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It's the chance of a lifetime for every girl in Exeter - auditions for new pop group 'Kitten'! But there's something deadly waiting in the wings... Also: a chance of romance between Zak and Heather? (Air Date: 5 September, 2000)

Regulars:

• Candy
• Cynth
• Zak
• Brian

Other Characters:

• Meryll Stevens-Knight - Candy's mother
• Hubert Cheyne - Candy's new Watcher
• Heather - sometime mean girl
• Lolly and Stephie - the real mean girls
• Peter Gillis - pop music svengali
• Magda - Gillis' current singing star
• Ms Beverly Brightly - watcher assessor from the UK
• Lucy Skye - MTV reporter and youth-eater demon
• Erin Honey and her mother - a nice girl and her awful stage mom

Episode Synopsis:

In the teaser, Zak meets Heather walking her dog. The dog collapses, unwell with old age - but the dog was just a puppy that morning!

Bigger things are afoot than unwell puppies, however. Music producers are in town, auditioning girls for a hot new pop group, 'Kitten'! Candy and the Slayers East have other things to worry about, as well, with the arrival of Ms Beverly Brightly, fresh off the plane from Watchers HQ in England and here to evaluate Alison's performance as Candy's watcher.

Ms Brightly stays at Candy's shoulder as the group discuss the role of a strange herb, St Aaron's Wort, in their recent troubles. Zak's rudeness and Brian's accidental mention that he knows Candy is the slayer do not bode well for Alison's report card. Then the group find themselves investigating strange events at the 'Kitten' auditions. Cynth and Candy both audition, fending off the nastiness of Lolly, Stephie and Hettie. Cynth makes Lolly throw up, by tricking her into drinking a concoction prepared by another girl's success-obsessed mother - a concoction using St Aaron's Wort to poison rival auditionees.

But this stage mother isn't behind the spate of collapsing girls. The Slayers East follow the trail to the MTV reporter, Lucy Skye. Through Zak's and Candy's investigations, the group determine Skye is in fact the Youth-Eater, Lucius, a demon here to feed on the auditionees. Candy and Cynth end up facing down Lucius in her full demon form, and after Candy is taken out Cynth only barely manages to put down the demon.

Ms Brightly stays mum as to her verdict - but drops a friendly hint that Alison has nothing to worry about. With that weight off their shoulders, the group relax in the bruised and painful afterglow of another demon-fighting success.

Trivia and Notes:

• Pre-production notes for the episode (.pdf file, 90K)
• The 'Kitten' group would go on to be namedropped numerous times in season three.
• The Zak/Heather relationship develops further in this episode; this will be a crucial element in the season finale.
• In the original story arc for the season, Candy and Cynth were supposed to have a significant falling-out in this episode. This story arc never gained traction, and was not carried out.
• St Aaron's Wort is mentioned for the first time in this episode. This is the strange scent which has accompanied crucial supernatural events earlier in the season, and which will put the group of the trail of their ultimate foe.
• "Andrew asked me to see a movie so I went with him to X-Men, which was really cool and exciting... and I think Andrew likes me, like really likes me. I don't know what to do." - from Candy's diary.
• "Zak appears, asking who the trout is... Ms Brightly takes great affront." - from Blair's episode notes