Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Band Candy

"I don't get this. The candy's supposed to make you feel all immature and stuff, but I've had a ton and I don't feel any diff... never mind."

- Xander Harris

"Band Candy" is the sixth episode of season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is the 41st episode overall. The episode was directed by Michael Lange and written by Jane Espenson and first aired on the WB Network on November 10th, 1998. In this episode, an old rival of Giles named Ethan Rayne taints a supply of candy that is distributed amongst the student body at Sunnydale High. Adults who consume the candy find themselves turned into immature, irresponsible "teenagers". Buffy and the Scoobies must determine why Joyce and Giles are acting so strangely while also boning up for the SATs.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode has been made available on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Third Season DVD collections.


 * This is one of the few instances where we get a glimpse of what Giles' personality was like during his "Ripper" years.


 * The song that Giles and Joyce are listening to in his apartment is Tales of Brave Ulysses by Cream.


 * The song that the three inebriated older men are singing at the Bronze is "Louie Louie", originally written by Richard Berry in 1955 and popularized in the 1978 film Animal House.


 * When seeing a coat that she likes, Joyce Summers remarks, "That is so Juice Newton". Juice Newton was a pop/country recording artist popular in the early 1980s.


 * When presented with the task of selling candy for the school band, Buffy makes a reference to Willie Loman. Willie Loman was the central figure from the Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman.

Quotes
"Oz is the highest-scoring person ever to fail to graduate."

- Willow Rosenberg

"Honey, don't you think that Mister Giles monopolizes an awful lot of your time?"

- Joyce Summers