The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth. A small shrine to the nerdiest supervillans on TV. This week: The troika�s black van boasts nine high-resolution surveillance cameras; six types of audio matrix monitoring that's filtered to a dual-quad DVR system; a giant red �destruct� button; its own satellite dish, and free cable porn. The horn that plays the Star Wars fanfare and the mural of the Death Star (Return of the Jedi version) are dead geek give-aways. Warren�s call sign, Logan Five, is a reference to classic sci-fi film Logan�s Run. Jonathan and Warren ape the classic Monty Python parrot sketch in reference to the Mummy hand. The geeks compare Buffy�s time loop to similar episodes of The X Files (Monday) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (Cause and Effect). They love James Bond � but not the same ones. Warren rates Connery's style, Jonathan favours Moore�s smoothness, whilst Andrew feels that Dalton should get an Oscar and beat Connery over the head with it.

Living by numbers: The only Scooby sporting numbered clothes this week is Buffy herself. She has a black top with a number eight on it.

School�s out: Buffy, having been dead, has left it too late to enrol in any college classes. Tara suggests that she �audits� during her classes for this semester� just sit in on them. Buffy can�t get to grips with the first class � Social construction of Reality - and much prefers the thought of Introduction to Pies or Advanced Walking.

Toon Time: Tara tells buffy she once zoned out whilst watching Spongebob Squarepants. You can�t blame her � it�s a very strange cartoon for kids about a sponge. With square pants.

Teen Idol: Buffy is referred to as both Gidget and Britney by Xander�s builder buddies. Gidget, played by Sally Field was the teen star of a popular sixties American TV show who had the uncanny knack of getting into trouble. Britney needs no introduction. Rumours still abound that Miss Spears will guest star in Buffy at some point.

Bum Note: When Andrew blows on his pan pipes, the pitch incorrectly goes from low to high, even though he�s blowing from high to low � a gaff in post-production.

We don�t need no badges: Buffy�s Magic Box name tag reads "Hello! My Name's Buffy. Ask me about Curses!"

Bad spirits: Buffy chugs back whisky - although she does go 'bleurgh'. The show has changed its mind about the morals of drinking. Anyone else remember Something Blue and Beer Bad?

Give me some skin: Recurring character Clem makes his first appearance in this episode, but is only referred to as "Loose-Skinned Demon!" in the script.

Strange ingredients: The basement of the Magic Box contains such goodies as Petrified Hamster, Eyeballs in Honey and the Dagger of Lex. They also sell Lemon Seduction and Essence of Slug candles. By the way, if you could read the labels on all the jars on the Magic Box set, you�d see such in-jokes as Boreanaz Beads, Charisma Charms and Tony's Heads.

That's handy: Behind the mummy hand's wiggling fingers was the talent of Alice Dinnean Vernon, an actress and puppeteer who has also worked on Sesame Street.