Recap / Buffy the Vampire Slayer S3E16 "Doppelgangland"

The Launcher of a Thousand Slashfics.

"This is a dumb world. In my world, there are people in chains and we can ride them like ponies."

—Vamp Willow

Directed by Joss Whedon

Written by Whedon, Jane Espenson, & Douglas Petrie

Anya unsuccessfully entreats D'Hoffryn to help return her amulet and, with it, her vengeance demon powers. When she's turned away, Anya vows to find someone else to help.

Principal Snyder browbeats Willow into tutoring basketball star Percy West. Percy makes it clear that his idea of "tutoring" is Willow doing his homework for him. Frustrated and unhappy with being "book girl", Willow snaps at her friends for taking her for granted and then agrees to assist Anya with a spell she claims is to retrieve a harmless necklace that was stolen from her mom's apartment. But rather than retrieving the magic amulet, they accidentally summon the vampire Willow from the alternate universe in "The Wish" and sets her loose in Sunnydale. Neither Anya nor Willow realizes the consequences of their spell.

Wishverse Willow goes to the Bronze, where she beats up Percy and shows her vampire face to Xander and Buffy. Two vampires sent by the Mayor to kill Willow attack her, but she turns them to her side. Buffy and Xander tell Giles that Willow has been killed and turned vampiric, but the genuine Willow appears in the door, cuing a round of hysterics.

Angel and Anya drop in to the Bronze, just in time to see Wishverse Willow and her new cronies hold the club hostage. Angel escapes to find Buffy. Anya realizes her error, offers to return Wishverse Willow to her own world in return for help in retrieving her amulet, and suggests capturing the other Willow to fix the spell. Angel, Buffy and Xander head for the Bronze, but Willow, returning to get the tranquilizer gun, is cornered by her doppelganger. Willow shoots her clone unconscious and locks her in the library cage. The gang discuss plans, and Buffy says that she has a really bad one... Outside the Bronze, Willow is dressed up in her Wishverse counterpart's leather catsuit, about to go in alone and try to defuse the situation. Meanwhile, a dim-witted Cordelia releases Wishverse Willow.

Inside the Bronze, Anya calls out Willow as a human, despite Willow's "look at my outfit" defense. Buffy barges in and stakes the other vampires, then captures the returning doppelganger. Anya and Willow return vampiric Willow to the Wishverse, where she is immediately killed. Before she dies, she mouths a very un-Willowish obscenity.

The next day, Willow declines Buffy's suggestion that they go to the Bronze that night and is telling her how she plans to avoid vice for the rest of her life when Percy, thoroughly intimidated by "Willow" strangling him earlier, shows up with all his work completed and hands her a teacher's apple before making a hasty retreat. Willow decides to take Buffy up on her offer after all.

Tropes

• Abbey Road Crossing: During filming, Alyson Hannigan and three doubles (two each dressed as human Willow and vampire Willow) posed this way for a photo.
• The Ace: Buffy proves she's a little better than Faith, as the former is able to prevent herself staking Vampire Willow whereas the latter didn't stop herself from staking Allan.
• All There in the Script: The Mayor's enforcer co-opted by Vampire Willow is never referred to by name, but is credited as "Alphonse."
• Alternate Reality Episode: The episode is a play on this trope. The Vampire Willow from the alternate reality of "The Wish" accidentally finds her way to the real world, setting some serious foreshadowing for further seasons.
• Ambiguously Bi/Ambiguously Gay: Teasing Vampire Willow first with Sandy then Willow herself, and have Willow freak out that "I think I'm kinda gay!" was intended as a throwaway couple of jokes, because at the time they wanted to make Xander the gay one. But we all know how that turned out.
  Buffy: Remember, Willow, who a vampire is has nothing to do with the person they were before.
  Angel: Actually, that's not qu- [cue Death Glare from Buffy] ... good point.
• And I'm the Queen of Sheba: Anya finally smells a rat, and calls Willow out as a human.
  Anya: If she's a vampire, then I'm the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
• Apple for Teacher: The episode begins with Percy and Snyder browbeating Willow into tutoring Percy on his homework assignment on President Roosevelt (for tutoring, read "Willow doing it for him"). Then Percy meets Vampire Willow in the Bronze. The episode ends with Percy handing Willow file after file of work, double the amount required (turns out there were two President Roosevelts), and topping it all off with an apple.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: Giles keeps a rifle ready-loaded with a Tranquilizer Dart under his desk, where nosy students can find it.
• Badass Boast/Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  Anya: For a thousand years I wielded the powers of the wish. I brought ruin to the heads of unfaithful men. I brought forth destruction and chaos for the pleasure of the lower beings. I was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe. And now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High. Mortal! A child! And I'm flunking math.
• Bad "Bad Acting":
  • Willow trying to pass as her evil vampire counterpart. ("I'm a bloodsucking fiend! Look at my outfit!")
  • Also, not only does Willow try to pass herself off as the evil vampire Willow, but the vampire Willow tries to pass herself off as good Willow, so Cordelia will let her out of the book cage. "Why don't you let me out, 'cause I'm... so helpless." Hilarity Ensues.
• Bad Guys Play Pool: Percy is cockily shooting some pool when Wishverse Willow crosses his path.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: Vampire Willow assures Sandy that, "You don't have to be afraid...just to please me."
• Because I'm Good At It: Oz tries to get at Wishverse Willow before she kills a hostage, but a henchvamp restrains him. He calls Willow's name, saying she doesn't want to do this. Wishverse Willow menaces, "I don't? But I'm so good at it."
• Better Living Through Evil: Faith gets a brand new apartment with a view and a PlayStation.
• Between My Legs: Wishverse Willow making her grand entrance into the Bronze. Tellingly, the figures between her legs are Angel and Oz—two people she would recognize from the Wishverse—but she doesn't spot them yet.
• Big "SHUT UP!": The henchvamps from earlier enter the Bronze, and Alphonse, the one with the broken fingers, tells everyone to shut up, which they do. He barks that if they don't cause trouble, no one will get hurt.
• Boring Insult: Wishverse Willow retains this from her previous appearance.
  "Bored now."
• Brains and Brawn: Snyder explains that Willow is the pinnacle of academic achievement ("despite her unsavory associations."), and Percy is a basketball star. He concludes that it's "a match made in heaven".
  Willow: You want us to breed?
• Brick Joke: Wishverse Willow gives two hugs in this episode: upon first encounter with Xander, and upon sendoff with regular Willow. Both hugs involve "Hands!"
• By "No", I Mean "Yes": Giles asks an exhausted Wesley if he should take Buffy out for evaluation instead.
  Wesley: I'll be fine. [pants] Just give me a minute. [pants] And some defibrillators, if it's [pants] not too much trouble.
  Faith: You're gonna love it, B. It's just like fun, only boring.
• Call-Back:
  • Snyder emphasizes that the school can't afford a losing year in basketball, especially after the previous year's "debacle with the swim team".
  • Buffy stops herself from staking Vampire Willow when Willow calls out, "Buffy, no!", in contrast to Faith staking Finch when Buffy calls out, "Faith, no!" in "Bad Girls".
• Call on Me: The plan is for Willow to go into the Bronze alone and try to defuse the situation, but if things get out of hand, to scream for Buffy and co. Once she's busted, Alphonse says he should have sniffed Willow out as a human earlier. "A human?", Willow scoffs. "Oh yeah? Could a human do this?" She screams. Anya and Alphonse exchange looks and rhetorically patronize her that yes, humans can do that.
• Captain Obvious: Buffy and Xander start to explain to Willow that they just saw a vampire Willow at the Bronze, but they aren't sounding terribly coherent. A very confused Buffy asks if Giles is planning to jump in with an answer.
  Giles: Well, uh, something, something, um, very strange is happening.
  [Beat]
  Xander: Can you believe the Watcher's Council let this guy go?
• Cerebus Retcon: Inverted. Willow's vampire alter ego in "The Wish" was played for drama, as was her tragic death at the end. This episode plays her for comedy instead.
• Chain of Corrections/Unwanted Assistance: Xander proceeds to dig himself deeper by clarifying what Buffy meant when she called Willow "Old Reliable":
  Xander: She just means, you know, the geyser! You're like a geyser of fun that goes off at regular intervals.
  Willow: That's Old Faithful.
  Xander: Isn't that the dog, that the guy had to shoot—?
  Willow [seething] That's Old Yeller.
  Buffy: Xander, I beg you not to help me.
• Chekhov's Boomerang:
  • Willow grabbing the tranqulizer gun they use for Oz and shooting her bizarro self with it.
    Wishverse Willow: Bitch. [collapses]
  • Willow's pencil floating trick ends up saving her life in a future episode.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Sandy returns as a vampire in Season 5, where she gives Riley his first experience with being blood-sucked for the thrill. D'Hoffryn also appears in several future episodes.
• Comfort Food: Willow, fuming at Percy's arrogance and life in general, decides to sit right down and take a banana out of her bag.
  Willow: [to herself] I'm gonna eat this now. It's not lunchtime, and I don't even care.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Devon, a bit slow on the uptake, whispering to Oz, "Dude, check out your girlfriend!"
  • Xander assumes that Percy is roughing up Vamp Willow instead of vice versa.
  • Cordy is still yapping about Xander to her captive audience. Noticing Willow's stare, she asks if she's got something on her neck. Willow: "Not yet." Cordy worriedly checks for a zit.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment:
  • In a torch-lit chamber, D'Hoffryn tells Anya that she can't have her powers back, as she lost them as a result of her own carelessness. She tries to lean on her thousand-year vengeance track record, then whines, "Do you have any idea how boring 12th-graders are?!"
  • Cordy enters the library in a sexy dress, on the prowl for Wesley. From the book cage, Wishverse Willow gets her attention, and pulls out Cordy's name from the depths of her memory. Cordy asks if she locked herself in. "Yeah. Lemme out. ...'Cause I'm so helpless." Cordy goes to get the spare key, but suddenly says that this is a good opportunity for them to talk. "What could we talk about—hey! How about the ethics of boyfriend-stealing?" This goes on for some time; in the next cut, Cordy has taken a seat and made herself a hot drink. Willow, hanging against the cage, looking very... well, bored now.
• Curse Cut Short: "Aw, f—"
  • Word of God and the shooting scripts say that the full version was "Aw, fine." Nobody believes that. invoked
• A Darker Me: Willow flirts with the idea of becoming this, so agrees to a dark magic spell with Anya. When Willow encounters the real darker version, she freaks.
• Death Glare: Buffy shoots one at Angel when he starts to helpfully explain to Willow that a new vampire's invading personality is indeed influenced by the host's... never mind!
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  • Buffy and Faith have to take a series of mental and physical tests devised by the Watcher's Council. "Aren't you sort of naturally buff, Buff?", Willow queries, then chuckles at her own phrase. "Hee hee, buff Buff!"
  • Buffy's reaction to the "new" Willow.
    Buffy: Y-You know what? I like the look. It's extreme... but it looks good, it's a... leather thing, it's very— [to Xander] I said extreme already, right?
• Description Cut:
  • Once Anya is done declaring that she'll find someone else to get her necklace back, we cut to Willow on Sunnydale High's lawn.
  • Faith asks what Willow's doing. Willow casts her a sidelong glance and says she's trying to hack into the Mayor's personal files. Cut to Faith's apartment. She's just finished relaying this information to the Mayor personally.
  • Buffy and Xander enter the library. Giles emerges from his office; noting the looks on their faces, he asks what's wrong. Ostensibly a short time later, they're sitting on the steps, all in shock.
    Giles: She was truly the finest of all of us.
    Xander: Way better than me.
    Giles: [beat] Much, much better.
• Diabolus ex Machina: Inverte when Evil Vampire Willow comes to the Buffyverse, gets the I-want-to-go-home going and after saying goodbye the viewer is reminded that she gets back to the exact time she came from, only to die a second time.
• Digging Yourself Deeper:
  Buffy: See? I told you, Old Reliable.
  Willow: Oh, thanks.
  Buffy: What?
  Willow: Old Reliable? Yeah, great, there's a sexy nickname.
  Buffy: Well, I-I didn't mean it as...
  Willow: No, it's fine. I'm Old Reliable.
  Xander: She just means, you know, the geyser. You're like a geyser of fun that goes off at regular intervals.
  Willow: That's Old Faithful.
  Xander: Isn't that the dog that that guy had to shoot...?
  Willow: That's Old Yeller!
  Buffy: Xander, I beg you not to help me.
• Dominatrix: Touth quoteth: "It was exactly you, Will, every detail. Except for your not being a dominatrix." Thanks, Buff.
• Distracted by My Own Sexy: When she dresses up as her vampire self to infiltrate the Bronze, Willow is momentarily quite impressed by what the corset she's wearing is doing for her breasts.
  Willow: (glancing down at her chest) Gosh, look at those.
• Double Take: Wishverse Willow groping Xander in the Bronze. Buffy chooses this moment to join them: "Aren't you gonna introduce me to— holy god you're Willow."
• Double Vision: Using a combination of Over the Shoulder and Green Screen shots.
• The Dragon: Alphonse, one of the Mayor's henchvamps, becomes the Vampire Willow's Dragon.
• Dramatic Irony: To "The Wish" on multiple occasions.
  • Buffy allows that Faith isn't going to make the cover of Sanity Fair, but that she sympathizes with her—Faith had it rough growing up. "Different circumstances, that could be me." Willow vetoes that idea, declaring that some people don't have that in them.
  • Wishverse Willow is spared because the Scoobies want her to live out her (undead) life in her universe. The viewers already know this isn't going to happen.
• Expendable Alternate Universe: Willow doesn't want them to kill the Vampire Willow, so they send her back to her universe...apparently perfectly okay with letting her kill people over there. True she gets staked immediately after she gets back, but they had no way of knowing that.
• Exposition of Immortality: A basic dialogue example in Anya's exchange with a bartender demanding ID before he serves her alcohol. See the Really 700 Years Old entry below for the actual lines.
• Evil Me Scares Me: Although the thing that actually horrifies Willow is more the fact that vampire Willow seems into her, and "skanky".
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite having joined up with the Mayor, Faith still seems hesitant about the idea of Willow being killed.
• Eviler than Thou: Wishverse Willow quickly has the Mayor's lackeys at her mercy, and under her control. She tells them to round up their friends so they can take over the Bronze and make it the way she remembers it.
• Face-Revealing Turn: In-Universe. Buffy tries to stop Wishverse Willow (who she thinks is normal Willow) from walking out on her at the Bronze, only for Willow to turn on them in Game Face and snarl "Get off me!" Buffy and Xander are too shocked to do anything but stand there.
  Buffy: Xander, aren't you going to introduce me to your new— holy god, you're Willow!
• Failed Dramatic Exit: Buffy apologizes for the "old reliable" remark, saying it wasn't an insult, but Willow whines that she doesn't want to be reliable all the time. She turns to go. Buffy tries to stop her, but Willow meekly explains that she's storming off. "It doesn't really work if you come with me."
• Family-Values Villain:
  Faith: Thanks, sugar daddy.
  Wilkins: (admonishingly) Now Faith, I don't find that sort of thing amusing. I'm a family man. (jovial) Now, let's kill your little friend!
• Fishing for Mooks: Human Willow not-so-subtly taking her "minions" aside one-by-one and asking them to go check the perimeter—where they'll be pounced on by Buffy & Co.
• Foreshadowing:
  • It is hinted for the first time that Willow might become a lesbian in the future, one of several hints in the first three seasons that either Willow or Xander would later become gay; Joss Whedon had not yet decided which.
    Willow: It's horrible. That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil. And skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay.
    Buffy: Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was.
    Angel: Well, actually— [sees Buffy's Death Glare] ...that's a good point.
  • For Dark Willow in Season 6:
    Willow: I see now where the path of vice leads. I mean, she messed up everything she touched. I don't ever want to be like that.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Cordelia's moment of grief over the vampirized Wishverse Willow.
  Cordy: Willow. They got Willow. [to Wesley] So, you doing anything tonight?
• Gamer Chick: Wilkins gets Faith a PlayStation for working with him. We never actually see her play it but that pretty much seals the deal.
• The Glomp: The gang is eulogizing Willow when she walks in. Buffy approaches Willow hopefully, and then leaps over and hugs her close. Xander follows suit. Willow groans that breathing is "becoming an issue," and they disengage. Pleased, but flummoxed, she starts to ask Giles for an explanation, but he quickly shuts her up with a bear hug.
  Willow: It's really great that you guys missed me. Say, you all didn't happen to do a bunch of drugs, did ya?
• Golden Moment: Spoofed when Willow says goodbye to Wishverse Willow, who just stares at her coldly. She then grabs her Evil Twin in a hug, and Wishverse Willow starts to smile as if this display of affection is actually getting through to her... only for Willow to jump away and complain that she's being groped.
• Got Volunteered: Snyder wants Willow to tutor his star athlete, Percy, because he's flunking history.
• Half-Truth: Anya swears to Willow that she's just looking for her necklace—"a family heirloom." When it's over, a disturbed Willow exclaims that that was a little bit blacker than she likes her arts, and leaves.
  Willow: Did you try looking inside the sofa IN HELL??
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • Buffy compliments Willow on her floating pencil trick, and Willow says emotional control is the key to it. Faith's name comes up, and Buffy apologizes for talking about her so much. Willow says it doesn't bother her, but Buffy directs her attention to the pencil, which is now spinning like a buzzsaw. It finally lodges itself in a nearby tree.
    Buffy: Emotional control?
    Willow: Working on it.
  • Willow grousing that she hates Snyder's bullying; "He just assumes everyone's time is his!" Predictably, Giles shows up and orders her onto the computer, and she sunnily complies.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!:
  • When Willow is impersonating her vampire self and is asked to "prove it" she says, "I'm a bloodsucking fiend! Look at my outfit!" Later, when challenged again, she says, "A human? Oh yeah? Could a human do this?" and screams really, really loudly, signaling Buffy and Co. to rush the building and start with the ass-kickage. Absolutely hilarious.
    Willow: Oh yeah? Could a human do this? [screams her head off]
    Anya: Sure.
    Vampire Alphonse: Yeah, I think, yeah.
    Anya: Humans do that.
    [The Scooby Gang storms in]
  • However, an earlier played-serious scene averts the trope. Faith has told the Mayor that Willow is trying to hack into his computer files, so the Mayor decides that Willow must be killed. When Faith looks upset, the Mayor assures Faith that it's too early in her Face–Heel Turn to expect that of her, and says he'll send some vampires to do the job instead.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Alphonse works for whoever is the most threatening at the time, concerned largely with his own wellbeing.
• "I Know What We Can Do" Cut: They try to decide what to do about the scene at the Bronze, but are at an impasse until Buffy says that she has "a really bad idea." Cut to outside the Bronze, where Willow is uncomfortably wearing Wishverse Willow's leather getup.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Anya. Subverted because she can't get even that as she's stuck in the form of a California high school student. "I'm 1,120 years old! Just gimme a frickin' beer!!"
• Impersonating the Evil Twin: Willow Rosenberg pretends to be Vampire Willow, with mixed results. She gets caught due to being insufficiently evil, which one supposes you could call an error in the impersonation. However, it initially works well, and has an effect on helping the Scoobies' strategy, because the Wishverse Willow's newly acquired mooks don't know her much either and also are scared of her.
• Improvised Weapon: In the Bronze melee, Buffy does an action movie roll across the pool table and proceeds to joust with a cue stick. Angel grabs a handy billiard ball and hurls it at a mook's skull.
• In Spite of a Nail: In the Wishverse, Willow rematerializes and looks pleased, but Oz runs her into the wooden protrusion.
• Invulnerable Knuckles: Averted; Willow decks Anya with a perfect right hook... then grimaces, shakes her fist and yells:
  Willow: Ow, ow, happy, but OWWWW!
• Ironic Echo: Wishverse Willow is happy to see Xander at the Bronze, as she last saw him being staked by the White Hats. "You're alive!" She hugs him, only to back off on realising he's still human. "You're alive."
• It's All My Fault: Buffy blaming herself for Willow getting turned by vampires, as Willow threatened to do something reckless the last time they met.
  Buffy: I'm the one that called her reliable! She must have gone out and gotten attacked, which she never would have done if I hadn't have called her reliable!
• Just Eat Him: Averted; the vampires want to get down to the eating, and Willow has to think up reasons to delay this.
• Karma Houdini: Rather than being shipped back to England by the Watchers Council, Giles and Wesley appear to have struck a deal where both Slayers undergo physical testing and psychiatric evaluation.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Wishverse Willow getting struck in the book cage. In "The Wish", she was on the other side of the cage, having just trapped Giles inside it. As an added bonus, she gets to be lectured at by Cordelia, whom she and Xander killed in the Wishverse.
• Lecherous Licking: Wishverse Willow licks both Sandy at the Bronze and her alternate fuzzy self.
• Let's Split Up, Gang!:
  • The group mobilizes to storm the Bronze, but in the hallway, Willow realizes she "forgot something," and tells them she'll catch up. She reenters the library, and reaches behind the counter when a hand grabs her around the mouth. It's her doppelganger, who smiles, "Alone at last." Whoops!
  • Invoked a little while later when Willow, pretending to be Vampire Willow, sends vampires out one by one to get staked and even the odds for the Scoobies.
• Loves the Sound of Screaming: Wishverse Willow walks through Sunnydale at night, unhappy at all the humans walking about without a care in the world. She hears screams and turns hopefully towards the sound, only it's a couple of kids playing.
• Made of Plasticine: Vamp Willow crumbles to dust after being pushed into, not a stake, but the jagged edge of what looks like a broken 1-by-4 — something that would have to be propelled with awesome force to do anything more than give the average human a nasty scrape.
• Magic Misfire: Willow and Anya's spell was meant to conjure Anya's necklace but Willow messed it up and summoned her vampire double instead. Since the necklace would have restored Anya's vengeance demon powers, it wouldn't have been good if the spell had worked properly either...
• Magical Computer: Downplayed. Willow attempts and fails to access the mayor's files.
• Make an Example of Them: Wishverse Willow slinks over to a female hostage who's sitting alone, and asks her name. It's Sandy. Willow takes Sandy by the hand ("You don't have to be afraid...just to please me."), and announces to the humans that if they're good, the vamps will make them "young, and strong" forever. She licks Sandy's neck, then warns that if they're not good—she vamps out and bites Sandy.
  Wishverse Willow: Questions? Comments?
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Wilkins is in the mood to kill Faith's "little friend." Faith looks hesitant, but the Mayor says he wouldn't ask her to do it "at this point in [their] relationship", and that a vampire attack would look less suspicious anyway.
• Mercy Lead: An Invoked Trope by Willow-pretending-to-be-Vamp-Willow to delay the vampires slaying the hostages, but they've already guessed she's not who she appears to be.
• Mirror Match: A one-sided version, with Willow being cornered on the Bronze's stage by her doppelganger. Willow guesses that the time for canoodling has passed. Wishverse Willow clocks her out, then straddles and starts choking her.
• Most Definitely Not a Villain/Bad "Bad Acting":
  • Wishverse Willow's explanation for how she got stuck in the cage. "Um, I was looking at books. ...I like books. ...'cause I'm shy."
  • Willow also has trouble getting in character as Wishverse Willow. "I killed her! And sucked her blood, as we vampires do."
• Mugged for Disguise: Wishverse Willow awakening in the book cage, her catsuit stolen, and now wearing a fuzzy pink sweater.
  Wishverse Willow: This is a nightmare.
• Musicalis Interruptus: Suspenseful music plays as Cordelia is about to unlock Wishverse Willow from the book cage—then cuts off as she decides to lecture Willow instead.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Willow realizes she brought her vampire self over from the Wishverse, all she can say is, "Oops!".
• Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught Outside the school, Willow catches up with Percy. She tries to make a date to go over his paper, but he says Snyder expects her to do the whole thing for him.
  Willow: He never said that!
  Percy: What meeting were you at?
• Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You:
  • Giles is devastated at the loss of Willow, while Buffy and Xander both blame themselves. On cue, Willow walks in. "Geez. Who died?" Then, seriously: "Oh, God. Who died?" Xander runs up and sticks a cross in her face, telling her to "BACK! GET BACK, DEMON!" Getting no reaction, he shakes the cross as though it were broken and tries again.
  • Replayed when Angel barges into the library (in full mourning face) and, while breaking the news to Buffy, does a neck-spraining double take.
    Angel: Willow's dead. Hey, Willow... Wait a second!
• Of Corsets Sexy:
  Buffy: [regarding the corset] You okay in that thing?
  Willow: It's a little binding. I guess vampires really don't have to breathe. [looks down at her cleavage] Gosh, look at those. [cue Giles and Xander looking flustered]
• Offhand Backhand: Alphonse makes one final lunge at Buffy, but she jams the business end of her cue stick into his chest without even looking back, dusting him.
• "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Anya nervously gives a pissed off Willow one of these before the latter promptly decks her.
• Oh, My Gods!: Anya begs D'Hoffryn to fold the fabric of time, and when he refuses, swears that "if you won't help me, by the pestilent gods I will find someone who will!"
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: As Willow (in vampire guise) strides into the Bronze, Anya and Alphonse look at her expectantly. Anya asks where Willow is. She tells Anya not to question her, and goes on that Willow bothered her. "She's so weak and accommodating. She's always letting people walk all over her, and then she gets cranky with her friends for no reason! I just couldn't let her live."
• Other Me Annoys Me: Vamp Willow thought that the regular Willow was too wimpy, and regular Willow thought Vamp Willow was too skanky and evil.
  Willow: It's horrible. That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil, and skanky... and I think I'm kinda gay.
  Buffy: Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was.
  Angel: Well actually-(Buffy glares at him) ... that's a good point.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Xander calling Angel "Buddy" because they are both so Mind Screwed about finding out that Willow is a vampire but not really.
• Percussive Maintenance: Played for Laughs when Xander shakes his cross because it doesn't appear to be working on (entirely human) Willow.
• Percussive Therapy: When her retrieval spell comes up empty, Anya smashes a plate in frustration.
• Poke the Poodle: Willow's first act of rebellion is to eat her banana, even though it's not lunchtime.
• Political Overcorrectness: Percy claiming it's not his fault he's unmotivated: "I'm challenged."
  Principal Snyder: You're lazy, self-involved and spoiled. That's quite the challenge.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
  • Two of the Mayor's henchvamps accost Wishverse Willow, mistaking her for the human one.
    Vamp Willow: I'm not supposed to talk to strangers.
    Alphonse: Then we won't talk.
  • And of course, "Bored now." (before throwing Percy across the pool table).
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: Willow is uncomfortable with destroying her vampire double and apparently the other Scoobies thought it was perfectly fine to send the vampire back to her own universe instead of staking her, based on the fact that she was willing to go home and only kill people there, where they can't see it (she would be staked there, but the Scoobies had no way to know that).
• Punched Across the Room/Neck Lift: Wishverse Willow enters the Bronze (in our reality) and cases the joint. Eventually, she bumps into Percy, who demands to know why she's not at home polishing off his history report. "Till we graduate, I own your ass." Willow's bored by now so she shoves the heel of her palm into his chest, sending his sorry ass flying over the pool table. She mews that she's having a terrible night, and picks Percy up by the throat. "Wanna make it better?"
• Rage Breaking Point: Buffy and Xander happen upon Willow outside, and Xander asks Willow if she remembered to tape a show for him, which she did. "See, I told you.", Buffy declares, "Old Reliable." This hits a raw nerve. Willow tells them that she's tired of being a doormat and "homework gal," and let's them know that maybe she'll change her look or cut class - something crazy. And she's eating this banana, lunchtime be damned! She storms off.
• Really 700 Years Old:
  Anya: Gimme a beer.
  Bartender: I.D.
  Anya: I'm 1,120 years old! Just gimme a frickin' beer!
  Bartender: I.D.
  Anya: [sighs] Gimme a Coke.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: The gang see Wishverse Willow and assume the normal Willow is dead. Leads to some humorous moments when the real Willow shows up.
• Revealing Hug: Willow hugs her vampire counterpart before sending her back to her own reality. As they hug, VampWillow grins mischievously. Two seconds later, Willow jumps away:
  Willow: Hands! Hands!
• Secret Handshake: When entering the Bronze disguised as her vampire self, Willow gives a quick wave to Oz that's entirely out of character for a Psychopathic Manchild vampire. Oz keeps his famous cool, but can't help smiling slightly in relief and amusement.
• Scare 'Em Straight: Percy getting manhandled by Wishverse Willow. Xander shows up and, misreading the scene, shoves Percy away, yelling at him to stay away from her. Percy's down with that idea, and bolts. At the end of the episode, Percy shows up and hands Willow the did the outline for his report. He didn't know which President Roosevelt the assignment was on, so he did one for both of them. He piles on a bibliography as well, and invites her to let him know about any mistakes. He leaves, but ducks back to give Willow a shiny apple, then dashes off again.
• Screaming Woman: Lampshaded with Willow at the Bronze. Played straight with Cordelia being chased by Vamp Willow (and Wesley hears her, so it saves her life).
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Wesley actually pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment, driving off Wishverse Willow. Cordelia then taps him on the shoulder and he shrieks in fear.
• Screw Yourself
  Vamp Willow: I kinda like the idea of the two of us. We could be quite a team, if you came around to my way of thinking.
  Willow: Would that mean we have to snuggle?
  [Evil Willow brushes Willow's hair away from her neck]
  Vamp Willow: What do you say? [Lecherous Licking] Wanna be bad?
  Willow: This just can't get more disturbing!
• Sequel Episode: To "The Wish".
• Sexy Sweater Girl: Wishverse Willow distastefully eyeing Willow's pink sweater.
  Vamp Willow: Well look at me. I'm all fuzzy.
• A Shared Suffering: Upon her defeat, a droopy-looking Wishverse Willow grouses, "This world's no fun." Willow: "You noticed that, too?"
• Single-Minded Twins: Played for Laughs during the ritual to send the evil Willow home. Giles tells Anya not to try anything funny, but Anya says she doesn't need tricks. "When I get my powers back you will all grovel before me." Willow and Vamp-Willow give an eyeroll in stereo.
• Spanner in the Works: Willow and Anya start to cast the spell, during which they are supposed to pour the sacred sand over the representation of the necklace to bring it forth from before it was lost. As scenes from "The Wish" flash through Willow's head her hands start shaking uncontrollably, causing the sacred sand to pour onto one of her hands instead of the image of Anya's necklace, which results in Willow's counterpart being summoned instead of the bling. This also serves as a spanner for the Mayor's plans, as his vampire minions end up targeting the wrong Willow Rosenberg.
• Tantrum Throwing: Anya smashes the plate in frustration after the spell fails, inadvertently releasing Wishverse Willow from the temporal fold they created.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Vampire Willow's last words, as she reappears into the Wishverse only to be pushed onto a broken plank: "Oh fu--."
• Too Much Information: Buffy asserting that Willow and her doppelganger looked were exactly alike, except for Willow "not being a dominatrix...as far as we know." Willow rolls her eyes. "Oh right. Me and Oz play Mistress of Pain every night." Giles furrows his brow.
  Xander: Did anyone else just go to a scary visual place?
  Buffy: Oh yeah.
  [Giles silently raises his hand in agreement]
• Torture for Fun and Information: Wishverse Willow asks Alphonse who he works for, but he says he's not telling her anything. Still holding him in an armlock, Willow bends one of his fingers backward until it snaps. He spills that they work for the Mayor. Uh oh, I'm afraid that answer will cost you another finger. She asks again, "Who do you work for?" Al is starting to get the picture: "You."
• The Triple:
  • "I was feared and worshiped across the mortal globe and now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High! Mortal! A child! And I'm flunking math."
  • "I'm so evil. And skanky. (whispering) And I think I'm kinda gay."
• Victory Is Boring: Willow tries to free the hostages by telling Alphonse and Anya that she doesn't feel like killing right now, as it wouldn't be enough of a challenge. Nice try, Will.
  Willow: I-I-it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Where's the fun?
  Alphonse: With all due respect, Boss, the fun would be the eating.
• Villains Blend in Better: Averted. Vampire Willow has just as much trouble pretending to be regular Willow as vice versa.
• Villain Team-Up: Wishverse Willow recognizing Oz as a "White Hat", and wondering why he's addressing her like they're buds. That's Anya's cue to step in as Ms. Exposition; Anya says that this isn't her world, asks if she wants to get back there. Willow poutily says yes. Anya: "So do I."
• Vampires Are Sex Gods: Willow from the Wishverse gets a lot more attention from boys in her leather catsuit. Not that she restricts herself to boys.
• "Walk on the Wild Side" Episode: Willow gets a little fed up with her reputation as Old Reliable and flirts with danger a bit by doing a dark incantation with Anya. She ends up seeing more of her Dark Side than she ever wants to.
• We Can Rule Together: Vampire Willow seems interested in turning her doppelgänger into a vampire, believing the two of them could be quite the formidable pair. She is also implied to have romantic feelings for her counterpart, something Willow finds rather creepy...
• What Happened to the Mouse?: When Angel meets Oz in the Bronze, he's looking for Buffy, but after he gets embroiled in the Vamp Willow shenanigans it's never explained what he had been wanting to talk to Buffy about.
• Which Me?: On first seeing her alternate self, Willow asks, "What do I want with you? Errr..."
• "You!" Exclamation: Vamp Willow does a quiet version on meeting Buffy.

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