Headscratchers / Bewitched

• I recall in the episode, "Take Two Aspirin, and Half a Pint of Porpoise Milk", Darrin visits a witch pharmacy to get certain items for a potion Aunt Clara was working on to try and cure Samantha of her square green spots disease; while the pharmacist tends to Darrin, he remarks, "You know you're the first customer I've seen in days? Nowadays, everybody uses them instant spells, just one quick incantation, and it's all over." which begs that question, if a witch disease can be cured with instant spells and incantations, then why don't they ever do that? And also, what need would they have for witch doctors such as the aforementioned witch pharmacist, and even Dr. Bombay?
  • There may not have been a spell to deal with that particular disease (which may not come up often enough to require one).
  • Perhaps only the simplest of common magical diseases can be cured by simple spells. More virulent diseases would need "prescription medicine".
  • Also, Aunt Clara, by her own admission, isn't the best at magic, so she may need a bit of help. In this case, a potion.
  • It was a bit of meta commentary on the changing face of regular American medicine. Bewitched was made at a time where there really was a shift away from more long-term and complicated treatments of illness and injuries, towards more home-treatable pills and simpler but more effective medical interventions. Clearly the witch world is going through its own similar shift, with new spells and incantations taking the place of older witch-doctoring methods.
• The more I think about it, the more of a jerk Endora comes off as. Witches are tremendously long-lived, living centuries or millennia (Maurice remembers the Roman Empire, and he's only in late middle age - at most), and however true Samantha's love for Darren is, he'll only be around for a few decades. In terms of witches' lifespans, that's pretty well nothing, so couldn't she put up with him for her daughter's sake?
  • The earlier episodes emphasize that Endora is mainly concerned for Samantha's well-being and that of her grandchildren (who are, after all, half-mortal). In fact, Endora even goes as far as to tell Darrin it's not personal and sometimes even helps Darrin—and let's face it, Darrin isn't entirely innocent either. Flanderization of both characters over the course of the series made both of them more unpleasant (to the consternation of all of the actors involved).
  • This doesn't directly answer your question, but I recall reading a rather well-written fanfic, that took place shortly after Tabitha's birth, in which Samantha receives the news that Darrin was involved in a terrible car accident, and that he wasn't expected to live. Samantha was devastated, but took off for some place that almost seemed similar to The Adjustment Bureau, in which people's lives were "stored" onto external discs and such; Samantha spoke with whoever was in charge, explained the situation, and asked if the contents on Darrin's disc could be altered, so he could have a chance to see his daughter grow up, among other things. The supervisor agreed, and did just that; sure enough, Darrin "miraculously" recovers from the accident, however, he was aware of what happened, and even though he always wanted Sam to not use witchcraft, for this one time, he was grateful that she did, so he could be there for both her and Tabitha. Again, that was just a fanfic, but I imagine that, perhaps, somehow, Samantha would be able to find a way to prolong Darrin's life. Either that, or maybe, being a supernatural being, she and Darrin could still remain together in spirit.
  • The lifespan issue may be the major problem. Endora and the rest of Samantha's family could have legitimate concerns that her Half-Human Hybrid children with Darrin will not enjoy the Wizards Live Longer trait. Sure, Endora is probably just fine with the idea of Darrin dying of old age in six or seven decades. But what about her grandchildren? Also, Samantha is being perhaps a bit overly-idealistic, since she would have very little experience with human aging. Endora may not think Samantha is really ready to cope with a husband who will face illness and infirmity, followed by death.
  • In the episode in which Darrin realizes how long Samantha will live (implying she will still look like a 20-something when he is in the final years of his life), Endora makes it clear that she is worried how Samantha will handle it when her husband dies of old age while she is still a young adult by witch standards. This is one of several episodes which imply that witches are unable to extend mortal lifespans. The fact that Samantha suggests she will use magic to age herself prematurely so that she ages alongside Darrin does not exactly reassure Endora . . .
  • It's implied that Endora would've probably behaved a lot more pleasantly toward Darrin, as some episodes have her having pleasant interactions with other mortals, particularly human men. From early on it's clearly shown that she dislikes Darrin's anti-witch prejudice. This is heavily emphasized by the fact that he forced Samantha to give up her witchcraft either because he considered it unnatural, or didn't want to feel inferior to his wife (notice how in earlier seasons he'd remind Sam that he's the head/master of the house). Endora sees that Darrin is clearly repressing her daughter by forcing her away from her heritage. The problem is Samantha herself doesn't feel like she's being repressed, and actually agrees with Darrin's anti-witchcraft stance, so Endora can't really do anything about except show her displeasure toward her son-in-law by pranking him with her magic.
  • During the first few seasons, Endora tries to make friends with Darrin by doing things for him, and he always rejects her overtures rather self-righteously. He is angry when she tries to enchant him to speak Spanish, angry when she conjures up his favorite car as a gift for him, angry when she tries to demonstrate acceptance of their marriage with a wedding present. To be candid, it looks like she just gave up on him after so many rejections.
  • During one of the visits by High Priestess or Witch Queen Hepzibah, Hepzibah chastizes Endora that she had failed to fulfill her commission to use spells and pranks to break up the marriage. Endora states that she realizes that Darrin truly does love her daughter and that she no longer thought it possible for her to break them up. So part of Endora's nastiness has either been commanded or endorsed by the highest authority in witchdom.
• When Tabitha is born, there are several episodes where Darren thinks she is the cause/victim of various incidents involving witchcraft. Sam (and the show) always treats his behavior as silly and unfounded...and yet her (Tabitha's) mother IS a witch and he's spent two years dealing with the fallout from that and the constant interference from her relatives. Can one blame him for being paranoid? Worse, we find out that Tabitha does indeed have powers and can indeed wreck considerable havoc on the world around her. Which makes Sam's dismissive attitude even more galling.
  • If I remember rightly, Tabitha was a newborn when Darrin was paranoid and that was before we find out she has powers. Maybe witches don't get their powers until they're one (the age she was when she got her powers). After all, in one episode, Samantha does keep saying, "She's a tiny baby!" as if her age negates it.
• Why does Endora use "Darwin" as an insult? Is it because she's acting like she can't be bothered remembering his name or is it because of the Darwin award?
  • The idea of the Darwin Awards started as a joke in the early days of the Usenet in the mid 80s, well over a decade after the show had ended.
  • The insult is that she refuses to remember his name, rather than any of the names themselves.
  • At one point, she quips that mortals are clearly descended from apes (a popular misconception at the time about Darwin's evolutionary theories) unlike witches.
• Why couldn't they let the Kravitzes in on the secret of Samantha being a witch? It's not as if anyone would believe a word of it if Gladys tried to spread the news.
  • Samantha might be worried that Gladys would get too into it if she knew the truth and then she would be over at the Stephens' house even more than she already is, hoping to see something new and exciting every time.
  • Remember how intrusive and pushy Gladys became just when she thought Samantha could sew up a fancy dress for her for free? Now imagine what she would be like if she thought she could nag Samantha into becoming her full-time wishing well!
  • One episode (which was later remade) deals with this directly—Gladys finally catches Samantha in the act of moving some pictures telekinetically and barges in, excitedly saying that's she finally found proof that Sam is...an alien. Though she's wrong, Gladys also says that she's immediately going to tell everyone she knows, and even if she isn't believed outright, remember that this show took place in a decade where the Cold War was happening and fear of outside invaders/the "unlike" was commonplace. It isn't hard to believe that Gladys would be able to bring down at least some attention on the Stephens household, which would lead to trouble, especially if Sam's relatives—who not only have no qualms about using their powers, but lived through the Salem Witch Trials and remember how bad things have been for their kind before—got involved and started unleashing magical havoc.