Synopsis:
Buffy wants to round out her life of fighting the forces of evil. She decides to try out for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks' cheerleading squad. On the first day of tryouts, the competition seems daunting. Amber Grove, an attractive, agile girl, does a routine that would make a Laker Girl proud. Another girl, Amy Madison, has lost a lot of weight and has been training with her mother six hours a day. Amy points out a cheerleading trophy. She tells Buffy that her mom was the head cheerleader of Sunnydale's 1977 squad, which won the tricounty championship. Suddenly everyone's attention turns to Amber. Smoke pours out of her pompoms and her hands burst into flames. Buffy rips down a Razorbacks banner and wraps Amber in it, quickly smothering the fire.Giles is unable to tell Buffy what caused the incident. He says that since Sunnydale is on a Hellmouth, any number of evils could be responsible. Buffy decides to investigate. Cheerleading being far too important to be stopped by a little thing like spontaneous combustion, the tryouts resume the next day. About a dozen girls perform a group cheer. Cordelia and Lishanne are as talented as they are attractive. Amy knows the routines, but she is nervous and tries too hard. At the end Amy slides into Cordelia and careens out of control. She appears dejected, telling Buffy she just can't make her body move like her mother's.When the results of the tryouts are posted, Cordelia and Lishanne make the squad. Buffy is the first alternate and Amy the third. The following day, as Cordelia operates a driver's-ed car, her vision suddenly blurs. Buffy rescues her from the path of a UPS truck, but she is in no condition for cheerleading. Giles determines that a witch is responsible for the strange events. Buffy and her friends suspect Amy because she is desperate to get on the cheerleading squad. They confirm their suspicions by spilling a special chemical mixture on Amy's skin. Amy casts a vengeance spell on Buffy, making her very ill. Giles tells Buffy that her only chance is to find Amy's spell book.Catherine, Amy's mom, answers the door. She is timid and nervous. Catherine admits that she is really Amy, and that her mother switched their bodies months ago so that she could relive her glory days as a cheerleader. Amy leads them to the attic where her mom cast the spells. In a trunk they find the spell book and some little cheerleader dolls. Giles looks up the reverse spells and they all head for the chemistry lab to get the necessary ingredients.Giles succeeds in reversing the spells, including getting Amy and her mother to switch back to their original bodies. Catherine appears in the chemistry lab, furious. Amy bursts in to find her mother tearing the lab apart in a rage. Catherine casts a spell to send Amy to a dark place, but Buffy tosses a mirror between them, and the spell bounces right back at her. Catherine suddenly disappears into thin air.Days later Buffy and Amy stand in front of Catherine's cheerleading trophy talking about Amy's new life with her father. Based on the spell she cast, they are sure Catherine will never be returning. As Buffy and Amy walk away, the eyes on the cheerleading trophy figure spring to life, darting back and forth.