Firstwave- Book of Shadows
(Sci-Fi original series)

First, I apologize for taking so long with this review, but the Sci Fi channel isn't available in my area.  One of our members was kind enough to send me a copy of the program that they taped.
     The program "First Wave" is apparently your basic "aliens taking over the world" fare, with the intrepid hero using the quatrains of Nostradamus to guess the Alien agenda.  In this particular episode, a high school aged girl is accused of using Witchcraft to kill several community leaders in her small town of Salem, Oregon.
     I found most parts of this episode fairly offensive.  True, in the end the "Witch" was doing good, and the people killed were actually the evil aliens, but everything used to portray The Craft is completely Hollywood stereotypical, from the silly "invocations" to the overdone special effects.  
     The episode started off badly, with the "Witch" selling a man some chocolate chip cookies, then chanting "The Goddess is alive and demons are afoot".  The man doubles over and apparently dies a horribly painful death, with Witchcraft of course taking the blame.  This is one of my major problems with the episode- even though she is eventually acquitted of the crimes, it's due to a technicality- the program basically shows a "Witch" using her "Dark Powers" to kill people- this is a very bad portrayal, even if it is in the name of "Science Fiction".  Another very negative segment was one girl in the 'coven' trying to break up with her abusive boyfriend.  He again gets abusive, and suddenly bursts into flame, again with Witchcraft getting the blame.  Don't get me wrong, he was definitely a bad guy, but the portrayal of a Witch setting anyone on fire, for any reason, is just something the Craft community can obviously live without. 
     The show also tries to make the obvious parallels between the Salem Witch trials and the court case, but fails miserably on all counts.  Unlike the recent "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode which dealt so well with the same subject matter, this program ignored the ideas of mass hysteria and how it leads to "Witch hunts", and instead used the "spooky mystical" stereotypes to show the teen "Witches" setting ex-boyfriends on fire and making sprinklers turn on "magically".  
     One of the more disturbing elements of the program was the fact that they did all they could to show that the girl in question was actually a "Witch", magic powers and all.   Even though they added in the obligatory "Witchcraft is a legally recognized religion" during the trial, all the portrayals of witchcraft were either silly or manipulative or both, almost all involved hurting people, and they didn't show any kind of religious or spiritual content at all.
     Overall I'm very disappointed in the episode, and have written the Sci Fi channel a letter voicing my concerns.  The Sci Fi channel has many interesting fantasy and Science Fiction programs on, and hopefully if enough Witches and Pagans let them know that programming like this is not appreciated and will not be tolerated, they will be more responsible in their future programs and features.