dear holiday memories. Joyful tykes by the fire, enjoying their new Christmas chicken feet.
Willow: Holding them close as they fall asleep, painting their tiny toenails...

[Afterthebattle]

Tumblr reminded me of this one:

Doomed (4x11)

Riley: Don’t I know you?
Spike: Me? [In a really bad Texan accent] No. No, sir. I’m just an old pal of Xander’s here.

Goodbye Iowa (4x14)

Riley: That's hostile 17.
Spike: [In the same awful Texan accent] No, I'm just a friend of Xaannder's.