Writer:

Jane Espenson

Director:

James A. Contner

Regulars:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers

Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris

Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

Marc Blucas as Riley Finn

Emma Caulfield as Anya

Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn

James Marsters as Spike

Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Stars:

Michael Bailey Smith as Toth

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

Cast:

Kelly Donovan as Xander Double

Cathy Cohen as Building Manager

David Reivers as Foreman

Fritz Greve as Construction Worker

This was an interesting twist on the "evil twin" scenario. The twin isn't evil, but the strongest and weakest qualities are divided, rather than simply good vs. evil. We have seen "evil twins" on Buffy before, as well, due to a parallel universe created by Anya, wherein Xander and Willow were vampires. (See the episodes "The Wish" and "Doppelgängland.") We're told there's a similar Star Trek episode called "The Enemy Within," in which Kirk is split into an aggressive, violent half and a meek, wimpy half. The aggressive half starts rampaging through the ship, and Spock and the meek half come up with a possible plan to rejoin the two parts. (Thanks to Dave Lebedda and others for the Star Trek info.)

Toth

Stabbed by Buffy in Xander's new apartment.

Total: One

Riley: Owning this place does seem kinda dangerous.
Giles: Toth.
Riley: What?
Buffy: He called you a toth. It's a British expression, it means, like, moron.
Giles: No. Toth is the name of the demon.

Lame Xander: On my seventh birthday, I wanted a toy fire truck, and I didn't get it, and you were real nice about it, and then the house next door burnt down, and then real firetrucks came, and for years I thought you set the fire for me. And if you did, you can tell me!

Anya: I mean, what happens next in our lives? When do we get a car?
Suave Xander: A car?
Anya: And a boat. No, wait, I don't mean a boat. I mean a puppy, or a child. I have a list somewhere.
Suave Xander: What are you talking about?
Anya: Just, we have to get going. I don't have time just to let these things happen.
Suave Xander: There's no hurry.
Anya: Yes there is. There's a hurry, Xander. I'm dying... I may have as few as fifty years left.

More quotes from this episode...

Willow: "Oooh - there's a microwave! It would be like having hot and cold running popcorn!"

• Xander : "I do have Spaghettios."

Spaghettios are a canned round pasta in tomato sauce. They're a central part of the average American kid's diet.

• Suave Xander (about living in his parents' basement): "There comes a point when you either have to move on or just buy yourself a Klingon costume and go with it."

Klingon is a race of aliens from Gene Rodenberry's Star Trek universe. It is an extreme yet popular costume for people to wear to Star Trek conventions.


• Lame Xander: "Every Christmas, we watch Charlie Brown together, and I do the Snoopy Dance."

A Charlie Brown Christmas was the very first animated prime-time special to feature Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the characters from Charles Schultz's comic strip Peanuts. First broadcast on December 9, 1965, it has become a perennial favorite, shown every year on television around Christmas time. It also featured the debut of "the Snoopy dance."

• Buffy (about Giles' BMW): "Can't this thing go any faster? 'Ultimate driving machine' my ass."

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" is a slogan for BMW.


• Lame Xander (looking at Suave Xander's flattened nickel): "Washington's still there, but he's all smushy. And he may be Jefferson."

All of you Americans should know this: George Washington (the first U.S. President, 1789-1797) is on the quarter and Thomas Jefferson (the third U.S. President, 1801-1809) is indeed on the nickel.

• Both Xanders: "Kill us both, Spock."

This is another Star Trek reference, Spock being, of course, the human/Vulcan, from the original Trek TV series. Some viewers consider this line a reference to the aforementioned (Monstervision) episode, "The Enemy Within," wherein the meek Kirk suggests to Spock that if they cannot be rejoined, he kill them both. Others consider it a reference to the episode "Whom Gods Destroy," in which a shape shifter impersonates Kirk, and the real Kirk says, "You must shoot both of us - it's the only way to ensure the safety of the Enterprise." You can decide for yourself what you think, or if the writer had both episodes in mind; please don't email us trying to argue for one episode or the other. We're just giving you the information at hand.
      Thanks to Swoop, Randal, Dave Lebedda, David C., Brian, Jason, and a couple of anyonymous tippers.

• Xander: "Not unless you want my collection of Babylon 5 commemorative plates."

Babylon 5 was a sci-fi television series that started in 1994, with a couple of made-for-TV movies as well. (See Goofs and Gaffes.)

• Real Me

  Anya's dislocated shoulder (and, hence, the sling) is due to having been knocked around last week by a member of Harmony's gang. Also in "Real Me," Giles purchased the magic shop.

• Passion

  Willow mentioned in "Passion" that she goes to Xander's house to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas every year because her Jewish parents won't let her watch it.

• Doppelgängland

  Willow comments to herself that when she had an evil twin, she handled it fine. That's a matter of opinion, but at any rate, she's referring to her vampire doppelgänger, brought forth from the alternate universe created in "The Wish," whom she was confronted with in "Doppelgängland."

• Hush through A New Man, Something Blue, and Restless

  Xander recalls some of the memories he has of living in the basement:
  
  • "That's where Spike slept" — Giles insisted that Spike stay with Xander in "Hush;" the gang let him loose in "A New Man."
  
  • "That's where Anya and I drowned the Sepavro demon" — That would be the demon that attacked them (thanks to Willow's magic gone awry) in "Something Blue."
  
  • "That's where I got my heart ripped out" — That would be his dream in "Restless," in which his father/the first Slayer ripped his heart out.
  

• In the scene with Spike and the mannequin, Spike has a noticeable tan-line on his arms (something a vampire wouldn't logically have). A bit of makeup or a shirt with slightly longer sleeves could have solved that problem.
        Spotted by Joshua Johnson.

• Where can we get an answering machine like Anya's? You know, the kind that when you press play, it knows exactly which part of which message to play for you.

• Babylon 5 commemorative plates, which Xander claims to own, were planned, but never released.
        Spotted by Comte.

• Using the closed captioning as a dictionary of sorts, we learn that the plural of "Buffy" is officially "Buffies."
        Noted by The P@.

• Ferula-Gemina, the name Giles' gave for Toth's rod, loosely translates from Latin to "Doubling Rod."

• Not surprisingly (since we know she likes ice-skating), Buffy has what Riley terms a "bad ice-skating movie obsession."

• Kelly Donovan, a.k.a. Kelly Shultz, is Nicholas Brendon's identical twin brother. If you're wondering about their names, Shultz is their actual last name; Donovan and Brendon are their middle names.

• Wondering which brother played which Xander? Actually, for the most part, Nick played both. Kelly was used as a double, and had a bit of dialogue when the two were in the same frame. Here's what Nick said on the message boards at his official site (in a thread here): "Truth be told, I played both characters. It was very challenging and rewarding and I must've done an OK job if you couldn't tell it was me. ... I had a blast working with Kelly and he really deserves kudos for his work. He was never promised on-screen dialogue but they did end up using some and I think he did a stand-up job. In fact there was even one point where Kelly, Tressa and I had to rewind and freeze the tape to decipher who was who, (standing side by side, Kelly as "Cool Xander" did a stellar job of imitating my signature blinky eyes.)"

• Xander has finally moved out of his parents' house and into his own apartment, and we finally see a shot of Anya's apartment.

Jeremy:

Double the Xander, double the fun! This was a nice episode to just watch and have fun with, especially the first time around. Now, I don't know about the sex with two Xanders thing, but I would have kept them apart until after they moved Xander out of his basement. I mean, whenever I've moved I've been extremely grateful to anyone extra that could help out. He wouldn't have to have Anya carry his Babylon 5 plates, either. Oh, my birthday is coming up, does someone want to buy me one of those answering machines that they have in TV shows and movies where you press the play button and it only plays the important part of the message? (15/20 - I doubled my score, get it?)

Jamie Marie:

Okay, first of all, those brown tie-dyed pants of Buffy's were just wrong. Seriously. And Anya's choice of sleepwear — gag me. Fashion police aside, this was indeed jolly good fun. Two Xanders, what more could one ask for (aside from a night alone with two Xanders)? He and Anya pretty much never fail to amuse me, so it's no surprise that I was... well, highly amused. I do hope that the potential character growth and confidence boost (from Xander realizing that he does have more inside him than just goofy-sidekick-guy) are used in the future; I'd hate to see that go to waste. And hey, I think I ought to get me a construction job — that's a pretty kickin' apartment Xander's able to afford. Anyway, have I ever mentioned that I like Jane Espenson? (9/10)