I believe someone in the wwdits writer's room is a big fan of the wonderfully wackadoo NBC soap Passions which ran from 1999. Fully on board, I loved it too. It was so ludicrous in plot, pacing and character with an OTT quality that seemed more like a parody than a traditional show. If you haven't seen it, the supernatural figured prominently and provided some of the most memorable storylines.
#PassionsOnThisDay in 2000, Kay was shocked to see Charity floating outside her window
One of my all time fave storylines is the Luis Imposter. In order to separate Sheridan Crane and Luis Lopez Fitzgerald for good, her brother Julian hired a bit of rough to don a Luis mask (no magic involved) and scare Sheridan off. The only way to tell the difference was the imposter had a toothpick!
It was so impactful to me that I've been super fond of toothpicks ever since, AND if I see someone with a toothpick I call them an imposter.
So you can imagine when I saw On the Run and met Jackie Daytona, Passions was my first thought.
Jackie Daytona is the most direct influence but Nadjita is also reminiscent of Passions. The most dynamic duo on the show was local witch Tabitha and her living doll Timmy.
They were tasked with enhancing evil in The town of Harmony. Timmy would turn back into a doll when any humans saw him, save for Julian Crane who was almost always drunk and had a penchant for Timmy's mixology skills. They shared many a martimmy.
Tabby lost Timmy for good when he gave up his immortal soul to be a real little boy.
Tabby is very similar to Nandor in that though she purports to be a vessel for evil, she actually has a big, soft heart.
And similar to Buffy TVS, there was a portal to hell in Harmony in the neighboring Bennett house. (at 5:15) Best storyline ever!
So that all said, my pet wwdits season 4/5 prediction is that a hell mouth will open (maybe at Sean and Charmaine's house) unleashing many creatures. Guillermo's slayer skills will be invaluable and likely postpone his turning again.
I'm sure there are so many absurd references to be culled from Passions, so we'll see.