Season 1, Episode 3: Witch
A better episode than the first two, to be sure. The humor was overall better, the character interactions seemed a little more fluid, as did the little bits of action. I enjoyed the opening of the episode, with Giles talking to Buffy about joining that "cult." It did a good job setting the tone for the episode. Additionally, the actors did better jobs with their characters here. They are all still the same, just acted better. Xander is less of a bumbling idiot (though still one), Willow is less socially awkward, and Buffy is more believable as a Slayer. Cordelia is still awful, though. I'm not liking her role as b**** s*** happens to and doesn't realize it was the good guys that saved her. I'd say I hope she gets a bigger role later on, but I really just kind of hope she goes away. Buffy's mom is pretty lame as well. For awhile I wasn't liking the guest character, but the twist with her being her mother made things better. Good stuff. Giles is probably my favorite character so far. I like the way he handles himself, and he often has the best lines in the episode.
One thing I'm not looking forward to is the pending romances involving Buffy, Xander, and Willow. Xander likes Buffy, it appears Willow likes Xander. Xander is friend zoned by Buffy, and Willow is friend zoned by Xander. Somewhere along the line these feelings are going to muck stuff up, and I don't look forward to it. It all seems forced. It's high school, though, so this kind of drama is expected.
Things are getting better. I'm excited to see what kinds of supernatural foes get introduced over the course of the series. It'll be a place where the writers' creativity shines. This was a standalone episode, which was fine. I'm thinking I may enjoy more the episodes that have to deal more with the main villian, who I'm assuming is the Voldemort lookin' guy from the pilot episodes.
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