Animal magic: One of Joss Whedon's ideas for the series is that the older a vampire gets, the more animalistic they become. Two vampires that Buffy has encountered have exhibited signs of this: The Master, whose features were bat-like, and Kakistos, who has cloven feet and hands. It's also worth remembering that traditionally the Devil has been depicted with cloven feet � indeed, he's often goat-like from the waist down.

There's a new sheriff in town:"Makes D.C. look like Mayberry" refers to the setting of the popular CBS TV series The Andy Griffith Show (a.k.a. Andy of Mayberry). It featured the adventures of a small-town Sheriff, and ran from 1960-68 before it's star departed and the show was renamed Mayberry RFD.

Housemates from hell: Buffy's complaint "I'm the one getting Single White Femaled here" is a reference to the 1992 movie Single White Female, which starred Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda as flatmates. In the film Leigh's character begins to psychotically copy every aspect of Fonda's life.

Brand new boy: A third semi-regular character is introduced in this episode: Buffy's new squeeze Scott Hope (Fab Fillipo).