I'm a very recent convert to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I never watched it when it originally aired, and despite much insistence from two friends in the past year, I always refused on the grounds that I thought it wouldn't appeal. However, I recently found myself with a £12 voucher for an online store, and so decided to give this TV show a chance.
I bought season one, not expecting to like it. Fast forward two months, and I'm now the proud owner of all seven seasons of Buffy and the five seasons of the spin-off Angel. My bank account took a dent, let me tell you!
This review is about the season that started it all, though I'm pretty sure I'll write six more in time!
--Buffy? What's That?-- (Note: I'm using the American term "season" to describe each individual run, and "series" to describe the entire run of the show as a whole.)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a US TV series that began in 1997. The plot focuses around Buffy Summers, a teenage vampire slayer and her friends Willow, Xander and Giles. They fight their way through a horde of vampires and other evil beasties, whilst trying to go about their normal lives at the same time.
As the series progressed, the plots became more complicated and new characters were introduced. But here, in the first season, what we have is a TV show about a sixteen-year-old girl, her friends and the monster of the week.
--The Characters--
The main character is, of course, Buffy Summers. She's the new girl in the
town of Sunnydale and is the latest in a long line of Slayers. 'Into each generation a girl is born, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill needed to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness.' (And would you believe I knew that by heart? I have been watching too much Buffy!) Buffy is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Buffy's friends Willow and Xander are always there to help her out in a tight spot, played by Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon. Willow's character begins life as the school geek, into computers and schoolwork. However, over the course of the season and the series as a whole she develops into a great friend for Buffy. Xander is often played for comic relief, but he's a great friend for Buffy with a good heart.
Giles is Buffy's Watcher - the person who is there to help train her as the Slayer. Played by British actor Anthony Stewart Head, Giles works as the school librarian so he's always on hand to help. Giles is an amazing character spectacularly acted and adds a lot to the show.
Angel is a regular character in this first season, but we don't find out too much about him and he seems to just be there for the role of love interest. It's not until season two that he really comes into his own.
Other characters in this first season include Cordelia Chase - the type of girl you love to hate and on the surface she appears very shallow. She doesn't really do that much in this season except play the Queen bee!
--The Episodes--
Episode One: Welcome to the Hellmouth This first episode introduces us to the main players and the theme of the show - it's a vamp-fest from start to finish. Buffy starts at her new school, meets her friends and Watcher, and gets into plenty of trouble. This is a great episode to kick off the series.
Episode Two: The Harvest This is actually the second part of episode one, continuing the story. We meet the 'Big Bad' for season one - an ancient vampire that goes by the name of The Master. A good conclusion to the two-part season opener.
Episode Three: Witch Moving away from vampires for the moment, in this episode we see that the show is not all about the living dead. Buffy tries out for cheerleading, but something strange is going on involving witchcraft. This was the episode that really made me sit up and think, 'I like this show.'
Episode Four: Teacher's Pet Every season will have its stinkers, and Teacher's Pet is the worst of season one. The plot involves a giant praying mantis mating with teenage boys. The special effects are pretty shoddy in this, and the plot borders on the absurd. Definitely my least favourite of this season.
Episode Five: Never Kill A Boy on the First Date This is another episode that rates lowly for me. Despite the lingering glances with Angel in the previous episodes, we see Buffy going after the studly Owen whilst trying to deal with the potential threat of the 'Anointed One'. On the whole it's not a bad episode, but the actor who played Owen wasn't great.
Episode Six: The Pack Animal possession? The school principal getting eaten by those students? It sounds absurd but this is actually a pretty good episode as far as season one standards go. It's entertaining and has that Buffy charm.
Episode Seven: Angel One of the best episodes in this season, Buffy finally learns the truth about the tall, dark and handsome Angel.
Episode Eight: I Robot - You Jane Ack, another stinker. Perhaps that's too harsh - the general concept of the episode, that a demon takes over the internet - is OK, but the execution of it and the final reveal of the monster aren't brilliant.
Episode Nine: The Puppet Show This one freaks me out because I have an irrational fear of ventriloquist dummies. There's a school talent show and one of the acts is stealing people's brains. It's a pretty good episode but not one I'd watch again because of the walking, talking dummy!
Episode Ten: Nightmares This is a great, clever episode that makes you really begin to see and understand just how great Buffy is. The Sunnydale High students find that their nightmares are beginning to manifest and this gives some entertaining and frightening results.
Episode Eleven: Out of Mind, Out of Sight There's an invisible girl loose in Sunnydale High and she's got it in for Cordelia. To me this is a middle-of-the-road episode, a little forgettable but still watchable and entertaining.
Episode Twelve: Prophecy Girl Here's what the entire season has been leading up to: the big finale, Buffy vs. The Master. Buffy finds out that she is the subject of an ancient prophecy, that the Master will kill her and unleash hell on earth. A great episode - and I think one of the best season finales in the series despite the dodgy special effects!
--Special Features--
Unlike later DVDs in the series, season one has very few special features. They're also not neatly organised in one place either, each episode has it's own special features option. There are a few episodes with commentaries, and a couple that have other features such as music videos.
--Overall--
Looking back, having watched all seven seasons of the show, I definitely think this is the weakest. However, there's still a lot here to like and it got me hooked! The characters are great, the individual storylines are fun and sometimes frightening, and the overall plot arc of season one worked really well.
It definitely left me wanting more as evidenced by the fact that I went straight out and bought the rest!
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Vampire-slayer Buffy Summers moves to Sunnydale, a Californian community located above the ... more
"Hellmouth", a phenomenon which explains the local graveyard's overpopulation of vampires and other supernatural beings. Angel, a mysterious loiterer, starts fli...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Vampire-slayer Buffy Summers moves to Sunnydale, a Californian community located above the ... more
"Hellmouth", a phenomenon which explains the local graveyard's overpopulation of vampires and other supernatural beings. Angel, a mysterious loiterer, starts fli...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 1 to 2 days...
Advantages: New packaging is sturdier than the original, first season of an excellent series Disadvantages: Picture quality not quite as good as it could have been.
![Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Complete Season 1 [DVD] [1998]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78528469.jpg "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Complete Season 1 [DVD] [1998]")
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