review by Rocky Petrella
Rating: 7/10
A good introduction to the characters and what the show will be. Through the dialogue, we get to learn all about vamps, the Slayer, the Hellmouth, and many other things which are vital to the show. Nicholas Brendon and Alyson Hannigan already seem to have their characters down. Sarah Michelle Gellar does too, but not quite to the extent of the previous too. I think Anthony Stewart Head as Giles lays on the British pretty thick (even thicker than he does now). Charisma Carpenter already had Cordelia in full bitchy mode. The only real glaring exception in this regard is David Boreanaz. His acting is just atrocious, and continues to be through most of season 1. We also get introduced to the Master, the big bad of season 1, and Darla, Angel's sire, who will pop up time and again during the life of the series.
As for the show itself, it's a rather ho-hum plot as far as Buffy goes, but this was more of an exposition for the show than the telling of a great story. The Master doesn't measure up to some of the other villains in Buffy history, but he does well for someone who can only move around in one area. Also, Mark Metcalf does do a good job portraying him, even though he doesn't get that much to work with.
We get to see just how tough a Slayer's life can be, constantly trying to keep it a secret, and worrying about endangering others. We see this danger exemplified in the vamping of Jesse, one of Xander's best friends. I was a bit surprised to see that he's never really been mentioned again. He and Xander seemed pretty close, but Xander was upset enough to go help Buffy.
One last nitpick I'd like to make is Angel's thinking Buffy would be different. According to later episodes, he's already seen Buffy, so this ended up being contradictory dialogue. But it is the pilot, and the writers couldn't have forseen at that point exactly what they were going to do with the Angel character.
Great Buffy Moment: Buffy fooling Luke into thinking it's daylight ("It's in about 9 hours, moron".)
In a nutshell: This was the show that brought us into the Mutant Enemy universe and does it good job catching everyone up to speed on the logic and workings of that universe. Only a so-so show, but I feel pilots should be treated a little more gently, since they are just starting out.