Nursery countdown: Faith's line "Miles to go. Little Miss Muffet counting down from 7-3-0", which Buffy says is a riddle, contains two references. "Miles to go", which also appeared in The Prom (written by Marti Noxon), is a quote from Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, a poem by American writer Robert Frost (1874-1963), who is best known for his portraits of rural life in New England.

"Little Miss Muffet" is from the nursery rhyme, of course, and may have been a reminder of the mayor�s spider-eating habits. Various theories have been proposed to explain "7-3-0". The most credible was that 730 is two times 365, teasingly referring to something that will happen in two years� time. Two years later, Dawn arrived in Sunnydale.

Remember this?: Several continuity references are made during the episode. Xander�s memories of being "soldier guy" come from his adventures in Halloween; the reference to a rocket launcher relates to the gang�s method of killing The Judge, in Innocence.

Slayer kisses: The most intriguing reference is arguable, since it may simply be coincidental. When Buffy visits the comatose Faith in hospital, she kisses her forehead. Something similar happened in Enemies, at the climax of a fight between Buffy and Faith. (Faith tells Buffy "What are you gonna do, B, kill me? You become me. You're not ready for that yet!" She then kisses Buffy on the forehead, and runs away�)

Mutant graduation: At the end of the episode the Mutant Enemy Inc logo creature is wearing a mortarboard. This is the third time that there�s been a deviation from the norm: the other two were in Amends and Becoming Part 2.