Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1

Submitted by CaptMal on Sun, 01/22/2006 - 13:43
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  1. NOTE: There are many spoilers to come. I can't spoilerize all of them because there would go huge chunks of my text, but I would suggest not reading an entry for a certain episode until you've seen it. I don't really give out major spoilers for an episode in my entry on it, but there are certainly major spoilers from those episodes that are referred to in later entries. So, in closing, I guess what I'm trying to say is: Read at your own risk.
  3. WELCOME TO THE HELLMOUTH
  4. Written by Joss Whedon
  5. Directed by Charles Martin Smith
  6. Aired March 10, 1997
  8. A+
  10. Not much goes on in a one-Starbucks town like Sunnydale.
  12. At least, that's what you'd think. This first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a great introduction to the characters, and though it has been greatly surpassed by efforts in later seasons, its brilliance remains (despite some hokey special effects). I remember watching this episode for the first time. I never did get the chance to watch Buffy when it was on network TV, save for a couple of season six episodes, so I did my catching-up when FX began running the series. Since it was the first day they were showing Buffy, they had the idea of showing the 1992 film version before "Welcome to the Hellmouth."
  14. A good idea this was not. I suffered through the film, groaning and grimacing at the glib one-liners, godawful acting, and painfully un-charismatic leads. Fox's woefully ignorant butchering of creator Joss Whedon's script (foreshadowing the eventual hacking job they performed on the genius space western series Firefly) is a subject I could fill paragraphs' worth of ranting into, but that is for another time. The point I need to make right now, is that the movie is really, really, really bad. In fact, I hated the movie so much that I almost didn't give the series a chance. Let me stop right now to say, thank God I did.
  16. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer series is the best in television history, full of witty dialogue, complex characters, and devastatingly heartbreaking tragedy. "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is not one of the best-ever episodes, but I have to love it just because it kicked off the Hellmouth par-tay with panache and a wonderfully gritty, grungy, neo-horror indie look that was later ditched for a cleaner, more epic feel from season three on.
  18. Picking up where Whedon's great original script left off, we find Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her well-intentioned yet sometimes inept mother Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) new residents of a supposedly quaint little SoCal town (wait, can SoCal be quaint?), Sunnydale. Things seem to be going well for Buffy, having a meeting with the oddly flaky Principal Bob Flutie (Ken Lerner), and then palling around with brainy computer whiz Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), your regular self-deprecating yet extremely witty teenage male Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), and their best bud Jesse (Eric Balfour), while at the same time learning to avoid the preppy Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) and her "Cordettes," including the ditzy Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab). However, things take a turn for the worse when Buffy finds herself in the library, faced with a large tome entitled Vampyr that librarian Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) is handing her, and learning that her and her mother's arrival in Sunnydale was far more than just a simple coincidence.
  20. It turns out that Giles is Buffy's new Watcher (since her first Watcher, Merrick, was forced to commit suicide to escape being turned into a vampire in Whedon's script) and that Sunnydale conveniently rests atop the Hellmouth, the center of mystical convergence. Also, duh, the gateway to Hell. She also encounters the secretive and broodingly magnetic cryptic advice guy Angel (David Boreanaz), whose role later expands far beyond Mr. Exposition. Angel tips Buffy off on something called "the Harvest" which, apparently, a creepy-lookin' dude named the Master (Mark Metcalf) is planning. In her quest to find out what this whole Harvest business is about, Buffy encounters the Master's right-hand vamp Luke (Brian Thompson) and one of his most favorite children, Darla (Julie Benz).
  22. From the first scene, in which some guy lures Darla into Sunnydale High School at night, appears to be the stereotypical "Oh, hey, don't worry, nothing will happen to you..." bad guy, and then--tah-da!--Darla vamps out and sucks him dry, Buffy the Vampire Slayer establishes itself as a show intending to upturn any kind of clichés it may come across, including all kinds of gender reversing, surprising character actions, and of course, Whedon's fixation with the metaphor.
  24. Whedon's dialogue over the course of the series is some of the best ever written, and "Welcome to the Hellmouth," along with its conclusion episode, "The Harvest," is the Jossiest material in the show. It's his vision before it's been passed into the hands of others, and it is surprising and fresh. As Captain Malcolm Reynolds of Whedon's short-lived Firefly (and big screen wonder Serenity) might say, "This here is a real shiny piece of luck."
  26. Though looking back on "Welcome to the Hellmouth" after having seen all 144 episodes in the series' run, it may not seem so great in the big scheme of things, but taken in context as the very first foray into a bold and brave new sci-fi/fantasy world, well, it's ingenious.
  28. THE HARVEST
  29. Written by Joss Whedon
  30. Directed by John T. Kretchmer
  31. Aired March 10, 1997
  33. B
  35. I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good.
  37. Though not as good as "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "The Harvest" is still an enjoyable conclusion to the first episode's plot. We pick up right where "Welcome to the Hellmouth" left off, with Buffy trapped in a coffin, pinned by Luke. Of course, she manages to get out, and Luke suffers great shame in being defeated by a mere mortal for the first time in centuries.
  39. "The Harvest" feels decidedly cheaper than "Welcome to the Hellmouth," and while even I find it hard to get by some of the cheesier effects that Joss would've been much more adept at covering up in the director's chair than John T. Kretchmer, when there's as much funny going on as there is in "The Harvest," plus some exceptional character-building, it's hard to complain without praising everything that is good about the episode.
  41. The good is that Joss' dialogue is as sharp as a wooden stake, the series takes some big bold turns (wow, killing off a supposed main character in the second episode is hardly ever done, ever...though maybe it would've made more of an impact if he was referred to ever again), and there is some really neat camerawork...especially the transition from a scene of Buffy and Xander in the sewer tunnels to a scene of Giles and Willow in the library and a certain shot of a spinning cymbal. The bad is the decidedly low-rent special effects and an incredibly lame musical score (Christophe Beck, when exactly are you coming in again?!). Unfortunately, this hampers quite a bit of the fun, but it is still a decent episode, and far from being bad.
  43. Besides, the last scene is an immortal classic amongst Buffy fans, and is just some really sharp writing.
  45. THE WITCH
  46. Written by Dana Reston
  47. Directed by Stephen Cragg
  48. Aired March 17, 1997
  50. A-
  52. First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale.
  54. This is one of the most straight-up entertaining, no frills, no horribly tragic consequences episodes of Buffy in the series' oeuvre. "The Witch" establishes the fact that not only will Buffy and her "Slayerettes" (as Willow coins them in this episode, though that term was subjugated soon after for "Scooby Gang," and was not used again until the pivotal fourth season episode "The I in Team") deal with vampires, but also a "veritable cornucopia of fiends and devils," as Giles puts it.
  56. At first, the episode seems destined to be a huge hunk o' cheese, what with this cookie cutter plot: Amy Madison (Elizabeth Anne Allen) wants very badly to be on the Sunnydale High cheerleading squad, and when she makes third alternate, she becomes wildly depressed and begins working some voodoo magic on the cheerleaders so that she will have a spot on the team. However, things get much more interesting from there. Plus, hey, there's tons of great dialogue in this one. From Xander's musings about the cheerleaders exercising to Giles' equating cheerleading to a cult, there is some real teleplay gold here.
  58. Also, more character interaction. Already this early in the series our heroes are strong, believable characters...most shows, it takes a bit of time for the characters to come to life, but on Joss' shows, they all instantly appeal, with strengths and weaknesses in equal measure. What appeals most about Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that these people are real...you feel like you knew them at your high school.
  60. Which makes Xander's oblivious reaction to Willow's "like a pen you chew on every day" speech while he's mooning after Buffy all the more crushing...
  62. TEACHER'S PET
  63. Written by David Greenwalt
  64. Directed by Bruce Seth Green
  65. Aired March 25, 1997
  67. C-
  69. It's funny how the earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to.
  71. Yes, Xander, I think I'm going to agree with you there. Where was that gorram earth opening up and swallowing me when I watched "Teacher's Pet"?! This is an infamously unloved episode among the fans, and my being a huge one of those, let me say that we all have good reason for not thinking much of it.
  73. The plot isn't that great, but still pretty much on par with that of the previous (and excellent) episode, "The Witch": Buffy finally finds a teacher who thinks she can accomplish something great (in a good way), Dr. Gregory (William Monaghan), who teaches biology. However, the next day Dr. Gregory winds up missing, and then Buffy is hit with the shocking news that he is dead, when Cordelia finds his decapitated corpse in one of the school kitchen's freezers. Taking his place in class is the exotically sexy substitute teacher Natalie French (Musetta Vander), who has turned all of the men at Sunnydale High crazy with jungle fever, including Xander and even--in one of the episode's more amusing bits--Giles. Turns out, however, that Miss French is more than she seems to be...which is to say, she's not just a thickly-accented quasi-supermodel, but a huge praying mantis who mates with virgins and then cuts off their heads!
  75. Is it just me, or is that more R.L. Stine than Joss Whedon? Now, trust me, I can get through bad Buffy plots, and this is one of the worst. But let me point out some huge logistic problems I had with "Teacher's Pet" on my probably tenth time watching it. First of all, Dr. Gregory wearing a lab coat that says "Dr. Gregory" on it just so his corpse can later be easily identified by Buffy and the gang as a convenient plot point is cheap, but I can deal with that. However, after the class files out at the beginning of the episode, a huge praying mantis appendage comes out of nowhere, and drags him off, supposedly into the broom closet for some insect lovin'. Now...this is either one of two holes: The She-Mantis (as we learn this beastie is called) hid somewhere in the class during the entire day and yet no one noticed anything strange; or, the She-Mantis managed to sneak its way into Dr. Gregory's room right after the class left without anyone noticing something out of the ordinary. Maybe she was in Miss French form, but then wouldn't people have remembered her as being the last person to see Dr. Gregory? Ay yi yi.
  77. Besides the introduction of writer David Greenwalt to the Buffyverse, this episode doesn't hold much significant value. Even the significance that has is questionable, because David Greenwalt only contributed three great episodes (including "Angel" and "Nightmares," both of which come later this season) and as co-creator of Angel nearly ruined its otherwise brilliant second season with his whole goofy Pylea arc at that season's end. However, in response to my earlier "my probably tenth time watching it" comment, yes, even a bad episode of Buffy is a hell of a lot better than anything else on the air. At least, most of the time...I mean to say, it wouldn't topple a good episode of The Sopranos or The West Wing, but it certainly beats any episode of CSI or Friends I've ever seen. To be fair, there are several hilarious lines and moments in "Teacher's Pet."
  79. I love Xander's dream sequences. When him playing a riff on the guitar is suddenly inserted into a scene where he thinks he's going to get lucky with Miss French...well, that is one of my favorite Buffy moments. Sue me. Giles' friend Carlyle ("Yes, you were right about everything...well, no, your mother didn't come back as a Pekingese.") unfortunately was never mentioned again, and there are some great Willow/Xander moments here. Xander using Buffy and Willow to show his machismo ("They had the nerve to question my manliness." "We'll show 'em!") to Blayne Mall (Jackson Price) who is one of the worst one-shot characters around, Willow freaking because she knows Xander is a virgin and doesn't want him ripped to shreds, and seeing Willow push Xander out of harm's way during the climactic battle? That's awfully great.
  81. However, the rest of the episode? Not so much.
  83. NEVER KILL A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE
  84. Written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali
  85. Directed by David Semel
  86. Aired March 31, 1997
  88. B+
  90. If the apocalypse comes, beep me.
  92. Not only is this the first episode in which I've showcased a quote not uttered by Xander (it was a real toss-up between Buffy's line up above or Giles' hilarious, "All right, I'll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century, and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show."), but it's also a terrific return to form after the general ickness of the previous episode, "Teacher's Pet."
  94. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is back where Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs, and that is of course a place without giant insect ladies. *ba dum BUM* Seriously, though, we get vampires, we get the Master, we get an ancient prophecy or two, and we get Buffy trying to juggle her social life with her life as the Slayer. While searching through his many tomes of supernatural reference, Giles finds a prophecy stating that, "from the ashes of five, the Anointed One shall rise." Turns out that this whole shindig is going down tonight, and it spells bad things for our oh so plucky heroine. Unfortunately for Buffy, she has just met and developed a crush on Owen Thurman (any relation to Uma?; played by Christopher Wiehl), a sensitive, Emily Dickinson-reading kinda guy. However, this prophecy thingamabob conflicts with the date she and Owen are supposed to have. Buffy decides that the Slayage is more important, but when she and Giles hang at the cemetery all night and find nothing, Giles lets her off and she heads on over to the Bronze...only to find Cordelia and Owen all over each other.
  96. The next day, however, Owen asks for another date with Buffy, saying that he was just being polite dancing with Cordelia, and that she was "really grabby." Also however, though Giles thought his calculations were wrong, the Anointed One did rise the previous night. This culminates in some wacky fun at the funeral home, as the Scoobies, along with tagalong Owen, are chased by religious fanatic and newly-made vamp Andrew Borba (Geoff Meed), whom Giles suspects is the Anointed One. We also get our first look at the Master since "The Harvest," and he begins talking some big game plans that have an effect later on.
  98. There are some more precious character moments as usual, and, as to be expected, most of them involve more Willow and Xander interaction. Their pretending to be a couple as a ploy to take Buffy and Owen on a "double date" to the morgue and Willow's non-pretend enthusiastic reaction is lovely, as is Willow trying to comfort Xander about his inability to snag Buffy. "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" also contains one of my favorite Buffy/Giles moments, when Giles explains to her in a very down-to-earth speech that sacrifice is the name of the game when you're part of the big paranormal picture. Angel even gets a good little moment there at the Bronze, but why is the guy not helping Buffy and the rest to hunt down the Anointed? Guess the guy must be too busy...er, wait, I was about to divulge some spoilers. Hmm.
  100. "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" could also be taken as Joss' first dig at religion. I find it fascinating that he has called himself an atheist at least once before (most stories about his faith seem to suggest more of an agnostic viewpoint, but I'm pretty sure I read an interview in which he calls himself an "atheist"; please do call me on it if I'm wrong, I don't want to insinuate anything that's not true), yet all three of his TV shows have had heavy religious overtones. In any case, this is most certainly a semi-attempt at parodying religious fanaticism, and how much of that was added by scripters Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali no one can be sure of. There's talk of an "anointed" fellow, Andrew Borba's first words when he wakes up vamped are, "I have been judged!," and he also sings a few gospel tunes before he winds up dust. It's always compelling how subversive Buffy the Vampire Slayer is, and this may be the show's first hint at a bigger underlying theme.
  102. And, hey, some nice small things for true hardcore fans:
  104. The close-up of the newspaper article that Giles cites the information about Andrew Borba from reveals that the text really talks about "five-cent refundable deposits" and an ex-husband trying to break into his ex-wife's home to see his daughters, broken up by one paragraph talking about Mr. Borba so I guess Giles couldn't be called a liar by observant fans. Plus, Xander is wearing a Tweety watch!
  106. THE PACK
  107. Written by Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer
  108. Directed by Bruce Seth Green
  109. Aired April 7, 1997
  111. B
  113. It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course, you'll have to kill him.
  115. Truth be told, I never really thought much of "The Pack." Sure, it was a fairly entertaining episode, and certainly better than the other previous Xander-centric episode, "Teacher's Pet." But I really regarded it as just that: An amusing and somewhat solid, yet essentially filler episode. My latest viewing of "The Pack" has proven to me that it is actually much more than that; while it does not pass into the realm of great Buffy, it is razor-sharp and even a touch emotionally violent in its dissection of Xander and Willow's relationship, and what Xander really--way deep down--feels.
  117. "The Pack" starts off with the Sunnydale High School students on a field trip to the Sunnydale Zoo. A geeky kid named Lance (Jeff Maynard) is being picked on by a group of Sunnydale High's meanest bullies, Kyle (Eion Bailey), Tor (Brian Gross), Heidi (Jennifer Sky), and Rhonda (Michael McRaine). When Principal Flutie questions him about it, Lance doesn't rat them out, and thus they take him with them into the restricted hyena section of the zoo. Our Scoobies notice this, and Xander is the one who volunteers to rescue Lance. When he finds them, the bullies are dangling Lance over the hyena's habitat, and then...suddenly, the hyena's eyes glow green and the bullies, along with Xander, find themselves possessed by the spirits of the hyenas.
  119. It's a cheesy idea, I admit, and while some of the episode is uneven, the execution (especially in the second half) is excellent. Xander's odd behavior is quite unsettling, and the way he treats Willow? Boy, did I ever want to smash him in the face with a desk (though Buffy did get to do just that later on in the episode). There is a particularly brilliant moment when Xander, Kyle, Tor, Heidi, and Rhonda all walk through the Sunnydale High campus in super slo-mo, made even better by the song "Job's Eyes" performed by the band Far playing over the soundtrack. It's an intensely haunting moment, and one that no viewer could probably soon forget.
  121. Another surprisingly effective sequence occurs during a game of dodgeball. All other sports activities have been called off due to poor weather conditions, so during phys. ed., the students partake in one of the most brutal dodgeball games I've ever seen. With the thunder rumbling in the background, the lack of dialogue, and the absolutely stellar performance by Nick, it turns into probably the episode's most atmospheric segment. The game may climax in "the pack" throwing all of their remaining balls at Lance, who so happens to be on their team even, but the strongest moment is when Xander nails Willow with a dodgeball on purpose, and hard. Yes, that's right, ladies and gentlemen. Xander hits Willow with a dodgeball. Another instance during which I kept waiting for Buffy to bash him over the head with that desk.
  123. Plus, one has to wonder how many of Xander's "primal urges" he enacts while possessed are the things he really wants. He attempts to rape Buffy, and on previous viewings, I was a bit creeped out by it, but this time, I was genuinely disturbed. It's another great quality of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that there are all kinds of layers that you have to keep watching to find...
  125. ANGEL
  126. Written by David Greenwalt
  127. Directed by Scott Brazil
  128. Aired April 14, 1997
  130. A+
  132. For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart.
  134. "Angel" is the kind of episode that redefines Buffy the Vampire Slayer, makes you realize how very special it is, and makes you want to start passing out burned DVD copies of it to your friends, fellow students/co-workers, etc. It is better than any Buffy episode before it, and still remains one of the best in the series' entire run, proving that though he wasn't always a brilliant writer, David Greenwalt knew how to step up Buffy's game when the need arose.
  136. This episode contains one of the biggest and most shocking revelations in the Buffyverse's history. If you were unspoiled for what was to come, as I was when I first watched this episode, then you are sure to gasp, and maybe even jump up in shock. On her way home from the Bronze, where she had been sulking over how extremely single she was, Buffy encounters the aptly-titled the Three, three warrior vampires who are on a mission from the Master and his Order of Aurelius to destroy her. Buffy surprisingly finds herself overpowered by these cronies, but luckily, Angel manages to come to her rescue and spends that night and the next day hiding out in her room to recover from the wounds Buffy patched up for him. The growing attraction betwen the two culminates in a fiery, undeniably passionate macking session that ends with one huge jaw-dropper: Angel is a vampire!
  138. Before now, Angel had been Mr. Cryptic Advice Guy, or as I said in my entry on "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "Mr. Exposition." Here all of that changes, and actually makes sense of some of the things that have gone before. Angel's infamous backstory--cursed by a Romany gypsy tribe with a soul to suffer guilt over all that he had done--is here revealed, and adds so much more depth and complexity to the series and his role in it, it's insane. Before, he was a hunky stranger with some dark vibes; now he's a lonely, brooding vampire seeking redemption for all of the evil, unforgivable sins he's committed.
  140. We also get an early look at his and Darla's relationship, which was greatly expanded in Angel's own spin-off series. But watching as Joss and scribe of the hour David G. begin planting the seeds for future years is an incredibly rewarding experience. This episode is even more enjoyable after you've seen all that both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel have to offer, when you're well-versed in the characters, their histories, and the series' mythologies.
  142. Julie Benz is deliciously enjoyable in her delirious tour de force performance as Darla, and gives one of her strongest acting performances here (despite a minor quibble about her awkward use of dual pistols during the climax). It may seem a shame what happens to Darla near the episode's end, but trust me, there is so much more to come with that character that I can only express envy towards those just beginning their (hopefully long) journey through Joss' world.
  144. One of the very best episodes the Mutant Enemy gang ever put together.
  146. I, ROBOT...YOU, JANE
  147. Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden
  148. Directed by Stephen Posey
  149. Aired April 28, 1997
  151. C
  153. To read makes our speaking English good.
  155. "I, Robot...You, Jane" has a structure that's just about as jumbled as that of Xander's great line above. Something I've really begun to pick up on while analyzing the series starting from the very first episode is that even in the subpar episodes, there is an abundance of great dialogue. I mean, I've always loved Joss for his brilliant way with words, but I'm just now seeing how strongly his and his writer's dialogue carries these episodes. Without genius wordplay like this, or without writers who know how to craft complex characters, would Buffy the Vampire Slayer have lasted any longer than this eighth episode? Judging from the overall suckage of this episode, even with the great characters and dialogues, I'm thinking not.
  157. It is Willow's turn in the Great Spotlight of Hellmouth Lovin', and that's not such a great place to be. While scanning the library's collection into the computer database for Ms. Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte), the multimedia teacher at Sunnydale High, Willow uploads a certain book's text into her computer and inadvertently unleashes a demon into the system. This demon is none other than Moloch the Corrupter, whose essence had been bound into that book centuries ago and who is now free to wreak all kinds of international damage through the global information highway. For some reason, though, he seems to be focusing exclusively on Buffy and her core group, looking to gain an ally in Willow, whom he pretends to romance over the internet as a gentleman named Malcolm. With the aid of his two creepy PC-obsessed henchmen, Dave (Chad Lindberg) and Fritz (Jamison Ryan), Moloch seeks to destroy the Slayer.
  159. I don't know, I'm probably alone on this, but I really like that concept. It's nothing groundshaking, but it could've been a perfectly suitable vehicle for one of those fun, filler episodes of Buffy that we all love so very much (*cough* *cough*). However, the writing duo of Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden, who only wrote for the series once more with this season's later "Out of Mind, Out of Sight," seems intent on killing that potential. The first half of the episode is pretty effective actually, with Fritz being pretty damned terrifying. Willow's relationship with Malcolm/Moloch foreshadows all of those eHarmony love match websites that I find unbearably creepy, and provides for some nice conflict amongst the Scooby Gang.
  161. Unfortunately, as soon as Moloch reveals his face to Buffy, Xander, and Giles via some sort of streaming video, which is one of the dumbest, most illogical things I can remember seeing on Buffy, things take a turn for the worse. From there on out, it's a pretty lame, rather shockingly cheesy episode. There were still some very memorable bits peppered here and there, and I was prepared to like it more than I did...until RoboMoloch showed up. Best Power Rangers villain ever, let me tell you.
  163. However, "I, Robot...You, Jane" isn't all bad...in fact, I'd say it's just a tad bit better than "Teacher's Pet." Once again, this is due to the brilliant dialogue and more and more great character interplay...of course, with Willow and Xander (jeez, I am such a shipper). There is a great little moment at the beginning: "I have to scan the rest of these books into the computer. Wanna stay and help me, Xander?" "Gee, I'd love to...are you kidding?" "Yes. It's a joke I made up." "You know I love you, Will, but I gotta go. Byeeee!" The delivery is great, and it's probably going down in my book as one of the best-ever little quiet character-shaping moments on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hee, and lest I forget, Xander's jealousy of the fact that Willow has a boyfriend and has stopped crushing on him is delicious. Also, Jenny Calendar is a welcome addition to the series' roster of recurring characters...and who can forget the very last scene in which the characters realize they are all doomed? Hilarious stuff.
  165. But, in the end, all we've got is a mediocre episode whose title references Asimov's I, Robot and Burroughs' Tarzan...and winds up less memorable than either.
  167. THE PUPPET SHOW
  168. Written by Dean Batali and Rob Des Hotel
  169. Directed by Ellen S. Pressman
  170. Aired May 5, 1997
  172. A
  174. Let's leave our Mr. Giles to this business he calls show.
  176. "The Puppet Show" is an early example of everything that made Buffy so fresh and new; it manages to encapsulate everything that made the series stand out in its first year. It's hip, it's funny, it's spooky, and it's full of surprises. It is not an innovative episode, to be sure, but it takes the first season Buffy formula--mysterious happenings, research, revealing of the monster of the week, some chop-socky slayage--and plays the hell out of it, with a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. Plus, it's got an awesome dummy.
  178. The Sunnydale High talent show is fast approaching, and rodent-y new principal Snyder (Armin Shimerman) has put Giles in charge of it due to the lack of student interaction that his position as librarian entails (despite Giles' protests that this was intentional). When Snyder catches Buffy, Willow, and Xander poking fun at the "talentless show" and ridiculing Giles, he forces them to enter the show as punishment. Needless to say, this doesn't win him any popularity contests. Among the other entrants, including a godawful singing Cordelia, we find Morgan (Richard Werner), who sports a ventriloquist act. Only trouble is, his dummy Sid seems more expressive than he does. When students start popping up with missing organs, the Scoobies suspect that there may be a hint of Child's Play in the air.
  180. What follows is an extremely clever and entertaining hour of television. One of the reasons "The Puppet Show" is so successful is its use of Sid as the object of fright. Previously, scary things on Buffy the Vampire Slayer have done a lot of bumping in the night, but here (at least initially) Sid is an inanimate object whose subtle movements scare volumes. He has the creepy air of those old-time wooden playthings that were meant for kids but were crafted almost perversely into the embodiment of smugness. You'd sooner envision Sid in a smoky bar puffing away on a cigar than you would in your child's closet. He brings to mind the terrifying clown doll sequence from Poltergeist. Sid has since garnered a small group of huge fans for some very compelling reasons that are revealed later in the episode, even appearing in the very fun 2003 video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds.
  182. What's most unusual about "The Puppet Show" is that it is the rare plot-driven episode of Buffy that works just as well as the character-driven ones. There is a lack of great lines besides some hilarious moments (pretty much everything Xander does in this episode, including acting out a bit of The Shining with Sid), but unusually for a character show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I can't think of anything substantial that we learn about the characters during the episode's hour, except for maybe that Willow has some seriously strong stage fright. Still, though, this episode has our heroes acting like everyday people, just hanging with each other without those hugely bothersome "revelations"...they're just being friends.
  184. It's amazing the chemistry this cast has!
  186. NIGHTMARES
  187. Written by David Greenwalt, based on a story by Joss Whedon
  188. Directed by Bruce Seth Green
  189. Aired May 12, 1997
  191. A+
  193. Fear is a wonderful thing. It is the most powerful force in the human world. Not love. Not hate. Fear.
  195. This is where Buffy the Vampire Slayer starts shaping itself into the show that it will become, even more so than in the previous "Angel." As I've stated before, David G. is not my favorite of writers, but with an ingenious story devised by Joss, he really hits all the right notes excepting a few bits of his trademark a-touch-too-goofy humor. "Nightmares" is an episode rich with metaphor and character insights. It's a very compelling watch.
  197. When Buffy notices a little boy whom she finds out is named Billy Palmer (Jeremy Foley) lurking about the halls of Sunnydale High, appearing to be connected to horrible events occurring around the school, she and the rest of the Scoobies set out to find out what this means. Soon, what with Buffy showing up in a class she didn't even know she had to take a test with an impossibly short time limit and Giles losing the ability to read, they realize that these events are being culled from peoples' dreams. No, not dreams...as the Master chillingly quotes Cinderella, "A dream is a wish your heart makes." These are nightmares, and soon Sunnydale finds its reality crumbling under the weight of its own citizens' subconscious fears.
  199. The episode's theme is best summarized in the Master's great chat with the little Anointed One (Andrew J. Ferchland) about how fear drives people, confounds them, and essentially rules the human domain. It is a brilliantly-written scene, and the Anointed One gets the kind of great moment he usually doesn't: "When you were alive, what did you fear?" "Monsters." Ah, that old irony.
  201. And then there are the things that we learn about the characters. Xander has a great fear of public embarrassment, sure, but what's really surprising is the amount of power a nightmare he's been having repeatedly since his sixth birthday wields. On his sixth birthday, Xander had been chased by a clown and never really got over it. So, when he walks into the school gymnasium, which is apparently under construction with ladders and bits of scaffolding all over the place (foreshadowing Xander's eventual career choice?), and finds a trail of candy bars leading to an evil Nazi clown? Scary. This speaks a lot about Xander's home life--which we learn later is not of the sparklingly pleasant variety--and about how much he desperately wants to escape that world. Willow's stage fright bit is hilarious, and builds on the hilarious end moment of the previous episode, "The Puppet Show." Then we have Giles getting lost in the stacks, forgetting how to read...his whole life has been dedicated to being useful, and when he suddenly doesn't have his books to use as a crutch, he is severely panicked and unsure of himself. That's not a Giles we get to see often. And, of course, his other worst nightmare...Buffy dying, and then, tah-da, her worst nightmare...coming back as a vampire. It all fits together very neatly, and shows how much the group really feels about and needs one another.
  203. This is a somewhat unsettling, occasionally disturbing episode, though the great dialogue and laugh quota remain intact. Giles' reaction when he comes across Willow and Xander running from the clown, and then realizes what's happening, is hilarious. And, of course, who could ever forget to mention some Willow/Xander interaction? Not loyal shipper me, that's for darned sure. When Xander suddenly finds himself wearing nothing but his boxers in front of an entire class, and Xander begins describing it to Giles, Willow says enthusiastically, "It was really..." Of course, she stops to say, "...not funny." It seems as if she were simply going to state it was funny, but the shipper in me wants to believe that she was going to say something else. Then, at the end of the episode, Willow's query as to whether or not Xander still dug Buffy as a vampire. Nice, cute stuff. We also to get to see Buffy's dad Hank (Dean Butler) for the first of the very few times that he appears during the series' run, which is a good bonus for hardcore fans.
  205. "Nightmares" is a wonderful episode, one of the first to really play with the series' sense of reality. It even feels a tad bit existential. In the end, this is very early rehearsal for the later genius of season four's "Restless." Really great rehearsal.
  207. OUT OF MIND, OUT OF SIGHT
  208. Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden, based on a story by Joss Whedon
  209. Directed by Reza Badiyi
  210. Aired May 19, 1997
  212. B-
  214. There are no dead students here. This week.
  216. The writing team behind that great piece of classic drama (*ahem*), "I, Robot...You, Jane," Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden, are back again, this time with the middling effort that is "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." While certainly not a bad episode like "I, Robot...You, Jane," "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" leaves a bit to be desired. Which is unfortunate since Joss himself came up with the story behind this one.
  218. At least it's an interesting story: The May Queen dance is approaching, and Cordelia is intent on winning the title. This includes her condescending everyone around her, and passing out little chocolate candies with a "C" imprinted on them. When an invisible fiend seems to be trying to knock off all of Cordelia's friends, including her boytoy Mitch (Ryan Bittle) and hopelessly naive Harmony, the Scoobies suspect that someone wants her to suffer. In a real big, scary way. The real surprise here is that it's not a poltergeist that's doing the damage, but rather a lonely girl named Marcie Ross (Clea DuVall) who, because no one noticed her, has slipped into invisibility.
  220. It's an intriguing concept, but one with routine execution. I'm not going to place all of the blame on Gable and Swyden, as I'm sure Joss had quite a lot to do with the breaking of the story, but one wonders what it could've been had Joss himself actually written the thing. As it is, I can come up with a few good reasons for Joss wanting to make "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." One is to highlight the fact that Buffy feels alienated from the rest of her peers. Cordelia and her Cordettes frown upon Buffy and throw around all kinds of insulting adjectives to describe her; this shouldn't matter to Buffy, but it crushes her since she used to belong to that world back when she went to Hemery High in Los Angeles. Willow and Xander have known each other all their lives and can share in all of these little private jokes, while Buffy just stands around waiting for the punchline that never comes. The bigger reason, however, is to allow for Cordy to move past her "queen bitch of Sunnydale" stereotype. She's not perfect, she has flaws, she shows an unexpected amount of intelligence, and she doesn't even think being popular is that great. When Buffy asks her why then she still demands on being so popular, she offers a great answer: "It's better than being alone by yourself."
  222. Clea DuVall is an interesting actress, and while her performance as Marcie isn't exactly Emmy-caliber, she makes the most of it. She has some especially great lines near the episode's end, and delivers them with zest. There is also a wonderful little moment right before the episode's killer end scene, when Cordelia looks like she's really on a breakthrough with the Scoobies...and then her boytoy comes around, and she's back to ol' Queen C. Some things, I guess, will never change (well, at least not in the first season).
  224. Before I finish. That killer end scene I mentioned. Yes, it is a great capper; it's very dark and sinister. It also hints at much, much bigger things that do not actually come around for years...oh, Joss, how do I love thy writing, let me count the ways...
  226. PROPHECY GIRL
  227. Written by Joss Whedon
  228. Directed by Joss Whedon
  229. Aired June 2, 1997
  231. A+
  233. I may be dead, but I'm still pretty.
  235. The first thing that Joss Whedon ever directed also has the claim to being one of the absolute greatest episodes in Buffy history, and I am not exaggerating. It surpasses any episode of this season, including the brilliance of "Welcome to the Hellmouth," "Angel," and "Nightmares." It takes the concept of the show, rips everything to pieces, and delivers on every single storytelling front that the Mutant Enemy writers set up during the previous eleven episodes. If you've loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but have been wondering if its whole formula could hold up over time and stay fresh, here is your "Get Out of Jail Free" card. Stop worrying. "Prophecy Girl" pushes Buffy into the realm of true greatness. Before, it was the best show on TV. Now, it's the best that ever was on TV and ever will be on TV.
  237. Wrapping up the first season, the Scoobies are awaiting the arrival of the Spring Fling dance that ultimately caps off the school year. Xander wants to go with Buffy, and seems set on finally exerting the courage he's been trying to build up ever since he first laid eyes on her to ask her to the dance. Willow even agrees to help him practice asking her, and the look in her eyes as Xander says all these words to her as pretend-Buffy is very great and very bittersweet. Unfortunately, Giles has just translated a prophecy which, if he's reading it correctly, means that the following night--the night of the Spring Fling dance--Buffy will be led to the Master's lair by the Anointed One (whom our Scoobies still think was Andrew Borba back from "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"), fight the Master, and then fall in the line of battle as the Master slays her. After this, the Master will take her blood and will be empowered enough to go to the surface and open the Hellmouth.
  239. Giles wants to make sure that he is exactly right, so he enlists the help of Ms. Calendar and Angel, whom he had only just met for the first time in the previous episode, "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." Perhaps the best scene of the entire episode comes when Giles and Angel are in the library, arguing over the validity of the prophecy, when Buffy walks in, overhears their conversation, and tells Giles in a totally heartbreaking, impassioned speech that she is quitting. This leads to one of the most tragic lines in the hallowed halls of the written word: "Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die." If you are not crying by that point, then you have no heart.
  241. As you can tell, this is also the episode during which Buffy becomes the most depressing show on television as well as the greatest. Of course, it wouldn't be until the doom and gloom of season six that the entire show became an hour of complete depression (after which it slowly and gracefully rehabilitated itself), but "Prophecy Girl" is the root of all tragedy in the Buffyverse. Yes, before this, there's been tragedy, unexpected consequences, and talk of sacrifice...but here is where we learn that our friends are not safe in the slightest sense of the word. As Willow says in just as heartbreaking a manner as Buffy's earlier speech, "It wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs."
  243. Even Xander has a stab at depression in this episode, being rejected by Buffy. This leads to an awkward (not a derogatory there, it was very appropriate) little rant in which he says that he doesn't handle rejection well. Then he also awkwardly asks Willow to the dance as something of a last reserve, and the hurt Willow takes most of her energy to say no. This scene just breaks my heart. Xander, why didn't you ask Willow first?! Ah, well. In any case, Xander goes home to lie on his bed with the phone off the hook to listen to country music, "the music of pain." I think I can identify with Xander. Yes, I think that I really really can.
  245. And of course, the final confrontation with the Master--brilliantly played by Mark Metcalf--is host to plenty of great banter and increasingly intense drama. Cordelia even gets a heroic moment! In fact, the only thing that really doesn't work in the episode is Joss' ill-fated attempt at incorporating Nerf Herder's great theme song actually into the show itself...it just doesn't do justice to such a kick-ass tune. "Prophecy Girl" adds a lot of closure to Buffy's and the Scoobies' stories, and for good reason, as no one was sure if the series was going to be picked up for a second season at the time, and Joss had the foresight to not leave his fans hanging that unfortunately didn't have enough time to come through and save Firefly...but then again, Serenity came out of that whole deal, so I'm gonna try to stop being bitter the best that I can.
  247. I think that if Buffy had been canceled after this episode, and not gone on for six more seasons, that it still would've been a brilliant piece of serial storytelling. Even including the ickier episodes, it would've been a near-perfect masterpiece. But thank God it did come back. Why axe the best show on TV as soon as its creative engine roars to life?
  249. (Please, FOX, for the love of God, do not answer that. I am angry Browncoat.)
  251. SEASON 1 OVERVIEW
  253. B+
  255. The introduction to the masterpiece that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes a while to finds its footing, and whether or not it actually found it before "Prophecy Girl," the brilliant season finale, is questionable. But in any case, that doesn't really matter. The first season is hip, funny, scary, and very emotionally rewarding. These are some of the best characters in television history--armed with plenty of great dialogue with which to converse--and even among the cheesier of this season's monsters, they shine through as real, believable people. A smashing start to a great show that gets even better.
  257. BEST EPISODE: Prophecy Girl
  258. A beautiful example of Joss Whedon's ever-so-heartbreaking tragedy. There's so much great character-building and storytelling going on here; the epitome of everything that is great about the series in its first year.
  260. WORST EPISODE: Teacher's Pet
  261. If "Prophecy Girl" is everything that is great about Buffy, then "Teacher's Pet" must be everything that sucks about it. Cheesy-as-hell monsters, plot holes of the size that a Buick with its doors open could drive through, and just a bunch of low-budget yuck.
0dysseus01/22/2006

Very nice and crispy. Only half-a-dozen seasons to go. I'm not sure that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the greatest show in the history of television but if you claimed otherwise I could certainly make the case against you. One thing, after an initial reading (well, scan... more of a glance, really) Spoilerize things.

"The Witch" was the first buffysode I ever watched. I loved the high-school-is-a-vast-pit-of-evil-demons metaphor. I totally agreed that cheerleaders were an evil cabal. I was also surprised and delighted to have my expectations overturned when, SPOILER - highlight to read and this is one of the reasons that I'd like to see some spoilerization... or not see, if you see what I mean. Back to my train of thought, well, more like a caboose: it wasn't the cheerleaders as a group who were paying a price for their inherent evilousness. It was the sympathetic alternate... only it wasn't her, it was her statuesque mom. That was coool. Do it again! And then he did.
I'm sure that I'll have more/different things to say later.

CaptMal01/22/2006

Glad you like it. I've already started the S2 guide, and I'm thinking I may publish it as I go, instead of waiting until I've written up entries on all 22 episodes.

As for the spoilerization, I was thinking about doing that, but then there would go large chunks of my text. I may as well put a disclaimer up, though.

Wezzo11/16/2007

I've decided to finally go for collecting Buffy on DVD. Should get S1 for Christmas. Wish me luck! :-)

(As a refresher, all I've seen so far is "Once More With Feeling" and around half of S3 that a friend once lent me on VHS).

CaptMal11/17/2007

Awesome!

So you know: Some people are a little let down by S1 (including hardcore fans). But I've not met anyone who was disappointed by S2...

And I was hooked from the pilot. :-D