Buffy: Witch

Xander: "We're a team. Aren't we a team?"
Willow: "Yeah, you're the Slayer and we're, like, the Slayerettes."

We immediately move to a non-vampire villain, and it's only the third episode.

"Witch" isn't about Wiccans or other real people who identify themselves as witches; it's definitely a broomsticks-and-cauldrons Wicked Witch of the West kind of thing. Which is only the top layer of plot. It's actually about parents living vicariously through their children, but taken to supernatural extremes, since most parents don't actually take over their children's bodies and try to kill their cheerleading rivals. Even though there are subtle hints, the mother-daughter reversal fake-out actually did take me by surprise the first time I saw this episode -- good writing there.

Buffy wants a normal life (this is a continuing theme in season one), but nothing is normal in Sunnydale. Whether or not cheerleading is normal is perhaps debatable, but it usually doesn't include spontaneous human combustion. At least, unlike Amy, Buffy has a good mom; Joyce may be waiting for Buffy to screw up again, but at least she has no desire to live Buffy's life vicariously or be sixteen again.

Bits and pieces:

-- Amy Madison (Elizabeth Anne Allen) is introduced.

-- Catherine Madison has a nice house for a cosmetologist with no alimony, even if the property values in Sunnydale aren't high. (Of course, she is a powerful witch, as someone on BtVS101 pointed out.) She also appears to have kept her maiden name, which is either not in character or is a continuity booboo.

-- Xander is the recipient of almost instant karma. He inadvertently hurts Willow by telling her she's like one of the guys; soon after, Buffy foils his romantic intentions by telling him he's like one of the girls.

-- The name of the driver's ed teacher is Mr. Pole, as in "driving around the." They should have gone all out and called him Mr. Cone.

-- Speaking of cars, this is the first time we see Giles' ancient Citroen.

-- While loopy from the spell, Buffy sings "Macho Man" and tells her mother about being a vampire slayer. Joyce doesn't pick up on it.

-- Willow matter-of-factly cuts eye of newt right out of the (hopefully) dead newt.

-- Cordelia screams again. She is particularly nasty in this episode, the type of character you love to hate; it's difficult to feel sorry for her even when she is blinded.

-- The Sunnydale basketball team is called the Razorbacks. The school colors are red and yellow.

-- There is no obligatory dog reference. But there's a cat jumping out of a trunk.

Quotable quotes:

Giles: "This is madness. What can you have been thinking? You are the Slayer. Lives depend upon you. I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which you enslave yourself to this, this... cult."
Buffy: (in a cheerleader outfit) "You don't like the color?"

Xander: "Ooo, stretchy. Where was I?"
Willow: "You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience."

Amy: "I train with my mom, three hours in the morning, three at night."
Buffy: "That much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some quality matricide."

Giles: "That's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth. There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage. (everyone looks at him) Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

Xander: "I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away."

Buffy: "Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I am not ready to know that you had Farrah hair."
Joyce: "This is Gidget hair. Don't they teach you anything in history?"

Joyce: "Great parenting form. A little shaky on the dismount."

Giles: "Why should someone want to harm Cordelia?"
Willow: "Maybe because they met her. Did I say that?"

Xander: "We're right behind you, only further back."

Cordelia: "Hey, I'm really sorry you guys got bumped back to alternate. Hold it, wait. No, I'm not."
Amy: "Well, I know that I'll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out words with my arms."

Two out of four stakes,

Billie