Synopsis:
Picking up where the feature film left off, Buffy Summers
and her mom move to Sunnydale, California, for a fresh start,
unaware of the evil lurking in this quiet suburb. Somewhat
reluctant in her role as the slayer, Buffy quickly makes friends
and enemies at her new school. While also meeting her new
"Watcher," Giles, the mercurial school librarian, her newly
assembled team encounters the ever-abundant unearthly creatures
in Sunnydale.
Written by: Joss Whedon
Directed by: Charles Martin Smith
Original Airdate: March 10, 1997
Destructo Girl Recap:
We open on a night shot of Sunnydale High School. Inside,
the hallways and classrooms are dark and empty. It's after
hours and nobody should be there. All of a sudden someone
breaks a window inside one of the science labs (I don't know
which kind of science since I always hated that subject… but
I see a telescope and some model dinosaur bones if that helps).
A young male and female come in, they guy excited by the danger
of the situation, the girl apprehensive. As they walk down
the hall, the guy explains that he is a former student and
he had plans to 'check out the view' from on top of the gym.
They go to kiss, but are interrupted when the girl thinks
she hears the noise. The tension builds and she looks around
and he looks around and neither sees nor hears anything… until
she spins around in game face and bites the guy.
Theme song. You know, they changed the song in season three. It must be pretty obvious because even I know. Joss said that in the first version, Nerf Herder went off track or something halfway through and the second version is 'cleaner'. Just a little factoid brought to you by Pamela.
It's daylight out and Buffy (I don't have to refer to her as a teenage girl until her name is 'revealed' to us, do I? No, I don't!) is sleeping rather restlessly as she dreams of boiling blood and the interior of the Master's lair, cemeteries, the Master himself and various other demons she will face throughout the season. That was another cool thing about the first season - they filmed the entire thing before any of it aired so they could go back and add stuff to the first episode from the last. Anyway, she awakes and a few seconds later, an off-camera voice (they not-missed-by-me Joyce Summers) calling her name. Buffy sits up in her box-filled room (She just moved in, you see.) and calls, "I'm up, Mom." Still off-camera - she's probably downstairs - Joyce replies that she wouldn't want Buffy to be late for her first day. Buffy sarcastically agrees.
Cut Sunnydale High, where teens are happily milling about. Joyce pulls up in front of the school and perkily tells Buffy that she is sure she'll make friends. Buffy smiles and agrees, then promises to try to not get kicked out.
As Buffy walks up the front steps, taking everything in, Xander skateboards - rather badly, I might add - down the sidewalk in front. Spotting Buffy, he stares at her, running into the stair railing and falling on his ass. Willow appears, wearing an extremely dorky jumper. Poor Alyson Hannigan never had a chance at a good wardrobe, did she? Xander informs Willow that he needs help with math and she happily agrees to tutor, suggesting he check a book out from the library. As they walk inside the school they are greeted by Xander's equally dorky best friend Jesse, who announces that there is a new girl. Xander comments that he saw her and she's hot, then is disappointed that Jesse doesn't have any more info on her.
Buffy meets with Principal Flutie's office, who rips up her "colorful" transcripts, then reconsiders it upon seeing some of the stuff she's been in trouble for. Like when she burned down the school gym. Buffy tries to explain that it was filled with vampires, but since he would have her committed, she covers and says "asbestos." Flutie tells her not to worry, that unlike some schools, they aren't going to say, "watch your step" or "we'll be watching you." He adds that they want to service her needs (You know, back in '97, talk like that may have been acceptable, but these days he would just be *begging* for a sexual harassment suit!), help her to respect their needs… and if "[their] needs and [her] needs don't mesh…" he tosses the transcripts back inside her folder and slams it shut, making Buffy jump.
After their meeting is over, Buffy steps out in the hallway and digs through her bag, only to have it's contents dropped all over the floor when this girl - who wasn't looking where she was going - walks right into her. Without so much as an apology, the girl keeps on walking and Buffy attempts to pick all her stuff up. Xander happens by and helps her, nervously babbling, "Can I have you?" instead of "Can I help you?" He and Buffy have a semi-conversation where Xander makes a bit of a fool of himself, Buffy finds him a bit strange but remains polite before heading off with her repacked bag. As Xander watches her go, he noticed a wooden stake left on the floor and calls after her, but she doesn't hear.
In a classroom, a teacher discusses the Black Death as Buffy follows along from her seat. When the teacher wants them to look at a map in their textbooks - something Buffy doesn't have - the girl beside her, Cordelia, happily scoots over to share hers. When the bell rings, everyone packs up and Cordelia informs her that she can pick up her own book in the library, which Buffy needs help finding. Since Cordelia's being super nice (Which wigs me out!), she offers to show her the way. As the two walk through the halls, Cordelia talks about how she would kill to live in LA and tells Buffy she will be fine if she hangs out with her (meaning Cordelia) and her friends. After a coolness test involving James Woods and John Tesh, Buffy has proven herself worthy. They approach a water fountain that Willow is using. Cordelia insults her outfit (And while even I said it was bad, might I mention that it's nothing compared to Willow's fuzzy sweaters with clashing pants?) and Willow is all pathetic and wimpy and damn it, I feel bad for her! As Buffy looks on compassionately, Willow rushes off. After Cordelia gets a drink, she and Buffy continue on their way. Cordelia tells Buffy all about how the Bronze is basically the only fun thing they have going in Sunnydale and how she should put in an appearance that night. The bell rings and Cordelia leaves Buffy off in front of the library.
Buffy walks in the library and finds it empty. Wandering around, she finds a newspaper on the counter with an article about missing boys circled. A finger taps her shoulder and she whirls around. That probably sounds all calm, but it's really quite creepy. Anyway, Buffy finds the librarian behind her - if I need to tell you its Giles, you need help. She tells him that she came here for some books and he gives her a surprised look and says, "Miss Summers?" Buffy just figures that she's the only new student and that's how he knows her name. He tells her that he knows what she is looking for and walks around the other side of the counter, plopping a big, heavy tome with 'Vampyr' written across the front of it. Buffy freaks and insists that's *not* what she wants. Giles is taken aback, but figures there must be some mistake and puts the book away. Before he can help her find what she really wants, she rushes out. Smart idea. I hardly ever used any of my textbooks in college. It was a big waste of money, if you ask me.
Just curious - does the whole thing where Buffy has to go to the library to get her books seem odd to anyone else? At my schools, the teachers always had the books.
Inside what is obviously the girl's locker room, two girls are walking and discussing "the new girl." One says, "What kind of name is Buffy?" before a girl passes by and says "Hey Aphrodesia." Hehe. The other girl - who talks really funny… I don't mean Joss' weird lingo… she delivered her lines in a strange manner - tells her about how Buffy was kicked out of her former school as the two start fiddling with the locks on their lockers. When the second girl opens hers, she finds the body of the boy from the first scene inside. And he falls on her. Eesh. She (understandably) screams bloody murder. She did that part well.
Willow is sitting outside on a bench when Buffy approaches her. She explains that she wants Willow to help her out with the studying thing and Willow is quite enthused. Willow suggests they meet in the library, but Buffy tells her that it creeps her out. Willow says she understands and then goes on and on about the books (she loves that library like I love Bloomies, I swear) and mentions that the librarian is new. Buffy finds that particular fact interesting. Before they can continue, though, Xander and Jesse show up with a million questions for Buffy. She finds them very strange to say the least, and is uncomfortable with everyone's interest in her life. Xander also returns her stake, to which she explains, "Pepper spray is so passé." Yeah, but stakes tend to rip holes in purses! Cordelia approaches them and makes no effort to hide her disgust that Buffy is lowering herself by actually talking to the other three. She says that gym has been cancelled because of the dead guy. Buffy immediately starts asking questions about a cause of death, which only makes Cordelia think she is extremely weird. Getting no facts from her, Buffy makes a hasty exit.
Buffy sneaks over to the girl's locker room, but finds the door locked. Giving us our first peek at her slayer strength, she simply pulls hard on the doorknob, breaking it open. Inside the empty locker room, she uncovers the body and finds two puncture wounds on the side of his neck. Disappointed, that there appears to be vampires in Sunnydale, she grumbles "Oh great."
Buffy bursts into the library and tells Giles that the dead guy was has two little holes in his neck. Giles says that he was afraid of this and Buffy says she wasn't. She was afraid of normal stuff, like being out of style, not vampires on campus. They set up a lot of the lore here, Buffy explains that they make vampire by sucking your blood and making you suck their blood. Giles talks about how this is a Hellmouth and vampires as well as all the other monsters you tell yourself can't be real are drawn to Sunnydale. As he says all this, he's whipping out a ton of books. Major foreshadowing there - Giles and his books. He also reveals himself to be a Watcher, explaining what that's all about. Buffy says that she doesn't care - she's not a Slayer anymore. Giles doesn't understand, since she has slain before, but Buffy's not having it. She lost all her friends and was kicked out of school before - this is her second chance and she's not going to throw it away. She rushes out and leaves Giles with a confused look on his face. I love how Giles doesn't quite "get" her. It's fun to watch. Anyway, he rushes to follow her out and we see that they weren't as alone as they thought in the library. Xander steps out of the stacks looking even more confused. "What?"
Giles catches up with Buffy in the hallway and pulls her aside explaining that "there's a reason why [she's] here and a reason why it's now." Buffy says it's just because her mom moved her there, nothing more, but Giles is convinced that it's fate. He says that things have been getting worse and the signs are all pointing to something big happening very soon. Buffy still doesn't buy it, wondering how big an evil there can be in *Sunnydale*.
A shot of the front of the school pans down through the bushes and underground. Into a dark cavern, lit my numerous candles and vampires carrying torches. A voice repeats, "The sleeper will wake," until it's revealed to be a big vampire kneeling on front of a pool (possibly a pool of blood). He continues, "The sleeper will wake and the world will bleed," before looking up and added, "Amen."
In her bedroom - which seems to be void of boxes, so maybe she finished unpacking - Buffy is attempting to pick out an outfit for the Bronze. Joyce comes in and talks about how she really thinks things are going to work out. She's found a place for her gallery and she likes Buffy's school. We get some more of why Buffy so desperately wants to forget her calling. She needs this to work, she needs to be the normal girl Joyce thinks she is, and if she is the slayer, she's going to get into trouble.
Buffy walks alone down a sidewalk at night as someone follows at a distance behind her. She appears to notice, pausing for a moment, but she doesn't say anything and continues walking. Buffy disappears and her pursuer, who is revealed to be a very handsome young man, creeps into a dark alley, looking for her. A shot from above reveals Buffy is doing a handstand on a bar as the man, oblivious to her presence, walks below. She swings around and kicks him in the back, knocking him to the ground… on his back. Maybe I'm just not watching it right, but I think he actually should fall on his face. But I'm not nitpicky, so let's move on. She jumps down, prepared to attack, but the stranger tells her he doesn't bite. As he gets up, he says that he expected her to be bigger. Buffy asks him what he wants and he says it's the same thing as her, "To kill them. To kill them all." And he does this half-smile thing. I need to look up the script for this episode to find out if Angel is trying to be cool or if David Boreanaz just screwed up. But I digress. Buffy tells him that he is wrong - she just wants to be left alone. The stranger, whom I will just call Angel because he seems like an Angel or whatever, tells her that she has no choice. She is standing at the mouth of Hell and she needs to be ready for something called The Harvest and tosses her a small box. Buffy asks who he is and he replies that he is a friend and she says that maybe she doesn't want a friend. Before disappearing into the night, he says, "I didn't say I was yours." Alone, Buffy opens the box and finds a large silver crucifix on a chain inside.
Outside a warehouse, people mill about what is revealed to be The Bronze. Buffy approaches, handing the bouncer some money, before walking into the crowded club. There's a live band on stage. I can't be bothered to look up who it is, but they play the same song on the Buffy soundtrack. Buffy wanders around and looks she feels out of place, when she notices a guy some distance away waving. She eagerly waves back until she realizes he is actually waving at the guy behind her. Ouch. Heading over to the bar, she finds Willow sitting alone. They talk a bit, Buffy finds out that Willow and Xander went out when they were five until Xander stole her Barbie and Willow hears Buffy's philosophy - Life is short. Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead. Willow likes it. Spotting Giles on the balcony above, Buffy tells Willow she will be back and heads up the stairs.
Giles explains that he came because The Bronze is a breeding ground for vampires, plus, he figured she would show up and he has to make her see that she can't ignore her destiny. Buffy assumes that Angel is Giles' friend and brings up The Harvest, which Giles clearly hasn't heard of. He also has no idea who Angel is. Giles plays indifferent, saying maybe he is wrong about the whole thing. It's not like she's been having the nightmares. Buffy looks worried.
Down below, Cordelia's hanging out with her groupies, whining that her mother was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr (It's*so* out!) when Jesse approaches. He asks her if she'd like to dance and she says no in a totally rude way. Cordelia? No, you don't say! As she and the Cordettes stroll off, Jesse tries to play it cool. Man, I feel for the dude.
Back up on the balcony, Buffy explains that she isn't saying she'll never slay another vampire. If she runs into one, she'll do it; she just wants to keep the slaying extra curricular. Giles says that's not good enough. She needs to learn more about her powers; she should be able to sense vampires, even when they look normal. Scanning the crowd, Buffy points out a vampire, taking Giles by surprise. When she explains that she knows he's undead because of his completely outdated clothing, he expresses his dismay that she didn't *hone*. To her horror, Buffy realizes that the vampire is talking to a girl - Willow. She races off to save her.
Unfortunately, at the same time, the vampire is leading Willow out of the club. Buffy searches through the crowd to find the redhead, but has no luck. She continues to look for her in a dark, deserted area, stake in hand and poised to attack, when someone comes up behind her. Acting on instinct, Buffy whirls around and grabs her "attacker" by the throat, pinning them to the wall. Oops, it turns out that it's just Cordelia - and her friends - coming out of the bathroom. They all think she is completely mental, and Buffy's embarrassed… but still focused on the task at hand. She quickly heads off to look for Willow as Cordelia calls "*Everyone* [she has] *ever* met."
Back out in the main… room, I guess you could call it, where everyone is dancing, Buffy meets back up with Giles. He congratulates her on a job well done, and then is disappointed to learn that the vampire is not dead. Buffy tells him she is going to take care of it.
Still in The Bronze, Jesse is chatting up the blonde girl from the beginning who reveals herself as Darla (See, I kept one surprise for you. Was it worth the wait? It was stupid, wasn't it?). She admits that she isn't from around there, but she has family in town that he will probably meet.
Once again in the dark cavern where the chanting vampire from before is still kneeling before that pool - which indeed is blood - as a particularly ugly vamp rises out of it. The kneeling vampire is pleased and takes the ugly vamp's hand, greeting him as "Master."
The Master complains that he is weak so the other vampire assures him that come the Harvest, he will be restored. The Master reaches out his hand and we see that there is an invisible barrier around him. Except it's a little visible when he touches it, because it looks the same as if you look at the back of a car when it's running and the clear exhaust is coming out so it makes everything on the other side of it look wavy. Know what I mean? It gives me a headache. Anyway, the Master says he must be ready and needs his strength. The vampire informs him that he has sent the others out for "food." The Master then calls him Luke - so I blessedly can quit calling him "the other vampire" - and tells him to bring him something young.
Willow and the vampire she left with are walking through the night - which, as Willow points out, happens to be dark. They're headed to the ice cream bar, but the vampire insists they take a shortcut… through the cemetery.
Outside the Bronze, Buffy is still frantically looking around for Willow when she sees Xander. She asks if he has seen her, mentioning that she left with a guy. Xander's surprised to hear that *Willow* left with a guy and I can't say I blame him (Hey, heinous clothes!). Buffy says she needs to find her and Xander replies "Why? Oh, hey, I hope he's not a vampire, because then you might have to slay him." Buffy's surprised that he knows her secret and asks if anyone in Sunnydale doesn't know she's the Slayer. Xander replies that he only knows she *thinks* she's the Slayer. However, he soon realizes that she is serious and Buffy tells him that if they don't find her, there is going to be one more dead body in the morning.
In the cemetery, Willow has started to deduce that this may not be the shortest way to the ice cream bar when her "date" tries to get her to enter a mausoleum with him. She is reluctant (he should have just told her it was a new Baskin Robbins!) so he shoves her inside. She tries to escape, but finds the door blocked by Darla. Jesse stumbles in a moment later, clutching his neck as he half falls on Willow and informing Darla that she gave him a hickey. Willow tries to get Jesse to leave with her, but Darla tells her she isn't going anywhere until they have fed as she transforms into game face. Willow screams loudly - can't say that I blame her. Nobody looks really good in game face, but I have always thought Darla looked especially ugly. Before things can go further, Buffy comes in with Xander in tow, giving her opinion about the décor. Darla asks who she is and Buffy expresses relief that *someone* doesn't know about her secret identity. The two vamps all but forget the other teens as they both advance on her. Buffy insults the male vampire's outfit, telling him he looks like DeBarge, before turning her attention on Darla. With her back to him, the male vamp tries to attack, but Buffy senses him and pulls her stake out of her shirt, embedding it in his chest with ease. Darla is taken aback, then claims he was young and stupid. As she and Buffy engage in their own physical fight, Xander and Willow help Jesse out of the mausoleum. Buffy's doing a pretty good job of kicking Darla's ass until she is surprised from behind by Luke grabbing her neck and throwing her against the wall. As she gets her bearing, Luke scolds Darla for dallying around with Buffy, but Darla tells him they had someone until Buffy came - she's very strong. Luke tells her to go; he'll take care of "the little girl." Buffy stands up, managing to get in a few punches in a kick before Luke backhands her and sends her flying.
Outside in the cemetery, the other three teens are making their escape when they find themselves facing a group of vampires.
Back in the mausoleum, Buffy tries to avoid Luke when he shoves the heavy lid off of the stone coffin. In an effort to avoid it, Buffy does a cartwheel over the coffin and hits Luke in the chest with both feet, knocking him to the ground. She is just about to stake him when he grabs her wrist and then breaks her stake. He tells her that she has no idea who she is dealing with, then goes into this big soliloquy about the Harvest. As he goes on and on about humans being like a plaque of boils and the blood of men flowing like wine on the Harvest and the Master walking once again, we see shots of Giles pouring over a book in the library, the Master and Willow, Xander and Jesse surrounded by vampires outside. Meanwhile, Luke has moved closer and closer to Buffy until he is in her face. He lifts her by her throat and tosses her towards the coffin where she lands inside of on her back - next to a really icky, long-dead corpse. When she doesn't hear or see Luke for a moment, she slowly starts to sit up. All of a sudden he jumps inside the coffin and grins "Amen," before he moves in to bite Buffy.