𝔅𝔲𝔣𝔣𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔙𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔖𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔯 - 𝔖𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔒𝔫𝔢, 𝔈𝔭𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔡𝔢 𝔒𝔫𝔢: 𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℌ𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔱𝔥
Ohhh, Sunnydale High. How I've missed you.
We start our beloved series with a scene that sets us up very well for what's to come: A pretty blonde girl and her date have snuck into the empty Sunnydale High after hours. The girl is afraid. They shouldn't be here at night, and she heard something that could be dangerous. Her male companion tells her not to worry. He'll protect her.
But he's the one in danger. Because the innocent blonde in a schoolgirl outfit is, in actuality, a vampire. A demon. And she's hungry.
Smash cut to a dream. A nightmare, actually. A premonition about an ancient vampire, and what's in store for our heroine.
She wakes up, and she's safe in her room.
Buffy Anne Summers: another young, pretty blonde. And it's her first day at a new school. Her mother, Joyce (Writer's note: for a dorky mom, Joyce has big "crystal girl" energy), comes in and tells her to stay positive. Buffy needs to be positive. They had to move here because of her, after all.
So Joyce drops Buffy off at Sunnydale High. The sixteen-year old Buffy is nervous, especially because her first visit will be with Principal Flutie in his office.
Fortunately, the man in question is friendly, and while he's concerned about Buffy's past in Los Angeles, he's hopeful that she'll succeed at his school (Writer's note: we stan Principal Flutie). We learn something: Buffy burned down the gym at her old school in LA. This is a nod to the ending of the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that came out in 1992 and starred now deranged Trump fan Kristy Swanson.
Buffy blurts out that it wasn't her fault. She had to burn down the gym! Because of the "vamp-…asbestos." The gym was full of asbestos. Flutie seems to accept this. Later on we will learn that the adults in Sunnydale are often quick to normalize the batshittery that is their town.
With that meeting out of the way, Buffy leaves Flutie's office. She bumps into a boy we will later find out is called Xander Harris (Writer's note: we both love and dislike Xander in this corner). Buffy spills her purse, and Xander helps her pick up her stuff. As she walks away, Buffy unwittingly drops the one thing she shouldn't be dropping—her wooden stake. Xander doesn't know what to make of it either, but he hangs onto it.
The next student Buffy meets is one Cordelia Chase: queen bee of Sunnydale High (Writer's note: this show had Dawson casting. Which is to say that most of the actors playing teenage characters were actually in their twenties. The exception was Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was nineteen and playing a sixteen year old. Next to Charisma Carpenter—who was twenty-seven at the time she began playing Cordelia—Buffy looked even more like a schoolgirl). Cordelia is charming, and very warm in her first encounter with Buffy. She offers to share her history textbook during their lesson, and seems set to befriend Buffy due to the "coolness" of our heroine having moved to Sunnydale from LA.
It's not to be, however. Enter the redheaded Willow Rosenberg. Willow is everything Cordelia is not. Shy, geeky, and unfashionably dressed (Writer's note: wooly tights, though? In southern California??). When Buffy sees how cruelly Cordelia speaks to Willow, we can see a quality that Buffy will often be undervalued for—her capacity to be kind and soft. Buffy doesn't care for the way Cordelia mistreats the nerdy redhead, and it's written all over her face. Cordelia, being self-involved (Writer's note: we come to adore Cordelia), doesn't seem to notice.
Buffy then heads to the library, where she is greeted by the school's librarian—Rupert Giles. He's English, and has a professorial vibe. How did he end up in a high school library in southern California? Well, like everything in Sunnydale, Giles isn't all he seems. Abruptly, he greets Buffy with a large tome bearing the title: VAMPYR.
This isn't what Buffy wanted. She moved to Sunnydale with her mother for a fresh start. Being the slayer is not something she signed up for. Shaken, she leaves the library and heads outside, catching up with Willow, Xander, and their friend Jesse. Xander gives Buffy her wooden stake back, and she claims it's for basic self-defense.
For a brief moment, let's talk about Jesse. Played by Eric Balfour, Jesse is basically a plot device as we'll learn later. He and Xander are essentially the same (at least initially). Dorky teenage boys who only have girls on the brain. Jesse seems to have an affinity for Cordelia (Writer's Note: Cordelia has a pager attached to her belt! You love to see it). She does not return his ardour. Also, who cares? Cordelia is here to inform Buffy, Willow, and the two boys that there's a dead guy in the locker room!
Buffy is visibly disturbed, and asks Cordelia a question that would only make sense to the former: "Were there any marks?" After Cordelia calls her morbid for even asking that question, Buffy goes running towards the locker room (Writer's note: in what universe would a) the locker room not be cordoned off as a crime scene and b) the entire student body not be sent home? Of course, this is Sunnydale—the adults in this town are often blasé about such matters). When Buffy takes off, Cordelia scoffs to the others:
"What's her deal?"
Oh, Cordelia. If only you knew.
The boys locker room is locked, however, but Buffy makes short work of it. This is the first time we see her demonstrate her super strength, and at this early point in the series we can also see that she's not finely tuned. Not used to her own strength yet.
Checking the—again, unsupervised—corpse, Buffy sees that there are in fact telltale marks on the boy's neck. The audience will also note that he's the boy from the first scene. He was definitely eaten by a vampire.
So Buffy returns to the library, as well as Giles, the textbook with arms. Of note to me—since I've watched this series so many times—is how matter of fact and straightforward Giles is with Buffy at first. He doesn't mince words about her calling, nor display a great deal of tact. Buffy is, after all, a frightened sixteen year old girl who is experiencing trauma. She burned down the gym at her old school to kill some vampires, and was expelled. In addition to this, her first watcher Merrick (in the 1992 film played by Donald Sutherland and later portrayed in the series by Richard Riehle), was killed. You would think Giles would display more empathy. We can forgive his carelessness with Buffy's feelings, however, due to of the urgency of the situation in Sunnydale—it's located on top of a hellmouth (Writer's Note: good job, Watcher's Council, for letting Buffy know she was two hours from a hellmouth when she lived in LA). Giles needs Buffy to answer the call, and be the slayer he was sent to watch over.
Buffy still isn't interested, though. She didn't come to Sunnydale to be its rescuer. Rebuffing Giles, Buffy leaves the library once again. Unbeknownst to either of them, Xander overhears. Not a great start to Buffy's identity being kept a secret.
That can be dealt with later though. Right now Buffy is heading home to get ready for her first night out in Sunnydale. At a club Cordelia told her about called "The Bronze."
Buffy is in her room getting ready, in a funny little scene that showcases her sense of humour. She holds up a very prim and proper outfit in front of the mirror, then something that looks like it belongs to a dominatrix. She decides to wear neither (Writer's note: where did Buffy even get that black latex dress?), and has a chat with her mother. Joyce is supportive, believing that Buffy fell in with the wrong crowd in LA. But that's all behind them, now, right?
Unsure of what else to say, Buffy simply agrees, and gets ready to leave.
As she walks to The Bronze, eerie music plays. Immediately, we're shown that Buffy is being followed. A man stalks behind her, and soon they're in an alleyway. In a very cool move, Buffy swings from a pipe above the man—kicking him in the chest before pinning him into submission. There are those slayer powers!
The man is weird and cryptic. And very handsome. He tells Buffy that a) he thought she'd be taller (Writer's note: a goof. Much later on we find out that Angel has seen Buffy before so he'd know she's short) and b) to be prepared for the mouth of hell to open. For something called "The Harvest." The man gives her a cross necklace and tells Buffy he's a friend. She tells the man she doesn't need more friends before he smirks and reminds her that he didn't say he was her friend.
She's rattled by the encounter, but Buffy proceeds with her evening plans. She goes inside The Bronze, which is a strange sort of place. A nightclub that allows teenagers into it? They don't serve them alcohol, but it seems risky to begin with (Writer's note: the bouncer keeps Buffy's ID, which is likely just an editing goof. And I could see her having a fake ID. But Willow absolutely wouldn't and she's inside The Bronze when Buffy gets there. So why are they checking ID at all?). Willow is sitting at the bar, and Buffy cheerfully greets her. It's odd that Willow would even be out on a school night, given how responsible and bookish she is. We're informed, however, that Xander is coming. And Willow is clearly smitten with him. Buffy asks about their relationship, and Willow tells her that they used to date. But then Xander "stole her Barbie." In fact, Willow hasn't been dating lately (read: at all). She's shy, and geeky (Writer's note: despite being gorgeous). She says she believes "Boys prefer girls who can talk," to which Buffy wittily responds: "You really haven't been dating lately."
Buffy then spots Giles—completely out of his comfort zone in a nightclub and it shows—so she leaves Willow with some advice regarding boys: "Seize the day. 'Cause tomorrow you might be dead." She heads to the loft where Giles is uncomfortably waiting. He doesn't like The Bronze, and thinks it's a breeding ground for vampire activity. Like a buffet.
They discuss what Buffy's mystery man told her, and Giles is concerned. He doesn't know what "The Harvest," means either. He and Buffy look over the crowd, and he laments that the young people dancing don't know how much danger they're always in.
To which Buffy replies: "Lucky them." (Writer's note: fantastic acting from Gellar. You can see Buffy's burden written all over her face with the delivery of that line.)
Down in the lower part of The Bronze, Jesse has arrived. He flirts with Cordelia again, and once rejected he decides to go looking for another girl to make time with. Giles asks Buffy if she can even spot a vampire in the crowd. She scans, and spots one fairly quickly. Giles wants to know how Buffy can tell, and her fashion-forward self responds that it's because of his dated wardrobe. Unfortunately someone else is looking for a date, and Willow is less discerning. The vampire hits on her, and she leaves The Bronze with him to Buffy's horror.
Jesse leaves too…with the vampire girl from the first scene in the episode. Dun dun dun! She tells him her name is Darla, and that she's visiting family in town.
Both Jesse and Willow are now in danger, but Buffy is only aware of the latter. So she leaves the nightclub in a hurry. Reacting quickly to movement, Buffy pins Willow's would-be attacker to the wall—to her further horror it's not a vampire at all. Just Cordelia.
Whipping out her cell phone, Cordelia swears she's going to tell everyone she knows about how weird Buffy is. RIP to Buffy's social life. Meanwhile, we get a scene with Darla's family. It's the very old vampire from Buffy's nightmare, along with a hulking vampire called Luke. Hopefully Buffy can get to both Willow and Jesse in time! These dudes look nasty.
As she's leaving the area to track down Willow, Buffy runs into Xander. He reveals that he knows her identity, but that he doesn't believe it. That he thinks she's delusional. But Buffy is soon able to convince him of the seriousness of the situation, and he goes with her to save his friend. Neither of them are aware that Jesse left with Darla, though. Uh oh.
We come to our final scene. Willow and Jesse's vampire dates have led them to the same place. It's a crypt in the middle of a cemetery. Both of them in peril, they try to fight back. But Jesse's already been bitten a little, which earns Darla a scolding from Willow's date, Thomas. These two victims are supposed to be for The Master, which we learn is the name for the ancient vampire hidden below Sunnydale—in a cave that looks like it's from a heavy metal video in the early nineties.
Buffy and Xander arrive, and Buffy launches into her snark-laden fighting style. She kills Thomas almost immediately, and we see our first vampire dusting (Writer's note: earlier special effects on BTVS did not show the skeleton of the vampire as they died, but just the effect of them bursting into dust). Darla is frightened and shocked by how strong Buffy is (Writer's note: we don't find out right now, but Darla is very old. She certainly knows what a vampire slayer is, and also should be better at fighting herself. Maybe she's having an off night). Luke arrives, and tells Darla off for being so useless. He tells her to get reinforcements, and begins to fight Buffy while Xander drags Willow and a badly-wounded Jesse to safety (which ends up being Darla with a whole gang of hungry vampire minions).
Luke is huge and strong. Later on in the series, Buffy would handle him no problem. But she's still becoming accustomed to her strength, and so fighting him proves challenging. So challenging, in fact, that he almost beats her. Luke breaks Buffy's stake, and tosses her into an open stone casket. He gives a small speech about how The Master will rise during The Harvest. Buffy's mystery man was right (Writer's note: we get a fun glimpse of one of Giles's cool books on the supernatural. Very fucking dope illustrations).
After allowing her to think he's left, Luke finally lunges for Buffy. The episode ends with a "to be continued."
So that's how I'll sign off here for my first installment. Libby's Buffy recaps: "to be continued."
Random fun quotes from the episode:
"From the library, where the books live."
- Willow to Xander.
"Nobody cool has Epstein Barr anymore."
- Cordelia talking to her group of friends.
"Live in the now. You look like DeBarge."
- Buffy to the unfashionable vampire Thomas.