One reason movie sequels seem to do so well is that you already "know" the characters. You've grown to care about what happens to them. The only drawback is that up until the sequel comes out, you're stuck with the same old two hours of your old friends' lives, not to mention you have to wait 2-3 years to find out what happens to them.

Well, ever since I raided my sister's Buffy collection about three months ago, I've wondered who in the world has time to wait that long?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a television show that aired from '97 to '03, and is about a high school girl named Buffy Summers (whose initials are B.S.). She is the Chosen One, kind of like Neo, but for reasons and purposes that are gradually explained over the course of this, the first season of the show.

Buffy befriends a few students at Sunnydale High School, who will come to be her partners in crime and debauchery for the entire life of the show. Even the school librarian, Rupert Giles, gets in on the action as Buffy's Watcher. The main players in the group are nerd queen Willow Rosenberg, nice guy finishing last Xander Harris, Giles, and a few others that come and go. Cordelia the ice queen and uber-prep shakes up a little trouble, and then there is an ominous warrior called Angel, with whom Buffy falls in love.

As the seasons progress, more creative ways are thought up for the others to contribute, but for now in Season One, most of the fighting rests on Buffy's shoulders, while the major role of the others is to research. You'll notice that not all of the episodes are simply Buffy duking it out with a bunch of vampires. This is high school, after all, and there are bigger, better and more interesting problems to conquer along the way.

Buffy's training is a long, arduous process, but even that consists of much more than going out and decapitating the undead. When she and Giles stand at the second floor of The Bronze, a club where various bands come to play, and he tells her to try and "sense" if a vampire is present in the club, that moment to me defines what Buffy's life is. Constantly surrounded by people having fun, she always has to be on the lookout for greater, more sinister things happening. This is a conflict that Buffy faces through all Seven Seasons of the show.

Buffy and Angel find that they make a pretty good team a few episodes into the first season, but you see, Angel is a vampire. And therein lies the rub. This, too, is a conflict that does not weigh heavily on the First Season, but becomes remarkably more intense in the following two seasons.

Season One is the shortest of the seven Seasons, with 12 episodes as opposed to the 22 Episodes that comprise the other six seasons. By and large, it is merely an introduction of things to come and as such, does not take the same "risks" that the later Seasons will come to take. My three-star rating does not reflect the quality of this Season by itself, as it would easily be four stars on its own. But compared to the other Seasons, it pales.

At 45 minutes per Episode, you're already talking about as much time as it would take to watch the entire original Star Wars Trilogy.

So without further ado, let's stake a look at each individual Episode.

Episode 1: Welcome to the Hellmouth (7/10)
Buffy was hoping Sunnydale would prove to be an escape from her life of vampire slaying, but as escaping goes, she could not have picked a worse spot. A nasty phenomenon known as the Hellmouth waits right under the library floor... which will actually mean something later (and again, much later) but for the time being, it isn't formidable enough to keep the library from being the gang's favorite hangout.
Best Quote:
Buffy: "I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire. It's not like I have all these fluffy bunny feelings for them, I'm just not going to get way extra-curricular with it."

Episode 2: The Harvest (6/10)
Angel comes to play a more integral role, and the vampires are out to make their long-awaited Harvest. Only Buffy can stop them, yadda yadda!
Best Quote:
Buffy: "Who are you?"
Angel: "Let's just say...I'm a friend."
Buffy: "Yeah, well, maybe I don't want a friend."
Angel: "I didn't say I was yours."

Episode 3: The Witch (7/10)
Here is where action takes a backseat to the ingenious writing of one David Greenwalt. More funny and dramatic, this one finds Buffy joining the cheerleading squad, just trying to live a normal life. But certain other girls are acting funny, and it's not just out of jealousy..! Great twist at the end on this one. I've seen movies that aren't half as brilliant.
Best Quote:
Xander: "Where was I?"
Willow: "You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience."
Xander: "Who said I was pretending?"

Episode 4: Teacher's Pet (6/10)
Loserboy Xander (who is still cool) falls for his Bio teacher, not realizing she is really a praying mantis in disguise. And if you think that's as weird as this show gets, you've got another thing coming.
Best Quote:
Xander: "It's funny how the Earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to."


Episode 5: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date (5/10)
Buffy starts dating this guy named Owen, and brushes off her vampire slaying duties to go out with him. Only then things get pretty rough, forcing her to bring him along to the big showdown.
Best Quote:
Buffy: "If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

Episode 6: The Pack (9/10)
This is my favorite Episode of the Season. Xander gets involved with the wrong crowd, and one day at the zoo, their minds are possessed by rabid hyenas. Nicholas Brendon (as Xander) does an absolutely awesome job in this episode, turning his character in a complete 180. The hint of a possible future relationship with Willow reveals itself here as well.
Best Quote:
Xander: "We just saw the zebras mating! Thank you, very exciting..."
Willow: "It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!"

Episode 7: Angel (7/10)
The relationship between Buffy and Angel kicks into second gear when he spends the night at her place (hey hey, I just said second gear now). Later, a vampire known as Darla, who dresses like a Catholic schoolgirl, attacks Buffy's mom Joyce, making it look like Angel did it. Some strange and bizarre truths are revealed about Angel here. David Boreanaz plays the role of Angel with a disarming quietness; he is easily one of the most complicated characters here, and this eventually leads to him branching off into his own show, Angel, which ran for five Seasons.
Best Quote:
Xander: "Buffy, c'mon, wake up and smell the seduction. It's the oldest trick in the book."
Buffy: "What? Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?"
Xander: "Duh!"

Episode 8: I Robot, You Jane (5/10)
Willow thinks she's falling in love with a guy she meets on the internet, but then she ends up releasing some strange demon called Moloch. Also, we get to know the computer teacher Miss Calendar, who has become a friend of Giles.
Best Quote:
Buffy: "Hey, did you forget? The one boy I've had the hots for since I've moved here turned out to be a vampire."
Xander: "Right, and the teacher I had a crush on? Giant praying mantis?"
Willow: "That's true."
Xander: "Yeah, that's life on the Hellmouth."
Buffy: "Let's face it: none of us are ever gonna have a happy, normal relationship."
Xander: "We're doomed!"

Episode 9: The Puppet Show (6/10)
Here comes Principal Snyder, one of the most meddlesome and bothersome characters in the whole life of the show. Here, he "forces" Buffy and her friends to help out with the upcoming talent show. But then it seems that a certain student, Morgan, who is a ventriloquist, has a dummy with a mind of its own.
Best Quote:
Sid (The Dummy): "How about you and I do a little rehearsing on our own, honey? You know what they say: Once you go wood, nothing's as good."

Episode 10: Nightmares (9/10)
This is another excellent episode in which everyone's worst nightmares come true. But one kid who lies in a coma in the hospital is having the worst nightmares of all... and those nightmares might just have something to do with what put him there in the first place. Action packed, hilarious and touching, it's near perfection. Watch for the scene in which Buffy's nightmare comes true and her father tells her how unimportant and disappointing she is to him. If that isn't a tearjerker, I don't know what is.
Best Quote:
Buffy: "I'm glad you showed up. You see, I'm having a really bad day."
Ugly Man: "Lucky 19."
Buffy: "Scary. I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you. And I'm one of them."

Episode 11: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind (2/10)
Nobody pays attention to Marcie, and well, this pretty much drives her out of her mind and makes her literally invisible. Now she's haunting all of Cordelia's friends, the big attention-getters basically. Not one of the better episodes, mostly 'cause Cordelia is one of those "pointless" characters and Charisma Carpenter who plays her is dwarfed by the competition.
Best Quote:
Cordelia: "You should have seen him lying there all black and blue. How's that going to look in our Prom pictures? How am I ever going to be able to show them to anyone?"
Harmony: "Well, they can do wonderful things with airbrushes these days."

Episode 12: Prophecy Girl (8/10)
A prophecy says that Buffy will die while facing The Master, a demon who has been looming around throughout the entire Season. The confrontation proves to be unavoidable, even though Buffy is scared out of her wits. Sarah Michelle Gellar rocks the house down with her performance in this one. The scene in which Xander attempts to ask Buffy out sticks with me as well.
Best Quote:
Xander: "Nah. Forget it. I'm not him. I mean, I guess a guy's gotta be undead to make time with you."
Buffy: "That's really harsh."
Xander: "Look, I'm sorry. I don't handle rejection well. Funny! Considering all the practice I've had, huh?"

And with how long that took, I shudder at the thought of moving on to Season Two...
Final Score = 77/120 = 64.17%

Season 7
Season 6
Season 5
Season 4
Season 3
Season 2

An abridged cast list follows:

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
Mark Metcalf as The Master
David Boreanaz as Angel
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Robia LaMorte as Ms. Calendar
Julie Benz as Darla
Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder


Season One is a good place to start (Naw, really!?) to basically learn the ropes, who is who, and all that. Although it's not quite as riveting as some of the later Seasons, I think it makes them better to watch simply because you know what's going on.

Before starting back at Season One, I had witnessed an Episode here and there, and really enjoyed it. But I still think that they don't carry the same emotional weight if you don't "follow" them.

Should you choose to embrace Season One as part of your DVD collection, be prepared to become addicted. A responsible viewing of 2-4 Episodes a day will still keep you busy for about two months!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is like Lay's Potato Chips -- Betcha can't watch just one.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12