Ashanti: After making a name for herself guesting on tracks by Ja Rule and Fat Joe, Ashanti Douglas hit the top of the Hot 100 and R&B singles charts with debut single, Foolish, swiftly followed by her self-titled debut album. She became the first artist since the Beatles to have three singles simultaneously in the top US top 10.

Her debut album was named best contemporary R&B album at the Grammys in 2003. Similar triumphs followed at the Soul Train Awards and the NAACP Awards.

Who wants to be a millionaire?: The "reality show about a millionaire" Buffy plans to watch is probably the hit Fox show Joe Millionaire. In it, several lucky ladies were given the chance to woo a man they thought had recently inherited 80 million dollars and was looking for a special someone to share it with. Little did they know he barely had two cents to rub together.

Milking it: Chao-Ahn's comment: "Like many from Asia, I am lactose intolerant," is no joke.

Dairy products contain a sugar or called lactose which the body normally breaks down with the aid of the enzyme lactase. Without enough lactase, a person may experience digestive problems such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Up to 75 per cent of Asians are thought to be lactose intolerant.

Kristy Wu, who plays Chao-Ahn, previously played Alice Wong in Future Tense, Liz in Drive Me Crazy and Lisa in Moesha.

The gift of life: One of the vampires who attacks Buffy on the way to the restaurant is the same one she faces at the beginning of The Gift. He lives to fight another day at the end of this encounter too.

Grave matters: If you look closey at the gravestones at the start of the episode, you'll see that one is inscribed 'Snyder', a reference to Wood's predecessor. Principal Snyder, played by Armin Shimerman, first appeared in season one's The Puppet Show and continued to make Buffy's life hell until he was eaten by the serpentine Mayor Wilkins in Graduation Day Part II.

Oops!: How could Wood not notice that Spike's a vampire until the fight scene when he clearly wouldn't have reflected in the rear view window? Also, how exactly did Xander manage to text Willow whilst being strung up above the Seal of Danthazar, bleeding to death?

Gay me up: Xander finally renounces womankind after this, his latest demonic date. Trying to help the process along, he thinks of Scott Bakula naked. Formerly of Quantum Leap, Bakula now plays starship captain Jonathan Archer in fellow UPN series Enterprise.

K.D. Aubert plays Wood's mother, Nikki, in this episode. K.D. previously co-hosted the MTV show Kidnapped, appeared in The Scorpion King and ranked number 91 in Maxim's Hot 100 2003. Nikki Wood previously appeared in season five's Fool For Love, played by stuntwoman April Wheedon-Washington.