Don't Have a Cow (That's So Raven)
| "Don't Have a Cow" | |
|---|---|
| That's So Raven episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 2 Episode 22 |
| Directed by | Rich Correll |
| Written by | Michael Carrington |
| Production code | 204 |
| Original air date | May 10, 2003 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
"Don't Have a Cow" is the second episode and Halloween Special in the second season of the Disney Channel television series That's So Raven, which aired on October 17, 2003. It was written by Michael Carrington and directed by Rich Correll.
The episode centers on Raven and Chelsea attempting to use magic to attend the Halloween party of Raven's arch-nemesis, Alana. However, a mistake in their spell-casting causes them to transform into cows. In the subplot, Cory tries to convince his parents that he's too old to be trick or treating with them.
Plot
At Bayside High, Eddie shows off his invitation to Alana's Halloween party to Raven and Chelsea, who weren't invited due Raven's past grudges with Alana (Eddie was only invited due to Alana's friend Loca having a crush on him). Alana and her friends arrive and refuse to give Raven and Chelsea invitations. The two then go to the Chill Grill after school, where Victor serves them their respective burgers and reveals that Alana's having the party at the restaurant (which he won't be attending so he can trick-or-treat with Cory), which Raven knows Alana did to spite her. Chelsea freaks out after realizing she's broken her vegetarian commitments as Victor has accidentally switched her and Raven's orders, meaning she's been eating a hamburger rather than a veggie burger.
At the Baxter home, Victor is dressed up as Victor Frankenstein and prepares to go trick-or-treating with Cory, who's dressed as a body builder. Cory tells Victor that he wants to go trick-or-treating with his friends rather than him. Victor, though disappointed, allows him to go with Cory's friend William, who's dressed up as a remote control that causes nearby electrical products to malfunction. Tanya, dressed as Igor, cheers Victor up by offering to go trick-or-treating with him in Cory's place.
In Raven's room, Chelsea starts wearing a button that has a cow's face with a no symbol over it and recites poetry that expresses her sorrow at eating the hamburger earlier. Raven changes the subject by showing Chelsea a magical book that belongs to her grandmother Viv. After finding a spell that grants any wish to the users, the two set up a magical concoction within a cauldron inside the kitchen. After it is set up, they wish to be invited to Alana's party. Raven then gets a call from a hypnotized Alana telling her that she and Chelsea can come to the party. Now knowing it works, the two excited teens decide to take advantage of the spell by wishing to be the most popular girls at the party and to win the costume contest. After casting the spell, the two jump up and down in excitement, causing Chelsea's cow button to fall off her shirt and into the cauldron. They don't notice the button and run upstairs to prepare their costumes as the button starts affecting the spell.
In Raven's room, the two dry their hair and look for potential costumes in Raven's closet. When Raven takes the towel off her head, she's revealed to have long, floppy and pointy ears like a cow. She screams and shows Chelsea that they're not a costume part, as they can't be pulled off and can move on their own. The two are further terrified after sitting on Raven's bed, where they discover that Chelsea has a long, white and fluffy tail on her backside. After they both get cow ears and tails, they hear Eddie arrive in the house and hide their morphed body parts from him by putting their towels back on their heads and standing next to each other to avoid Eddie seeing their ears and tails. They find Eddie in the kitchen trying the concoction from the wishing spell. Eddie came after hearing that the two were invited to Alana's party so the three could go together, but they push Eddie out of the house after struggling to hide Raven's tail and claim that they need more time to prepare their costumes. Eddie asks Raven if he can borrow the spell book for his sorcerer costume. She allows him to and continues pushing him out after she starts mooing in a low-pitched voice.
After Eddie leaves, the worried Raven and Chelsea look in the concoction and find Chelsea's button, meaning that they're changing because Chelsea accidentally wished they'd turn into cows. The two then realize they can look in the magic book to find a spell that could reverse the transformation, but sadly remember that Eddie took the book with him to the party. Raven suggests that the two go to the party to get the book back from Eddie, as their changing bodies won't matter since it's Halloween and people would think they're wearing cow costumes.
After the two leave, Cory and William come back to the house empty-handed from trick-or-treating due to William's costume setting off every car alarm and home security system in the neighborhood. Victor and Tanya arrive back with a bag full of candy and allow the two boys to take some off of his. Cory tells Victor that he misses trick-or-treating with him and wants to do it with him next year. Victor tells him the night is still young and takes Cory and William out to get some more candy (as long as William doesn't touch himself).
Raven and Chelsea arrive at the party in the Chill Grill, and are horrified once they see snouts on their faces. While trying to find Eddie in the crowded restaurant, their bodies, behavior, and appetites continue to change to that of two cows. Their hands turn into hooves, Chelsea's tongue grows significantly larger after she drinks from the punch bowl with her face, they eat straw and cud, and continue to moo excessively. After finding Eddie, Chelsea tries to find the reverse spell page with her hooves while Raven tries to tell Eddie what's going on. Unfortunately, Chelsea's cattle behavior causes her to eat the page with the reverse spell, dooming their chances of staying human. Alana's friends then cut the music to announce the winners of the costume contest. They are surprised to see Alana placed second, as she normally wins every year. Alana angrily runs onto the stage and is shocked to see the final ballot. She is further enraged when she sees the first place winners are Raven and Chelsea. The other students then start applauding Raven and Chelsea, who are now completely transformed into naked Holstein cows with halters on their snouts. Despite becoming livestock, they sarcastically remark that they still got their wish and decide to "milk" the moment.
It is revealed that the whole episode was all a vision that Raven was having back at the Chill Grill right before Chelsea bites into the hamburger. She stops Chelsea from eating it and nervously tries to tell Chelsea what happened to them in the vision. Chelsea tells her to calm down and says, "man, don't have a cow."
Back at the house, Victor and Tanya spend their alone time eating their Halloween candy.
Reception
Even a decade after its release, "Don't Have a Cow" is considered a Halloween classic, with a number of publications praising the main plot revolving around Raven and Chelsea's cow transformations. MTV named it #1 in their "9 most iconic Disney Channel Halloween episodes" and called it one of the scariest Disney Channel Halloween experiences, stating "When the spin-off series debuts, I seriously hope they remake this episode, because what's more traumatizing than becoming a cow? NOTHING."[1][2] Glamour listed it in their "9 Disney Channel Halloween Episodes to Watch," saying, "All you need to know about the Halloween episode of That's So Raven is that it ends with Raven and Chelsea turning into real-life cows. Like, they grow snouts, moo excessively, and chew cud. If that doesn't explain the high school experience, then what does?"[3]
References
- ↑ Grant, Stacy. "THE 9 MOST ICONIC DISNEY CHANNEL HALLOWEEN EPISODES — RANKED". mtv.com.
- ↑ Grant, Stacy. "8 TIMES DISNEY CHANNEL'S HALLOWEEN EPISODES FREAKED YOU THE HELL OUT". mtv.com.
- ↑ Rosa, Christopher. "9 Disney Channel Halloween Episodes to Watch If Horror Movies Freak You Out". glamour.com.