The Witch

The Witch
3/17/97
guest stars: Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy Madison), Robin Riker (Catherine Madison)
Writer: Dana Reston
Director: Stephan Cragg

synopsis: Giles is upset with Buffy because she is trying out for cheerleading. He tries to forbid her, but she won't listen. "I will still have time to fight the forces of the undead. I just want to have a life, do something normal, something safe." Cut to a witches cauldron, where the witch throws a doll into some boiling water.
     It's cheerleading tryouts, and Xander and Willow come in to give some support to Buffy. Xander revels in the events ("where was I?" W-"You were pretending seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a religious experience." "Who said I was pretending?") and Xander gives Buffy a bracelet, inscribed "yours always." "They all came like that...honest," he stammers.
     Cordelia notices one cheerleader in particular, Amber, who is really good, and Willow calls out to another girl, Amy, and is introduced to Buffy. Amber begins her routine, and Amy tells Buffy how Amber has one of the best coaches in the country. Buffy is shocked that people have coaches, and Amy says she trains with her mom–six hours a day. "That much quality time with my mom would lead to some quality matricide," Buffy quips.
     Willow notices something odd about Amber: "that girls on fire!" "Enough with the hyperbole," snips Cordelia, but Willow was being literal–Amber's hands burst into flames. Buffy manages to put her out, and comforts her while she lays on the ground sobbing...
     Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Xander discuss the incident in the library. Giles says that there's really no explanation for spontaneous human combustion, and when Xander says "that's comforting, he responds "that's the thrill of living on the Hell Mouth. There's a veritable cornucopia of fiends and devils and ghouls to locate...Pardon me for finding the glass half-full." Giles does say that rage is a common denominator, and Willow and Xander offer to get the skinny on Amber. Buffy protests that they don't have to get involved, but they want to. "You're the slayer, and we're like, the Slayerettes," coining a phrase that will describe the gang for the rest of the show's run. Buffy doesn't want to put them in danger, but Xander "laughs in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away." Buffy suggests that Amber may not be responsible, and Giles says "then we have to find whatever is, and deal with it accordingly.
     Back at home, Mrs. Summers (whose name is Joyce, even though we don't learn that until season two,) is trying to open a box, and Buffy tells her about tryouts. Joycie reveals that she actually has no idea what Buffy is trying out for, and still can't get the box lid off with a crowbar. She asks Buffy to give her a hand, and Buffy effortlessly rips the top off with her hands. Buffy reminds her that it's cheerleading, and Joycie is pleased since it will keep her out of trouble. Buffy is upset since she isn't in any trouble, but Joycie only meant that the trouble started after she quit cheerleading. Buffy tells her about Amy's mom helping her out, but Joycie doesn't get the hint.
     At cheerleading practice, Amy messes up and knocks over Cordelia, who is only concerned that the tryout person saw that it wasn't her mistake. Later, Amy looks at her mom's trophy, and tells Buffy about her mom. Apparently, Catherine Madison was a major cheerleader in her time, winning a major state competition, but her husband ran off and she had to work to support Amy after high school. Amy seems to worship her mom, but gets really upset worrying that she can't measure up to her. Amy rushes off, and Willow tells Buffy that Catherine is somewhat Naziesque about her weight, and about pushing Amy. She also tells Buffy that Amber is a really normal person who got detention for smoking–"the normal kind, with a cigarette."
     As Amy changes in the locker room, Cordelia comes up behind her and threatens her: "If your supreme klutziness takes me out of the running, you're going to be so very sorry...have a nice day." Amy leans her head against the locker and sighs.
     Xander and Willow talk about Buffy, and how he wants to ask her out. They check the cheerleading list, and find that neither Buffy nor Amy made it, but Cordelia did. Amy is devastated, and doesn't really listen when Buffy tries to comfort her, saying "this would never happen to my mom." Later, the witch throws another doll into the cauldron–Cordelia.
     Joycie brings out her yearbook, and tries to convince Buffy to do yearbook. Buffy doesn't want to, saying "and have you seen the kids who do yearbook? Nerds pick on them." Joycie is a little upset, and when Buffy says "I need to do my own thing," Joycie brings up the whole getting kicking out of school thing. Buffy leaves, upset, and Joycie gets mad at herself.
     At school, Cordelia walks by in a daze, and Xander and Willow have the same conversation about Buffy, but Buffy is concerned because Cordelia is acting really, really weird. It's like she's in a daze. She goes to driver's ed, but doesn't want to drive. She puts the car in reverse, and goes all over the place, and it's evident that she can't see anything. She gets out of the car, and stands in the middle of the road as a UPS truck bears down on her. Buffy knocks her out of the way in time, and she finally confesses that she can't see, and Buffy sees her eyes: they have no pupils or irises.
     Giles relates that it is a witch who is doing the things, and wonders why someone would want to harm Cordelia. "Maybe because they met her...did I say that?" is Willow's answer. The common denominator: cheerleading. They all immediately think of Amy, who is desperate to be on the team. Giles is a little unsure that a witch would cast "horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a cheerleader." Buffy tells her that the pressure Catherine places on her must be great, so great she resorts to witchcraft. They check to see who's checked out books on witchcraft, but the only one was Xander. X–"It's not what you think." W–"You like to look at the semi-nude engravings?" X–"Oh, well, it is what you think."
     Giles comes up with test to see if she's cast a spell in the last 48 hours. Willow prepares the potion, and Buffy grabs some hair from Amy, and the spell is positive. However, at the same time another spell is cast–a girl has no mouth. Amy looks as horrified as the rest, and the gang decides to confront Catherine, since she's obviously the source of it all. They guess that Amy may not know what she's doing.
     At Amy's house, however, we discover that not only is Amy the witch, she knows exactly what she's doing, and she's even bewitched her mother enough so that Catherine just stands there and is insulted. Amy orders her to write her history paper, and then reveals that she's about to take some revenge on Buffy. Catherine watches, upset.
     The next morning, Buffy wakes up, in obviously too good of a mood, singing "Macho Macho Man." She even blurts out that she's a vampire slayer, but Joycie doesn't get it. She actually is acting drunk.
     At cheerleading practice, she is WAY over-pepped, and throws a cheerleader across the room, resulting in getting kicked off the team–allowing Amy to make it. Then Buffy tells Xander that she loves his so because he's "totally and completely one of the girls." Giles reveals that Amy cast a bloodstone vengeance spell which will kill Buffy, and they need Amy's books to reverse it. They go to confront Catherine.
     At Amy's house, Catherine is watching television as usual, when Giles and Buffy come in. Catherine is plainly nervous to have them there, saying she's not allowed to have people over, but they come in any way. Giles tells Catherine that Amy is into some very serious magic, and that Buffy is really sick. Giles accuses her of prompting it and not being able to control it, but Catherine says she can't control her, that she's out of her mind, and has been ever since her dad left. Buffy's sees Catherine's brownies and realizes the truth–it's not Catherine. It's Amy. Amy-in-Catherine's-body reveals that Catherine switched the two, "she said I was wasting my youth, so she took it."
     Amy-in-Catherine's-body tells how Catherine went crazy after her father left, and takes them up to Catherine's lair. Giles finds the books, and goes with Amy-in-Catherine's-body back to the school.
     Meanwhile, Catherine-in-Amy's-body is cheering for the basketball game, and Buffy is getting worse. Giles and Amy-in-Catherine's-body begin to cast reversal spells. Catherine-in-Amy's-body begins to see out of Catherine's eyes, as Giles continues. Amy is on top of the pyramid, and collapses, but turns psycho and runs out of the gym. Willow and Xander try to stop them, but Catherine-in-Amy's-body chokes Xander and punches out Willow, storming towards the science lab with an axe.
     The spell is broken, and suddenly Amy is Amy and Catherine in Catherine again. Catherine throws Buffy and Giles to the ground and confronts Amy. Catherine is going to kill her, but Buffy punches her out. Catherine casts a spell to destroy Buffy, but Buffy kicks a mirror which reflects the spell back at Catherine, who vanishes in a flash of lights. Everything is back to normal. Xander rushes in and grabs Amy, and Willow follows with a bat, but Buffy and Giles tell them that everything is cool.
     Joycie confesses to Buffy that she just doesn't get it. Doesn't know where she's coming from or how to relate to her, and has no idea what's going on in her mind. Buffy asks if Joycie would ever want to be 16 again, and Joycie says "not even if it'd help me understand you."
     Amy–dressed in jeans and a tie died peace shirt– tells Buffy that her father feels so guilty for leaving her with Catherine that he's totally doting on her, and she's loving every minute. Cordelia comes up and gives some phony pity that Buffy and Amy were bumped back to cheerleading, and Amy says "I know I'll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out words with my hands," but then apologizes when she realizes Buffy actually wanted to make cheerleading. But Buffy doesn't mind, since "cheerleading has become a little too hairy these days." They discuss Catherine, and Amy says that there's been no sign, and since that last spell was so potent they probably won't here from her again. Amy is glad to have her body back, and is thinking of getting fat.
     The camera closes in on the trophy of Catherine the Great, and from inside we hear a muffled voice, and the eyes are moving...

Reveiw: An engaging episode, I enjoyed Elizabeth Anne Allen's portrayal and she did a good job with the split personality deal. 7.5/10

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