RILEY, YOU BIG LUG A small shrine to the dumbest man on TV. This week: Riley proves himself to be the ultimate Mummy's Boy, bunking off home for Thanksgiving with obvious relish. He also admits to stalking Buffy with oafish charm. Has he never heard of playing hard to get? When playing soldiers at the start of the episode, Riley proves that - even with big, big muscles - it is still easy look silly in camouflage. The rest of his team look less like green pandas and considerably more chunky. 'American Gothic' painter Grant Wood is, apparently, "just a guy who painted stuff". Riley is being bashful about his knowledge of art, which only makes him seem even dumber. He grew up in Iowa. On a farm. Moooooo!

Thanksgiving: It's a great American festival, celebrating the welcoming of the pilgrims by the native Indians. The starving pilgrims were introduced to all the best local foods (cranberries and turkey). The founding fathers, with typical gratitude, swiftly wiped out the native Americans. This is why it's particularly appropriate that Huse wreaks havoc during this festival.

Ricer: Giles doesn't have one. It's a ludicrously over-engineered potato masher / garlic press hybrid. You really could just use a fork.

Mushy Peas: Great research into English customs here. Giles likes mushy peas - an unlikely, but welcome, touch.

Chumash: is the name of a real California Indian tribe. The Indian tribe we meet here is spelt Shumach in the script, however. You can find out more about the Chumash people from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History website.

Huse: Speaks oddly good English for a native American spirit.

Anya: claims this is the first time she's met Angel. Nuts. She was with him in the bar in Dopplegangland, and fleetingly in Graduation Day.

Scheduling: By a stroke of amazing scheduling, the BBC planned to show this episode exactly on Thanksgiving day. A last-minute football match soon put paid to that.

Scheduling, part II: When originally shown in the US, this episode was immediately followed by an episode of Angel, where Buffy shows up in LA, furious with her ex for not telling her he'd come back to town.