Buffy wants to join a cult.

Written by: Dana Reston Amy Madison... Elizabeth Anne Allen. Joyce... Kristine Sutherland. Catherine Madison... Robin Riker. Dr. Gregory... William Monaghan. Summary: Buffy has decided to have a normal life outside of slaying and that is why she tries to become a cheerleader. At the try outs she meets Amy who seems to be desperate to get into the team and when strange things start to happen and cheerleaders start to get injured, Buffy and the gang suspects Amy might be behind it all.

Introducing Amy... The Slayerettes. Blinded by love... Nope, Cordelia just pissed off the wrong person. Buffy confesses how she feels about Xander. Too bad it's not exactly what he wanted to hear.

Quotes: Giles (upset): 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 cheerleader outfit): You don't like the color? Giles: But 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 stares at him) Pardon me for finding the glass half full. Xander: So maybe Amber's got this power to make herself be on fire. It's like the human torch, only it hurts. Buffy: You guys don't have to get involved. Xander: What d'ya mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team? Willow: Yeah! You're the Slayer, and we're, like, the Slayerettes! Buffy: I just don't like putting you guys in danger. Xander: Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away. Buffy: Hey, any word on Amber? Willow: Nothing thrilling. Average student. Got detention once, for smoking. Regular smoking... with a cigarette, not, like, being smoky. Xander: That's why you're so cool! You're like a guy! You're my guy friend that knows about girl stuff! Willow: Oh, great. I'm a guy. Joyce: I was, uh, photo editor. I got to be on every page, made me look much more popular than I was. Buffy: And have you seen the kids that do yearbook? Nerds pick on them. Joyce: Some of the best times I had in school were working on the yearbook! Buffy: Oh, this just it: I'm not you! I'm into my own thing. Joyce: Your own thing, whatever it is, got you kicked out of school, and we had to move here to find a decent school that would take you! Xander: Cordelia, you haven't been mean to me all day. Is it something I've done? (to Willow) Okay, see how she has no clue that I'm even a mammal, much less a human being? Willow: I see that. Xander: This is the invisible man syndrome. A blessing in Cordelia's case. A curse in Buffy's. Willow: You're not invisible to Buffy. Xander: It's worse! I'm just like a part of the scenery, like an old shoe. Or a rug that you walk on every day but don't even really see it. Xander: Nah, I gotta be a man and ask her out. Y'know, I gotta stop giving her ID bracelets, uh, subtle innuendoes, taking Polaroids outside of her bedroom window late at night, that last part is a joke to relieve the tension because here she comes. Xander: First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale. Giles: Why would someone want to harm Cordelia? Willow: Maybe because they met her? Did I say that? Buffy: I just got kicked off the team, didn't I? Xander: I don't think it was your fault. Buffy: Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend! Do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander? Willow: We gotta to get her to a... Xander: Let her speak! Buffy: I'll tell you! You're not like other boys at all. Xander: Well... Buffy: You are totally, and completely one of the girls! (to Willow) I'm that comfy with him. Giles: Well I, I've been researching that, and, uh, we can reverse all the spells if, um... we can just lay our hands on, on Amy's spell book. Willow: And if we can't get a hold of it? Giles: Well, the other way is to cut the witch's head off. Xander: Show of hands! Buffy: It's not Amy's fault. She only became a witch to survive her mother. Xander: Look, I don't care why, I just care that you go on breathing.

My review for the episode: Even though The Witch is a lighter fun episode that steps away from the season arc involving the Master, it still manages to get a lot done. The slayerettes are born, Willow's and Xander's willingness to help and their growing relationship with Buffy is looked more closely into as well as Giles' feelings towards her. The beginning is simply hilarious, Giles berating Buffy for joining a cult and then the camera shows Buffy in a cheerleader outfit and she asks “You don't like the color?” Simply perfect, and Sarah and Anthony Head play so well off each other. There are so many funny scenes in this and Giles is so genuinely happy of the horrible, but different paranormal acts the Hellmouth causes, his giddy speech about the thrills of living on the Hellmouth is just great. Even though he is not yet at the point of closeness with Buffy as in the second or third season, he clearly cares about Buffy more than a watcher towards his slayer. The intensity he shows when Buffy is dying from the fever really makes it clear that he is already developing deeper feelings towards her. After he has done the spell to save Buffy's life he says that it is his first casting (SPOILERS for season 2), probably at this point his past hadn't been thoroughly thought out, but in the light of season 2 I'll take this as him not wanting Buffy to know about his unsavory past and maybe he was a little rusty since I doubt he wanted to do spells after what happened with his friend (no more spoilers). The slayerettes are just so cute, and it shows a lot about the character of Willow and Xander as they want to help instead of going back to pretending that nothing weird is happening. Buffy wants to keep them safe, but despite knowing that being a slayerette might be dangerous they want to be there for her. And Xander laughs at danger, then he hides till it goes away, another great Xander line. Their courage and growing love for Buffy is showed as they both burst in to save her from Catherine/Amy, Willow running in with the bat all fierce and ready to save Buffy is even more pure than Xander's act because she's not in love with her (though it doesn't take away from his bravery either). Xander is a typical guy, getting distracted by stretching cheerleaders, but Willow seems to take it with humor except when it comes to Buffy. He is completely oblivious to Willow's feelings just like Buffy is unaware of his romantic feelings. I really feel sorry for poor Willow, she's in love with him and she has to see him moon after Buffy, not to mention be told that he sees her as one of the guys. Which brings me to a wonderful karmic thing as Buffy says to Xander that he's one of the girls, loved the cute but gleeful smile Willow gave from hearing that. When they're trying to test if Amy is the witch, it's pretty convenient that they were cutting newts in biology, but I just love that Xander couldn't cut the newt's eye while Willow just simply plucked it out. I love the fact that while Xander is very much a guy (lusting after cheerleaders and so on), he isn't the bravest or the most macho guy there is, but his heart is in the right place. Buffy's cartwheel at the cheerleading practice was pretty funny considering that Sarah (Michelle Gellar) has been taking tae kwon do since she was nine years old, so it's unlikely that she couldn't do a full cartwheel. And even if she couldn't, it was shot from so far away that they could have used a stunt double for it. So maybe it was intended (by Buffy) to be a sloppy cartwheel so she wouldn't stick out with her supernatural abilities. While in the fever Buffy's giddiness was great because it's so different from the normal Buffy and also because of Sarah's performance, her singing Macho Man and acting like drunk (because of the fever) shows that she can do comedy as well as the heavy stuff. Buffy tries to have something normal in her life and of course it goes bad. It's very sweet of her to try comfort Amy who's suffering from overbearing mother's high expectations and this episode really shows how sympathetic and intuitive person she is. And even when she is dying from the fever she still feels sorry for Amy and even though she has never met the real Amy she realizes at the house that it is Amy trapped in her mother's body. I love it when it's shown how smart Buffy really is even though she doesn't often get credit for it. Both Elizabeth Anne Allen and Robin Riker do a great job. I have to say that Robin Riker is really perfect for the role, when she's Amy she's really vulnerable and I feel sorry for her, but when she turns to Catherine she's really a evil bitch and I just can't associate her with Amy anymore. And once the body switch is discovered it explains Amy's (who's Catherine) strange behavior, like the bitter ex-wife speech. The ending of her being trapped in the cheerleading trophy is a great twist, poetic justice. I have to say that season 1 really loves dark locker rooms, heh. First it looks like Amy is the next victim, but it turns out that the bad guy is really Cordelia who is truly bitchy in this episode (and many others). But I have to wonder why did she go to the driving test and especially drive so fast if she couldn't see well? But then again she had failed the test twice already and she does have a tendency of speeding and driving against/through things even when her eyesight isn't compromised. And Buffy is just too good at what she does, again she saves Cordelia's life. And that is followed with Giles' naive question of who would want to harm Cordelia and Willow's accurate answer, “maybe because they've met her”. The Witch has yet another show of great mothering from Joyce, she's like a yo-yo going back and forth between good and absolutely horrible mother. She doesn't even know/care about to what her daughter is trying out for and she uses her job as an excuse to why she doesn't pay attention, then she scoffs that it wouldn't kill Buffy to help her with the boxes. More quality parenting comes when she states that cheerleading will keep her (Buffy) out of trouble and when Buffy says she's not in trouble, she states “not yet”. And she continues her winning streak with laying the guilt on Buffy because she doesn't want to do the yearbook like she herself did. Later Joyce finally tries to do a good mom deed and tries to apologize for her earlier words, but her inability to listen is shown when she misses the fact that Buffy says she's a vampire slayer, of course it would have made Buffy's life a lot harder if she had been listening, so maybe it's a good thing that she doesn't pay that much attention (SPOILER for season 6: it also nukes Normal Again, Spoiler ended). And finally there is a great mother-daughter moment when Buffy asks her mother if she would want to live her teenage years again. Joyce is really inconsistent (and not just in this episode) as she keeps bouncing between good and bad mother. This may sound like I'm being unreasonable (maybe a little at times) and do not understand Joyce's point of view, but I'm just comparing her situation to my own mother's. During my school years my mother had two jobs, in the other she worked seven days a week, but she still managed to know where I was, what my hobbies were and she went to the parent-teacher nights and school performance nights and such despite the fact that it cost her money not to be working. So it's all about priorities. No mention of Jesse, that's a little cruel. And another thing this episode was lacking was Angel, but I'm not sure where he would have fit. But this episode just has so many great moments that the little things don't bother me. 9 ˝