Michele was part of the original 1997 intended audience and feverishly awaited new episodes weekly. Brosia is a teen now, watching for the first time 21 years after Buffy changed our pop culture. Michele feels old.
Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2
Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest
Michele Says:
First, a little background. Buffy premiered in the spring of 1997 when Cartoon Network was only 2 years old, and the Disney Channel was still a premium channel like HBO and Showtime. There wasn’t a lot of middle ground between kid and adult programming, and what was there tended to be very soap opera-y. There weren’t a lot of fantasy shows period (though there were some science fiction shows, like Earth 2 and Sliders), and horror themes were still very much meant for horror movies, not necessarily incorporated into other shows as metaphors. The big trends in tv, as far as I remember, were sitcoms (the TGIF block of Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step etc.) or dramas/soaps (there was a hugely hypes Knots Landing mini “reunion”.)
So Buffy was huge, not just because of the “prequel” movie, but because maturing audiences were hungry for something new.
Buffy Summers arrives in Sunnydale, California, where she quickly learns vampires run rampant here, most people have no clue, and her need to protect people is more important than her need to not get into trouble again. Instead she discovers the town is on a literal mouth of Hell, with all kinds of monsters drawn to it, or in the case of the first season, trapped in it.
There’s a lot to connect with. Teens all feel isolated, martyred, overwhelmed by the transition between child and adult, and very unprepared to face adult challenges. So we have a teen who wants to be carefree and fulfill the obligations of teendom (go to school, learn to be productive, stay out of trouble, graduate and magically transition to being a productive member of society) but she is cursed with unique knowledge of a threat adults don’t see (don’t all teens feel so burdened?), and even more so she is literally The Chosen One, with augmented physical traits (more speed, strength and healing) making her responsible for saving those who can’t, or won’t save themselves.
The pilot episodes (Welcome to the Hellmouth & The Harvest) are fairly standard teen drama stuff. There’s the bully (Cordelia), the hot guy (Angel), the non threatening geeky bff (Willow, well, kinda. We’ll get to that later), the lovable puppy dog who isn’t exciting enough to be a love interest (Xander), and the wise mentor from a completely different culture to herd this pod of cats (Giles). Buffy wants to ignore the vampire menace, but she can’t because her brand new, very passive bff is the first to be threatened with teeth in the neck. Then random friend group member who is destined to be the first to die to motivate the characters ends up kidnapped by vampires.
In what feels more like a two part mini series than the first episodes of a long running show, Buffy foils a super powered vampire lord who is out for a really big night of slaughter. Of course, this isn’t the real big bad. But now Buffy is exposed to her friends, and to the season’s Big Bad, The Master, who will now spend many episodes toying with and trying to kill Buffy and the Scoobies, while being trapped in the sewers (for some unknown reason.)
Honestly, the first few episodes aren’t impressive, especially by today’s standards. At the time, though the inclusion of geeks/misfits who were not Outsiders or Heathers cool, and actually bumbled and stumbled and found usefulness was new. As was the metaphor of vampire hunting and literal demons walking the street to represent an extremely turbulent time in a person’s life, when friends vanish, parents seem to not understand, and life seems dangerous and unpredictable.
And the skinny, pretty, bubbly blonde with a bitch streak and super strength glibly killing vampires instead of being picked off by them was fun as hell.
Brosia Says:
As a teenager in 2018, badass vampire hunters with a sassy personality is nothing new. There are plenty of awesome superheroines to look up to. Buffy Summers is just that; a sassy teenage “Chosen One” that drags her friends into her life problems. It’s not amazing, mostly because I’ve seen a similar beginning play out a hundred time. Girl moves into town, meets the popular girl, sides with the nerds, saves the nerds from evil that is trying to kill all humans, and spend a little time wooing her love interest.
I do love the characters though. I relate a lot to Willow, who is probably my favorite character. Mostly because I’ve become that girl in high school who just sits and writes because everyone is already in their own clicks.
Xander is super adorable, and it hurts my soul knowing he will always be friendzoned by Buffy. He tries so hard…
Giles is like that one adult that tries to control you, but doesn’t know how to get you to actually listen. He doesn’t understand threats or bribing or anything that will actually get students attention/motivate them to work. It’s fun watching how he acts with all the different personalities in the group.
Buffy is cool. She seems to be a little overpowering at times, but part of that is she already has some experience in the world of slaying vampires.
Overall, the show is scarily cliché by today’s standards. That’s not going to stop me from loving it, but I don’t think it’s gotten to the good part yet. Right it’s just kinda “Hey! Looking at this awesome, relatable teenage girl who skips school to kick vampire ass and receive gifts from a piece of eye candy! And her friends.” I hope it gets better.