Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S6/E04 Flooded

Jonathan, Warren and Andrew (Tucker's brother) band together to take over Sunnydale. Buffy finds out she's broke.

"M'Fashnik: "[You] told me you were powerful men; commanding machines, magicks, the demon realms below.""
 * Action Dress Rip: Buffy delivers a Bond One Liner and goes to kick the demon...then can't because she's wearing a dress. The demon knocks her onto a table where she uses a handy letter opener to fix the problem.
 * Aesop Amnesia: Jonathan has clearly ignored Buffy's cautionary words at the end of "Superstar".
 * Armed With Canon: Buffy rejects the idea that she should charge money to innocent people for saving their lives. Take That, rival channel!
 * Basement Dweller: The headquarters of the Trio is in the basement of the house of Warren's mother.
 * Big Bad Wannabe: The Trio.

"Willow: Buffy, I know you're still getting back on your feet after...
 * Bait and Switch Comment: Anya suggests Buffy charge people for saving their lives. Buffy replies, "That's an idea...you would have."
 * Black Comedy: Buffy's "post-post-mortem comedy".

Buffy: Lying flat on my back?"

"Buffy: Are you in the wrong line? (points) That's for deposits, (points) that's for withdrawals, and this one ... is for getting kicked in the face. (Buffy tries to kick the demon but her skirt is too tight) Stupid skirt. (Buffy gets Punched Across the Room)."
 * Bond One Liner / Failed Attempt At Drama: The M'Fashnik is tearing up the bank when he's confronted by Buffy.

"Giles: "You're alive. You're here. And you're still ... (strained) ...remarkably strong.""
 * Bread Eggs Milk Squick: The whiteboard list of the Trio's evil plans.
 * British Stuffiness: Buffy asks Giles if he's miserable or just being really British.
 * Broke Episode
 * Butt Monkey: Jonathan is still the loser of the group, with Warren and Andrew conspiring to give him the lowest score even though his time-loop spell was most successful, and hailing him the leader when the M'Fashnik says he's going to kill their leader.
 * Call Back: Spike sits next to Buffy on the verandah and she jokes, "Why do you always turn up when I'm miserable?" referencing when he did the same at the end of "Fool for Love".
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Warren created the Buffybot in Season 5 "Intervention" and first met Buffy in "I Was Made to Love You". Jonathan has appeared as a minor character since Season 2 "Inca Mummy Girl" -- his Butt Monkey status rivals Xander, but without The Power of Friendship and sex with hot ex-demon chicks to compensate. He was last seen in "Superstar" where he also tried using magic as a quick route to fame and fortune. Tucker Wells was the villain in "The Prom", but the actor was unavailable, so the character of his brother Andrew was created.
 * Cut His Heart Out With a Spoon: While Neck Lifting Jonathan, the demon threatens to kill him, then suck dry his bones and use them to beat Warren and Andrew to death.
 * Description Cut: Giles wonders who would be powerful enough to control a M'Fashnik demon. Cut to the demon in question roaring at the terrified Trio. Jonathan talks of their "clear, super-cool mission statement". Flashback Echo to Warren casually asking if they want to team up and take over Sunnydale.
 * Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Buffy hugging Giles.

""The magics I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.""
 * Dude Not Funny (In Universe): The Scoobies reaction to Buffy's morbid humor. Also Buffy's reaction to Willow trying to make her 'angry'.
 * Dumb Muscle: The M'Fashnik, from "a long line of mercenary demons that perform acts of slaughter and mayhem for the highest bidder".
 * Establishing Character Moment: Warren slipping the demon Buffy's address shows his lack of morals compared to his colleagues.
 * Evil Laugh: The Trio do this to convince the demon they really are supervillains.
 * Evil Plan: According to their whiteboard list the Trio plan to; "Control The Weather, Miniaturize Fort Knox, Conjure Fake I.D.s, Shrink Ray, Girls, Girls, The Gorilla Thing, and Workable Prototype Jet Packs." Oh, and make Buffy their Sex Slave.
 * Foreshadowing: From the above Evil Plan, the Trio create the Cerebral Dampener which can turn any women into their Sex Slave, as well as workable jetpacks.
 * Buffy avoids dealing with real life problems by running off to see her vampire Love Interest.
 * Willow threatening Giles.

""That's a strange place for a horn...Oh...it's not a horn.""
 * Genre Savvy: Or at least, the Trio like to think they are.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Dawn insists she's old enough to look through the books on demons.

""Andrew, you're such a geek.""
 * Grevious Harm with a Buffy: The M'Fashnik throws Buffy at the security guard so he can escape.
 * Held Gaze: A platonic love version this time, between Buffy and Giles when they first lay eyes on each other.
 * Hypocritical Humor: Warren wearing 3D glasses and playing a computer game.

"Warren: (whispering) Here's the Slayer's address. Make it so.
 * I Did What I Had to Do: Willow justifying her actions. Giles has more of a What the Hell Hero response.
 * Jedi Mind Trick: The Trio have to get rid of the demon who is demanding their magical help to defeat the Slayer, but with no powers to offer...

(Demon leaves. Andrew and Jonathan look impressed)

Andrew: What are you, some kind of Jedi?

Warren: The Force can sometimes have great power on the weak-minded."

"Buffy: We meet at last, Mr. Drippy.""
 * Limited Social Circle: When someone calls Buffy at the house, she wonders aloud, "Who's calling me? Everyone I know lives here."
 * Mook: Buffy calls the demon a mook when he breaks her designer lamp, though he's more of a Monster of the Week. One assumes she was using its original insulting definition.
 * He's a mercenary for the Trio, so it's not entirely inaccurate as a trope.
 * Noodle Incident: Andrew Wells trained flying demon monkeys to attack the school play.
 * Not So Dire: Buffy moves slowly through a Creepy Basement wielding a heavy spanner...to repair a leaky pipe.

"Dawn: I'm guessing on how you say it. It's got an apostrophe. I think it's "Mmm, Fashnik". Like "Mmm, cookies.""
 * Percussive Therapy: Buffy pounds her punching bag after being turned down for her loan application.
 * Punctuated Pounding: "FULL! COPPER! REPIPE! NO! MORE! FULL! COPPER! REPIPE!"
 * Punctuation Shaker

"Jonathan: It's true, my friends. The way I see it, life is like an interstellar journey. Some people go into hypersleep and travel at sub-light speeds, only to get where they're going after years of struggle, toil and hard, hard work. We, on the other hand ...
 * Sunnydale Syndrome clearly has it's limits -- the bank manager mentions the town's "unusually low" property values.
 * There Are Two Kinds of People in The World / Get Rich Quick Scheme

Andrew: Blast through the space-time continuum in a wormhole?

Jonathan: Gentlemen... ] CRIME is our wormhole!"

"Buffy: "There. All better.""
 * There Was a Door: The Scoobies have clearly learnt to lock the front door this year. Unfortunately Buffy's debt would be less if they'd left it unlocked again.
 * Reliably Unreliable Guns: Buffy reprimands a security officer for using a gun on a demon, tosses it aside and winces at the subsequent discharge.
 * Rock Bottom: Buffy fixes the leaky pipe only for water to erupt from every other pipe in the basement. She just stands there getting soaked as Dawn shrieks and flees.

"Demon: ENOUGH!"
 * Shout Out: The Trio work in plenty of geek sci-fi references.
 * Silence You Fool

"Giles: Well, I know I'm back in America now I've been knocked unconscious. (Tara hands him an ice-pack) Thank you.
 * Stiff Upper Lip: And not just Giles -- Buffy is visibly trying to maintain her pre-Season 6 perky image, as everyone notices. She later complains to Spike what a strain it is trying to avoid making her friends worry.
 * Tap On the Head / Running Gag

Buffy: Aw. Poor Lumpy Giles."

""That's a designer lamp, you mook!""
 * Terrible Interviewees Montage: Buffy rehearsing for her loan application.
 * Why We Can't Have Nice Things: The M'Fashnik adds to Buffy's debt when he barges into her house and trashes it during their fight.

"Warren: Yes! Truly, Lord Jonathan is the wisest of us all.
 * You Are in Command Now: Unimpressed with these 'wizards', the M'Fashnik demands to know which one of them is the leader. Each member of the Trio points to himself. The demon says he will kill the leader. All point to each other. The M'Fashnik says he will kill all of them. Andrew and Warren drop to their knees and hail Jonathan as their leader.

Andrew: Uh, yeah, long live our noble lord and master.

Jonathan: You guys suck."


 * You Owe Me: After saving her bank manager from a rampaging demon, Buffy tries to pull this card to get a loan. It doesn't work, partly because the Trio stole the money while Buffy was fighting the demon.