Buffy Season One – Episode One – “Welcome to the Hellmouth”

The first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “Welcome to the Hellmouth,” introduces us to our hero Buffy in her new setting Sunnydale high. We meet her mother Joyce and her watcher Giles. Along with the Scoobies: Willow, Xander and even Cordelia they will be the crew that helps her defeat unspeakable evils that lurk around the Hellmouth. The Hellmouth is Ground Zero for all kinds of foul beasts. In this episode, the villain vampires Darla, Luke and the Big Bad Master are introduced – as well as the love of her life “Angel.”

The episode of starts with a break-in by the school library – a couple of normal kids is looking for a place to make out . The boy is a student at Sunnyvale and for a while the girl seems intimidated by him. He takes advantage of this and tries to scare her as much as he can for a joke. They continue to That changes when she reveals her true face – and shows that she is the vampire “Darla.” Darla was not really interested in the guy for love, instead she wanted to make him her dinner!

We meet Buffy Summers, the high school sophomore who faces her destiny as a slayer of the undead. However , to say that she tries to do anything she can to get away from that destiny is to put it mildly.

Buffy is from LA where she a popular cheerleader and had a busy social life as a freshman. However she was told of – and shown her destiny by her first Watcher Merrick. She reluctantly fought vampires, however she rose to the occasion when she had to. But when she had to she also burned down the vampire festered gym! The authorities did not understand of course – so she and her mother had a painful relocation to Sunnydale.

Buffy is bound and determined that she will not be Vampire Slayer Buffy but will just be regular teen age girl Buffy. Her fashion sense and prestige as someone coming from L.A. meant that she was a natural to be adopted as a Cordette” a cliche of rich, mean girls run by Cordelia Chase. Cordelia reaches out to her – and at first it looked like they could have a friendship together until Cordelia reveal her unnecessarily bitchy side by viciously picking on Willow.

But vampires are Buffy’s reality – not Queen of May

From the time she comes into the library and Giles gives her the book Vampyr instead of her school book – she knows she is living her destiny even as she resists.

“You really have no idea what is going on, do you? You think it is a coincidence you being here? That boy was just the beginning. That boy was just the beginning.”

Buffy asked :”Why can’t you people just leave me alone?”

“Because you are the Slayer. In each generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world – a chosen one. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires.”

Buffy explains why she has retired.

But by the end of this episode , Buffy is back to fighting vampires.

The idea of retiring comes back time and time again through out the series.

She tries to avoid her fate – but a vampire murder in the school drags her to her destiny.

Soon we meet Buffy’s two best friends Willow and Xander.

We learn about Willow and Xander in the next scenes . As they pour out of a history class where there was a lively discussion of the Black Death, Willow reveals that she has a wicked crush on Xander, although Xander considers her only as a best friend. And when it comes to unrequited crushes: Xander has a tremendous crush on Buffy from the first time he sees her and falls off his skateboard to the end of the series.

We meet up with Willow as she is having her lunch alone on a bench. Buffy reaches out to her, although Willow has such a poor self-image, she can’t even see why she would be making the effort. Xander hangs around Willow – so it is a natural group. We also meet the tragic Jesse.

After that gym is canceled because of a death in the locker room. As snoopy Buffy examines the vampire bitten neck she knows that it is happening again. She argues with Giles about her place in the scheme, but we know that she can’t escape her destiny forever.

The Hellmouth and the Master

Soon we learn that underneath Sunnydale idyllic Southern CA landscapes is the Hellmouth, with a enormously strong vampire who has been trapped there for decades.

We meet The Master, Darla’s sire, who is worshiped and obeyed by many of the underling vampires.

The Master is very tired of being trapped – and he is using his servants to get him to the surface so he can rule asap.

Buffy meets Angel: the Vampire with a Soul

No time is wasted in this series: even as Buffy is just walking to the Bronze she meets up with Angel. Even though Angel is a vampire – which Buffy does not know in this scene – he has been cursed with a soul by vengeful gypsies. Therefore he is tortured to remember the horrible evil deeds that he has done, and he is trying to make amends.

In the above scene he warns Buffy about where she is and what is at stake. He gives her a special gift of a cross necklace which she puts on.

The Bronze – the Nightclub Every Town Wants

Throughout the series we will be treated to some wonderful music – all played live at the club we wish we had in our town. Well except for the vampires.

The first trip to the Bronze is eventful, as all of them are. Even though you would think that some of the visits to a teen and college age club would just be drinking and dancing to cool live bands – it is never to be. But the Bronze seems to be the perfect place for Buffy to start meeting her friends.

Buffy meets the Bronze

First of all, Buffy meets Angel on the walk to the club. He follows her and they have a cryptic conversation when he also says that the time for waiting is gone – and that she must be ready for “The Harvest.”

Once she is at the club , she is met up with Giles, who was hoping that he could connect with her to further her training even if she was reluctant. She is snippy – but she comes to action when she watches Willow go “seize the moment” by picking just the wrong guy – a vampire. Before Buffy knows it she is involved in trying desperately to find the vampire before he sucks her new friend dry.

She meets up with Xander – and although he thinks the whole thing might be a joke he follows her out of concern for his good friend Willow. The vampire takes Willow through a graveyard and then into a crypt, where he prepares to kill her. Luckily Buffy finds him before he has the chance to kill Willow, but they are met up with the other stronger vampires. That includes Darla and the Master’s faithful servant: Luke.

Willow and Xander escape at Buffy’s insistence, but Buffy remains to fight the monster vampire Luke.

Episode one , “The Hellmouth” is part of a two episode arc. You need to watch episode two of Buffy to see how she gets out of this predicament which looks to be her certain death.

By the end of this episode, we realize that Buffy finds it almost impossible to NOT fight vampires. Although at some level she resist this because of the danger to herself and others in so many ways. At the end we are treated to a hair-raising cliff-hanger ending where we fear for Buffy’s life. If you want to find out what happened – read my review of Season One Episode two. And I hope I have talked her into watching the series!

PS – If you want your own journal that looks just like the giant book that Giles had, check out this Vampyr notebook. Apparently, it was started by some of the other Slayer Potentials and has all kinds of information about the Slayer line and the monsters they face. True enough you will have to watch the series to catch the references – but that is the point – watch the series!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vampyr Hardcover Ruled Journal

Luke tells Buffy matter-of-factly: “You’re strong. I’m stronger.”

And it appears that he is right: the scene ends as Buffy cowers .literally under Luke who is trying to kill her!