Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episode Guide
Season 1, episode 3
The Witch
Written by
Dana Reston
Directed by
Stephen Gragg
Original air date:
March 17, 1997
Episode #: 4V03
Cast:
Buffy Summers: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Xander Harris: Nicholas Brendon
Willow Rosenberg: Alyson Hannigan
Rupert Giles: Anthony Stewart Head
Cordelia Chase: Charisma Carpenter
Amy Madison: Elizabeth Anne Allen
Joyce Summers: Kristine Sutherland
Buffy wants to join the cheerleaders. On the audition, she meets Amy, a quiet girl. Amber Grove, a very talented girl, catches fire when auditioning. Buffy goes to the rescue, knocks the girl to the ground, and stops the fire. Afterwards, Amy tells Buffy that her mother was a cheerleading star, and wants Amy to become the same, even though Amy doesn't. Unfortunately, Amy is the third alternate, which means she's on the team if something happens to three girls on the team. And something does happen to them. Because of a Bloodstone Vengeance spell Cordelia goes blind, Lishanne's mouth gets sealed, and Buffy starts acting weird during practice.
Giles thinks Amy is a witch, but the only way to prove it is to pour a certain potion on her, which makes her skin turn blue if she's indeed a witch. Buffy, Xander and Willow decide to test this during chemistry class, and Giles was proven right: Amy is a witch.
After the second incident, which caused Lishanne's mouth to be shut, Amy reacts with horror. Buffy doubts whether Amy realizes what she's doing. When Amy comes home, she finds her mother watching tv. She asks her mother to write her a history report. Then Amy goes off casting a spell on Buffy.
Buffy grows weaker every minute. According to Giles, the only way to stop her from dying is to get Amy's spell book. Willow and Xander keep an eye on Amy, while Buffy and Giles go to Amy's house. They discover that the woman on at home was not Amy's mother, but Amy herself. Her mother switched their bodies, so she could join the cheerleading team once again to relive her glory days. Giles finds the book, and they hurry back to school. Giles chants a spell to reverse the spell on Buffy, but Amy's mother (in Amy's body) notices it and plans to kill Buffy. Just as she's about to get her, the transformation is complete and Amy is back in her own body. Her mother goes berserk, and starts to cast a spell on Buffy. Buffy reflects it with a mirror, which sends it back to Amy's mother. She disappears, and gets stuck in a trophy she won, which is displayed at school.
previous episode next episode
Index