Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1 Review

In every generation, there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

The idea for Buffy came from the head of Joss Whedon when he thought of turning over the trope in horror movies where a helpless blonde is being chased by a monster and gets trapped in a dead end where her doom is stepping towards her. He thought what if the blonde was the threat and the monster was the one who should be afraid? Thus the Slayer who would become a feminist icon was born.

Joss wrote a screenplay from his idea and production for it began in the early 90s. Unfortunately, the producers and some cast members (namely Donald Sutherland) altered his original script, turning it into a cheesy teen horror comedy; a different approach to what he originally planned. Joss left halfway through production, never to return.

The original Buffy

I will say I didn't watch the movie first since people said it wasn't necessary. I finally watched it after watching the entire show just for curiosity's sake. Even though many people and myself would agree the show was better, I thought the movie was okay with its cheese factor and 90s flair. Kristy Swanson was decent as Buffy and I like how some people who would later become famous appeared in the film like Hilary Swank, David Arquette, Luke Perry, and Batfleck.

A few years after the movie's release, Joss was offered the chance to do Buffy his own way in the form of a mid-season replacement show for the WB network, which was in its infancy. The show became one of the network's first staples.

I started watching the show just 15 years after it first aired. At first, I thought it was an average teen supernatural show but then I have been seeing it pop up on lists of the best shows ever, very often in the top ten. So began my journey into the Buffyverse, though I had absolutely no idea what I was about to get into.

The show begins on a dark night at the Sunnydale High School. A tough guy breaks in with a shy girl behind him. He is very eager to have fun in the dark while she is very nervous. You might have seen this before in other horror movies. However, just when the guy assures his lady friend that there's no one here, she becomes a vampire and sucks him dry!

This opening right away tells you that things are not what they seem in this show. It is exactly deriving from Joss' idea of turning horror tropes around. I jumped when I first watched this scene. I knew something interesting was about to unfold.

We then meet Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who has moved from LA to Sunnydale. She wakes up after having strange dreams of vampires and demon phenomenon; images that would appear in later episodes. She then goes to Sunnydale High, hoping to start a new life and leave behind her Slayer calling. On her record, it says she burned down the gym at her old school; an incident in Joss' original script for the movie.

Then we meet Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon) who is riding his skateboard for the very last time because he sees Buffy and crashes into the railing because he was awestruck by her. He later comes by when she dropped her things and asks "Can I have you? Uh, can I help you?" He then becomes curious about Buffy when she leaves a stake behind. Xander is a frivolous guy who makes some quippy remarks. Despite not having Buffy's strength, he would do some noble things and be loyal to Buffy over the course of the show.

After introducing Xander, we meet his best friend Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan). Willow is a very shy, timid wallflower but a smart bookworm and a wiz with computers. She is teased by shallow popular girl Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), whom it would seem Buffy would befriend but she hangs out with Willow, Xander, and his friend Jesse (Eric Balfour). Now I will admit that I didn't know Alyson Hannigan was in the show. American Pie and How I Met Your Mother are often considered her best-known work, but never did I knew that she was part of Buffy. I was boggled and burning with curiosity. After watching the series, I've gained a much stronger appreciation for Alyson and her portrayal of Willow which I'll go over in the next reviews. On a side note, it's ironic that they've had someone else play Willow in the unaired pilot. Even though I've never seen it, I think I can safely say that no one can play Willow as good as Alyson did.

The most adorable female in the world.

Buffy goes into the library to get some textbooks where she meets the librarian, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). He reveals that he is her new Watcher who is supposed to train Buffy and prepare her for all kinds of evil threats. In the original movie, Buffy's original Watcher was named Merrick (Donald Sutherland). He was dressed all mysterious in a trench coat, scarf, and fedora. The way he would attempt to approach Buffy to tell her about her destiny in a mall might raise some eyebrows. In the show, Giles is at least inconspicuous, posing as a librarian but having a lot of volumes of supernatural subjects though people don't seem to notice. Heck, not many students come to the library. He solely provides all the vital information for the characters on what kind of demon they would be dealing with. Although at first, he acts very disciplined with Buffy, he would grow fond and protective of her and become a father figure to her.

Buffy tries to turn her back not just at Giles but her calling once more, even though a dead body is discovered in the ladies locker room. She decides to go out to a nightclub called The Bronze, which would be cool if such a place like it exists. On her way there, she meets a mysterious man named Angel (David Boreanaz) who warns her about a supernatural event called the Harvest. He also gives her a cross necklace and then just leaves. I like how he says "I thought you'd be taller" since Kristy Swanson is two inches taller than SMG.

Mysterious and dreamy. Am I right?

Arriving at the Bronze, she runs into Willow who is waiting for Xander. After explaining her trouble with asking out guys, Buffy gives her some advice: "Seize the moment cause tomorrow you might be dead." Then Giles appears in the club to train her to spot any vampires in a large gathering. She spots one with very "carbon-dated" fashion, walking off with Willow. Meanwhile Jesse talks to the blonde vampire from earlier named Darla (Julie Benz). Buffy follows the group to a cemetery where she fights Darla and another vampire named Luke (Brian Thompson). She fends them off with her strength and the cross necklace around her neck. Though Willow was saved, Jesse wasn't.

At the library, Giles explains to Xander and Willow to keep Buffy's identity a secret, as well as the real history of the world where demons roam at the beginning until man comes along which the last demon fed off on, becoming a vampire. It is later revealed that Sunnydale High rests over a Hellmouth which its energy would attract vamps and demons.

Down below underground, an ancient vampire called the Master (Mark Metcalf) awakes. He is this season's Big Bad. He is trapped in a cathedral which went underground from an earthquake years ago. He anoints Luke to be the vessel for the Harvest in which he will feed on some people and free his master. As the show's first Big Bad, he is all right. I almost didn't recognize Mark Metcalf in the role not only because of the make-up but he doesn't yell a lot like his notable roles such as Neidermeyer from Animal House and shouty authority figures in Twisted Sister music videos. The thing I like most about the Master is his arrogant sense of humor which he inflicts on some of his minions when they fail to serve him.

Meanwhile, Buffy attempts to go underground to save Jesse with Xander behind her. But they were too late and Jesse had become a vampire who acts over the top, much like the vamps in the original Buffy movie. This began Xander's hatred for vampires. It will also come into play more when it would involve Angel. Originally Joss wanted Eric Balfour's credit in the intro just so he could shock people when they would watch the second episode and see what happens to him. But it was unaffordable. However, Joss got to do it later in the series with someone else but we'll get there.

Later Buffy and friends go to the Bronze to stop the Harvest from happening. Luke is there, ready to feed off some people. Buffy fights him while the gang fights the other vamps holding the people hostage inside. Xander conflicts about killing his friend but Jesse gets bumped by a patron and is staked accidentally. Buffy manages to kill Luke once again with her strength and wits. The Master remains trapped in his underground prison.

The two-part premiere ends with Giles explaining to Buffy that more demonic threats are coming but she freely walks on with her two friends, talking about ways she could escape school. I like how Willow suggests blowing something up which will happen two seasons later. Giles walks off saying, "The Earth is doomed."

What follows is Buffy's attempts to keep Sunnydale and the world safe while trying to have a normal social life though that proves to be difficult for her. The format for the next episodes this season is referred to as the Monster of the Week. Buffy would go against witches, insect people, hyena-possessed students, living ventriloquist dummies, etc. However, this season has a hint of a seasonal plot where the Master prepares to be free with the help of the Anointed One to kill Buffy. The tone for most of the episodes would be quirky with some twists, though they have taken a dark turn in The Pack where some students, possessed by demonic hyenas, eat their principal Bob Flutie, though it would still look cheesy in some moments. Later it's implied that they knew what they did to Principal Flutie so they may be scarred by this. I would recommend them to this psychiatrist named Dr. Hannibal Lecter. I'm sure he would help them cope with this.

Among the supporting characters are Harmony Kendall (Mercedes McNab), Cordelia's blonde friend, and Amy Madison, who gets in a predicament when her controlling, witch mother (who looks like Marie from Breaking Bad) switches bodies with her daughter so she could relive her glory high school years as a cheerleader. There's also Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte) who is Willow's computer teacher and a self-proclaimed technopagan who will later become romantically involved with Giles next season. There's also a student named Marcie who becomes invisible by the power of the Hellmouth after being ignored by many of the students, including Cordelia. She goes insane and tries to harm Cordelia and her friends. Buffy defeats Marcie who is apprehended by some government officials. In an unresolved cliffhanger, she is brought into a classroom where some other invisible people are being trained to become assassins. But it seems to me that Marcie is well and visible again, and is now a doctor in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Better Call Saul viewers would understand this.

Cordelia Chase (top left), Jenny Calendar (top right), Amy Madison (lower left), Harmony (lower right)

While the season starts off decently and the characters are enjoyable as well as the dialogue, the downsides of it all include poor lighting and poor music by Walter Murphy who would later score Seth MacFarlane shows like Family Guy and American Dad. At least we'd get new and better composers. Another thing is the supernatural elements look very cheesy in how they're designed or portrayed, though the main reason could be they didn't have that much money. I mean it costs $5,000 to do the dusting effect on vampires getting staked. When I first watched the show, I kinda enjoyed the monster of the week format and the cheesy parts, but when I re-watched it, it doesn't hold up when compared to the later and ultimately better seasons. But I can't say this is the worst since it's the first season and sometimes the creator and producers mighty try and figure out the whole foundation of the show. I can assure you that Season 2 is where they found it.

Best Episode

Prophecy Girl

Buffy finds out through a prophecy that she is supposed to face the Master and die, much to her dismay. She tries to avoid her fate but when Willow is shocked at the death of some students, she takes matters into her own hands. This was the first indication of the things that would make this a great show: incredible drama and shocking twists and turns. Buffy even dies in this episode but is saved by Xander when he performs CPR on her. Also, the image above is a nice callback to the original movie where Buffy wears a white dress and leather jacket at a dance if that was the purpose. Every season finale from then on would be strong and this one is no exception, save for one shortcoming with how ridiculously the Hellmouth looks when it's opened.

Honorable Mentions:

Welcome to the Hellmouth/ The Harvest

A pretty good opening that does its job well in introducing its characters, Big Bad, and the world they inhabit.

Angel

Buffy discovers Angel is a vampire. I always suspected Angel to be one since he says "I don't bite" when he first meets Buffy, though they try to make you feel differently when he appears in a mausoleum in daylight. Another sneaky bit is when Buffy and Angel are being chased by a trio of vampires known as the Three. They run into her house and Buffy tells Angel to "get in." Also if Buffy could sense when vampires are near, why didn't see knew Angel was one? Though one could say the ability needs some training. Anyway, Darla, who was romantically involved with Angel for many years, sets up a trap with Buffy's mother Joyce. Angel finds her, feeding into Joyce. Then Buffy walks into her house to find Angel holding Joyce's unconscious body. She throws him out of a window. "You come near us and I'll kill you," Buffy says. She meets Angel again at the Bronze where he reveals that he was cursed with a soul from gypsies for killing a family member. This turned out to be another trap by Darla who uses shotguns, but Angel stakes her. The two meet again to break ties but they end up kissing. Angel is left with a burn mark of a cross from Buffy's necklace. Who would have thought the start of arguably the best human/vampire relationship would be one of the better episodes this season.

The Puppet Show

The high school is having a talent show and Buffy and her friends are forced to participate by Principal Snyder, referred to as "our new Fuhrer" by Giles. While that's going on, some murders take place in the school and Buffy thinks a ventriloquist dummy who may be alive is the suspect. But he turns out to be innocent and is hunting the demon behind it, too. I pretty much knew the dummy would be a red herring but there are some funny moments that make this episode worthwhile such as the gang's reaction to the dummy speaking (who I swear sounds like Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop) and the ending where Buffy and her friends perform an extremely awkward re-enactment of Oedipus Rex.

Nightmares

My personal favorite episode of this season. Everyone's nightmares start to come true because of a comatose boy's astral projection. We get to learn a little bit more about the characters as their fears come to life in a dramatic fashion like Buffy's fear of thinking her parents' divorce was her fault and a humorous fashion like Willow's stage fright. We also see Buffy as a vampire in Gile's nightmare of seeing Buffy dead. One noteworthy moment was when the gang thinks their dreams are becoming reality, Giles says "Dreams? That would be a musical comedy version of this." Not only would they make a musical episode later on, but they would add a reference to this episode in one of the songs. Everything comes full circle.

Worst Episode

Teacher's Pet

When Buffy's biology teacher is killed, a very sexy substitute named Miss French comes in. Xander and the other male students are very smitten by her. But it turns out she is a big mantis, luring virgin males to her home to mate with them and Xander gets caught in her trap. The whole concept surrounding Xander being attracted to the sexy substitute is very icky in general and Miss French in mantis form looks very hokey. Perhaps that's why they had low lighting; to hide how fake it looked. Also, we get a subplot of Buffy trying to stop a vampire with a claw for a hand. He encounters Miss French and runs away. He must have entomophobia but still he's very pathetic for a vamp especially when he's used by Buffy as plot convenience to find Miss French to save Xander. Gravity Falls did this a whole lot better.

Best parts of the episode: Dr. Gregory, Buffy's biology teacher, is very supportive of her so of course he gets killed. Xander mentions shwarma which would also get mentioned in The Avengers. Nice touch, Joss.

Dishonorable mention:

I Robot, You Jane

Willow forms an online relationship with a secret admirer who turns out to be a demon named Moloch who was scanned from a book to the Internet. It was a tough call deciding if this or Teacher's Pet was the worst. I went with the latter because it had hardly good things in it, but this episode's theme of how dangerous the Internet can be turned out very trite. At least Joss would do a slightly better version of this story in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Best parts of the episode: Jenny Calendar makes her debut. Joss has a cameo as a radio announcer, The ending where Buffy, Willow, and Xander joke about how they will never have a normal relationship and then look forlorn which is very much true. 

Shoutout to the Writers

Buffy started out with nine writers which would grow over time. Joss would very often write the best episodes, but others would write some gems and I've decided to acknowledge them in my reviews. I will also keep a scoreboard of in which a writer will be given one point for writing a good episode, two points for writing a great episode, and no points for writing an average or bad episode. Right now Joss is in the lead with 3 points with David Greenwalt behind a point. We also say goodbye to Dana Reston and the writing team of Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden

Joss Whedon - 3 points

• Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest (2 for each episode)
• Prophecy Girl (1)

David Greenwalt - 2 points

• Teacher's Pet (0)
• Angel (1)
• Nightmares (1)

Dana Reston - 0 points

• Witch (0)

Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali - 1 point

• Never Kill a Boy on the First Date (0)
• The Puppet Show (1)

Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer - 0 points

• The Pack (0)

Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden - 0 points

• I Robot, You Jane (0)
• Out of Mind, Out of Sight (0)