Buffy The Vampire Slayer, “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" Review (2x16)

Brief Synopsis: “Xander tries to use Valentine's Day to further his relationship with Cordelia, but she succumbs to peer pressure and breaks up with him. With the help of Amy (who is experimenting with magic), he puts a love spell on Cordelia, which goes horribly wrong, turning him into every woman's desire...everyone except the one who matters most.”

"Phases" (2x15) quick link here                                                                                                      "Passion" (2x17) quick link coming soon


Two quick notes before we get started...

1)    I will be reviewing the episodes in bullet point form. This is because it makes the reviews simple to read, and helps break up the text.
2)    If you are watching the show for the first time along with these reviews, please be warned that there may be a few spoilers for things that haven’t happened yet.

With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?



•    As a rule, I’m a fan of Xander-centric episodes that aren’t “Teacher’s Pet”. This episode supports that rule. I love it. It revolves around the break up of Cordelia and Xander, and Xander’s subsequent reaction to that break up. Xander wants to get Cordelia back so that he can break up with her and subject her to the same hell that she’s just put him through (ahh, true love). Immature and cruel? Yes, but Xander’s just been dumped by his first proper girlfriend. He doesn’t handle it well. It’s understandable. Of course, this is the Buffyverse, so the spell goes horribly wrong...
•    I believe this is the first truly comedic episode of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. It’s not the funniest episode the show ever did (that distinction goes to “Tabula Rasa”, “Something Blue”, “Pangs”, or “Storyteller” in my eyes), but it’s certainly the first episode which I deem to be comedically-focused for the most part.
•    Amy: “Bad break up, huh?”
     Buffy: “Believe me when I say, uh-huh.”

You slept with your boyfriend, he lost his soul, dumped you, and started killing people...stop exaggerating, Buffy!

•    It’s nice to see Amy back on the show. I liked her a lot during the high school years. I did not, however, like her at all after she stopped enjoying cheese so much.
•    I can understand and empathise with Giles feeling betrayed by Jenny, but I don’t think Jenny really did anything wrong. She didn’t know what was going to happen, and when she realised what had happened, she tried so stop it. All that Jenny can really be accused of is not telling Giles about her past (Giles did the same thing), and for trying to convince Angel to leave Sunnydale (which Angel does of his own free will next season anyway). Part of the problem is that Giles doesn’t have a complete view of the story like the audience do. He doesn’t really know why Jenny did what she did. Jenny was raised to hate Angel from a very young age...much like Connor! See how well that turned out...I’ve never noticed the parallels between Connor and Jenny’s stories before.
•    Trust Angelus to upstage Spike with the warm human heart. Don’t worry, Spikey, the heart will be gone in minutes, the necklace will last a lifetime. I’m a huge fan of Angelus, but I hate that he facilitates the end of Spike and Drusilla as a couple in a lot of ways. I adore Spike and Dru together.

•    Angelus: “It lacks...poetry.”
     Spike: “Doesn’t have to. What rhymes with lungs?...”

     You were a poet, Spike! You should know these things.
 
•    I’m happy to report that this episode marks the first appearance of Four Star Mary (“Dingoes Ate My Baby”)’s “Pain”! It’s my favourite Four Star Mary song, I absolutely adore it! I even have an acoustic version that I found lingering about the internet many years ago. Keep an ear out for this song in later episodes.
•    The interesting thing about this episode is that it’s Xander-centric, yet all the character growth in this episode comes from Cordelia, not Xander. Xander doesn’t really leave this episode acting any differently to what he did at the start of it. Cordelia, however, changes a lot. There are a few minor speed bumps before that growth, however. Firstly, SHE BREAKS UP WITH XANDER ON VALENTINE’S DAY! OUCH!
 
•    Okay, resorting to the black arts after being dumped by a girl you’ve been dating for a month or so is rather extreme. I can understand the need for revenge on someone who’s broken your heart, but it’s still over the top. With that being said, it’s completely in character for Xander at this point in time! Let’s face it, Xander is very immature at this point. He’s not the “You’re extraordinary” Xander that we come to love in the later seasons. While he’s loveable in his own way at the moment, he still has a lot of growing up to do. Even with all of that being said, I feel so sorry for Xander in this episode! I don’t agree with some of his actions, but I can completely understand why he does what he does. It’s not an excuse for his actions, but they’re understandable. More horrifying than Xander wanted to get Cordelia back due to witchcraft is that his original plan was to get Cordelia back just to break up with her. That’s inexcusable. It’s an interesting parallel to Willow wanting to use witchcraft to fix her and Tara’s relationship in season six.
•    Who can’t relate to how Xander is feeling in this episode though? That desire to fit in and have a stable relationship. Outside of the Scoobies, Xander doesn’t have a lot going for him. He’s an average student, his parents are constantly arguing (so much so that he sleeps outside on Christmas Eve to avoid their drunken Christmas fights), and now his only real girlfriend has just dumped him. I was in a similar situation to Xander during my school years. I was bullied, I was unpopular, I had zero attention from girls until my late teens, and if I had the opportunity to use witchcraft to fix it like Xander does in this episode, I’d certainly have been tempted.
•    Xander’s original plan backfires in the most hilarious of ways. Every female except Cordelia is now in love with Xander. Xander has spent most of his life wishing to get more attention from girls...he got his wish. It’s the supernatural version of ‘be careful what you wish for’.

•    The most interesting part of this episode for me is Cordelia’s story. Cordelia does still have feelings for Xander when she ends the relationship. This is evident by her wearing the necklace that Xander bought her, even after she left him. I will never understand the type of person who breaks up with someone they really like just to be more popular and fit in more with their shallow friends. Cordelia is desperate to stay popular. If you go back to season one’s “Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight”, Cordelia tells Buffy that she’s lonely, but that being lonely around people is better than being lonely by yourself. I think that speech from Cordelia is key to understanding her character in the first three seasons of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”. Cordelia feels like that if she’s not popular, she’s not worth anything. Being popular gives Cordelia self-esteem, it gives her a place in the world, it gives her an identity. She likes feeling admired and she loves having all the attention focused on her. Even after she moves to Los Angeles and starts to become a selfless and empathetic character, she still loves the limelight. Being popular and single is more important to her at this point than being in a relationship and unpopular...until the end of this episode.
•    I know I’m sick, but I kind of want to know what Angelus nailed the puppy to. Damn my curiosity and thirst for knowledge!
 
•    I guessed the spell had gone wrong the second Buffy said “play your cards right” to Xander all seductively. My mind instantly went “nope, something’s not right here”. As a general rule, if Buffy is sexually attracted to Xander, something’s wrong. Like when Buffy sexy-danced with Xander in “When She Was Bad”, for example.
•    When you really stop to think about the premise of this episode, it’s not funny at all. In essence, Xander attempts to mind-rape Cordelia and ends up mind-raping every female in Sunnydale except Cordelia. Why does Xander never get called out on the shit he pulls like Angel, Spike, and Willow do? When Willow does something similar to this in season six, Tara leaves her. What are the consequences of this for Xander? Willow is upset with Xander for a little while off-camera? What else? Nothing. In fact, he gets his girlfriend back from all of this!
•    Willow is wearing just Xander’s shirt! LAWD HAVE MERCY!
•    ...What’s wrong with wearing red and purple together, Cordy?...
•    There is a lot of funny in this episode that distracts from the sheer idiocy of Xander’s actions. Buffy in a ‘raincoat’, Willow nibbling on Xander’s ear, Giles’ reaction to Jenny hitting on Xander, but there are two which stand out above all the others. The first of which is Xander’s slow-motion walking through the hall to the cheesy love music. All the girls were swooning, and the guys wanted to punch him. It was pure genius.
•    Jenny eyeing Xander and Giles' reaction to it is gut-wrenchingly funny. What a cougar! Rawr!
 
•    One of the saddest things about “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, for me, is that Giles and Xander are never close. Every one of the ‘Core Four’ is close to everyone else, except Giles and Xander. Giles and Xander do grow closer in season four when they’re both feeling lost and neglected, but I would never consider them to be close. Giles doesn’t even go to Xander’s wedding! Xander has a terrible relationship with his father (just like Buffy). Buffy gets a surrogate father in Giles, but Xander never does. Xander’s father is abusive, rude, and treats Xander like crap. You can tell that just from watching Xander’s dream in “Restless” and from seeing Xander’s parents in “Hell’s Bells”. I can’t believe it took so long to meet Xander’s parents! It explains so much about why Xander acts the way he does in the earlier seasons. I’ve always felt like Giles finds Xander annoying. Could you imagine if Giles was as close to Xander as he was to Buffy? I think that would have been huge for Xander.
•    Yes, Xander, pushing the filing cabinet against the opening-out library door is going to help. Idiot...
•    Buffy walking into the library in the raincoat was very, very sexy. I think most of the populous must have been screaming for Xander to open his present! OPEN THE DAMN PRESENT, XANDER!
 
•    Xander’s speech to Buffy about if she had any idea how much it would mean to him if it were really her saying that, etc. is really sweet. It’s moments like that which make me adore Xander so much. As immature as he can be at this point, he refuses to sleep with Willow even though she’s throwing herself at him, and he refuses to sleep with Buffy (who he’s in love with!) because he knows that Buffy’s not acting herself. In addition to being a wonderful moment for Xander, it also sends a powerful message out into the world: you do not take advantage of people under any circumstances. Whether they’re drunk, stoned, or in an emotionally unstable place, taking advantage of vulnerable people is wrong.
•    ...Buffy’s a rat...
•    Oz punching Xander in the face was really surprising and my favourite part of the episode. It’s so out of character for Oz to show such heightened, genuine emotion that it means so much more.

Oz: “Oww, that kind of hurt.”
Xander: “KINDA?!”

The second that Oz punched Xander, Oz goes back to chilled-out-guy again. Instantly! The interesting thing about Oz is that the first time I watched “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” seasons 2-4 (I was 9-11 years old), I didn’t care for Oz. I didn’t dislike him, I just wasn’t particularly attached to him either. These days, Oz is one of my favourite Buffyverse characters. Perhaps you have to be older than eleven to appreciate Oz’s sense of humour.

•    Willow: “I’d rather see you dead than with that bitch.”
Ugh. This is heartbreaking on so many levels. We all know that Willow has genuinely been in love with Xander since they were 5 years old. What Willow is saying here is absolutely true. The spell just enhances it and brings it to the forefront.
•    The second ridiculously funny moment of this episode is Joyce hitting on Xander. It will forever remain one of the best moments in television history. So much laughter! She’s usually so polite and friendly. Whenever Joyce acts differently, I die of laughter. “Band Candy” is another perfect example of this.

•    Speaking of dying, Drusilla just saved Xander from Angelus! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!...oh...Drusilla is under Xander’s spell too...that’s one hell of a powerful spell if it affects vampires as well as humans. Drusilla stroking Xander is equal parts hilarious and highly disturbing.
•    Somehow Xander and Cordelia end up back where it all started for them in “What’s My Line Part Two”, where their first kiss took place: Buffy’s basement.
•    Scavenger hunt...sometimes “Sunnydale Syndrome” (it’s a term I’ve created for when the residents of Sunnydale magically forget everything supernatural) can be so unrealistic. Surely the residents of Sunnydale can’t be that stupid? Yes, some of the students realise that Sunnydale is different by the time “The Prom” rolls around, but at this point everyone seems oblivious to the world around them.
•    Buffy: “The great roofie spirit.”
•    On the surface of things people might wonder what the purpose of this episode was. It was an episode about Xander and Cordelia breaking up, only to be dating again by the end of it. It’s not about that. It’s about the journey. Cordelia’s character grew so much in this episode. I can’t overstate how important this episode was for her character, yet it’s often forgotten about by the fandom. Plus, this episode establishes Xander and Cordelia as a legitimate couple; much like “Phases” did for Willow and Oz. It’s ironic that the two episodes that follow “Innocence” (the destruction of Buffy and Angel) are the two episodes that establish Xander and Willow being in committed relationships.


Quote Of The Episode

Cordelia: “You're a sheep. All you ever do is what everyone else does just so you can say you did it first. And here I am, scrambling for your approval, when I'm way cooler than you are 'cause I'm not a sheep. I do what I wanna do, and I wear what I wanna wear. And you know what? I'll date whoever the hell I wanna date.....no matter how lame he is.”


It was going so well until “no matter how lame he is”. Cordelia almost managed an entire speech without insulting someone. Talk about character growth. This is probably my favourite speech that Cordelia delivers whilst she’s living in Sunnydale. The Cordelia of a few episodes ago would never have said those words. Cordelia has finally learned that she doesn’t need to be popular to be happy.


FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

So what are your thoughts on "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered"? Did you enjoy this episode? Dislike it? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments section below!

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