The Witch (Buffy episode)

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"The Witch" (known simply as Witch in the UK) is the 3rd episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Someone seems to be casting dark magic on girls trying out for cheerleading. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.

Contents

1 Plot synopsis

1.1 Summary
1.2 Expanded overview

2 Writing and acting

2.1 Cast and crew

3 Quotes and trivia
4 Production details

4.1 Music
4.2 Translations

5 Continuity

5.1 Arc significance
5.2 Timing

6 External links

Plot synopsis

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details about other episodes of Buffy and the character of Rupert Giles follow.

Summary

Buffy tries to retain some normality in her life by trying out for Sunnydale High's Cheerleading squad, but tryouts are canceled when one of the girls spontaneously combusts. A few days later, after the squad has been chosen, strange things begin happening to its members, and Giles suspects that a witch is responsible. The chief suspect is Amy Madison, 3rd alternate on the squad, who seems to be getting a lot of pressure from her Cheer Queen Mother to be part of the team. Buffy is then hit by a deadly draining spell and she and Giles go to Amy's home to confront her mother and reverse the spell. They discover that Mrs. Madison is the actual witch — she's switched bodies with her daughter in order to relive her glory days. With Amy's help and her mother's spell book, Giles manages to reverse the spells, returning Buffy to health just in time to defeat Mrs. Madison with one of her own spells.

Expanded overview

Despite Giles's misgivings, Buffy decides to try out for the cheerleading team. During trials, a girl named Amber spontaneously combusts. Amy seems to be under strong pressure from her winning mother, a star cheerleader in her day, and is crushed when she only makes the substitute list after Cordelia and Buffy. We see a brief glimpse of somebody bewitching Barbie dolls over a kettle. Next thing, Cordelia can't see, which she proves the hard way during driving instruction, and is just saved in the nick of time by Buffy.

To prove that Amy is a witch, Buffy, Xander and Willow collect eye of newt and some of Amy's hair during science class, and prove that she has cast a spell. Amy comes home and tells her mother to get on with her homework — while she goes upstairs with Buffy's bracelet that she stole while Buffy was collecting her hair.

The next morning, a slightly manic Buffy blows her chance at the cheerleading squad when she tosses another girl through the room, ceding her slot to none other than Amy. Buffy turns out to have something more than just a mood disorder: a bloodstone vengeance spell has destroyed her immune system, giving her only about three hours to live. The only way to cure her and break the other spells is to get the witch's spell book. The ailing Buffy and Giles go confront the mother, only to realize that the real Amy is stuck in her mother's middle-aged body while her mother is reliving her glory days. Giles finds the witch's book and takes Amy and Buffy back to school to break the spells. Buffy is fading fast.

Amy's mother is cheering Sunnydale's school basketball team when she starts getting flashes of what Giles is trying to do. Xander and Willow are unable to stop her from storming into the science lab with an axe, but buy enough time for Giles to break the spells: Amy and her mother switch bodies again and Buffy feels good enough to fight. However, Amy's mother's power is too great, and it is only by kicking down a steel vent and reflecting her last spell can Buffy win the day; the mother vanishes.

When Amy and Buffy talk in the school hall the next day, they pass by the school's trophy collection where the statue to "Catherine the Great" stands. While both girls wonder where Amy's mother ended up, the camera pulls close to the statue's face, revealing the mother's eyes and a muffled voice pleading for help.

Writing and acting

A within a feint: Amy's mother is not only not the witch, but not even really Amy's mother. The rest of the plot is rather predictable. The cat jumping out of the chest is something of a cliché, as are the standard Hollywood witchcraft props like the kettle, the pentagram, the voodoo dolls and the book of magic. The series does not approach witchcraft with more seriousness and sophistication until Willow develops her abilities at the end of Season Two.

Cast and crew

Quotes and trivia

"She's our Sabrina" — Buffy about Amy, referencing the series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (the star of which, Melissa Joan Hart, was a childhood friend of Gellar).

"So Amber has this power to make herself be on fire. Like the Human Torch, only it hurts." — Xander adds his own contemplations to Amber's combustion

"I laugh in the face of danger - then hide until it goes away." — Xander sums up his approach to life

During the line-up, Buffy is the only one not with white Adidas shoes. This not only makes it easier for the viewer to follow her feet, but also hints that the Summers family has to watch its finances.

Giles claims that the spell to break the witch's magic was his first "casting", which might explain why he recites every line in English before saying it in Latin, wasting valuable time. It seems that he is lying here: As Ripper, he cast quite a few spells.

This is not the last time we see the statue. In the Season 2 episode "Phases", Oz will stand in front of the glass case and admire the craftsmanship of the statue: It looks like the eyes are following you. Presumably, Amy's mother died during the destruction of the school at the end of season 3, still locked in her own trophy.

This is the first episode to feature body swapping in the Buffyverse (between Amy Madison and her mother Catherine). In Season 4 Buffy herself will experience body swapping when a gift of a Draconian Katra Spell from Mayor Wilkins allows Faith to switch bodies with Buffy in "This Year's Girl".

This episodes also establishes how long Buffy has been the Slayer, which according to dialogue is over a year prior to her arrival in Sunnydale.

The sign at cheerleader tryouts says it's 1996, setting this episode in 1996, even though it first aired in 1997.

Although not mentioned until "Some Assembly Required" the head cheerleader's name is Joy.

This episode has the first instance of "black eyes", where a witch's eyes go completely black when she is drawing on some particularly strong magic. The trait will recur throughout the duration of the show.

Production details

Whedon had the idea for "The Witch" when he wanted to let us (the viewers) know that they won't be always dealing with Vampires. Ironically enough for a show titled 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', half of the first season episodes do not even have a vampire appear: "The Witch", "The Pack", "I Robot, You Jane", "The Puppet Show", "Nightmares" (only the Master and the Anointed One) and "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (not counting Angel). Many fans must have noticed this because many of the non vampire-centred season 2 and 3 episodes show Buffy at least at one point on patrol.

Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy) originally auditioned for the part of Buffy.

Music

2 Unlimited - "Twilight zone"
Humbucker - "Count the time"
Village People - "Macho Man"

Translations

The German language version of "The Witch" has been censored to remove the Nazi-references in a dialog between Buffy and Willow. The original English exchange (DVD edition):

Willow: "Her mom's kinda…"

Buffy: "Nazi-like?"

Willow: "Heil"

is translated as:

Willow: "Ihre Mom ist eine echte…"

Buffy: "Superfrau?"

Willow: "So in der Art."

which translated back to English would roughly be:

Willow: "Her mom is a real…"

Buffy: "Superwoman?"

Willow: "Something like that."

References to Hitler, Nazis, and the Shoah in U.S. films and TV series are routinely cut out by German translators. Another example of this is "Phases".

Continuity

Arc significance

Buffy starts "The Witch" by disobeying her Watcher, the story of their relationship. Other relationships are fleshed out: Buffy and her mother as well as Cordelia and the rest of the group. Xander claims to be just friends with Willow and Buffy only wants to be best friends with Xander, and neither Xander nor Willow seem to be too happy about that.

Willow has her first stab at witchcraft when she puts newt eyes in the solution that will prove that Amy is a witch, but there is no indication that one day she will be more powerful than Amy and her mother put together.

Timing

Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

External links

PLEASE DISCUSS CHARACTER ADDITTIONS/REMOVALS BEFORE MAKING CHANGES AT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Buffyverse#Buffyverse-box_character_inclusions)

This box cannot/shouldn't be including every Buffyverse character. Some suggested guidelines are:

"The people who appeared in the opening credits (Scooby Gang & Fang Gang/FG) appear in the box, and the most important villains/friends who had a significant emotional impact on multiple of those opening credits characters - as long as they have a significant episode count, and preferably if they appear in three or more seasons."

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