We start with Carrot and Sam riding the tractor on a narrow road very slowly. A lady in a car, Susan Bonnington, yells out to them that she’s in a hurry. “Well, we’re not,” chuckles Sam. A short distance later, they pull off the road and Mrs. Bonnington manages to get moving again. What is really hilarious in this scene is that Carrot and Sam actually think she’s the one being rude rather than the two of them. I mean how would you feel stuck on a narrow road behind some slow-moving vehicle and when you complain the driver sloughs it off as if it’s funny to him? If they had to be there, at least yell back, “We’re going as fast as we can. Honest.” Or “We’ll be off the road in just a short time.” Instead, they complain that she was yelling at them.
It’s reminiscent of this scene:
“That Tommy at school. He’s so rude. He’s always yelling at me.”
“Oh, what does he say?”
“Hey, quit beating me up. Quit stealing my lunch money. Quit copying off my paper during the test.”
To make things worse for Carrot, Susan shows up at his house having a meal with his Dad. He’s convinced that the farm is still in trouble, and that Dad is thinking of marrying Mrs. Bonnington for her money. Too bad he can’t put a spell on her or something. Oh wait, he knows a wizard.
So he bribes Catweazle with a box of matches to put a spell on Susan. Cat finds one where you made a waxen figure of her and run a pin through it. Thankfully, Carrot thinks that’s a little too final. So they settle for putting spots on her instead. For that they need a trinket from her, so they try to sneak into her car and steal one while she’s getting some eggs from Mr. Bennett. CW is too slow and manages to get stuck in the back seat while she drives away, so Edward follows on his bike. When she gets home, Mrs. Bonnington notices Cat’s smell, but fortunately thinks it’s coming from the eggs. Let’s face it; Catweazle always looks like he needs a bath. By the way, I could have sworn that I saw her locking her car door after she parked the car, but when CW can't figure out how to escape from the back seat, Edward just opens the door from the outside easily.
After all that, it turns out the knickknack he tried to steal was a charm itself, rendering it useless. But then Carrot follow her to a hairdresser, which CW at first thinks is a torture palace. When he sees her hair cut, Cat knows that her hair could be the token they need of her. Carrot goes in to talk, while Cat creates a distraction by just sort of being himself. Edward dives for the hair and escapes. They put the spell in place timed to the chiming bells at 7 PM. Then Carrot returns home to his father and actually asks what he’s been up to. Only then – at the stroke of 7 – does he find out Dad was just being nice to Susan to butter her up into arguing with the council to allow him to put a row of sheds on the land. He had no romantic interest in her, or vice versa. But the spells already been cast.
As 10 PM approaches with no word from Mrs. B, Carrot begins the “almost reveal.” That’s where the principal is about to admit the big secret to someone else, but is stopped in the nick of time. That’s a close cousin to the “almost solution” where the premise of the show is almost solved, only to be dashed at the last second. That part hasn’t happened yet, but stay tuned – it probably will eventually. Anyway, Carrot starts to admit the truth about Catweazle to his Dad only to have Mrs. Bonnington pull into the driveway just in time. Seems the meeting went great and Dad got approval for his sheds. Mrs. B admits she was helped by the fact that Mrs. Willoughby, who usually opposes such things, came down with the measles at the last minute. Yes, she was the one having her hair clipped next to Susan and Carrot had grabbed her hair by mistake, but it all worked out anyway.
So, let’s see:
Lesson learned: Communicate with other people; don’t just make assumptions.
Catweazle causes no damage this week, and actually acts a little saner. No harm done, we assume. The measles are only temporary and Mrs. W was made out to be a haughty, snotty woman anyway.
This is a sitcom after all, and this was a reasonably clever solution. I’ll stick with last week’s rating and give this 6 magic firesticks that don’t even need a matchbox to strike them on. This show has yet to wow me, but I’m willing to give it time.
