Welcome to episode 8 of the show we all know and love. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This story was written by Ashley Gable & Thomas A. Swyden. While being a great episode it does date the show more than any other episode. Not for any real reason other than the laptops seen in it. They look so ancient. The story itself almost fits in better now than it did then.
It starts off in the 1400's where a demon who gets people to love him before killing them is banished into a book for all time. Or at least till some stupid people from the 90's scan him into the computer and set him free on the internet. Who is responsible for all of this? Well the computer teacher and her students. Now this computer teacher? Yeah she is Jenny Calendar, future girlfriend of Giles and all around cool character whose time was cut far too short. After everyone else leaves for the day Willow stays late and scans the book in question onto the schools computer. Right afterwards a message reads Where am I? The next day Willow tells Buffy that she was up all night talking to some guy, Buffy is all excited for her until she finds out that she met the guy online. That part scares Buffy. Willow gets kind of hurt that Buffy isn't happy for her so Buffy changes gears and becomes the supportive friend. We see students, with the old ancient laptop, papers get replaced with pro-Nazi papers. The demon is on the move. Xander is jealous of Willow and her new online boyfriend. He is jealous of everyone and everything this season. Season one Xander is Mr. Jealousy. If a turtle got a girlfriend he would break down in tears. He starts putting thoughts into Buffy's head and gets her to rethink the relationship as well. Now she is against Willow's new relationship as well. Willow starts coming to school late and blowing off classes. She starts getting into fights with Buffy about it. This new relationship is causing problems in their friendship and her life as a whole. Buffy goes to one of the smart guys in school for help and he gets all weird about it. Buffy thinks for a moment that he is behind it but he swears he isn't. Buffy goes to Giles and he thinks all the people who use computers are crazy like that. He can't do anything to help. Buffy follows the smart kid back to a building runs by scientists. The weirder smart kid gets orders from the computer to kill Buffy. Things are getting bad and fast! Xander tells them that it closed down last year. So the question is who reopened it and why? Buffy says that her spider senses are tingling, a Marvel reference that fits well since the X-Man Kiddy Pryde is one of the inspirations for Buffy Summers herself. Buffy and Xander plan to check it out why Willow talks to her boyfriend who is starting to scare her. Giles and Jenny get into a fight about computers vs books. Giles makes some good points that over the years have been proven to be true. Human interaction is quickly dying. We have started to cut ourselves off from one another and go out of our way to hide in our homes and pretend other people don't exist. It is getting bad! Buffy is told that Willow is looking for her in the locker room where the shower is on. Buffy goes to turn it off and someone throws live wires into it almost killing her if it was for the one smart guy warning her. She lived but only just. The smart guy quits working for the computer demon. Buffy and the others figure out what is going on. Buffy tries to find out more about him but the demon confronts Buffy and Xander says that he can't do anything while stuck in a computer while Buffy and Xander point out all that he can do. While this story is good for when it was made it could be so much more deadly in the modern age where we live our whole lives behind these damn machines. Xander keeps trying to get a hold of Willow. Buffy finds the guy who saved her dead so she sets out with Xander to find and keep Willow safe while Giles tries to find a way to get the demon out of the computer and back into the book. Willow gets home to find a massage from her boyfriend wanting to meet her. She closes it and it turns back on. Someone knocks on the door but there is no one there. She turns around to look and gets kidnapped. Giles starts to tell Jenny about the supernatural but she already knows. Buffy and Xander find Willow's house empty. Where are her parents? They figure that she must be at the building the computer kids rebuilt. Jenny knows the demon Giles is taking about. She is saying that everything he can find in his books she can find online. She is basically a cyber witch. She agrees to help Giles get him back into the book. Willow wakes up to see her boyfriend, a evil demon robot. Adam? No not yet! The first evil robot demon! Jenny puts together a cyber circle to try and trap him again. Willow tells the demon off for lying to her. He tells her that he didn't. He also points how the world needs him. How people are evil and hurt each other every chance they get. He can save people from themselves. All they have to do is give him their love. Giles and Jenny start preforming the spell as Buffy and Xander try to get to Willow who is trapped with the demon. He finally accepts that she doesn't want to be with him. He feels that the only thing left to do is kill her but Giles spell halts him for a minute while Buffy breaks into the room. The spell works, well kind of. He isn't trapped in the book, he is trapped in his robot body. The demon tries to kill the Scooby's, even over powering Buffy. Willow starts hitting him with a fire extinguisher. It gives Buffy the distraction she needs to electrocute him and save the day. Giles goes to see Jenny, giving her an earring and you can see just how much he likes her. Giles says that knowledge gained from computers are fleeting where as the knowledge from books lasts a great deal longer. She also starts flirting with Giles. The Scooby's talk about how none of them have good love lives. They are all doomed to cursed relationships.
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The origin of Angel is here at last, written by the one and only David Greenwalt. The episode starts off with the Master growing more and more pissed off that Buffy keeps stopping his me so he sends the 3 The Scooby's hang out at the Bronze as it has the most unsanitary event known to man. The prefumigation party where if you kill and turn in a cockroach you get a free drink. And people dig this. What happened to our health codes? To human hygiene? I' disgusted. . . oh look a cockroach. Where's my free drink?
Buffy heads home and is attacked by the 3 when Angel swings by to save her. They rush back to her house where she invites him in. Angel takes his shirt off so that Buffy can patch him up and you can see how attracted to him she is. The chemistry between these two is intense Joyce comes home and Buffy rushes to her aid and tries to get upstairs as fast as possible, so that she wouldn't find Angel so of course he comes out and introduces himself. Joyce kicks Angel out so Buffy pretends to have him leave and then sneaks him up into her room. Angel tells Buffy that vampires killed him family, it is kind of true, one vampire killed his family. He did it himself when e first became one. He quickly changes the topic when it gets close to this. Buffy and Angel have their first sleepover and while nothing happens between the two of them it is still very sweet. Xander is beyond jealous. There isn't a word for how jealous he is. It's bad. The 3 offer their lives to the Master since they failed and he toys around with the thought of letting them live, then Darla kills them. Giles tries to tell Buffy that she needs a lot more training and she kicks his ass showing him up. She gets home and finds her diary on the stand and starts yelling at Angel about reading it and that nothing he thinks he read is what she meant. He tells her that her mother moved it and he never looked inside. The two start kissing and he vamps out and jumps from the window. She lets out a scream, the man of her dreams just became the man of her nightmares. Giles tells Buffy that there is no such thing as a good vampire. She has to slay him. It is her duty. Angel goes home to find Darla waiting for him. We learn here that Darla and Angel have a history. That they have been together for a long time and she is pissed that he is running around with a high school girl. He says that he isn't like Darla and the others and she points out that he is more like them than he would like to admit, that he can only hide from it for so long and the real Angel will come out soon. It's also the first time we hear about the curse. Giles finds records of Angel but they are old. He hasn't done anything in almost a 100 years. Buffy asks if he could have reformed and Giles says that vampires don't reform. Later that night Willow and Buffy are working on history so that they can really talk about boys instead. Buffy doesn't want to kill Angel, she thinks he is a good man, or vamp as it is. Joyce is home alone when Darla knocks on the door. She pretends to be a friend of Buffy's who is here to help her study for history. Joyce invites her in. Angel gets to the house just as Joyce lets out a scream and Darla has started feeding. She tosses the body to Angel and takes off. He vamps out, he didn't mean to it was just instinct but Buffy walks in and tosses him out of a window telling him that she will kill him if she sees him again. Buffy gets Joyce to the hospital where the other Scooby's meet up with her. She is very confused about the librarian being there but she rolls with it. Buffy is now on a war path. She wants to go and stop Angel, she is pissed and wants blood. Giles warns her that Angel is dangerous and she needs to be careful while Darla is whispering dark thoughts into Angel's ear. He doesn't want to hear it but Darla won't stop. Joyce and Giles start talking about Buffy. The start of a horrible relationship that Giles needs no part of. He can do so much better than her. Joyce mentions Darla and Giles figures out what really happens. He tells Willow and Xander and the three of them set off to go find Buffy. Buffy tracks Angel down to the Bronze, since it is closed it is the perfect place for a show down. Angel doesn't try to explain who he is, what he is he just goes for the fight. Almost as if he wants to die. He even starts taunting Buffy, she asks him why he played all these games with her. Why didn't he just attack and kill her when he had the chance. He admits to Buffy that killed his family and everyone he met. He tells her about he curse that the gypsies did to him. He tells Buffy he hasn't fed on a living human being since that day. Which is a lie. We know of at least two people he has turned into a vampire since then. He tells Buffy that Darla fed on her mom and Buffy tells Angel he can kill her, he doesn't. That's the moment Darla shows up and we see the love triangle to end all love triangles. Darla and Buffy fight over Angel or Angelus as his demon name is. Darla even owns up to being Angel's sire. Darla shoots Angel, it won't kill him but it will hurt! Buffy's crossbow is no match for a pair of guns. She is literally outgunned. Willow yells information that everyone already knows down below and it gives Buffy a chance to turn the tables of Darla. She tries and it goes her way or a bit but those damn guns keep getting in the way. Angel swoops in and stakes Darla. Stakes his sire, stakes his lover. He sacrifices his past for his future. It is the very definition of romantic. The Master breaks down. He misses Darla, his favorite child for 400 years. The anointed one whispers in his ear telling him that he will stand with him. He will help him on his quest. Angel shows up at the bronze to talk to Buffy. Xander shows off some more of that signature jealousy of his. He should really just start calling himself that. Angel tells Buffy that the two of them could never be a thing. So of course they start kissing. Her cross, the one he gave her burns into his neck and he says nothing. He takes the pain because it means he gets to kiss her. One of my favorite episodes in season 1 written by Matt Kiene & Joe Reinkemeyer. We start off in the zoo as four bratty kids go around picking on people. Starting with Buffy and moving on to some nerdy guy. Willow and Xander point out to Buffy that even if the zoo is lame at least they aren't in class and she suddenly likes it more.
The jerk kids take the nerd into the hyena exhibit that is closed off. Buffy gets ready to go in and help but Xander jumps the guy and goes in first. Buffy and Willow try to follow him but the grounds keeper keeps them out. Telling them that some times hyena's can call out your name. Creepy. Xander confronts the kids and the hyenas look up at them. Suddenly they aren't kids anymore but hyenas in kids bodies. With Xander as their leader. Willow tells Buffy how much she loves Xander and points out that Buffy feels the same way about Angel. She tries to deny it but Willow points out the leather coat that she is wearing. Xander picks this moment to show up. He is acting strange and not like himself at all. Xander sniffs Buffy, very weird. The rest of the pack comes in and seem to pack down to Xander. They pick on some kid, calling him fat and Xander laughs. Willow and Buffy don't find it funny. Neither do I. Principle Flutie chases a cute little pig with razors tied onto his back. This show seems to love pigs, or hate them depending on how you look at what happens to the little guys. Willow tries to teach Xander about math and he seems to be getting worse and worse at it. He freaks out and storms off. The pig is scared out of it's mind when it sees Xander. It's a rainy day so PE plays dodgeball. The nerdy kid is on the same team as the pack including Xander while Buffy and Willow are on the other side. Xander takes out Willow leaving Buffy against the pack and the nerd. The pack attacks the nerd and leaves Buffy be. Buffy goes to stop them but they all take off and the PE teacher says how much he loves the game. Willow goes to confront Xander and he tells her off, that he doesn't need her and he wants nothing to do with her anymore. The pack, lead by Xander eat the poor pig. It jumps from that to the scene where the pack walks through the cool looking way to cool. I don't know why but I have always loved this scene. It's so much fun and makes Xander look like a badass. Willow feels like Xander just loves Buffy and hates her now. Buffy thinks that something is wrong with Xander and Giles thinks that is it just Xander being 16 years old. Buffy figures out that Xander is acting like a Hyena and Giles figures out about the primals. Flutie calls the Pack, minus Xander into his office to confront about the poor pig while Xander tries to mate with Buffy by force. She puts him in check. He may be stronger but he isn't slayer strong. While Buffy is fighting off Xander the rest of the pack eats Flutie, thus giving us the end of the nice principle. Buffy locks Xander into the cage that sits in the library as Giles comes in and tells them about Flutie's death. Buffy leaves Willow to watch Xander while Buffy and Giles go to talk to the grounds keeper. Xander tries to talk Willow into letting him out. He tries to play on her feelings for him and turn her against Buffy but he over plays his hand. She figures him out. The grounds keeper seems to know that the hyenas can do weird things. He tells Buffy it can be reversed and that the rest of the pack will come for Xander, which means Willow is all alone with a pack of man eating teenagers. The pack frees Xander and Willow runs and hides. The pack finds Willow but Buffy saves her just in time. The two of them and Giles lock themselves in class to hide. The pack attacks a family trying to get into their car and Buffy stops them. She then leads them to the zoo. Giles goes inside to get things ready while Willow keeps watch outside. Giles figures out that the grounds keeper wanted the power for the hyenas himself and he set it all but failed to figure it out and the pack stole his power by mistake. Willow rushes in and the grounds keeper is there alone. He ties Willow's hands up and tells her that he is sing her as bait. She buys it at first but quickly comes to figure out what is happening. She yells a warning to Buffy. He does a spell and takes the hyena's spirits from the pack. Xander rushes to free Willow but the guy fights him off and Buffy tosses him in with the real Hyenas who make quick work of him. This is when Giles picks to wake up. Xander fakes not remembering anything and Giles tells him that he won't tell anyone. It's a fun episode that I've always enjoyed. Buffy kills a vampire while Giles lectures her on not being good enough. In the ashes of the vampire she killed he finds a ring. The Master reads the prophecy about the anointed one, how five will die and he will rise. The anointed one will lead Buffy to her death and the Master is pissed that they almost messed it up by going out a night early. This episode by Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali sets the stage for the rest of the season. Pretty much everything until Spike shows up and kills the little brat.
Buffy is showing off to Giles that she can figure out what is going on just as well if not better than he can. Buffy in on her A game so she has to get knocked off, enter Owen! The cute guy that Buffy has a crush on. He seems like a bit of an awkward loser to me but Buffy and Cordy both seem to love him. Go figure. Giles tries to get back on track with finding out about the vampires that are in town but Buffy could care less. All she can think about is Owen. Buffy brags to Willow and Xander gets jealous, that is his favorite color this season. Everything makes him jealous. Buffy tries to sit with Owen but Cordy blocks her and makes her look like a fool. Karma is a mean mistress. Cordy asks Owen to come out to the Bronze and he in turn invites Buffy. Cordy is heartbroken. Giles tells Buffy about the prophecy of the anointed one and that it happens tonight, the same time that Buffy has her date with Owen. She is forced to blow it off and go to the graveyard with Giles where nothing happens. He lets go and she rushes to the Bronze only to find Owen in the arms of Cordelia. Leaving Buffy heartbroken. She leaves and goes home feeling defeated. It turns out that Giles wasn't wrong. It was this night, they were just in the wrong place. A nearby bus is attacked by the vampires. Five people were killed. Owen tells Buffy how sad he is hat she never showed. He tells her how Cordy kept throwing himself at him and he has no interest. He only likes Buffy. She says yes to their date. Giles shows up and shows her the article about the bus crash. He thinks that it might be the prophecy, turns out he is right, but Buffy won't hear it. She is going on her date with Owen no matter what. Giles decides that he is going to check it out on his own. Buffy and Owen left before Giles but when Willow says that they should go with he jumps to going with Buffy and Owen, Giles is far too gone. I love the writing on this show. It is always so witty. Buffy and Owen are having a great time on their date. Cordy shows up and right away tries to steal Owen away from Buffy. He isn't having it. She isn't use to getting shot down and doesn't handle it well. She storms off, leaving Buffy and Owen alone. No sooner does Giles get to the morgue than he is attacked by a gang of vampires. He runs inside and locks himself in a room. He is out numbered and out fanged. Willow and Xander show up, talking to Giles from outside a barred window. Giles sends them to go and get Buffy. Cordy is bitching about Buffy and Angel walks in. She says Hello Salty goodness, the same thing she says in Spin the Bottle when she goes back to being a teenager and meets Angel. I love call backs like that. When Cordy sees that Angel is here for Buffy it pisses her off even more. She isn't the only one who quickly becomes upset. When Angel finds out that Buffy is on a date he gets upset. Xander and Willow show up, Buffy wants them all to leave but they say morgue and she figures out that Giles in trouble. She tries to ditch Owen but he follows her. Buffy gets Xander and Willow to distract Owen while she goes and finds Giles. She tells him to stay hidden while she gets Owen and the others out of there. I don't get how Owen isn't picking up on something being wrong here? He is very slow. Xander and Willow block the door so that no one can get in and Owen just goes with it. He opens a curtain just in time to see the crazy guy from the bus rise as a vampire. The gang think that this must be the anointed one. Buffy and Giles hear him attack the others and rush to their aid. Buffy takes him on so the other can escape but their path is blocked by the other vampires. Buffy and Giles are tossed around like a rag doll and Owen rushes to help her. Xander and Willow follow him, after all they promised Buffy they would keep him safe. Owen knocks out the vampire and makes sure Buffy is ok. The vamp wakes up and kills Owen, not really but that is what Buffy thinks, that's why the episode is named Never Kill a Boy on the first date. His death gives Buffy the anger she needs to beat the vampire by throwing him in the fire. She finds out Owen is alive and rushes to his side. He starts acting all weird and doesn't want to be around her. Poor Buffy. Buffy asks Willow and Xander if Owen asked about her, they tell her no. Xander starts hinting around that she should date him but then Owen shows up and Willow drags Xander away. Buffy and Owen talk about what happened the night before. He asks her out again. He tells her how amazing last night was. He wants to go get in danger with her again. She tells him no. She breaks it off with him because she doesn't want to get him hurt. He is after the wrong thing and she knows it won't end well. Giles shows up and tells her about the time he learned about his destiny, even talks about his grandmother being a watcher, remember we learned about her in Tales of the Vampires? Giles helps Buffy deal with the break up. That this isn't the end of the world and that it isn't her fault that he was almost killed. Buffy and Giles pat themselves on the back for killing the anointed but well the prophecy says the slayer will not know him, will not stop him and she didn't. Turns out the little boy on the bus is the anointed one. The season turns here and we are in for one hell of a ride! Episode 4 is written by the one and only David Greenwalt. Who is he? He's the co-creator of the spin off show Angel! This is the first episode that he put his pen to, how cool is that?
The episode starts off with Xander slaying a vampire, wooing Buffy and more or less being a rock star. The stuff that dreams are made of, or at least Xander's dreams. He wakes up in science class where Buffy is put on the spot to answer a question about ants. She gets it wrong and the teacher takes her aside after class to tell her that he expects great things from her. She is smart and an go far as long as she doesn't let negative opinions get her down. She leaves class feeling great, so of course the teacher is killed moments later. Later that night at the Bronze Xander walks around trying to fit in, news flash, he doesn't. Nothing he does it right, or cool. He's a loser, well not really. He's a teenager trying to find his place in the world he just doesn't know where it is. He takes a seat next to some classmate talking about how much sex they have. The jock says he slept with about 8 girls and Xander tries to pretend that he is hooking up with Buffy and Willow, but Buffy takes off the moment that Angel shows up. She clearly only has eyes for her mystery man. He clearly likes her as well, he gives her his jacket and Xander couldn't be more jealous. Angel is a bit tore up, hey he is finally doing something around here! He tells Buffy about a vampire with a fork for a hand and Buffy goes to tell Giles who doesn't seem too worried. The Science teacher who has faith in Buffy is now gone, well duh he is dead! So they have a sub, and all the guys couldn't be happier! None of them can take their eyes off of her. Xander is even drooling a bit. He can't get out a sentence and the jock swoops in and takes the teacher away. Xander is left standing dumbfounded. As they go into class Buffy finds their real teacher's glasses on the floor. Buffy starts to figure out that something is wrong. Any normal person would have picked them up. Cordy opens the fridge at school and the teacher's dead body falls out, minus a head. Buffy and Giles figure out that whatever killed her teacher might not be the same guy who Angel warned her off. Buffy goes to the park to check it out. While there some old homeless guy warns her to go home, that this isn't the place she wants to be hanging out at night. She finds the vampire with a fork for a hand and they fight it out but the homeless man shows up, turning out to be a cop. The fork vampire then tries to attack the sub but she takes one look at him and he runs off freaked out. Why would a teacher scare a vampire? The plot thickens! She tells Giles and he admits that it doesn't seem right. She needs to keep an eye on her. So Buffy runs to class but gets stopped by Principle Flutie who makes her talk to a specialist. She over hears Cordy talking to one about how it is helping her lose weight and the death has helped her so much. Only Cordy! Buffy finally makes it to class just in time to see the sub's head turn all the way around. She even puts together that she might be an insect and that the jock who worked with her yesterday never came to class. Buffy is becoming a real detective. The sub tells Xander to come meet her at her house and he agrees. He is in danger. It's nice how on Buffy the role of damsel in distress can be a guy as well a woman. Willow's hacking skills are getting better and better. Giles finally comes around to believing Buffy and Buffy runs to tell Xander what they have found out. He thinks that Buffy is just jealous and tells her to stay out of his life. He gets to the sub's house and she is in a sexy little black dress and gives him booze. She is not a good teacher, she even starts hitting on him, asking him if he has ever had sex before. She is seducing him. She tells him that she knows he is a virgin and that is what she likes. He hears someone crying for help but she tells him it is nothing, as the drugs kick in he tells her that he loves Buffy just before he passes out. Xander wakes up in a cage with the jock who tells him that the sub mates with you before cutting off your head. He tells her that she is a bug, proving Buffy right. Xander stays more or less relaxed. Hanging out with Buffy has mellowed him a bit. Giles finds out that she is a praying mantis who feeds on virgins. Buffy needs to hurry if she is to save Xander. Buffy and co show up at her house to find an old woman. Turns out the praying mantis stole her identity to get into the school. They are now at a loss as to how to find and save Xander. And he needs them fast! The mantis comes for Xander and he attacks her breaking free and making a run for the stairs but she knocks him down. She sets Xander up for mating. He's all but dead. Buffy finds the vampire with the fork and forces him to lead her to he mantis, figuring that since he is scared of her that he can detect her. He breaks free after leading them to the house and Buffy slays him. She breaks into the basement just in time to save Xander. She uses the tape recording of the bat to hurt her but it's just a recording of Giles voice. One of the funniest moments of the first season. They finally get the tape right and play the bat sound. Buffy makes quick work of killing the mantis and saving the guys. The jock threatens to sue if they tell anyone that he is a virgin. Very funny. Buffy offers Angel his jacket back but he tells her it looks better on her. The start of romance is at a start. The new science teacher is dreadfully boring. Now the ending of this episode, much like the last one is an example of season 1 setting up so much that never came to pass. The last scene is mantis's eggs in the closet getting ready to hatch. Now if it is getting ready to hatch it isn't going to take 3 years to finally hatch, that just doesn't make sense. Also does that mean that the science teacher was virgin? So many questions that I now have. Over all this was a cool episode and the first to really give Xander a spotlight which we can never have enough of. Unlike most of the online Buffy fan's I love Xander. He's a great character. Episode 3, written by Dana Reston, starts out with Giles having a meltdown because Buffy is trying out for cheerleading. After all it's safe right? When does referring to something as safe ever seem like a good idea? It almost always means the show will cut to something bad happening and sure enough the moment the words are out of her mouth the episode cuts to a witch preparing spell.
Xander gets Buffy a bracelet that says yours always. He ties to play it off that it came like that and he didn't tell them to put that. Willow is clearly jealous. After all she loves Xander and all he has to do is stop being blinded by the hot blonde they hang out with. Buffy and a girl by the name of Amy hit it off. Turns out she is an old friend of Willow's. The girl is all about cheerleading and wanting to be just like her mother. The girl trying out while they are taking catches on fire. Just like that. Giles assures them that they are not dealing with Vampires. They think that the problem is with amber. That she is the one that caused this to action. Willow calls her and Xander the slayeretts, not yet the Scooby's but not a bad first try. Buffy goes home to talk to her mom about her day and her mom could careless about what is happening in Buffy's life. Buffy tells her that she is doing cheerleading and Joyce says that will get her out of trouble, Buffy points out she isn't in trouble and her mom says not yet. That's the type of person Joyce is. The online Buffy fans love Joyce and I just don't get it. She is a horrible mother, the worst. She hates her daughter all you have to do is watch the show to see that. Cordy threatens Amy not to get in her way. She wants to be a cheerleader and she isn't going to let anyone get in her way. Amy doesn't seem happy about the threat. Buffy and Amy are both alternates while Cordy made the team. The hidden witch does a spell on Cordy while Joyce tries to tell Buffy to join year book. Telling her that whatever it is that Buffy does gets her in trouble and got her kicked out of school. Blaming Buffy for all their family problems. You can tell she felt bad afterwards but she still should never have said it. Cordy is made blind and wrecks her driver's ed car. Buffy saves her at the last minute from getting run over. Buffy and co quickly put together that it must be Amy. She wants to be a cheerleader so bad that it has to be her getting rid of other cheerleaders. Giles tells Buffy they have to make sure it is her before they go after her. Willow says they need to check who rented all the witch books out of the library. Turns out all of them were rented out by Xander so that he could look at the naked pictures in the book. The perv! Buffy manages to put a potion on Amy showing them that she is a witch but the fact that she looked scared when she saw what happened convinces Buffy that maybe she isn't sure what she is doing. They need to talk to her mother. Meanwhile at Amy's house we see how scared her mother is of her. Buffy is infected by a spell that makes her way too hyper. It's starting to kill her and even gets her kicked off the team. She is acting almost drunk. Amy makes it on the team. Giles and a dying Buffy confront her mom who seems far too scared to be normal. Buffy figures out that Amy and her mom switched bodies. Giles finds all of Amy's books. He can now undo the spells. Amy, or Amy's mom is in the middle of cheering when Giles starts undoing the spells. She starts flashing back to her body. She knows something is up and isn't happy about it. She storms into the classroom Giles is working in right as the spells are undone. Buffy protects Amy, now back in her body, from her crazy mother. She does a spell to end Buffy once and for all but Buffy uses a mirror to reflect the curse and she vanishes. Is this the end of Amy's mother? Like a lot of plot lines in season 1, they leave it set up for a sequel to this episode but never does anything with it. Her mom is trapped inside a statue in the display case and with the exception of Oz looking at it and thinking the eyes move with her, and Xander figuring out that Amy is following in her mom's footprints, they never really bring it up again. A lot of cool storylines that could have been continued but never were. Oh well, still the best show ever made. The second episode, also written by Joss Whedon picks up right where the last one left off. Luke about to kill Buffy but her neckless burns him giving her a moment to get up. When she does he is gone. She rushes to the rescue of her friends but it was too late for Jessie, they couldn't find him anywhere.
The trio make it back to the library where Giles explains all about the old ones and how demons use to run the world. Xander and Willow don't want to believe any of it but they don't have a choice. They lived it. The last demon fed on a human and mixed their blood making vampires. Jessie, already bitten is brought down to the Master. He isn't happy about getting leftovers like a dog. Back in the library Giles gives a brief explanation of what a slayer is. For the first three years of the show that is what the library is for. Giving information. They also make a joke about Vampires not being able to fly, which is funny if you saw the movie where they could fly. Already poking fun at what came before. The Master and Luke figure out that Buffy is the slayer and that she must be stopped before the harvest starts. Jessie is going to be used as bait. Willow shows us some of her hacking skills. Something that is important to the early Scooby gang. Buffy figures out where Luke came, there is a tunnel entrance in the crypt. She tells Xander that he can't come help because he isn't strong enough. He takes it very personal. Flutie stops Buffy from leaving the school so she jumps over the gate like the Hulk. Moments like these always kind of bug me. It feels like her strength changes from scene to scene. In this one she can sail over the gate but later on she needs Xander to help her close a metal door. It doesn't gel for me. Angel shows up in the crypt before Buffy goes down below. He tells her that she has to stop the harvest and he is too scared to do it himself. Buffy asks him if he knows what it is like to have friends and he doesn't respond. Instead he tells her how to find her friend once she goes down under. Down in the tunnels Buffy runs into Xander. He went in after her. He didn't bring anything to help but for a flashlight that would only help warn the vamps that they were coming. We meet the one and only Harmony in the next scene. Now she is beautiful as well!! Cordy and Harm are trying to finish their computer homework but keep getting distracted by talking shit about Buffy. Willow tells her to hit deliver which Cordy takes to mean del! Which as we all know is delete. Costing them all of their homework. Willow is crafty!!! Xander and Buffy find Jessie but the vampires soon give them chase. Jessie leads them to a dead end before showing them that he is now a vampire too. They toss him from the room and Buffy closes the door with help from Xander. This is a hard moment for Xander, he sees his best friend turned into a blood sucking monster. Buffy and Xander escape into the sun light just as the vampires close in on them. It is a close call but they make it! The Master picks Luke as the vessel while Buffy tells Willow that Jessie is dead. Willow doesn't seem all that upset that one of her best friends is now a vampire. Xander is at least upset. Giles fills them on all about the Master's history as well as the history of the Hellmouth. He got stuck in an earthquake while trying to open the hellmouth. The harvest only comes once a century so he needs it to go off without a hitch. Xander tells the gang that the vamps are going to the Bronze. Buffy goes home for weapons but Joyce grounds her. She is mad that Buffy missed a few classes. Buffy sneaks out, after all if she doesn't go out it really is the end of the world. If only Joyce knew how right she is. Cordy tells her friends how boys their age are loser, Jessie more than most. He asks her to dance and finally takes charge and she agrees, taken with his force. It only took him becoming a monster to get the girl he wanted. Sad commentary on young dating. Darla leads the vampires into the club as Luke kills the bouncer. Giving the Master strength. The Harvest has begun and Buffy is nowhere to be seen. The Scooby's arrive when the doors are all locked. They split up trying to get in. She wants them to get the people out while she fights the vampires. Xander wants to save Jessie but Giles yells at him and tells him that their friend is dead. Jessie tries to keep Cordy for himself but Darla won't let him. Buffy stops Luke from draining Cordy and fights Luke. The fate of the world in the balance. The Scooby's get everyone out the back while the fight goes on. Jessie tries to bite Cordy while Xander threatens him. Someone knocks Xander into Jessie killing him. This always bothers me. Xander, Willow and Jessie were best friends and they see him turned into a vampire, hell Xander slays him himself and they never speak about him again. I feel like this doesn't make any sense, they would mourn him. He would be the one they talk about whenever things get dangerous. But they never do and it drives me crazy. Darla almost kills Giles but Willow hits her with holy water and drives her off as Buffy distracts and then kills Luke, thus stopping the harvest. Angel steps out from the shadows, having done nothing. Not a damn thing. Lazy ass. The next day at school everyone acts like nothing happened. They think it was gang work or something. No one wanted to deal with what really happened. The three friends walk off as Giles watches them and starts the longest sentence in history. "The Earth is Doomed" A sentence that he won't finish for 7 years when he says "The Earth is definitely doomed" in almost the same scene. Very beautifully done. And this brings to a close the first story of the TV show. And what a story it was. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is born!!! At long last we made it! The episode that started it all by airing on the WB, back when the CW was the WB. It rebooted the failed movie and gave us an ever expanding universe that was true to Joss Whedon's vision and gave us Sarah Michelle Geller as the blonde with a stake.
The episode, of course written by Whedon himself, starts off by throwing us for a loop. A young couple breaks into Sunnydale high late at night. A troublemaking boy, who only has his mind on one thing and his sweet date who clearly wants to be anywhere else. She's a good girl who fell for a bad boy and is going along for the ride as he takes her through the dark empty hallways. Or at least that's how she wanted it to look like. She shows her true face, her vampire face and kills the boy. Darla is back! Buffy herself is dreaming of the Master and all the crazy things that are to happen this year. It's a lot, including the Vampires storming the school when the Master rises. Joyce calls out to Buffy and tells her she can't be late for her fist day at. . . You guessed it, Sunnydale High. It's here that we meet Xander for the first time, riding a skateboard of all things, the only time that will ever happen and you can see why. He is not good at it. He quickly finds a quirky looking Willow and his best friend Jessie. The trio's conversation is all about the slayer herself. Principle Flutie rips up Buffy's records to show her that she has a fresh start, as soon as he reads that she burnt down the gym he starts to tape it back up. He wants to be everyone's best friend but at the same time he is very by the book. Not nearly as cool or understanding as he let's on. Xander finally meets Buffy and the first thing he says to her is "Can I have you?" He is so smooth. Even points out that they both go to school. He is Jon Don if I've ever seen one. He finds a stake that fell out of her purse, that isn't normal. Buffy is in a history class that thinks the Black Plague being used for germ warfare is fun. That is the type of school she has entered. She quickly makes fun with one of the most beautiful women who has ever lived. Charisma Carpenter, or Cordelia Chase as her character is named. She tells Buffy all about the town and the bronze. They become fast friends, how the show could have been if Buffy stuck with her. She is so beautiful. Beyond words. She dropped Buffy off in the library where we meet Giles, guess he won the job in the comics. He gives Buffy a book on vampires and Buffy runs out of there. She wants no part of her old life. I guess Pike ditching her left it's mark on her. Buffy becomes friends with Willow so that they could study together. Willow suggests the library but Buffy vetoes that idea. She is creeped out by that place. Xander and Jessie show up moments later and returns the stake. She says it's to defend herself and Xander and Jessie try to figure everything out about her they can. Cordelia tells Buffy about the dead guy in the lockers. Jessie tries to hit on Cordelia but gets shot down dirty. Buffy and Cordy's friendship is already falling apart and it just started. Damn the luck. Buffy finds the bite marks on the body and goes to yell at Giles, as if it is his fault. Giles tells her he is to be her watcher but she wants no part of it. The job of slayer is just too much for her. She can't do it again. She storms out and Xander walks out, he over heard all of it Giles chases after her and tells her that something major is coming to Sunnydale and only she can stop it. We see underneath the high school a cavern full of vampires. One named Luke is reading from the vampire bible over a pit of what looks to be blood. Back at Buffy's house she is trying on clothes to go to the Bronze. We see Joyce talking about making it work and her gallery. She is over doing it with the whole good mom thing. She is trying to relate to Buffy but keeps making her feel worse and worse. She heads to the club but a mystery man starts to follow her. She spots him and leads him towards a back alley, where she gets the drop on him. Literally drops down on him. The mystery man turns out to be Angel! He knows all about Vampires, we all know how and why! Buffy on the other hand has no idea who he is or how he knows about any of it. He wants to help her with the vampires but she wants no part of it. He hints at the hellmouth down below and tells her about the harvest, but not really. He is the king of vague. We enter the Bronze and see just how lonely Buffy really is. It isn't long before she finds Willow and we learn that at age five her and Xander dated till he stole her doll. Buffy tells Willow that her life is short and she should go out and seize the day. Buffy spots Giles upstairs and goes to talk to him, leaving Willow alone. Giles had never heard of the Harvest. It worries him. She also tells Giles about the mouth of hell. He tells her that everything might be fine as long as she isn't having the nightmares, you know the ones from the start of the show. Jessie gets shot down once again by Cordy so he moves on to. . . .Darla! Buffy says she doesn't have warm feelings for vamps, now that is funny. The slayer who falls for vampires over and over, she does have warm feelings for them. While watching the crowd Buffy spots a vampire talking to Willow and she rushes to her aid. Willow leaves with the vamp before Buffy can get there. Buffy makes a stake and goes through the back halls of the bronze where she attacks Cordy by mistake, thus ending their friendship, at least for the time being. Although they never do become as close friends as they could have. Back at the pool of blood the Master rises. He is a vampire but looks more bat than man. We learn that the Harvest is to restore him to health and free him from being trapped underground. Willow and Jessie are being taken to the Master. Willow's date is taking her through the cemetery, why would she go with him? Buffy runs into Xander while looking for Willow and Xander tells her that he knows she is the slayer but doesn't believe her. Buffy doesn't care she tells him that Willow is in danger and he goes to help. She is one of his best friends after all. Speaking of Willow, her date throws her into a crypt. She is finally scared but can't escape. Darla shows up and Jessie runs in after her. She already fed off him a bit. Buffy and Xander show up in time to save them. Buffy makes a joke about living in the crypt, something that Spike will do in a few years time. Buffy slays one vamp quickly before going after Darla. Xander gets Willow and Jessie out of there. Buffy starts to kick Darla's ass. She is messing with the oldest of the whirlwind, not cool slayer. Luke comes and saves Darla, tossing Buffy aside like a ragdoll. Darla takes off as Luke and Buffy fight. He is stronger than her. Not something many vampires can say. Xander and co are surrounded by vamps as Giles reads up on the Harvest and Luke starts to move in on the kill. Buffy is doomed and that is how they ended the first episode of the greatest show ever!!! Is Joss Whedon great or what? Starting a little before the ending of the origin story, we learn that Buffy finds out soon if she is going to be expelled or not. Spoiler alert, she gets expelled. In this story written by Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza we see what happens when Buffy goes on the promised Vegas trip.
Buffy and Pike learn that a great deal of Vampires are coming out of Las Vegas and Buffy's home life is becoming harder and harder. Her parents are fighting more and more every day. And she knows a lot of it is about her. Going to Vegas isn't just about fighting vampires but it is also vacation from her life. Right off the bat I have a glairing issue with this story. Dawn has no place in it. I understand that she was placed in all of their memories but this story unlike Origin isn't a flashback so why is she there? It takes me out of the story a bit if I am to be honest. She gets expelled from school, her dad acts like a jackass about the whole thing. It helps paint a picture of the ending of the marriage that we kept hearing about on the show. Now there is an added problem with this story. She gets expelled in her freshman year and has to redo her freshman year. But when she goes to Sunnydale High it is the middle of her Sophomore year. So does she get expelled again? How does it work? I really think it was an over sight and those are never fun. Anyways, nitpicking done for now. So Buffy talks Pike into going with her to Vegas. A mystery man named Angelus follows her. I lied, one more nitpick, why is he going by Angelus and not Angel? Let's assume it is to sound more intimidating and that it wasn't a mistake. This is the real first time we see Angel in the timeline, he was never really in the Spike Vs Dracula series so this is a big deal. We get to see his first appearance at last! He sneaks after Buffy and Pike to Vegas to help her from the shadows. When they get to Vegas Buffy gets a job collecting coats and Pike gets a job parking cars. They quickly finds the place littered with vamps. Angel gets a job with the manager who he soon finds out has a side thing going. He crosses the boss and gets stuck in the past. Where everything is black and white. The only way for the spell to break is for a vampire to enter the zone. But only a vampire without a soul. Angel crosses a line and turns the owner from the past into a vampire. Thus causing another problem. He says on Angel that the only vampire he turned with a soul was on that German sub. There are a great deal of continuity issues with this story and it does tend to bother me. But the story over all is really good and a fun read. So Angel gets back to the present and tosses the manager back into the past just before the spell ends, leaving him stuck there. Now back in the past he has to help the old owner or die. It's karma at it's best! Back with Buffy and Pike, they find the current owners. They are twins, stuck at the waist. The brother is a vampire and the sister is still human. It's a very weird idea that I love. It's simply genius. The fight turns against Buffy and Pike and Pike feels like he is going to get her killed so he jumps off the building. He lands on the ground and lives. But Buffy doesn't know that, at least not yet. Buffy kills the vamps and goes to find Pike, she is pissed that he tried to kill himself but they don't have time for that yet. They still have to get the owners and the casino is over run with vamps. Buffy changes tactics, she gets a priest to bless the water supply and turns on the sprinklers, killing all the vamps inside, including the brother. Leaving the sister finally free. Not to mention rich! Buffy and Pike head back to LA and Pike takes off, telling Buffy that he can't stay around and be the reason that she dies. They never speak again. I know I complained a lot about this story but it is really good and well written. Just small issues with fitting into the larger universe that I take issue with. Next up we finally make it to the show! The moment is here at last. We finally meet the one and only Buffy Anne Summers. The slayer. The girl who this universe is named after. Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Origin is a comic book written by Christopher Golden and Daniel Brereton, based off the movie. When it gets right down to it, it really is a retelling of the movie but fitting into the TV universe. Buffy is just your normal everyday Freshman girl, not wanting anything other than having fun with her friends and her boyfriend. She is popular and a cheerleader. A bit of a air-head really. A couple of loud mouth drunks by the name of Pike and Benny cause her and her friends trouble but they aren't really bad people, just annoying. Well that is until Benny gets turned into a vampire. Buffy meets her watcher Merrick, he explains all about her destiny. He takes her out to hunt, telling her that she won't need to do anything. Just watch. He is quickly proven wrong as the vampire gets the upper hand and Buffy has to save him. She tries to run away from her duty but Merrick keeps pushing her and it causes tension among her friends. Pike finds out about Benny being a vampire and tries to flee. He doesn't get far before the vampires attack him. Buffy saves him and they meet an old vampire named Lothos, who kills Merrick. Pike gets Buffy away to safety. She breaks down and throws in the towel. She goes to buy a dress, wanting to be a normal girl again. Pike is not happy about it. He feels like she is running away from who she is. At the dance everything goes to hell. Buffy finds out that her boyfriend is dating her friend now and vampires pick this time to attack. The students freak out and the vampires start killing. Buffy and Pike fight and soon start to turn the tide. Pike kills Benny, a lot like Xander kills Jessie in the show. Buffy over comes Lothos control and slays him. The vampire army bears down on Buffy and Pike and they are stuck, so she lights the gym on fire. The two of them escape and watches the gym burn down. Buffy is expelled and her friends all turn on her. Her parents end up getting divorced and she runs out to Vegas with Pike. When does she end up in the insane asylum? This was a fun tale that retold the Movie but better. You can see Whedon's voice shine through even in this story, he may not have been the writer but you can still see that it is his story. Any fan of the show should give this book a read! |
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July 2017
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