The title is a play on the bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now
these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love." The three pieces of the title refer
to: Faith - the second slayer, Scott Hope
- Buffy's new love interest and Mr. Trick - the new vampire leader.
Cordelia: When did you become Martha
Stewart.
Martha Stewart is the canonical figure of all things home
and garden.
Mr. Trick: The death rate makes D.C. look
like Mayberry.
Mayberry is the quiet, safe fictional
town of the Andy Griffith show. The reference is to the fact that Washington
D.C. was once (and is still known as) the murder capitol of the United
States.
Scott: No harm, no foul, right?.
A common sports (basket ball) saying. Basically it means that an action
that might have been a foul isn't called since it caused no harm.
Cordelia: What was the last thing that guy
danced to, KC and the Sunshine Band?
KC and the Sunshine Band were one of the
biggest bands in the disco
craze of the 70s. Who can forget such hits as (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake
Your Booty?
Faith: We're 5 x 5,
you know?
While the meaning is pretty clear from context (we're fine and dandy),
the origin of this phrase is interesting. And hard to track down. The best
explanation I've seen is that it derives from military radio communication.
A scale of 1 to 5 was used to describe the clarity and volume of a signal.
Hence 5x5 meant that I can hear you and understand
you. The modern military term being "loud and clear".
Faith: The vamps, they better get their asses
to Def Con 1.
Another military term though the origin of this one will be clear to
all fans of the military thrillers. The term derives from Defense Condition
with 5 level describing the state of the military. Def Con 5 is peace time
and Def Con 1 is all out war.
Faith: Watcherless and fancy free.
A play on the phrase "footloose and fancy free". (Where does that come
from?)
Giles: There's horse riding and hiking and
punting.
It's unlikely that Giles is referring to American football. More likely
he's using the term punting in its British
usage to refer to boating (a punt being a small rowboat like boat) that is pushed along with a pole.
Mr. Trick: All I'm saying is, we stay local
- where the humans are jumpin' and the cotton
is high - but we live global.
A play on the lyrics from the song Summertime: "Fish
are jumpin' and the cotton is high".
This is also a play on the environmentalist's saying "Think Global,
Act Local".
Buffy: No, but I'm the one getting single
white femaled here.
A reference to the 1992 movie
Single White Female. In the movie, a woman's
new roommate slowly starts acting like her and attempting to take over
her life.
Joyce: I have tried to march in the "slayer
pride" parade.
Joyce compares being the parent of the slayer with being the parent
another ostracized group with a play on the Gay Pride Parade. In other
words, she has tried to be supportive of Buffy's "lifestyle" but is having
difficulty.
Scott: Or maybe at the Buster
Keaton festival playing on State Street all this week.
Buster Keaton is an actor
best known as a star of silent movie comedies. He's roughly comparable
to the better known Charlie Chaplin.