Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season One (1997)
Just before Christmastime 2005, a box set of all seven Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons was released, entitled The Chosen Collection. Having watched all the episodes a couple years ago, I had wanted to eventually pick up all the seasons for rewatchability and geeking out over them. This is the byproduct of that geeking out. This is a somewhat barebones episode-by-episode runthrough of the season. I'm not expecting anyone but actual fans of the show to read this, but if there are those of you that are interested in getting into the Buffyverse, feel free to ask any questions. If I don't have an answer for you, perhaps andythesaint, the author of his own Top 25 Buffy Episodes, will be able to answer them.
I noticed a couple days before typing this up that IMDB.com added more info in relation to TV series. There are now invididual episode pages for every single episode, with appropriate info that I may have left out included. Each episode is given a rating based on the Seasonal Plot Development with the Big Bad, as well as an Action rating, an Overall Character Development rating, a rating based on the overall Look of the show, and a Whedonesque rating.
Whedonesque is hard to pinpoint exactly, since you won't be able to truly recognise it until you've been immersed into Joss Whedon's work for an extended period. There's just a certain feel his stories and dialogue have. Certain repeated thematic elements, like a young, powerful, kickass girl. Anyways, these ratings are based on my own personal feel for each episode, & then added to My Rating for the ep, to get an Overall rating out of 10. As well, I'm keeping a running tally for all the dusted vampires, all the vampire victims, and the victims that are turned into vamps. In some cases the dustings or murders happen offscreen, or are alluded to during the show. Therefore, it's not going to be the most completely accurate count.
All synopsis' are culled from the Episode Guide booklet included in the Chosen Collection, which sometimes leads to misleading plot details. If the synopsis is a bit off, I'll make mention of it.
The Regular Cast
Sarah Michelle Gellar .... Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon .... Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan .... Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter .... Cordelia Chase
Anthony Stewart Head .... Rupert Giles
Welcome to the Hellmouth - Episode 1 Airdate: 3/3/97
Guest Stars - Julie Benz (Darla), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Eric Balfour (Jesse McNally), Ken Lerner (Principal Flutie), David Boreanaz (Angel), Brian Thompson (Luke), Mark Metcalf (The Master)
Bronze Band - Sprung Monkey
First Appearances - Darla, the first vampire ever seen in the Buffyverse; Buffy Summers, the Chosen One; Joyce Summers, Buffy's mother; Xander Harris, student at Sunnydale and one of the first friend's that Buffy makes; Willow Rosenberg, student at Sunnydale and another fast friend of Buffy's; Jesse McNally, another Sunnydale student that somehow makes Xander look cooler in comparison; Sunnydale High Principal Flutie; Cordelia Chase, Sunnydale student that specialises in bitchery; Rupert Giles, Sunnydale High Librarian and member of the Watcher's Council as well as teacher to Buffy; Angel, mysterious advice-giving guy to Buffy; The Master, the first Big Bad, an ancient vampire trapped under Sunnydale; Luke, lead lackey to The Master
Synopsis - Sophomore Buffy Summers transfers to Sunnydale High to make a fresh start, but can't escape her destiny as a Slayer because Sunnydale just happens to be at the mouth of Hell.
Running Counts
Vampire Victims (VV) - 1
Vampires Dusted (VD) - 1
Victims Turned (VT) - 0
Ratings
Plot Development - 4 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
Character Development - 4 / 5
Look - 2 / 5
Whedonesque - 3 / 5
My Rating - 3 / 5
Overall - 6.2 / 10
The Harvest - Episode 2 Airdate: 3/10/97
Guest Stars - Metcalf, Lerner, Sutherland, Benz, Balfour, Boreanaz, Thompson, Mercedes McNab (Harmony)
First Appearances - Harmony, Sunnydale student and friend of Cordelia's
Synopsis - Buffy swings into action in a fight to the death with the Master, a powerful vampire intent on making a meal of her newfound friends and re-opening the mouth of Hell. Buffy doesn't actually fight the Master at all in this ep, just Luke, his representative above ground.
Running Counts
VV - 2 (3)
VD - 5 (6)
VT - 1 (1)
Ratings
PD - 4 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
CD - 4 / 5
Look - 4 / 5
WHDN - 3 / 5
My Rating - 3 / 5
Overall - 6.6 / 10
Witch - Episode 3 Airdate: 3/17/97
Guest Stars - Sutherland, Elizabeth Anne Allen (Amy Madison), Robin Riker (Catherine Madison), William Monaghan (Dr. Gregory)
First Appearances - Amy Madison, the first Buffyverse witch; Dr. Gregory, Biology teacher at Sunnydale
Synopsis - School spirit gets ugly when cheerleader tryouts take a supernatural turn and Buffy gets bewitched as she tries to make the squad.
Ratings
PD - 1 / 5
Action - 2 / 5
CD - 3 / 5
Look - 2 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 3 / 5
Overall - 5.4 / 10
Teacher's Pet - Episode 4 Airdate: 3/24/97
Guest Stars - Boreanaz, Lerner, Musetta Vander (Natalie French / Preying Mantis), Price Jackson (Blayne Moll), Jean Speegle Howard (Real Natalie French)
Bronze Band - Superfine
Synopsis - Buffy gets bugged by the substitute biology teacher who's seducing and devouring the boys at Sunnydale High.
Running Counts
VD - 1 (7)
Ratings
PD - 2 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
CD - 2 / 5
Look - 3 / 5
WHDN - 3 / 5
My Rating - 3 / 5
Overall - 5.6 / 10
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date - Episode 5 Airdate: 3/31/97
Guest Stars - Metcalf, Boreanaz, Christopher Wiehl (Owen Thurman), Geoff Meed (Andrew Vorba), Andrew J. Ferchland (Colin / The Annointed One)
Bronze Band - Velvet Chain
First Appearances - Colin / The Annointed One, little kid that you just want to slap, destined to follow in The Master's footsteps or something
Synopsis - Buffy starts dating a classmate, but is interrupted by a vampire plot to lead her to Hell.
Running Counts
VV - 5 (8)
VD - 2 (9)
VT - 2 (3)
Ratings
PD - 3 / 5
Action - 4 / 5
CD - 3 / 5
Look - 4 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 4 / 5
Overall - 7.6 / 10
The Pack - Episode 6 Airdate: 4/7/97
Guest Stars - Lerner, Eion Bailey (Kyle DuFours), Michael McCraine (Rhonda Kelley), Brian Gross (Tor Hauer), Jennifer Sky (Heidi Barrie), Jeff Maynard (Lance), James Stephens (Zookeeper)
Synopsis - Buffy and Willow discover that all men are animals when Xander and the other boys from school are possessed by bloodthirsty demonic hyenas. It's not all the other boys at school that are possessed, just Xander and four other students, two boys and two girls. Features the first big death of the series, when Principal Flutie is eaten
Ratings
PD - 2 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
CD - 3 / 5
Look - 4 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 5 / 5
Overall - 8.2 / 10
Angel - Episode 7 Airdate: 4/14/97
Guest Stars - Benz, Metcalf, Boreanaz, Sutherland, Ferchland
Synopsis - Buffy finds herself irresistibly drawn to the mysterious Angel, but must pull herself away when she discovers his terrible secret and ungodly past. REVEALED: Angel is a vampire, and vampires can't enter a person's place of living unless they're invited. STAKED: Darla. FIRST KISS: Buffy and Angel.
Running Counts
VD - 4 (13)
Ratings
PD - 5 / 5
Action - 4 / 5
CD - 4 / 5
Look - 5 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 5 / 5
Overall - 9.4 / 10
I, Robot...You, Jane - Episode 8 Airdate: 4/28/97
Guest Stars - Robia LaMorte (Jenny Calendar), Chad Lindberg (Dave), Jamison Ryan (Fritz Seigel)
First Appearances - Jenny Calendar, the school computer sciences teacher or something
Synopsis - Reading can be fun - unless there's a demon trapped in the book. Willow falls under a very literate spell that hides out on the Internet and puts Buffy's life on the line. Not so much a spell as it is a demon that is released onto the Internet after scanning an ancient text into the school's library database.
Ratings
PD - 2 / 5
Action - 2 / 5
CD - 2 / 5
Look - 3 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 3 / 5
Overall - 5.6 / 10
The Puppet Show - Episode 9 Airdate: 5/5/97
Guest Stars - Sutherland, Richard Werner (Morgan Shay), Burke Roberts (Marc), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder), Tom Wyner (voice of Sid)
First Appearances - Sunnydale High Principal Snyder, the second Principal for Sunnydale in the history of the series
Synopsis - Someone or something is killing the school's talent show contestants for their organs and all eyes are on a spooky ventriloquist dummy named Sid.
Ratings
PD - 1 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
CD - 2 / 5
Look - 5 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 4 / 5
Overall - 7 / 10
Nightmares - Episode 10 Airdate: 5/12/97
Guest Stars - Metcalf, Sutherland, Ferchland, Jeremy Foley (Billy Palmer), Dean Butler (Hank Summers)
First Appearances - Hank Summers, Buffy's father
Synopsis - When everyone's nightmares become reality, Buffy has to draw on her mental strength to put the terrible dreams to bed. This show also contains the appearance of the freakiest fucking clown ever.
Ratings
PD - 2 / 5
Action - 4 / 5
CD - 3 / 5
Look - 5 / 5
WHDN - 5 / 5
My Rating - 5 / 5
Overall - 8.8 / 10
Out of Mind, Out of Sight - Episode 11 Airdate: 5/19/97
Guest Stars - McNab, Boreanaz, Clea DuVall (Marcie Ross), Shimerman
Synopsis - Ignore her at your own risk - Cordelia campaigns for the May Queen Crown, but the supernatural force of an unpopular girl conspires against Buffy and her friends. Xander gets off what I think is the line of the season. After Cordelia's boyfriend is attacked by a floating baseball bat, Xander opines "Maybe it's a vampire bat."
Ratings
PD - 2 / 5
Action - 3 / 5
CD - 4 / 5
Look - 5 / 5
WHDN - 4 / 5
My Rating - 4 / 5
Overall - 7.6 / 10
Prophecy Girl - Episode 12 Airdate: 6/2/97
Guest Stars - Metcalf, Ferchland, Boreanaz, Sutherland, LaMorte
Synopsis - Buffy's future looks bleak when Giles discovers an ancient book that foretells her death and the end of the world. But she's determined to survive and party at the Spring Fling. DIES: Buffy. REVIVED: Buffy
Running Counts
VV - 5 13 total vampire victims for the first season
VD - 5 18 total vampires dusted for the first season
VT - 0 3 total victims turned into vampires in the first season
Ratings
PD - 3 / 5
Action - 5 / 5
CD - 3 / 5
Look - 5 / 5
WHDN - 5 / 5
My Rating - 4 / 5
Overall - 8.2 / 10
The Verdict
The first season non-vamp episodes don't really rock as hard as the regular vamp-intensive eps do, but that will be rectified in future seasons. There are a few future threads dropped here and there throughout the season, namely the first mention of the Primals in The Pack, and the death of Buffy in Prophecy Girl. This is a very self-referential show, and that is displayed throughout many of the early episodes, making me super-happy with the attention paid to detail and continuity.
Average for the 1st Season: 7.18 / 10
My Top Five Favourite Episodes of Season One
5. Out of Mind, Out of Sight (Ep11) - I've always sorta had a weird thing for Clea DuVall. I can't entirely explain it, other than she just seems to me to be a talented actress, & almost attainable for a nobody like me. Sadly, she's mostly invisible for this entire episode. Even though it's a gyp, it's still a good one.
4. The Puppet Show (Ep9) - dude.. it's got a puppet in it! If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE PUPPETS. This one just so happens to be a demon hunter as well.
3. Nightmares (Ep10) - one of the first completely crazy-go-nuts episodes in the Buffyverse, as well as showcase just how downright the characters can be, thanks to the physical manifestation of their own personal nightmares. Not just for the zany, but also for the emotionally heart-wrenching fuck-over Buffy's dad gives her.
2. The Pack (Ep6) - one of the darkest episodes of the first season, with one of Buffy's gang being turned evil, if only for a short period. Showed the potential the series would eventually live up to, in that Whedon will take a character you love and completely fuck with the way you feel about them.
1. Angel (Ep7) - provides the first slightly startling revelation in the short history of the show, as well as setting the stage for many years to come character-wise for the next eight-plus years. Buffy and Angel kiss for the first time, Darla gets staked by Angel, it's all gravy.