Episode 1 Bored

Hello, my name is Kali and I’m a Whedonholic… and Potterholic while we’re at it. It’s important you know this because I will compare the two on a regular basis.

I actually watched Buffy when it originally aired. Not from the beginning, but somewhere in Season 5 then I went and caught up on past episodes while watching the current season… I think. Look, it was ten years ago, how am I supposed to remember? I started watching Angel reruns a few years ago, which of course made me want to watch Buffy again. I bought both box sets and the rest is history.

First, I have to begin with stating that while I absolutely love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and just about anything Joss Whedon does, Season 1 of Buffy is pretty awful. In reality just about every show’s first season is their worst. To me, the first season of any show is like that awkward adolescent phase of “finding” yourself. You don’t know exactly what direction you are going yet. You kind of know who you are and what you want to say, but it’s going to take years to really develop into anything anyone wants to pay attention to. Until then you are slightly sporadic and random, with a side of whiny and annoying. But in the end, this is where the basis of who you are really takes its shape so it’s looked back upon with nostalgia even though you don’t really want to relive it. That’s how I feel about watching Season 1 of Buffy. It’s nice to think back on it and remember the good parts, but I’m not too thrilled about doing it all over again.

To the Hellmouth we go!

Season 1 Episode 1: Welcome to the Hellmouth

We begin the episode with the whole “To every generation a Slayer is born…” speech. It’s a good line, but I am so very glad that they take this out in the following seasons. We get it; she’s the Slayer. I’m pretty sure I could have figured that out from the show’s title. Moving on.

I love what Joss Whedon does here with Darla and Soon-to-be-dead-boy-#1. We think that she is the poor, helpless girl and turns out to be the villain. That’s mirrored with Buffy, how she is the young, blonde girl who is supposed to be running away from the scary monsters, not destined to fight them. Go Joss Whedon and your female empowerment.

Cue opening credits. It’s great how the credits change throughout the years, but keep similar themes throughout them. Especially how Buffy seems to really enjoy dancing and striking a kick-ass pose with a weapon. Next, Whedon really captures the awkwardness of high school. This scene reminds me nothing of my high school, but it’s spot-on about how uncomfortable everyone feels interacting with each other. One friend has a crush on another, while the latter has a crush on some other girl. We can all relate to that. With the same theme of awkwardness, Xander holding up Buffy’s stake reminds me of teenage boys finding tampons in girls’ bags.

In Buffy’s first class we learn the “fun” part about the Black Plague. Supposedly it’s the fact that it was germ warfare. Then the teacher refers to it as “this popular plague”. Lady, you obviously failed at understanding the English language or you are more evil than vampires for finding the PLAGUE “fun and popular”. Anywho, we get to meet Cordelia who immediately reminds me of Draco Malfoy. I am rich, popular, and pretty; are you rich, popular, and pretty? Yes? Let’s be friends! Ooo, let’s make fun of poor gingers now! Hey Cordelia Chase, fall down a flight of stairs.

Here is where I want to mention a few things in this show together because Joss Whedon is really great at giving each episode a theme and this one feels clear- you can’t run from your past. Principal Flutie and Joyce Summers are all about giving Buffy a “fresh start”, but they continue to cling to her past misdeeds. Buffy herself is trying to turn away from being The Slayer in order to be a normal teenage girl, but even moving to a new town isn’t going to change who or what you are. She tries to be in the “in-crowd”, but ends up protecting the weak because that’s who she is. Even in the next scene, she says that she doesn’t want to be the Slayer anymore, but her instincts are all still there to find out why someone died and to protect others from what killed them. Buffy, you’re the Slayer, it’s a crappy job sometimes, but it’s who you are so you might as well accept it.

Buffy continues on her journey to meet all of the main characters in the show. "Hello, I'm Giles, I'm going to introduce myself to you in the creepiest way possible by throwing a book about vampires in front of you causing you to run away.” We learn more about Giles from the other characters. I wonder if Giles really was a curator for a British museum or if that was just a cover story. This is also where Buffy starts to befriend the future Scoobies and learn more about herself in the process. In many ways I can compare Buffy Summers to Harry Potter, but here she does what Harry is famous for. Immediately after being told about a danger or mysterious situation, she goes off to investigate it without thinking. Who does that sound like?

We start getting into another recurrence in the show, Buffy going to Giles, Giles telling her what to do, and Buffy ignoring him and doing what she wants. At least this time it only involves her going to the Bronze. We’ll get into that many episodes or seasons from now, but the Bronze still confuses me. Do these places really exist? Is there really somewhere that teenagers can hang out and at the same time adults also drink and party? I digress. Enter the next main character introduction. Oh, Angel, I love Season 1 you so much. You are witty and cryptic and not annoying yet. Although you are being slightly Edward-stalkerish.

Speaking of stalkers, can we talk about how Giles is a creeper in this episode? He introduced himself in the scariest way possible, arm-trapped Buffy in the halls at school, and now followed her to a nightclub and gets entirely too close behind her. “Hone in Buffy… you really have to feel it… can you feel it… is my hot breath in your ear distracting you?”

Now begins another motif in the show, one of the Scoobies getting themselves into trouble and Buffy having to rescue them. As Whedon points out, Buffy is pretty much a superhero so she can’t be the one needing to be rescued so it makes sense to constantly put her friends in danger. They are the regular people in a supernatural world. So poor Willow tries to “seize the moment” by talking to a guy, who of course turns out to be a vampire. Buffy goes to rescue her, while Giles pulls a Hermione and goes to the library. Buffy runs into Xander, and in his oh-so-subtle way, he tells her that he knows her secret. Willow and Jesse are trapped in one of the several thousand crypts that Sunnydale apparently has. Buffy to the rescue! Now we have to listen to one of the worst villain speeches of all time. Why are you talking funny and why are you even telling Buffy this? You are trying to be scary and are only succeeding in boring me, sir. As the episode ends on the worst cliffhanger ever, at least we are left wondering- who is going to rescue Buffy?

This show accomplished what a good first show of a series does- introduced us to all of the main characters. We already see who Buffy is, not just as the Slayer, but also as a person. We learn who her friends will be (Xander and Willow), who her mentor will be (Giles), who her real-world nemesis is (Cordelia), and who the big bad that she will be fighting all season is (The Master aka “Fruit Punch Face”).

Favorite Line: Angel (referring to being "a friend"): "I didn't say that I was yours".

-Kali!