One of the stranger episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2, episode 16, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" literally turned Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) into a rat, which wasn't actually just a weird plot device.
Joss Whedon's TV show, which ran for seven seasons from 1997-2003, wasn't at all easy on its actors. Young stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, and others had to endure long hours of filming in a warehouse, and numerous night scenes due to the nature of the show's content. The show's ambitious efforts were rewarded, and launched prominent careers for many of its main stars, including Gellar, who has done numerous movies and TV shows in the years since. However, the small ensemble cast in the show's earlier seasons, which revolved around Buffy and her friends—the Scooby Gang—in high school meant more screen time for the actors, but also more demand.
For Gellar especially, playing the titular character was taxing. As such, during season 2, which aired in 1998, Gellar turned to Whedon and the show's writers for a way to give her a break from the long nights and massive work load. In a 2013 interview with HuffPost, Gellar stated, "One time, literally, they turned me into a rat so I could get a break. I was like, ‘Really? The most creative writing on television and that’s how we’re giving me a break?". Though certainly an interesting pivot by the show's writers instead of figuring out how to make an entire episode land without Buffy Summers, the episode where Buffy becomes a rat has been harshly scrutinized by some fans for its characterization of Buffy and the plot.
"Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" sees Xander Harris (Brendon) living out every teenage boy's dream: being sought after by every girl in the entire school. Of course, this is achieved via magical means. After Xander is unceremoniously broken up with by his girlfriend at the time, Cordelia (Carpenter), he seeks out fellow high student and witch Amy Madison (Elizabeth Anne Allen) to cast a love spell for him. The intention is to win back Cordelia's affections, but it ends up backfiring. In many different Wiccan practices, the saying "do no harm" is held as an unwavering rule. Xander's intention with the love spell he asked Amy to cast was to ultimately get revenge on Cordelia. At first, the notion of having every girl in school—including Willow and Buffy—lusting after him seemed like a positive thing, but as the women started to compete with each other, Xander realized the dangers of selfish magic. On the show, Amy turned Buffy into a rat because she was jealous and felt Buffy had a better chance with Xander.
One of the reasons why the episode has a bad reputation with some fans is because Xander is sometimes cited as a character who has aged poorly. His unrequited crush on Buffy could occasionally err on the side of being creepy and even entitled. While he exhibits many characteristics familiar to teenage boys, a show about female empowerment shifting so heavily toward the obvious male gaze doesn't always go over well. Buffy was under a spell when she attempted her seduction of Xander, even going so far as to corner him in the library wearing a very small, black robe with presumably nothing underneath. This struck a sour note with some audiences. While it did show that nobody was immune to the persistent threat of magic falling into the wrong hands, and the episode was a poignant, cautionary tale, it was definitely a reach for Buffy's character.
The context of this plot device being a clever way of giving Gellar a much-deserved break makes it seem more silly and less harmful in retrospect. Ultimately, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has accomplished what few other shows have been able to manage: an enduring legacy and status as a pop culture phenomenon decades after going off the air. Every show is bound to have an episode or two that doesn't land, and while "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" was one of those for some fans, the real reason behind turning Buffy into a rat was harmless.