Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2 Episode 16 (Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.)

                             Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

                                   Season 2 Episode 16 (Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered)

Buffy the Vampire slayer

 Episode Summary 

     The tittle for this episode ( bewitched, bothered and bewildered) explains a lot and gives an insight on the emotional roller coaster that will take place on this particular episode. At the begging of the episode they make clear that a Valentines day dance will take place in their high school. Xander is going to take Cordelia to the dance. Cordelia is faced with social pressure from her friends because they Xander is a dork; deep down Cordelia wants to be with Xander. Later on Cordelia ends up breaking up with Xander. which he takes at heart and decides to black mail Amy to make a love spell to trap Cordelia. The love spell takes a wrong turn and ends up affecting every other female but Cordelia. All these female characters start going after Xander; these include Buffy, willow, amy and Buffy's mother. At one point Amy turns Buffy into a rat because they were fighting over Xander's love. Eventually Amy and Giles put a stop to this obsession over Xander and Buffy returns back to normal human form.

Buffy Vs. challenging Gender roles

  Again it seems like the gender roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer seem to be reversed. At the beginning Buffy and Xander seem to be having an ongoing conversation about Cordelia in a cemetery. He talks about gifting her a necklace for Valentines day when out of nowhere a vampire arises from a grave and goes after Xander. Buffy reacts by pushing Xander away from danger and attacking/slaying the vampire. It is very important to note that this is not the only time we see Buffy protecting male characters from danger. Buffy possesses characteristics that fit into the spectrum of gender nonconforming. She is brave and has to stick up for her friends and family because they are in danger due to her identity and power. Throughout this series we've seen Buffy fight all types of male characters. She does not back off from a fight especially if it comes to protecting others safety.

Xander's Love Spell 

   After Cordelia rejects Xander he begins to seek revenge. Xander black mails Amy in return of a love spell that makes Cordelia fall dangerously in love with him. As the episode progresses we see the spell might not have worked on Cordelia after all but on every other female that comes in contact with Xander. Buffy at one point tries to undress herself in front of Xander because of the love spell. This situation is contrary to other examples of love spells presented in pop culture because most  of the time love spells are intended to be towards male characters. This situation makes women that are after Xander seem obsessive and creepy. After all too much of anything can become dangerous.

Love Turning Into a Dangerous Obsession.

    There is a big difference love and obsession. In this episode we see how too much love can turn into a dangerous obsession. There are many scenarios that support this idea of toxic obsession towards Xander. Cordelia's friends bash her half of the episode for dating Xander; it is surprising that when the love spell takes effect all of them start to physically and verbally attack Cordelia over the way she treats Xander. At one point her friends attack her in the middle of the hallway to which Xander reacts by going to her rescue. Another example of dangerous obsession is when Cordelia and Xander make a run to Buffy's house. They believed they were safe but soon after Buffy's mother started to act strangely towards Xander. She came out the blue and started to touch him inappropriately; Xander backed away. They eventually had to lock her out her house because of her concerning behavior. As seen in the image above, Willow is holding a weapon. She demands Xander to love her as she threatens him. The love spell has escalated too quickly too fast. Xander falls victim to his own actions; the situation has totally back fired by threatening the people around him that includes his friends and family.