Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (Buffy episode)
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| “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 16 |
| Guest stars | Seth Green (Oz) Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers) Robia LaMorte (Ms. Calendar) Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy) Mercedes McNab (Harmony) James Marsters (Spike) Juliet Landau (Drusilla) |
| Written by | Marti Noxon |
| Directed by | James A. Contner |
| Production no. | 5V16 |
| Original airdate | February 10, 1998 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Phases" | "Passion" |
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is episode 16 of season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Cordelia decides to dump Xander when her friends mock her. Xander retaliates by attempting a love spell.
[edit] Expanded overview
On her night patrol through a cemetery, Xander shows Buffy the silver necklace he intends to give Cordelia for Valentine's Day. Buffy teases him for his girl while reassuring him of the gift. Xander is under no illusions as he is convinced that dating Cordelia is more perilous than slaying.
On Valentine's Day, Harmony and her followers insult Cordelia for going out with Xander. Xander notices that Amy Madison avoided homework by hypnotizing the teacher. He offers to speak to her as Buffy and Willow remember Amy's "amateur psycho" mother. Giles appears and asks to speak with Buffy when Jenny Calendar sees him and tries to make up. Giles decides that Buffy is more important; they leave for the library.
There, he warns Buffy of Angelus's vicious history around St. Valentine's Day. Giles decides Buffy does not need to know the details and offers to patrol on her behalf. At the same time, Spike shows Drusilla a necklace that is immediately topped by Angelus' gift: a fresh heart that he found in a "quaint little shop girl".
Whiling that night away alongside her mom, Buffy receives an ominous note from Angelus. Meanwhile, Willow confesses to being a groupie of Oz and his band. Cordelia is again ignored by her clique when Xander approaches. After sadly praising him first for his clothes, then for the necklace, she breaks up with him. Xander is outraged at her timing.
Xander is humiliated the next morning when everyone at Sunnydale High is laughing at the way he was dumped. He spots Amy and blackmails her into casting a love spell so he can break up with a lovelorn Cordelia and "put her through the same hell." Xander decides to take back the necklace for the ritual, unaware that Cordelia is wearing it as a keepsake.
In the library, Buffy convinces Giles to tell her of Angelus' atrocities.
The next morning, Xander finds Cordelia unmoved by his spell. He soon finds that it is working on every other girl. Buffy is interested in giving him a lap-dance, Amy wants to hang out and even a Harmony groupie wants to study with him at night. He runs home only to find Willow hiding under his sheets, a surprise for which he gives high marks. She offers him her virginity and he flees.
The next day, Sunnydale High girls are pleased to see Xander in the hallways; the boys, less so. Xander confesses to Giles, who is appalled at his foolishness. Jenny enters the library intent on conversing with Giles, but soon finds herself distracted by Xander's presence. When the Watcher looks for Amy to reverse the spell, he has to drag a moaning Ms. Calendar away. Xander blockades the door, only to find Buffy willing to give him more than a heart attack. When he refuses to undress her because she is under the influence, she becomes enraged, thinking he is toying with her. Amy walks in seeking Xander too, so Buffy punches her hard in the face. Amy turns Buffy into a rat, sending her scurrying behind bookcases. Buffy-rat hurries out of the library when a confused Oz punches Xander for making Willow cry on the phone all night. Giles sends Xander home.
On his way out, Xander sees Harmony and other girls attacking Cordelia. He takes her outside only to find an axe-wielding Willow leading other Sunnydale females. Xander and Cordelia flee to Buffy's house, only to find Joyce pawing over him. Angelus then appears in Buffy's window and drags Xander out. Drusilla saves Xander from becoming Angelus's substitute present for Buffy and offers him immortality. She is distracted by Willow and her gang, and Cordelia pulls Xander back in the house. The mob break into the house with knives and sticks (except for Drusilla who lacks an invitation). Cornered in the basement, Xander reveals all to Cordelia. She is touched.
Meanwhile, Giles had convinced Amy to reverse her spells, though they have to do without Jenny's help. Thankfully, Buffy-rat did not eat the cheese on a mousetrap in the school basement, but Buffy does find herself with a "slight case of nudity." And just as they are about to kill the young couple, the spell is lifted from the obsessed women in the Summers basement. Thinking quickly, Cordy commends their scavenger hunt.
The next morning, all has returned to normal, but Willow still refuses to talk to Xander. Buffy is impressed by Xander's reaction to her seduction. And after Harmony insults Xander again, Cordelia finally faces up to her friends and walks away locked in arms with Xander.
[edit] Writing and acting
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- The Average White Band - "Got The Love"
- Christophe Beck - "Buffy Rat"
- Christophe Beck - "Mob rush"
- Christophe Beck - "Twice the Fool"
- Four Star Mary - "Pain"
- Naked - "Drift away"
[edit] Translations
- Italian title: "Caccia all'uomo" ("Man hunting")
- German title: "Der Liebeszauber" ("The love spell")
- Japanese title: "愛のかけ違い" ("Ai no Kake Chigai" - "Applying Differences in Love")
[edit] Quotes and trivia
- This episode's title is a reference to a Rodgers and Hart song of the same name.
- This is one of Nicholas Brendon's favourite episodes. He found it hard not to laugh throughout the filming of the various seduction scenes.
- Buffy was turned into a rat during this episode so Sarah Michelle Gellar had more time to rehearse for her appearance on Saturday Night Live as a guest host. She has since hosted SNL twice more.
- Bruce Timm commented that the idea of Buffy Summers turning into a rat was his inspiration for the Justice League Unlimited episode "This Little Piggy".
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
Like "Doppelgängland" in the following season, this comic episode came soon after a Scooby Gang member turned bad. In this case, Angel had lost his soul. In both cases, the comedy takes advantage of the tension that had been building thus far into the season.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: Fall 1997 - Spring 1998 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, fall 1997 | B2.01 When She Was Bad |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Tales of the Slayers: Broken Bottle of Djinn, 1997 |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.02 Some Assembly Required |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Tales of the Vampires: The Problem with Vampires |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy graphic novel: Spike & Dru: The Queen of Hearts |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.03 School Hard |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.04 Inca Mummy Girl |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.05 Reptile Boy |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy graphic novel: Dust Waltz |
| Sunnydale, October 1997 | B2.06 Halloween |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.07 Lie to Me |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Keep Me In Mind |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: The Suicide King |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Colony |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Night Terrors |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.08 The Dark Age |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.09 What's My Line, Part One |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.10 What's My Line, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: After Image |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | Buffy book: Carnival of Souls |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.11 Ted |
| Sunnydale, 1997 | B2.12 Bad Eggs |
| Boston, December 1997 - June 1998 | Buffy book: Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary |
| Sunnydale, 1997/8 | Buffy book: Blooded |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.13 Surprise |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.14 Innocence |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.15 Phases |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.16 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.17 Passion |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Ring of Fire |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.18 Killed by Death |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.19 I Only Have Eyes for You |
| Sunnydale, 1998 | B2.20 Go Fish |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | B2.21 Becoming, Part One |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | B2.22 Becoming, Part Two |
| Sunnydale, spring 1998 | Buffy graphic novel: Spike & Dru: Paint the Town Red |
