"Don't flatter yourself."

[VampSlayer]

In Angel, from the episode Underneath:

ILLYRIA: "I reek of humanity."
WESLEY: "Don't flatter yourself."

In Dollhouse, from the episode Vows:

TOPHER: "You're human!"
CLAIRE: "Don't flatter yourself."

I thought it was interesting that both of these conversations dealt with the humanity of Amy Acker's character(s), and also used the same line, "Don't flatter yourself." I spotted this out while rewatching Underneath, and just got around to posting about it.

Care to discuss? I thought it was a pretty neat throwback. I doubt it was on purpose, but it's still neat!

[drusillacakes]

It happens pretty often I think. I don't know if writers forget they have used these lines before, or it's just so fitting for the character.

For example, in my Season 3 rewatch, Buffy tells Faith to "Go for the heart!" and of course, Faith says something similar in her No Future for You arc. "Aim for the heart." Totally did a double-take there. Also, Fred says the word, "Whiskey" in AtS's Damages and I got chills because of Dollhouse.

I think it's pretty common for characters to repeat lines, or words but because we're such Whedonites, we get that deja-vu feeling.

[Eric]

This is a pretty weird coincidence. I love that in spite of the common phrase, the characters are feeling the complete and utter opposite of each other. Illyria, a demon, is feeling human after waking up in the body of one. Whiskey / Claire is feeling inhuman after finding out she is a doll.