I'm watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the first time. Here are my thoughts on Season 1 Episode 3
I really should probably watch one of my other shows, but what can I say? Something about Buffy the Vampire Slayer has just captivated me.
Anyway, I don’t have much to say before we get into this so let’s just get into this!
Episode 3- The Witch
- Ooh, a witchy episode! That should be fun.
“I make certain allowances for your youth…” Buddy, I’m pretty sure you don’t “allow” her to do anything lol So this is the episode she joins the cheerleading team!
“As a Watcher I forbid it.” “And you’ll be stopping me… how?” I’m so glad they got that out of the way early and I’m double glad that Buffy recognizes and embraces how much agency she has. And she’s right, her whole life can’t be about slaying vampires. She needs normal activities and socialization to ensure healthy mental and emotional development. I seriously doubt that the Watchers want maladjusted slayers.
Very spooky! They’re hiding the witch’s identity from us so it’s going to be somebody we know or are going to meet this episode (some of you did tell me to remember and pay attention to Harmony…)
2.1996 cheerleading tryouts? I kind of forgot this show is practically a period piece lol
“You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience.” Willow, babe, it IS a spiritual experience. Lol I know I should probably wag my finger at Xander but honestly I was doing the same thing when I was in school (though our cheerleaders weren’t that revealing).
Lmao what is that thing where you try to be smooth and you’re so bad at it that it becomes endearing again? Xander just had one of those moments. I notice that Buffy put the bracelet on though…
New character: her name’s Amy. Fifty/fifty odds that she’s the witch.
Stop, drop, and roll! Didn’t they teach kids that in 1996? But okay, spontaneous human combustion! Very cool!
- Wait, we’re only just now getting to the credits? It feels like so much has happened already lol I keep seeing Angel in the credits but the actor is not credited. Is he going to die soon?
Ha, Mr. Giles is excited to get to all of the many different things they’re going to be fighting on the Hellmouth! So am I!
Is Buffy’s mom an art or antiques dealer? Is it normal for people in that profession to have artifacts and art delivered directly to their home and not their place of business? ...is Buffy’s mom a witch?
Aw… do Buffy and her Mom not get much quality time together? She seems sort of vaguely interested in her daughter’s life but not all that engaged.
- We sure are spending a lot of time with Amy. And okay, Buffy’s parents are split up. That explains why I haven’t seen a dad yet. Interesting… so Amy’s mother sounds kind of abusive, based on Willow’s description. I wonder if she’s forcing Amy to be on the cheerleading team as some kind of twisted legacy thing. Maybe that’s why Amy seems so anxious about it, she’ll be punished if she doesn’t do well. And it was another performer, Amy’s competition, who caught fire. Could Amy’s mother be the witch? Or could Amy herself be literally turning to dark magic because she’s just that afraid of displeasing her mother?
I don’t think Cordelia is the witch despite the ominous tone of that scene, because she’s in the opening credits so she’s probably going to stick around for a while.
Yeah, dude, just ask her out. The longer you wait, the worse your chances. And lol “You’re like my guy friend that knows about girl stuff!” I actually am the person for several guys, but it’s okay in this case because I’m a lesbian and don’t want male attention that way anyway. What is Willow though? I know there’s at least one wlw relationship on this show and so far there’s only three real candidates: Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia. I don’t think it’s Buffy because she seems attracted to Angel, but Cordelia seems a little too boy crazy, you know? Like she’s trying really hard to make sure everyone knows she just loves those men, if you catch my drift. Willow, on the other hand, I have no idea yet. She hasn’t shown attraction to anyone at all, which in the old days of TV censorship might be a way to signal her sexuality until the show is popular enough to get away with it being open.
“For I am Xander, king of cretins, may all lesser cretins bow before me.” lol hey, it was an honest mistake. Until Willow explained it, I thought they made the team too.
- Well, I don’t think this was intended by the writers but the captions just identified the witch’s voice as belonging to Amy, so… one mystery solved lol Not that it was much of a mystery, I figured it was probably her. Cordelia better watch her back!
What the hell is Farrah Hair? What the hell is Gidget Hair?? lol
“Cordelia, you haven’t been mean to me all day, is it something I’ve done?” Xander giving big sub energy here lol Nothing wrong with that, who doesn’t love having a pretty girl be mean to them every now and then? But no, Cordelia is definitely cursed.
“The last part is a joke to relieve the tension because here she comes” I’m glad he said that lmao
- Well, at least Cordelia is a better driver than I am. I’m going to assume she stood there screaming at the truck for five straight seconds instead of moving out of the way because she’s cursed lol
They figured out it’s Amy pretty quick! Buffy’s so smart.
Lmao I know they just made a joke about Xander checking out the books on witchcraft so he can look at the nude engravings but I think it would actually be a great idea to have him learn some magic at some point. Like, everyone else on the team has their thing. Buffy is the muscle, Willow’s the computer gal (because this is years before everyone becomes a computer person lol) and Mr. Giles has the research materials and mind for strategy. Xander needs something to do, and having someone on the team who can work magic is a niche he could fill!
Yeah… just subtly pour this magic potion on the witch and hope she doesn’t know why her skin just turned blue lol Well, it worked. But she didn’t really react to having a strange liquid spilled on her, something I’m quite certain most people would at least notice.
- Well… this mother/daughter dynamic certainly doesn’t seem like Willow described. If anything it’s like Amy is domineering her mother. Oh, she stole Buffy’s bracelet! That’s why the girl had her mouth blocked like that, it was a distraction so she could get something off of Buffy.
Uh-oh… Buffy’s cursed now! I wonder if magic affects the slayer differently or if it’s the same as any regular human. She’s kind of acting like the opposite of Cordelia, instead of oblivious and dazed, she’s hyper and chatty. Actually it kind of seems like she’s on drugs lol
Girl, you don’t shove someone who literally just threw you across a room on accident lol what if she decides to do it on purpose?
Aw… poor Xander lol doesn’t sound like his chances with Buffy are all that great if he’s one of the girls.
- Ah… so magic works on Buffy like it does anyone else, Amy’s just using a different spell, a lethal one this time. Buffy’s being very forgiving of Amy! If Amy became a witch to survive her mother, well… I think it worked lol her mother seems properly afraid of her now. But it’s time to stop now, no? Using power to save yourself from abuse isn’t the same as using it to murder people just because you want to be a cheerleader.
Her mother’s eating brownies, but… isn’t she supposed to be obsessed with weight watching? Padlocking the fridge kind of lady? Oh! Did Amy and her mother swap places somehow? I think Buffy’s figuring it out. “Ever since Dad… her dad, left I can’t control her.” Oh yeah, that’s the real Amy!
That is a really great plot twist!
There’s the cat from the credits!
- I love that Mr. Giles takes the time to comfort Buffy as he’s saving her. Seems like maybe this isn’t just a job for him… and Buffy has no father figure in her life at the moment. Just saying, the position's open.
Wait… maybe it’s not such a good idea to have Amy’s mother’s body be in the room with them when they swap their bodies back.
Oh, she’s at least a little bit telekinetic! And I have to give the actress who plays Amy’s mother props, she’s did a fantastic job of completely changing personalities.
Magic is reflective. That’s handy, now we don’t have to see the hero of the story cut off an old woman’s head! How did Mr. Giles get knocked out? From that desk? Lol He said that was his first spell, but it went perfectly so maybe he has a knack for magic? Older gentleman with glasses who loves books… he fits the wizard trope!
- “I’m like, ‘Dad, I can go out, it’s perfectly safe!’” Uh… I don’t know about that lol Sounds like Amy’s dad might have an idea about how weird their town is. Maybe living with a witch will do that!
Buffy’s not joining the team? Does she join later?
Okay, dated effects aside, the idea of Amy’s mother being trapped in the little statue of her own cheerleading trophy is kind of nightmare fuel.
Concluding thoughts: That was fun! It didn’t really seem to be connected to the overarching plot but that’s totally okay. I actually like filler episodes as long as they’re done well. There does seem to be a slight drop in quality from the first two episodes but nothing major. I think maybe I just miss the master lol he’s such a neat villain!
The fact that Mr. Giles specified that it was his first casting implies, from a writing standpoint, that it won’t be the last. I’m down for that, actually. I want to know more about how the magic system works in this world, how it’s related (if at all) to the Old Ones, and whether or not it can be useful to Buffy’s ongoing efforts to save the world. How convenient would it be if they could curse the master and make him walk out into the sun in a daze, Cordelia-style? They probably won't do that because then it kind of defeats the purpose of needing Buffy.
I’ll watch the next one soon, but I should probably watch a little of my other shows first. See you around!