The Witch

The Witch
Written by Dana Reston
Directed by Steve Cragg

Original Airdate: March 17, 1997

Plot: A series of strange events surrounding cheerleading tryouts leads Buffy to believe that one of the potential cheerleaders is practicing more than just her routines...

Review

Warning: No amount of magic will save you from the fact that there are SPOILERS head for "The Witch." You have been warned...

In short: A fairly solid effort.

I'm of the opinion that the second or third episode of a new series must be the hardest to produce. One of my reasons is that the team has poured their heart and soul into the pilot in an effort to catch not only the eye of network executives who will put the show in the air, but also the eyes of we the cynical, jaded TV viewers. And so, pilots have to build a strong premise, with lots of promise.

But then, you've got the second or third episode where you've got to not only keep that promise, but build on it. And looking back at the first season of Buffy, it's easy to see how much promise the show had in the pilot and how high the expectations for the second episode would be. And as a second episode, the Witch is a respectable entry. It builds on the humor, the relationships, and some of the underlying conflicts and tensions from the premiere episode. But it also expands the Buffy universe from just slaying vamps and the Master's minions every week to dealing with the other forces of darkness. And that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned because let's face it, slaying vamps every week would get old quickly.

So, the Witch does well in that regard.

But, as I watched last night, my biggest complaint was the overall lack of focus the episode had. Yes, I liked the parallel structure of Buffy and Amy both trying to get their mother's praise, but taking different paths to go there and I really liked the Xander sub-plot about asking Buffy out. But the problem was that there were lots of good ideas here, none of which got enough screen time to hold my interest for very long. You had the cheerleading tryouts and Amy and Buffy's desire to be part of them. But you also had Buffy's trying to bond with mom, the Scooby gang trying to figure out what's going on, and the exploration of the witchcraft.

Another thing that bugged me a great deal (so much so that I rewound my tape and watched again) was the fact that it's hard to tell the exact moment at which Amy and her mom switched places. This is a vital plot piece, but I am not sure when it occurs. I have some ideas when it could, but other scenes disrupt my speculations. Surely Amy's mom wouldn't have taken Cordy's crap in the locker room. But an earlier scene in the science lab shows that Amy's mom has all ready taken over her body since the solution turns blue when spilled on her. I am not sure if there was some switching back and forth, but it seems like it would be a pain to keep casting the spell over and over if you could stay in the body you wanted. There's also the very real possibility that Amy would either tell someone what was going on or find a way to escape if she was back inside her own body.

However, the idea that Amy's mom would switch places with her was nicely done and came as quite an interesting plottwist in the story. I admit that I've not seen a lot of the first season and I try to keep away from spoilers as much as I can for the episodes, so I honestly didn't see that twist coming a mile away. The brownies helping Buffy realize that Amy was in her mom was a nice touch.

Another part I liked was the theme of the mother trying to relive her youth through her daughter and seeing two extremes. One was, of course, Amy's mom, but the other was Joyce, trying to get Buffy interested in being on the yearbook staff. Those were some nice touches that eleveated the plot beyond the standard evil witch does bad things cliche that it could easily have been. Overall, it was nicely done.

However, as I said, it lacked some focus. I was interestd in Xander's pursuit of Buffy, but little came of it. I am assuming this wil be an on-going first season theme and am willing to wait it out and see.

So, overall, it's a good episode that makes what could have been a less than stellar story into a good one. Not Buffy's finest hour, but certainly worth watching...

So, that about wraps it up for now, except a few small things...

--Giles almost giddy reaction to the other forces of evil coming to the Hellmouth was really good. Very interesting and in character.

--Xander having all the books on witchcraft and his attempts to keep our heroes from finding out was funny as well.

--The cat...was it supposed to guard the book for Amy's mom? If so, it wasn't doing so hot a job. I will yowl at you and then run away...yeah, great defense there. :-)

--On that theme--when Giles reversed the spell and Buffy was healed, does that mean all the other girls were miraculously healed as well? My main thought was the burn victim--did her burns go away or does her body still have to heal naturally?

--Why don't we see more of Amy? I think she and Buffy had a good dynamic going at the end last night. Is it the possibility that she would be one cast member too many?

So, that's it for now. All in all, a good episode. Just not an instant classic. Maybe time will improve it for me.

Final Rating: 7.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: On Tuesday, Xander becomes a lady's man in the funniest episode of season two. Monday, Buffy's got a date...and that whole slaying thing just might stand in the way....