Continuity mistake: When Buffy is talking to Riley, she puts the scarf on her head, on his hand. He talks to her and says "Maybe I am the bad guy," and in the next frame her scarf is back on her head again, then off again in the next frame. (00:24:20)
Continuity mistake: Buffy gets a massive scar on her head from fighting with Adam. This scar changes size at least twice throughout the rest of the episode.
Continuity mistake: When Oz leaves and holds Willow close to him, the position of their noses changes depending on the camera angle. In the shots of OZ they're pressed together and in the shots of Willow they're not.
Continuity mistake: When Buffy and Riley are in Buffy's room, Buffy holds Riley's hand with both of her hands and says to him, "Is there anything I can do?" But in the following shot she is holding Riley's hand with only one of her hands.
Continuity mistake: In the scene near the end when Faith is putting Joyce's lipstick on in the mirror and taunting her, it is obvious that the make-up department forgot to put Faith's tattoo on her upper arm. It's obvious if you watch back and forth between the mirror and the shot of Faith standing and turning, there is no evidence of a tattoo that has been established Faith has in the previous season.
The Harsh Light Of Day - S4-E3
Continuity mistake: When Spike finally gets into the area where the gem is and Harmony follows him up there, he puts on that necklace thinking it's the gem. When he realizes Harmony has the gem it shows him taking off the necklace. It cuts to another shot and then shows him again with the necklace, but minus the charm.
The Harsh Light Of Day - S4-E3
Continuity mistake: When Spike pins Harmony to the wall, his hands change from flat against her to grasping her shoulders, depending on the angle. (00:12:00)
The Freshman - S4-E1
Continuity mistake: When Buffy is fighting the vampires at the end of the episode, she grabs a tennis racket and smashes the brunette vampire over the head. She falls over the back of the couch and we hear the thud of her landing, however in the wide shot of the couch the vampire has just started to go over the back.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the episode, as Spike's getting his T-shirt on, from one angle he gets his arm completely through a sleeve, then we cut to a different view and he's still pulling it on.
Continuity mistake: When Xander falls through the ground, he lands with his arm on, or very near a bit of wood, but in a closer shot of him just before he gets up, the wood's disappeared and other rubble has moved around too.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Buffy and Kathy are deliberately infuriating each other (tapping pencils and cracking eggs) there are several lights on throughout the room (on Buffy's desk, above Kathy's computer, in the kitchenette) yet when Buffy turns out her bedside lamp, the entire area is thrown into darkness.
Continuity mistake: When Buffy and Willow are talking about the sham of Thanksgiving Day at the groundbreaking ceremony, on one angle (the one where Buffy's face is shown) there is a strong wind blowing, moving their hair about, but in the other (when you can see Willow's face) their hair aren't moving.
Continuity mistake: When Adam enters the cave and is talking to the vampires and then pulls the head off of one of them, watch as he falls, his head is still visible when he is falling out of frame. (00:15:25)
Continuity mistake: When we see Veruca eating at the table, she reaches for a cup as we see Oz coming up behind her. The shot changes and we see her turning around and reaching for the same cup again, though she never had time to put it down.
The Harsh Light Of Day - S4-E3
Continuity mistake: When Buffy catches Parker talking to another girl he stands up to leave and slings his backpack over one shoulder. In the next shot it's over both shoulders. (00:34:45)
Continuity mistake: We see Xander lying in bed with his chest and stomach uncovered. But when Anya comes in and starts talking to him about checking in at the unemployment office, his bed sheets are suddenly pulled up covering his chest and stomach.
Chosen answer: From what we see in the series, certain girls are identifiable as potential Slayers - Kendra clearly fell into this category. The identification method is presumably mystical in nature, but the Watchers' Council are pretty effective at that sort of thing, so they're quite good at tracking down the potentials ahead of time. Not perfect, though - it does appear that Buffy herself may have slipped through the net - certainly she had no inkling of what she was until she'd already taken on the role of Slayer. It is possible, however, that this was actually cultural - an American family would hardly be likely to turn over their daughter to some strange man for 'training', so the Watchers might have chosen to keep an eye on her covertly, whereas some other cultures (like Kendra's Jamaican parents) might be more willing to believe.
Tailkinker ★