1.1 Welcome to the Hellmouth

Plot Synopsis (Hide)

Buffy Summers and her mother move to Sunnydale, having left LA after Buffy was expelled from school for burning down the gym. Strangely, no-one believed her explanation that it was infested with vampires! On her first day at her new school, Buffy meets her soon-to-be-best-friends Willow and Xander, along with a friend of theirs called Jesse. She is originally taken under the wing of the self-centered Cordelia, but this doesn't last long as Cordelia sees more and more evidence of Buffy's "weirdness".

On a search for text books, Buffy encounters the school librarian, Rupert Giles, who has been sent from England to be her Watcher. Giles finds that, disillusioned by her calling after all the trouble it has caused, Buffy is reluctant to take up her Slayer duties again, but after a student is found dead from "severe neck trauma", she is drawn to investigate.

That evening, as Buffy makes her way to Sunnydale's only club, The Bronze, she is followed by a handsome stranger. When she confronts him, he assures her he doesn't bite, and warns her to be ready for "The Harvest". Unimpressed, Buffy continues on her way, but before she leaves the stranger throws her a small box containing a silver cross and chain. When Buffy looks up from examining it, the stranger has gone, but next time we see her, she is wearing the cross.

At the Bronze, Buffy joins Willow, and during their conversation gives her shy friend the benefit of her advice: "sieze the moment". Jesse meanwhile, having been snubbed by the beautiful but shallow Cordelia, begins chatting to Darla, a girl he believes to be a high-school student, but who the audience has already seen as a vampire. Spotting Giles surveying the crowds from a balcony, Buffy leaves Willow and joins him. He tells her that, as the Slayer, she should be able to sense the presence of vampires, and when she tries to do so, she becomes aware of one in the mass of people below. As the vampire shifts position, Buffy realises he is chatting up Willow, who has obviously taken her new friends advice to heart.

Jesse and Willow leave the Bronze with their new companions, and under the pretext of a shortcut, the four end up in the local graveyard, although Willow is beginning to wonder why they are there! While Buffy is frantically searching for them she runs into Xander, who overheard a conversation in the library which revealed Buffy's "secret identity" - the Vampire Slayer. Unsurprisingly, he finds this difficult to accept, but Buffy's obvious anxiety for Willow makes him realise that it is no joke.

Finally locating the others in a stone-built mausoleum, Buffy strolls in casually, with Xander panting in her wake. After a bit of banter, she manages to stake the male vampire and, while everyone looks on in amazement, shouts to Xander to get Willow and Jesse to safety before she takes on Darla. Although she is able to overpower the vampire easily, she is suddenly attacked from behind by the Master vampire's main henchman, Luke, enabling Darla to flee. Buffy and Luke begin to fight, but Luke is stronger than she expects, and eventually manages to throw her into an open coffin. As she lies there, startled and rigid with fear, the episode ends with Luke moving in for the kill....

Highlights

• Principal Flutie's "inspirational" welcome talk, where he ostentatiously tears up Buffys previous record, then, after glancing at bits of the text, gradually tapes it together again, while trying to sound positive
• Buffy's whole "I don't care" scene in the library with Giles
• Buffy and Giles "honing" discussion in The Bronze, including Giles's rather ineffectual attempt to work out what to do as Buffy takes action

Firsts

There are too many to go through in detail - since this is the first ever episode, everything is a "first", but some seem worthy of special mention:

First (oblique) references to the Hellmouth. Giles describes Sunnydale as a "centre of mystical convergence" and Angel tells Buffy that she is "standing at the mouth of Hell".

Buffy's first impression of Angel, "Dark. Gorgeous, in an annoying sort of way...I really didn't like him".

Pop Culture References

Giving a "coolness test" to Buffy, Cordelia refers to John Tesh, eliciting a response of "the Devil" from Buffy. John Tesh is an evangelical musician and radio show host in the States.

Cordelia: Willow! Nice dress! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears
This was an advertising slogan of American hardware giant Sears, as they attempted to move into the textiles market

When Giles asks Buffy what she knows about Sunnydale, her only response is "it's two hours on the freeway from Neiman Marcus?"
Neiman Marcus is a fashionable American clothing store, and Buffy is implying that Sunnydale is a far cry from civilisation as she knows it

On a similar note, Xander refers to Sunnydale as a "one Starbucks town"
Starbucks is an American coffee-bar franchise which seems to have become a global phenomenon. Even in the UK, many larger towns have several Starbucks outlets. Since Sunnydale boasts only one, we can assume that it is rather small, and perhaps a little less than trendy.

When Buffy is trying to decide what to wear for her first visit to The Bronze, she considers and rejects a blue floral dress, with the comment "Would you like a copy of the Watchtower"
The Watchtower is the Jehova's Witness' religious magazine

What We Learn

• Buffy is the Vampire Slayer (well, duh!)
• How vampires reproduce ("it's a whole big sucking thing")
• Xander has a crush on Buffy
• Willow seems to have been in love with Xander since childhood.

Mythology

Giles tells of the birth of vampires: "The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding...killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return."

Nitpicks

• As Buffy walks towards the Bronze for the first time, she digs a banknote out of her pocket and hands it to the doorman without a glance. How does she know how much it costs? She's never been there before!