Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E12 Doublemeat Palace

"Phillip: You put the beef on the grill, you hit the button, then it beeps. You flip the beef, hit the other button then it beeps. You put it on the bun; there's not a button for that.

Buffy: Repeat until insane."

Buffy gets a job at a fast food place and is overwhelmed by the monotony. Amy infects Willow with a little magic.

"Manny: I'm Manny the manager. It's not a joke, it's just my name.
 * Actor Allusion: It's hard to watch this episode without thinking about Sarah Michelle Gellar's Burger King commercial.
 * Added Alliterative Appeal

Buffy: Right. You mentioned that a couple of times when I filled out the application."

"Lorraine: See this? I want you shooting for this from here on out.
 * Bad Job, Worse Uniform
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Buffy gets her job back in exchange for keeping quiet about the Secret Ingredient. Her new manager is pleased with her attitude and proudly shows off her 5-year pin.

Buffy: (looking resigned) Right. Here on out."

"Manny: That's the dehydrated pickle storage. (Buffy tries to open the filing cabinet but it's locked) Those are locked."
 * Broke Episode
 * Buffy-Speak: Wig Lady. Double-shiftiness. Veiny-nous.
 * Burger Fool: Played with.
 * Captain Obvious: Buffy goes over to a filing cabinet. On top of it is a large plastic jug marked "Dehydrated Pickles."

"Tara: Okay, wait, it was under her wig?
 * Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are:
 * Continuity Nod: Buffy mentions working as a waitress "that summer in LA". Xander says he thought Jonathan would have learned his lesson from the events of "Superstar".
 * Description Cut: Spike telling Buffy, "This place will kill you" to Gary's death scene.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Loads of this starting with the name of the restaurant and eventually ending with a demon shaped like... Well, imagine an eight-foot-long chestburster with no arms and an even larger, rounder forehead, which spits thin streams of pale fluid (and was defeating by a lesbian cutting it off to save her helpless female friend from it, although I am ] doubtful that that was the intended Subtext). The fact that the "Buffy At Work" The Making Of documentary used a clip of Buffy watching a video of "the cow and chicken coming together for the first time" (the back of a television emitting frantic moos and clucks was all that was shown of that part of the worker orientation video) when a Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer who worked for a video store was talking about pornography, especially with the Doublemeat mascot, implies that the doublemeat subtext was intentional. (But despite that, who doesn't want one of those hats, or a plush toy of the mascot?)
 * And, just in case it wasn't obvious enough, see Willow describing the demon to Tara in "Entropy".

Willow: Well, it was this thing, it just came out from inside her head.

Tara: That's disgusting. What did it look like?

Willow: Well... let's put it this way. If I wasn't gay before..."

"Spike: You chose to be in the consumer service profession, and I'm a consumer. (smirking) Service me.
 * Double Entendre

Buffy: (not amused) Order something or go."

"Xander: So Anya, the way she looked, with ... the face... (nervous laugh) That wasn't what you used to look like, was it?"
 * Empathic Environment / Fauxtivational Poster: Spike and Buffy have sex next to a TEAMWORK poster. Buffy finds Philip's foot in the kitchen -- behind her is a sign encouraging employees to BE PART OF THE DOUBLEMEAT EXPERIENCE.
 * Evil Sounds Deep / Mood Whiplash: Halfrek threatens to dismember Xander in a horribly low, demonic voice, until she recognizes Anya, adopts a much girlier voice ("Anyanka?? Oh my GOD!") and hugs her, with Xander shitting bricks the entire time.
 * Fingore: Buffy discovers a finger in the grinder.
 * Foreshadowing: For Amy's actions in Season 7 "The Killer in Me".
 * Spike urges Buffy to quit her job, saying he can get the money she needs.
 * Game Face: Halfrek's features seriously freak out Xander, for reasons other than the obvious.

"Willow: There were, you know, razor scooters and pictures of the Vulcan woman on Enterprise.
 * Gorn. And plenty of Squick too.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: Gary's death is shown via a close-up of his fallen Doublemeat Palace cap and a scream.
 * High Turnover Rate
 * Hypocritical Humor: Willow and Buffy have cleaned out the Trio's former hideout.

Xander: Ooh! ...I mean, pff! Nerds."

"Anya: Well, time is running very short. After Willow gave us the 'whoosh' engagement party, I got slack on the planning 'cause I figured she'd help, but, well, now that's all been blown to hell.
 * I Ate What?: Happens to Xander twice.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Lampshaded by Spike, who asks Buffy if she took this job to prove to herself that she's a normal girl after his claim that she Came Back Wrong.
 * I'm Standing Right Here

Willow: Hey, standing right here! Standing right exactly here."

"Anya: The workers are the tools that shape America.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun / Walk in Chime In

Buffy: Good to know. (everyone looks to see Buffy in her Burger Fool outfit) I was kinda feelin' like a tool."

"Halfrek: Half the time I have no idea if I'm maiming the right guy."
 * Jaws First Person Perspective: Gary's death.
 * Jerkass Genie

"Amy: Mm. I can see that.
 * "Just Joking" Justification: Buffy explaining away her "Soylent Green is people" stunt to the new manager.
 * Mystery Meat
 * Not Helping Your Case: Willow tells Amy she's getting her focus back after going cold turkey.

(Amy indicates Willow's book. We see that Willow has highlighted all the text on the entire page.)

Willow: (defensively) It's a pivotal page."

"Buffy: So ... what's the secret ingredient?
 * No Sense of Humor: Manny the Manager.
 * Our Zombies Are Fast Food Workers
 * The Paralyzer: Buffy is sprayed by a fluid that immobilizes her from the legs up.
 * Please Keep Your Hat On:
 * Reaction Shot: Buffy watching what happens to the Cow and the Chicken in the Doublemeat Palace workplace video.
 * Revenge: Implied with Amy, because Willow took so long to change her from a rat back to a human.
 * Secret Ingredient
 * The Secret of Long Pork Pies:
 * Sex for Solace: Buffy is halfway through a double shift and feeling rather down when her supervisor tells her it's time for her break. Just then she sees Spike prowling outside. In an overt mating signal Buffy removes her cap to show off her Hair of Gold. Spike immediately walks around the back; scene cut to him bonking Buffy up against the wall behind the Doublemeat Palace.
 * Shaped Like Itself
 * Shaped Like Itself

Philip: (not taking his eyes off the grill) It's a meat process.

Buffy: Well, what does that mean?

Philip: It's a process, they do it to the meat.

Buffy: But, what is it?

Philip: It's just the name of the process.

Buffy: (giving up) Oh. Yeah."


 * Shout-Out: To Soylent Green, when Buffy runs through the restaurant screaming "It's people!"
 * Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Averted
 * Technicolor Science: Willow and her chemistry set.
 * Thousand-Yard Stare: All the workers except Gary.
 * Too Much Information: Philip telling Buffy about his ears clogging up with grease.
 * With Friends Like These...: Amy for Willow. Halfrek for Anya.
 * Wall-Bang Her / Making Love in All the Wrong Places
 * You Look Familiar: The actress who played Halfrek also played Cecily in "Fool for Love" -- this was later retconned as Cecily actually being a vengeance demon.