Season 1
1. Welcome to the Hellmouth / 2. The Harvest
Summary
Buffy moves from Los Angeles to Sunnydale together with her mother. She hopes to be able to get a fresh start, and put her time as a vampire slayer behind her. But she picked the wrong place to move to! Sunnydale turns out to be full of vampires. On her first day of school Buffy meets Mr. Giles - the school librarian, who turns out to be a “Watcher”, sent to help and guide her. She also meets Cordelia, Willow and Xander for the first time.
One night a mysterious stranger gives her a cryptic warning about something called “The Harvest”, and before she knows it, Buffy has once again become the slayer…..
Comments
These first two episodes aired as a double episode. It’s a really great episode, without a doubt one of the very best. It has a great story, funny lines (especially the scenes with Buffy & Angel, and the scenes with Buffy & Giles), and is a really good start of a great TV-series.
Rating
* * * * *
3. Witch
Summary
Buffy decides to try out for Cheerleader. Her mother is really happy about her decision, since she thinks it will keep Buffy from getting into trouble. Giles, on the other hand, is very much against it, since he doesn’t think it’s suitable for a slayer to be a cheerleader.
At the try-outs Buffy meets Amy, a girl who is desperate to get on the squad, in order to make her mother (who used to be a Cheerleader) proud. But something goes wrong at the try-out. All of sudden one of the cheerleaders is on fire! And this is only the beginning, someone wants to hurt the cheerleaders, and Buffy soon start to suspect that Amy is hurting the others so that she’ll get on the squad…
Comments
This episode isn’t one of my favorites. The story could be better, and the whole episode feels a bit slow, in my opinion.
Rating
* *
4. Teacher’s Pet
Summary
When Dr. Gregory, the biology teacher, is found dead with his head missing (!), Buffy and friends do their best to find out what could have killed him. The next day the substitute teacher arrives, a woman who the boys in the class find very attractive, but Buffy soon gets suspicious of her.
At the same time Angel warns her about a new danger, a vampire with a claw instead of a hand.
Comments
I don’t like the story of this episode very much, but it has a few funny scenes.
Rating
* * *
5. Never Kill a Boy On the First Date
Summary
Buffy, tired of not having a real life, goes out on a date with Owen. But having a normal life doesn’t seem possible when you’re the slayer. Giles has read a prophecy about someone called “The Anointed One”, who will rise from the dead the same night Buffy has her date. Buffy, decides to go on her date anyway, and Giles soon finds himself in trouble.
Comments
Not a favorite, but I have to admit this episode is a bit different than the others. It’s kind of nice to see Buffy act like a “normal” sixteen year old for a change, instead of “The Slayer”, but of course, in the end she has to get back to “work” and her destiny to save the world.
Rating
* * *
6. The Pack
Summary
After a trip to the zoo, Xander starts acting different. He’s being mean to Willow, and hanging out with the bad kids in school. Buffy is sure there is something wrong with him (as well as the “bad kids”), and starts believing he’s somehow been possessed, possibly by the hyenas at the zoo.
Comments
This is quite possibly my least favorite episode (at least so far). The whole story is a bit too weird (the zoo-keeper has tried to get the power from the hyenas for a long time, but Xander and the others gets it without even using a ceremony?) and bit too sick (they actually ate a pig and the principal) for my taste.
Rating
*
7. Angel
Summary
After being chased by “The Three”, who are warrior vampires sent by the Master, Buffy and Angel hide in Buffy’s house. The next day they kiss for the first time, and Buffy finds out Angels’ secret – he’s a vampire! Shocked Buffy ask her friends for advice, and both Giles and Xander tells her that she has to kill him – after all, she is the slayer.
While Buffy tries to decide what to do about Angel, Darla, a vampire-girlfriend from Angel’s past, decides to something about the situation. She advises Angel to kill Buffy before she kills him, and then attacks Buffy’s mother, and sets it up so that Buffy will think it was Angel who did it.
Angry at herself for trusting a vampire, Buffy sets out to kill Angel.
Comments
A really great episode. I was just as shocked as Buffy to find out Angel was a vampire. But that’s what so great about this show – it’s never predictable.
Rating
* * * * *
8. I Robot, You Jane
Summary
In the 15th century demon Moloch was trapped inside a book. This book appears in the Sunnydale library, and when Willow scans is somehow Moloch ends up inside the computer.
At the same time Willow finds an Internet-boyfriend named Malcolm, and she starts spending more and more time online. Buffy is worried about her, and tries to find out who Malcolm is.
Comments
This is the first episode that is mainly about Willow, and it was nice to see Willow get a bigger part for a change, even though I personally prefer the vampire-related episodes. The dangers of meeting people online feels pretty feels relevant now that we are (as Willow would say) living in the computer age. Although the whole idea of a demon loose on the Internet feels a bit too much, even for my imagination.
Rating
* * *
9. The Puppet Show
Summary
It’s time for the school’s annual talent-show. After Principle Snyder overhear Buffy and her friends making fun of the talent-show, he makes them participate in it. But Buffy soon has a bigger problem when several kids are found dead – with different body parts missing.
All suspicions soon fall onto Morgan, a strange kid who does an act with a dummy in the talent show, but Buffy then starts to think it’s actually the dummy who is the killer. Of course, her friends really doubt that….
Comments
This episodes has it’s moment, but it feels a bit TOO creepy. I have to agree with Buffy – that dummy gives me the wig!
Rating
* *
10. Nightmares
Summary
Everyone in Sunnydale is suddenly living their worst nightmares. It starts out small, with a kid seeing spiders crawling out of his book, Giles getting lost in the library, Buffy forgetting about a test, and Xander walking into class without clothes on. But soon it gets a lot worse. It all seem to be somehow related to a little boy who is in a coma.
Comments
Rather great episode. Lots of action and funny scenes. And it sure was nice to finally get to see Buffy’s dad (played by Dean Butler, mostly famous for his part on Little House on the Prairie). Here we get to see things we never expected to, like Buffy being killed and then turned into a vampire (!). Anything can happen when Buffy and friends live out their nightmares.
Rating
* * * *
11. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
Summary
It all starts with Mitch (Cordelia’s date for the spring dance) being beaten up – by an invisible bat! Next Cordelia’s friend Harmony falls down a flight of stars. She claims to have been pushed, but no one saw anyone push her. Could there be an invisible kid in school?
Comments
The moral of the episode is obvious – don’t treat people like they don’t exist. Interesting story, and several funny Cordelia-scenes. Although the end (with the “special” school for the invisible) is a bit too much.
Rating
* * *
12. Prophecy Girl
Summary
When reading the Codex he has gotten from Angel, Giles discovers Buffy’s fate. She will face the Master – and she will die.
Buffy walks in on Angel and Giles when they are discussing the Codex, and is shocked and what she hears. In order to save her life she decides to quit as a Slayer, and tries her best to avoid her awful destiny.
Comments
This is a really great episode, possibly the very best one. The scene where Buffy finds out she is going to die is unforgettable. Sarah Michelle Gellar really shows some great acting talent here.
Rating
* * * * *
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