buffy is a metaphor for growing up, with slaying representing responsibility brought about by adulthood. each “monster of the week” represents different struggles you might have in the run up to being an adult - so this week, the witch represents pushy, manipulative parents. and vampires are the opposite of the slayer because, unlike growing up, vampires stay forever young. they represent prolonged youth and a lack of responsibility or care
Season 1 has an arc but also 'Monster of the Week' because there was no guarantee it wouldn't get summarily cancelled, so it needed episodes that could be seamlessly removed in the event the plug was pulled. Fortunately they are pretty much all better than good.
Monster of the week, yes, but it helps with world building, and it shows you that Buffy will be about more than just vampires =) Also, I'm from Argentina, and cheerleading is not a thing here. Certainly not at secondary school level.
The cat in the attic is a red herring. Traditionally, in witch lore, cats are often familliars. A witch is supposed to be able to see everything their familiar sees. So if the cat had been a familiar, we would expect Amy's mom to know what they were up to, but she didn't know until they started to cast the unduing spell. So the cat was just a cat, and not a familiar.
A lot of people think that the mirror reflected the spell back onto Katherine. But as part of the spell, she said, "I shall look upon her" when Buffy kicked the mirror infront of her, Katherine was suddenly looking at herself, and so the spell redirected to her. But it was because she was looking at herself, not because the spell bounced off of the mirror.
Great reaction again man, love your enthusiasm for the show. The bit where Buffy and Joyce are talking in the kitchen and Buffy refers to Joyce having 'Farah Hair' was a reference to Farah Fawcett Majors who was in the original Charlie's Angels, and was one of the most famous women of the 70's, every woman that time wanted the 'Farah Flick'. Witch was one of the better episodes of Series 1. Although S1 was a bit rough due to low budget and show finding its feet, it lays the groundwork for the upcoming episodes. Once this show reaches mid S2 it really picks up in every way, and produces some of the best TV drama ever written. In this episode the metaphor here is the 'pushy parent' who forces their child to things and is annoyed with them when they don't excel. The ultimate pushy parent, Amy's mum criticising her child and forcing her to do things she may not be able to do, then taking over her body. A decent little episode for early on in the show, great ending scene at the end with Amy's mum trapped in the trophy statue.
Katherine was put in a Hell of her own making. She wanted to relive her glory days, and so now, she is trapped in her trophy, the symbol of her greatest achievement, forever. It is too bad ahe was so self-absorbed that she couldn't see her child as her greateat achievement, the way most parents feel.
Just started watching your Buffy reactions (so excited!!) so I know this is a bit behind seeing as you're at the season one finale right now, but if there is one thing I would tell anyone about Buffy is that if you see something that makes you think 'oh, this old trope' or 'that's been done SO many times' just remember, all the others got it from Buffy!!! Also I would say this, Xander is a teenage boy, a straight 90's teenage boy. Please don't judge early teen hormone controlled Xander too harshly.
Driving rules in California are unique in that when you (as the driver) see a pedestrian on the road, you must step on the accelerator.
Před 5 měsíci+1
Cheerleading started in the USA, so it makes sense it's most common over there. Fun fact: the introduction of (**shudder**) _women_ in cheerleading is a fairly new phenomenon. Originally, cheerleaders were exactly what they sound like - leaders of the cheer. Commonly, at college-level sports events, the fans would cheer for their team. In order to make it manageable and not distract the players, some players would take advantage of some free time (either when they were on the bench or during a break) and organise the fans, "leading" them in "cheer". Eventually, this unofficial role would become codified, and official cheerleaders would start participating in the events. (I don't remember the specific details, but this takes place broadly sometime in the late 19th, early 20th century.) By the 1960s, the tide had started to change, especially in the southern states, which didn't have the tradition of male cheerleaders (since this was mostly popular in the northeast), and someone had the brilliant idea that the cheerleaders themselves should be appealing to the audience, starting out the trend of both women in cheerleading and cheerleading itself being an acrobatic sport in its own right (in order to give the audience something to look at, in every sense of the word). Fun fact 2: FDR, Eisenhower, Reagan, and George "Dubya" Bush were all cheerleaders. Additionally, for this episode, we have yet another metaphor to contend with - parents living their high-school dreams vicariously through their children. A little bit more literal in this case.
The first sign we get that Katherine has switched bodies with her daughter is when Buffy and "Amy" are talking for the first time. The way "Amy" talks about her mother in terms of her being perfect in every way, that is how a narcissist thinks others view themselves. And the way she talked about Amy's dad is the words of the jilted ex, not how a daughter talks about her father.
In my high school in Canada we didn't have a cheerleading team when I first went there, but sometime before I graduated, they did try to start one up and were holding auditions for hopeful cheerleaders. Not sure what really happened with it though, because I never went to the sports tournaments or wherever they'd have done their thing lol
The title of this episode "Witch" is a pun. It relies on the double meaning of "witch," being a woman who uses magic, but also "which," as in :which one.: That is why the title is "Witch" and not "The Witch." If they included the article "the" than you couldn't get the double meaning.
I love your reactions!!! And I love even more your explanations at the end 💖 Xander is... well, Xander 😅 In my opinion, he has some incel vibes, he's the trope of "the nice guy" because he seems nice most of the time and sarcastic and funny, and is a bit of an underdog or a wallflower but at the end he still has very toxic masculinity traits. Definitely not my favourite character.
Season 1 has a lot of monster-of-the-weak episodes, more than I would like. I do like this episode, though. Season 2 still has too many monster-of-the-weak episodes for my taste, but less than season 1. Starting with season 3, almost all episodes are contributing to the main storyline to some extent. IMHO, 3 > 2 > 1, though the season 2 storyline episodes are fantastic. You may have to suffer through some of the more mediocre episodes, but it's definitely worth it because of the storyline episodes, especially from season 2 and onwards. Just my 2 cents, of course.
Is he just ignoring everyone who suggested he shouldn't watch the remastered version on streaming and try and get hold of the original versions? I mean whether he takes the advice or not is totally up to him, but it's kinda rude to just ignore people who were offering important info - the remastered version available on streaming really does ruin several key scenes. People trying to help and just getting ignored.... :/
Not ignoring at all. I filmed the first five episodes before I even uploaded episode one. So, had no idea about all this. I’ve since been working things out. I’ll get there eventually!!
People like Phil need to remember that most reactors are further along in shows watched than they are in shows edited and uploaded to YT. From all I've seen across many channels, editing for YT is a time consuming process needed to avoid copyright strikes etc. It is hard to remember in the heat of the moment, the excitement of pointing things out, but in reality, most reactors are at least a few episodes ahead in the watch order than they are in posting. And occasionally, some are much further along; one Firefly reactor had originally done the whole series as a Patreon exclusive, and decided a year or two later to edit them and upload them to YT; people were commenting while ignoring the fact that their comments couldn't possibly impact their "future episode" reactions since those had already been done at least a year before...
buffy is a metaphor for growing up, with slaying representing responsibility brought about by adulthood. each “monster of the week” represents different struggles you might have in the run up to being an adult - so this week, the witch represents pushy, manipulative parents. and vampires are the opposite of the slayer because, unlike growing up, vampires stay forever young. they represent prolonged youth and a lack of responsibility or care
Season 1 has an arc but also 'Monster of the Week' because there was no guarantee it wouldn't get summarily cancelled, so it needed episodes that could be seamlessly removed in the event the plug was pulled. Fortunately they are pretty much all better than good.
Monster of the week, yes, but it helps with world building, and it shows you that Buffy will be about more than just vampires =)
Also, I'm from Argentina, and cheerleading is not a thing here. Certainly not at secondary school level.
This is a really strong episode for the season - sure you'll enjoy it.
The cat in the attic is a red herring. Traditionally, in witch lore, cats are often familliars. A witch is supposed to be able to see everything their familiar sees. So if the cat had been a familiar, we would expect Amy's mom to know what they were up to, but she didn't know until they started to cast the unduing spell. So the cat was just a cat, and not a familiar.
A lot of people think that the mirror reflected the spell back onto Katherine. But as part of the spell, she said, "I shall look upon her" when Buffy kicked the mirror infront of her, Katherine was suddenly looking at herself, and so the spell redirected to her. But it was because she was looking at herself, not because the spell bounced off of the mirror.
Great reaction again man, love your enthusiasm for the show. The bit where Buffy and Joyce are talking in the kitchen and Buffy refers to Joyce having 'Farah Hair' was a reference to Farah Fawcett Majors who was in the original Charlie's Angels, and was one of the most famous women of the 70's, every woman that time wanted the 'Farah Flick'. Witch was one of the better episodes of Series 1. Although S1 was a bit rough due to low budget and show finding its feet, it lays the groundwork for the upcoming episodes. Once this show reaches mid S2 it really picks up in every way, and produces some of the best TV drama ever written. In this episode the metaphor here is the 'pushy parent' who forces their child to things and is annoyed with them when they don't excel. The ultimate pushy parent, Amy's mum criticising her child and forcing her to do things she may not be able to do, then taking over her body. A decent little episode for early on in the show, great ending scene at the end with Amy's mum trapped in the trophy statue.
Katherine was put in a Hell of her own making. She wanted to relive her glory days, and so now, she is trapped in her trophy, the symbol of her greatest achievement, forever. It is too bad ahe was so self-absorbed that she couldn't see her child as her greateat achievement, the way most parents feel.
Just started watching your Buffy reactions (so excited!!) so I know this is a bit behind seeing as you're at the season one finale right now, but if there is one thing I would tell anyone about Buffy is that if you see something that makes you think 'oh, this old trope' or 'that's been done SO many times' just remember, all the others got it from Buffy!!!
Also I would say this, Xander is a teenage boy, a straight 90's teenage boy. Please don't judge early teen hormone controlled Xander too harshly.
The witch is so good honestly one of my fav stories
Driving rules in California are unique in that when you (as the driver) see a pedestrian on the road, you must step on the accelerator.
Cheerleading started in the USA, so it makes sense it's most common over there.
Fun fact: the introduction of (**shudder**) _women_ in cheerleading is a fairly new phenomenon. Originally, cheerleaders were exactly what they sound like - leaders of the cheer. Commonly, at college-level sports events, the fans would cheer for their team. In order to make it manageable and not distract the players, some players would take advantage of some free time (either when they were on the bench or during a break) and organise the fans, "leading" them in "cheer". Eventually, this unofficial role would become codified, and official cheerleaders would start participating in the events. (I don't remember the specific details, but this takes place broadly sometime in the late 19th, early 20th century.) By the 1960s, the tide had started to change, especially in the southern states, which didn't have the tradition of male cheerleaders (since this was mostly popular in the northeast), and someone had the brilliant idea that the cheerleaders themselves should be appealing to the audience, starting out the trend of both women in cheerleading and cheerleading itself being an acrobatic sport in its own right (in order to give the audience something to look at, in every sense of the word).
Fun fact 2: FDR, Eisenhower, Reagan, and George "Dubya" Bush were all cheerleaders.
Additionally, for this episode, we have yet another metaphor to contend with - parents living their high-school dreams vicariously through their children. A little bit more literal in this case.
I don't remember us having cheerleaders in Canada. I think it's pretty exclusively an American thing.
I like that the title is just "Witch", because we don't initially know "which" is the witch either.
The first sign we get that Katherine has switched bodies with her daughter is when Buffy and "Amy" are talking for the first time. The way "Amy" talks about her mother in terms of her being perfect in every way, that is how a narcissist thinks others view themselves. And the way she talked about Amy's dad is the words of the jilted ex, not how a daughter talks about her father.
Brit here and no, no cheerleaders. I lived in the US as well and they're EVERYWHERE lolol
Only two weeks late to the start of the BtVS reactions. Now to watch the first two.
In my high school in Canada we didn't have a cheerleading team when I first went there, but sometime before I graduated, they did try to start one up and were holding auditions for hopeful cheerleaders. Not sure what really happened with it though, because I never went to the sports tournaments or wherever they'd have done their thing lol
The title of this episode "Witch" is a pun. It relies on the double meaning of "witch," being a woman who uses magic, but also "which," as in :which one.: That is why the title is "Witch" and not "The Witch." If they included the article "the" than you couldn't get the double meaning.
I love your reactions!!! And I love even more your explanations at the end 💖
Xander is... well, Xander 😅 In my opinion, he has some incel vibes, he's the trope of "the nice guy" because he seems nice most of the time and sarcastic and funny, and is a bit of an underdog or a wallflower but at the end he still has very toxic masculinity traits. Definitely not my favourite character.
Season 1 has a lot of monster-of-the-weak episodes, more than I would like. I do like this episode, though. Season 2 still has too many monster-of-the-weak episodes for my taste, but less than season 1. Starting with season 3, almost all episodes are contributing to the main storyline to some extent. IMHO, 3 > 2 > 1, though the season 2 storyline episodes are fantastic. You may have to suffer through some of the more mediocre episodes, but it's definitely worth it because of the storyline episodes, especially from season 2 and onwards. Just my 2 cents, of course.
Is he just ignoring everyone who suggested he shouldn't watch the remastered version on streaming and try and get hold of the original versions? I mean whether he takes the advice or not is totally up to him, but it's kinda rude to just ignore people who were offering important info - the remastered version available on streaming really does ruin several key scenes. People trying to help and just getting ignored.... :/
Not ignoring at all. I filmed the first five episodes before I even uploaded episode one. So, had no idea about all this. I’ve since been working things out. I’ll get there eventually!!
Give him a chance he's only half way through the first season 🙄
People like Phil need to remember that most reactors are further along in shows watched than they are in shows edited and uploaded to YT. From all I've seen across many channels, editing for YT is a time consuming process needed to avoid copyright strikes etc.
It is hard to remember in the heat of the moment, the excitement of pointing things out, but in reality, most reactors are at least a few episodes ahead in the watch order than they are in posting. And occasionally, some are much further along; one Firefly reactor had originally done the whole series as a Patreon exclusive, and decided a year or two later to edit them and upload them to YT; people were commenting while ignoring the fact that their comments couldn't possibly impact their "future episode" reactions since those had already been done at least a year before...
By the way there are 7 seasons
There is nothing odd about liking Cordy.
Xander is Joss Whedon's admitted self-insert.
he's referred to every character as a self-insert, and that's basically how writing works.