Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Visual: (written on the blackboard behind Mrs. Miller) To every man his little cross. Til he dies. And is forgotten. This comes from Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot, in which two men wait in vain for the ambiguous title (non)character.

Buffy: It's pretty much "Crush! Kill! Destroy!"

An android killer in the 1960s sci-fi show Lost in Space pursued the astronauts saying only "Crush! Kill! Destroy!", which Buffy says here, referring to the fact that monsters usually don't communicate ideas.

Cordelia: God, is she really wearing Laura Ashley? Laura Ashley is a home furnishings and clothing designer that is apparently below Cordelia's high standards. Laura Ashley creations are typically up-scale and often feature floral prints.

Buffy: Gee, it's fun that we're speaking in tongues. Buffy, not understanding Willow and Xander's inside joke, equates their conversation to the practice of speaking in tongues. Some religious groups believe that those of their number who are divinely inspired will begin to speak in strange languages. Since this usually sounds like gibberish, the term "speaking in tongues" also refers to someone saying something that cannot be made out or understood.

Cordelia: That is such a twinkie defense. Cordelia is making a reference to Dan White's defense in the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Urban legend claims that part of White's defense was temporary insanity, due to the consumption of too much junk food. The term "twinkie defense" has come to mean a specious claim of non responsibility. In reality, White's lawyers argued that the previously health conscious White was suffering from untreated and spiraling depression, as evidenced by his conversion from a healthy diet to high fat, high sugar foods, such as Twinkies. The term "twinkie defense" has become a commonly recognized phrase, but it is based on something that never actually occured.

Cordelia: He acts like it's justice, him getting a pound of Antonio's flesh. Ms. Miller is reading from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. In the play, Shylock lends three thousand ducats to Antonio. As a bond, Anontio agrees that if the sum is not repaid, Shylock is entitled to a pound of his flesh. Shylock's position as an outcast in his society and the class discussion is a fitting background for the story of an outcast/unseen girl.

Cordelia: My eyes are hazel, Helen Keller. Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) was a world famous author and speaker. Due to a childhood disease, she was left blind and deaf. Her story and that of her tutor, Anne Sullivan, have been told in numerous biographies and movies.

Title: Out of Mind, Out of Sight A play on the phrase "out of sight, out of mind." The original means not thinking about someone (or something) because it is not around. The twisted phrase, which is the title of the episode, is also a summation of the plot. The girl that no one felt invisible and so became it. Also, "out of mind" is a reference to insanity, which clearly describes Marcie. This may be a nod to a well-known story of a mistranslation from "out of sight, out of mind" to "invisible, insane."