Episode 1x01 : Welcome to the Hellmouth
This article contains spoilers for the first episode of Buffy (we don’t spoil the other ones though).
Vallantyn: So, Buffy 1x01. I actually watched the Pilot a few times before, (I even finished the first season at some point) but watching it after the movie is a whole different thing. You can spot some of the connections, even if you can tell some stuff didn’t make the cut. And some of those interactions feel different with that in mind.
Tellington: Yeah, same. Even though (or even more so since?) I probably watched it more times than you. One day I’ll have to watch the actual Pilot (the one before Willow was cast) but I was too eager to begin the “real” series.
V: Wait… there’s an unreleased Pilot?! We’ll need to find it.
T: Maybe at the end of this journey?
V: We’ll see. Anyway, I’ll pass on the vampire looks, but that was a welcome change. Quickly you meet our beloved Slayer again, and soon her new friends: Xander & Willow. Well… you meet them, but Buffy meets Cordelia first. After watching the movie, that whole interaction feels different. Cordelia is basically the kind of people Buffy used to hang out with. In a way she was Cordelia. And you can see that even if Buffy is trying to fit in, that’s not her crowd anymore.
T: I read something about that on Reddit lately. They were saying that, even though Buffy was as vapid as Cordelia in her old high school, she never seemed to be mean like her.
V: I don’t recall any particular moment where she was, but her friends were. You could assume that she was more like them before her Slayer training. But that’s just a theory. I don’t think it really changes a lot about those interactions with Cordelia. She represents her old life, and even if Buffy is trying to fit in and not make any waves (or burn any gym), she’s having a hard time connecting with her.
T: See that’s where I’m not sure I agree. They’re connecting until Cordelia is downright mean with Willow.
V: Potato, tomato. They just met at this point, there’s not a lot of bonding before Cordelia shows who she is.
T: True. It reminds me of this magical quote: “I can’t do both? - Not legally.”
V: Where’s that from?
T: When Willow asks: “Aren’t you hanging out with Cordelia?” to Buffy (when she wants to hang with her).
V: Right! (I swear I saw that episode!) And probably right after that Buffy is going to try and get her books from the school’s library… Enters Giles.
T: Thanks for the transition. I was like… fanenby (my version of fangirl/fanboy) when Giles appeared. Then we have a few moments that take a new color having seen the movie. But we’re still not here to do a comparison.
V: Aren’t we though?
T: Well aren’t we here for a general review?
V: We are, but since we started with the movie, I find interesting to keep that in mind. Without the movie, the only context you have is from her interview with her new Principal. And there’s a lot she can’t say because… well it involves Vampires.
T: “That gym was full of Vampires… asbestos!”
V: Yup. With the movie you have a bit more backstory, even if not all of it “really” made it into the show.
T: Officially, the movie is not part of canon. The comics are, and some of them take place before the show.
V: Still, they mention events that took place in the movie. Even if the version of those events that are mentioned in the show are different.
T: She’s not expelled in the movie! (And don’t burn down the gym either?)
V: And she rides into the sunset with Pike…. Don’t get me started.
T: I think the comics state they travel in Europe together after that? Anyway, I haven’t read the comics (please gift them to me, dear readers).
V: Anyway indeed. Back to Giles. She comes for her school books, and he shows her a pretty big one with “VAMPYR” written on it.
T: And she’s like “uh, no, that’s not what I was looking for”. Cue Giles trying to convince her of her calling (over several scenes if I recall correctly) and there is this poignant line: “I was afraid I was going to be behind in all my classes. That I wouldn’t make any friends and have last month’s hair”, basically she was afraid of all of that… not that there would be vampires on the campus. (Oh yeah, we may have skipped the part where there is a dead guy in the locker.)
V: I don’t think so, that happens after, I believe? We might have some of those events out of order, but still. She’s a Slayer who won’t slay.
T: The line I quoted was an answer to Giles saying “I was afraid of that [vampires on the campus]”. When Buffy comes to see him after they found the dead guy. (I know this by heart, but I also have that part of the script open in my browser.)
V: Not fair, but okay. Since Buffy won’t hunt down Vampires, she’d rather go out to the only club in town: The Bronze. On her way she meets what me can only describe as tall, pale and broody… Which at the time made a lot of people weak in the knees.
T: I was gonna say “very horny” but your version is more PG-13.
V: Yeah, my mom was one of those. And now I can’t take that picture out of my head, so thanks.
T: You’re saying your mom had a crush on [redacted for spoiler reasons]?
V: Why would that be a spoiler? Ooooh right we don’t know his name at this point?
T: We don’t! He just introduces himself as “a friend”.
V: Right…
T: “I didn’t say I was yours” he says to Buffy when she confronts him about not needing a friend. Which was… insufferable but just a little cute. But mostly insufferable.
V: The tl;dr of that interaction is that “Mr.NotYourFriend” there knows Buffy is a Slayer, and she’s starting to get annoyed that starting a new life somewhere isn’t really going the way she hoped.
T: And the fact that she attacks Cordelia thinking she’s a Vampire is… not helping her social life. But she has a good excuse: I think she’s looking for Willow who just departed the Bronze with an actual Vampire. Whom she recognized because he’s wearing last decade’s outfit.
V: I mean, fair enough. Not more “PMS Spider Sense”, just fashion sense.
T: And I love it! In a way, there are some Elle Wood vibes in that. (The young lady from Legally Blonde – won’t spoil the ending of that one.)
V: I believe that leads us quite close to the end of that episode. Well, not really. She ends up fighting with 2 Vampires which are part of a… cult? of Vampires in Sunnydale.
T: Oh yeah we completely forgot about those.
V: That was totally intentional on my side.
T: Not mine, I just didn’t think of them.
V: Basically, what everyone keeps telling Buffy about is some “Harvest”, which seems to be a ritual those Vampires want to do, to feed their Master. Willow was about to be used to that end, when Buffy swooped in.
T: But then Buffy gets into a fight with a quite strong Vampire (Luke I believe).
V: Isn’t that in your script?
T: Rho, I just had the part of the script with the lines I wanted to quote. Anyway, this fight seems to end badly for Buffy, and then we’re struck with a “TO BE CONTINUED”.
V: Well, the suspense is unbearable. Globally, that was a nice step up from the movie (I know, I know…). We met most of the cast, we have quite a few questions, and a cliffhanger to keep us on our toes until the next episode.
T: OH I know what I forgot to talk about! The intro! With Darla and that boy. Nice role reversal.
V: Call an ambulance…. BUT NOT FOR ME.
T: Wait, why?
V: That’s a meme.
T: Oh right! Yeah, that sums it up. It’s a strong intro in my opinion, we might see it coming now but probably not in the nineties?
V: You’re probably right.
T: So, is this review… to be continued in next episode?
V: You’re such a dork sigh…
T: You’re one to talk. Screen fades to black