Episode By Episode

Previous Episode

As Cheerleader tryouts approach, mysterious supernatural occurrences befall perspective new squad members. This is surprisingly well-crafted for a Season One episode. It plays out like a mystery novel, with all the disparate pieces eventually fitting together.

Notes

- Buffy is so cool

- Either there is a continuity error in Season Two, or one of the major characters tells a big, fat lie in this episode.

- There’s some (possibly unintentional) foreshadowing near the end

- I laughed out loud at Cordelia, rewatching this episode. Charisma Carpenter has great comic timing.

Not Skippable

Most Buffy fans will probably tell you this episode is skippable but I disagree. This episode sets up a character arc that continues into season seven. I believe it’s worth the watch.

Previous Episode

This episode picks up where Welcome to the Hellmouth left off with Buffy discovering more about the Hellmouth, the enemy and what their plans are. The impression that I get is that Joss didn’t want to condense the pilot and so made it a two-parter. The execution is clunky. You’ll know what I mean when you watch the eps back to back. Imagine waiting a whole week between those two episodes. There’s no recap, we just get straight into it. And it doesn’t really work as well as it should.

Having said that, this episode feels much closer to the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer will eventually become. The dialogue is wittier, the relationships and roles are better solidified and the pace is not as slow as in the previous episode. This is the first episode where we really get to see Buffy being the Slayer - not just the kicking ass and taking names that we saw in the first episode, but her resourcefulness and ability to think on her feet.

Notes

- Pay close attention to Harmony (Mercedes McNab). She’s easy to miss the first time through.

- This episode ran short so a bunch of scenes were added, including Xander (Nicholas Brendan’s) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) in the hallway and Angel’s mini-monologue at the end.

Not Skippable

This obviously concludes the storyline set up in Episode One, but it also establishes what the show will be week to week.

Rating: 3.5/5

Introduction

The Slayer is a female - usually mid to late teens when she is called - gifted with supernatural strength, speed, agility and prophetic dreams whose duty it is to fight the forces of evil. Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a Slayer who has been kicked out of Hemery High in LA for setting her high school gym on fire (there were vampires inside but I’m not sure how well that held up). Buffy’s watcher, the person responsible for guiding and training her, has been killed, and all she really wants to do is move on from the Slaying thing to have a normal life in her new town of Sunnydale.

At first, things look good. Unfortunately, Buffy’s new town happens to be on a hellmouth, which draws in the supernatural. Though she tries to ignore Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), her new watcher, Buffy’s calling is harder to ignore when a dead body is found in with two holes in the neck.

This is a solid start for the series.

It is very dated. As the series progresses, it begins to feel more timeless. The performances are good. Later on, you will see the full expanse of what they can do, but again, it’s a good start.

Welcome to the Hellmouth is the first of a two-parter, continued in The Harvest. This episode is not quite the Buffy that I love, but the blueprints are there.

Notes

- Watch out for Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Darla (actor’s name omitted to prevent spoilers). There is much more to both characters than meets the eye. - The Bronze, which appears in this episode, will be a permanent fixture of the show.

Not Skippable

Even if this wasn’t the first of a two-parter I would say this episode is not skippable due to so much important set-up.

Rating: 3/5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American TV series that aired from 1997 - 2003 starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and created by Joss Whedon. It’s a horror/fantasy dramedy about a young girl with superpowers and her friends, detailing their journey from adolescence to adulthood while fighting evil and solving paranormal mysteries. This guide is designed for newcomers, but fans are welcome to watch it to. I know it’s easy to dismiss Buffy, because it’s so dated, kind of campy and the production values aren’t great, but if you’re still unconvinced that Buffy is a show you should watch, The Passion of the Nerd on YouTube made this great video explaining why it’s worth the watch.

Buffy Season One

1. Welcome to the Hellmouth Not Skippable

2. The Harvest Not Skippable

I will review individual episodes of an entire series in chronological order. Then I will let you know if it is skippable or not. “Skippable” does not necessarily mean bad, and in fact several below par episodes are not skippable. By “skippable” I merely mean that you don’t need to watch the episode to understand the season - and series - as a whole. Skippable episodes don’t move the plot along, advance story/character arcs significantly or reveal important information you will need later.

It is up to you whether or not you choose to watch them in your first viewing of a series.

Spoiler Policy

All spoilers will be tagged as such. After a brief overview of an episode, if I decide it is not skippable, I will end it there. If I decide that it’s skippable, I will give a warning followed by a more in-depth, spoilery analysis for those who have chosen not to watch it but would still like to understand it and how it fits in with the season. At the end of each season, I will analyse all the non-skippable episodes in one giant post, which of course will be tagged as spoilery.