Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1

I came late to the party, but in my humble opinion Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the greatest 'verses ever created. The popular --and fair-- opinion is however that it doesn't really kick into its gear until season 2, making season 1 the obstacle to overcome in order to benefit from the greatness of this show. You can't really skip season 1 either, as it sets the tones, premises and relations up for later gain... so despite the extreme variations of quality and interest, season 1 is much needed to truly profit from the overall story.


Thankfully it's a bit easier to overcome the season 1 obstacle when you revisit. By then you already know how huge the reward is, making 12 small episodes a small price to pay. As I now again embark on the wonderful journey of the Buffy-verse, I can at least watch it with all the knowledge of things to come, mythologies that change, powers that will be unleashed and so on and so forth. It doesn't make up for the overall lower qualities of season 1, but I won't hold it too much against the show. After all; it eventually found its footing and elevated to incredible greatness.

1.01 ★★★☆☆ Welcome to the Hellmouth
1.02 ★★☆☆☆ The Harvest
1.03 ★☆☆☆☆ Witch
1.04 ★★☆☆☆ Teacher's Pet
1.05 ★★☆☆☆ Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
1.06 ★☆☆☆☆ The Pack
1.07 ★★★★☆ Angel
1.08 ★☆☆☆☆ I Robot, You Jane
1.09 ★★☆☆☆ The Puppet Show
1.10 ★★★☆☆ Nightmares
1.11 ★★☆☆☆ Out of Mind, Out of Sight
1.12 ★★★★☆ Prophecy Girl

S.1 ★★☆☆☆

So. While I won't go deep into spoiler-territory, I'll still dip my toe into a couple of the mini-spoiler'ish positives from this first season. And I'll do one of my vintage photo-montages of the season, with a few spoilers I'm afraid...

The main arch of season one is regarding The Master, and is no-where near those coming in later seasons quality-wise. In fact; The Master is more often boring rather than interesting or fierce. The first episode does offer some insight into the mythology and 'verse we embark on, and as such isn't a complete waste. It's still two other episodes that stand head and neck above all others bite-wise.'

1.07 Angel

While Angel have been poppin' in every so often all through the season, this is the episode where we first really touch upon one of the greatest relations of pop culture. The cursed vampire with a soul finally come out of the outskirts, and it certainly makes promises of things to come in the future.

1.12 Prophecy Girl

Where Angel was the opening act of the saga of Angel and Buffy, Prophecy Girl was the first time Buffy showed proof of what an incredible character Whedon had in mind. The 16-year old girl of her was for the first time truly shown (even if there had been glimpses earlier the season), and more importantly that same 16-year old girl took a walk... The first one of several major ones to come in the seasons that followed, and the first glimpse of the heart that shine behind all the cheese and banter. While none of the first season's episodes ever came close to really gain greatness, these two episodes are still influential and important for the Buffy-verse in hindsight. That might not be much, but it's enough....