We begin with a basketball game where protagonist Samantha Byrd [Played by Melody Johnson, who Friday the 13th fans will recognise Jason X, where she played Kinsa] is an absolute klutz. There’s no shortage of bullying towards the clumsy girl, especially from Judith who’s favourite thing to say is ‘”Fly away, Byrd”‘, or something to that extent [Gotta love a catchphrase!]. During the game, Sam finds a necklace with a crystal pendant on the floor and begins wearing it.
At lunch, best friend Cory encourages Sam to forget about mean old Judith, but Sam just wants to understand why Judith always targets her. Unsurprisingly, Judith’s telling everyone about how clumsy Sam was during basketball practice, prompting Sam to defend herself. Unfortunately for her, she’s got a mouthful of food at the time, which falls to the table and is super gross [Poor girl can’t catch a break :(].
Embarrassed, Sam runs from the cafeteria, colliding with one of the lunch ladies on her way, just in case you forgot she was sUcH a KlUtZ. As she walks home after school, Sam also collides with a mysterious woman named Clarissa who claims to own the necklace Sam’s wearing. Sam hands it over and upon seeing the crystal shine, Clarissa pretends to be lost and manipulates a reluctant Sam into walking her to the other side of town [Stranger danger, Sam! Especially when this woman is so creepy].
After reaching their destination, Clarissa offers to grant Sam three wishes for her kindness. Sam thinks she’s super weird but Clarissa insists it’s not a joke, so Sam wishes she was the best player on the basketball team [The girl playing Sam is a terrible actor, but it also kind of suits the character lol]. Clarissa hands Sam the crystal necklace again as a gift and declares her wish will come true.
At the next basketball game, Sam’s her usual klutz self [As some sick beats play in the background], but much to her surprise, Judith and the other girls are playing even worse! Sam ends up scoring a point, but it doesn’t win them the game, and when Clarissa suddenly appears in the school corridor as Sam’s leaving, our heroine realises her wish had come true.
Sam’s not impressed that she was only the best by default since everyone else was suddenly shocking at the sport, but Clarissa explains ‘”Magic isn’t an exact science, you know!” and instructs Sam to ‘”Be very careful what you wish for and very clear how you phrase it”‘. Sam’s not ready for another wish just yet and heads off.
The next day, Sam tells Cory about Clarissa, but their conversation is interrupted by Judith and her cronies who blame Sam for their loss yesterday [Even though they played worse lol]. Sick of the bullying, Sam wishes ‘”Everyone would just buzz off”‘, and although Clarissa’s nowhere in sight, everyone immediately disappears in front of her, replaced by flies [Buzz buzz].
Sam makes her way through the school, careful to avoid stomping on any flies [I would have squished Judith if I could figure out which one was her, hehe] and ventures outside where she learns literally everyone is now a fly. At home, Sam finds Clarissa in her house, who reminds her of the exact words she used – buzz off. Sam still has one last wish left, and Clarissa warns her to take her time to get it right.
Later that night, Sam wishes everything to go back to normal, they way it was before the flies, and she wants Judith to think she’s the greatest [Oh god]. Immediately, Clarissa disappears and Sam’s mum enters the room, and all seems right with the world again. Then Judith calls!
We cut to basketball practice the next day where obsessive, clingy Judith is matching head to toe with Sam, from the signature braids to the overalls, and wants to learn to play like her too. Afterwards in the cafeteria, Judith gets the same meal as Sam, because ‘”you have such great taste”‘ [Ugh imagine having a friend this annoying]. Sam’s clearly not enjoying her new friendship, and Cory points out ‘”If your old worst enemy is your new best friend, shouldn’t you be happier?”‘ [Cory is great and doesn’t get enough screen time].
After school, Sam arrives home to 406568996 messages on the answering machine from stage 5408956 clinger Judith, who also sneaks into the house at some point and hides in the closet, waking Sam up later that night [Omg lolllllll]. She gets rid of her offscreen and the next morning, Judith’s waiting outside to walk to school with Sam. Sam runs all the way to school to lose her, but Judith knows a shortcut and is already waiting for her, sending Sam running again in the other direction. Sam then bumps into Clarissa and tells her the wishes have ruined her life. Judith arrives shortly after, and Clarissa insists she was just trying to repay her kindness [But I’m not buying that].
Sam wishes she’d never met Clarissa, and the mysterious woman offers to cancel her last wish and give her another chance. Sam accepts, handing back the necklace as she wishes she’d never met Clarissa, and that Judith had met her instead. Clarissa walks off with Judith quickly following her, and as Sam walks away [She clearly still recognises Clarissa though, so technically her wish didn’t come true, right?], she overhears Judith’s first wish – ‘”I wish that wherever I was, people would gather around and admire me”‘ [Narcissistic bitch].
After a quick glance at Sam, Clarissa is more than happy to oblige and instantly, Judith turns into a badly CGI’d statue just off the footpath [So is Clarissa evil or not? Or did she really want to help Sam, and Sam’s wording was what stuffed up the wishes?]. As people arrive to admire Judith, the episode ends with a grinning Sam walking away and a crow landing on the statue’s head.
Final thoughts
The acting was horrible, but the episode was decent enough. Although I’m sure Clarissa was stuffing up the wishes on purpose, the character is also played as if she really wants to help Sam, especially at the end when she glances at her before granting Judith’s wish, so it’s kind of ambiguous on purpose, I guess?
I also like how the ending was different to the book it’s based on, where Judith’s wish is that Samantha Byrd would fly away, and Sam turns into an actual bird. That’s a pretty shitty ending for the long-suffering protagonist, so it’s nice to see Judith cop the brunt of her own wish here.
I’m also not totally sure what the point of the necklace was… Clarissa planted it for Sam to find, then the crystal told her Sam is a good target, but the magic only works if the wisher wears it, is how it seems to me?? Feels like we could axe the necklace altogether and let Clarissa possess all the magic. I dunno.
27 horribly CGI’d statues out of 36!
