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Season 1, Episode 1
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Charles Martin Smith
Original Airdate: 10 March 1997
"Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"
Cordelia Chase
REGULAR CAST
GUEST CAST
CO-STARRING
SYNOPSIS
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Buffy Summers, a 16-year-old girl, moves to
Sunnydale, CA from LA with her mom. On the first day of school, Cordelia
Chase, the popular girl, inducts Buffy into the cool crowd despite
Buffy's attempts to be friends with three other students: Xander Harris,
Willow Rosenberg and Jesse McNally. At the library to get some
textbooks, she meets Rupert Giles, the new school librarian and Buffy's
new Watcher. He presents a book with 'Vampyr' on the cover which scares
her off. When a dead body is found on campus, Buffy goes to investigate
and finds that the body was killed by vampires.
When she goes to inform Giles about the body, she also tells him she no
longer wants to be a Slayer and hoped that she left that life back in
LA. He tells her she has no choice in the matter and that her living in
Sunnydale was no coincidence since it is where mystical events centre.
As Buffy leaves, Giles follows to try and make her understand what is
going on. They leave and Xander pops his head out from behind one of the
shelves unsure what to make of their discussion.
At home, Buffy prepares for her night out to the 'Bronze,' Sunnydale's
only night club. Her mom thinks that everything is going to work out in
Sunnydale and that they will be able to have a happy life there. On her
way to the Bronze, Buffy senses she is being followed and heads into a
alleyway. A tall, gorgeous guy comes out of the shadows searching for
her. She swings down from a handstand she was holding on a bar above him
and knocks him to the ground. He claims not to bite and that he just
wants to help her. He warns her of the Harvest and tells her about the
Hellmouth. Later at the Bronze, Buffy chats with Willow about boys. She
tries to inspire Willow to stop waiting and to 'seize the day.' Buffy
spots Giles upstairs and goes up to talk to him. He continues to tell
her she is the Slayer and has no choice in the matter.
Buffy spots a vampire in the crowd below them and then realizes he's
talking to Willow. The guy leaves with Willow as Buffy goes searching
for him. She mistakenly attacks Cordelia and then pretty much ruins her
chances for popularity. As Buffy leaves, she runs into Xander and asks
him where Willow may have gone or else there will be one more dead body
tomorrow. The vampire manages to lead Willow into the cemetery where he
throws her into a Mausoleum. As she tries to escape, Darla arrives with
Jesse. Buffy and Xander show up and Buffy kills one of the vampires and
then fights with Darla as Xander gets Willow and Jesse out to safety.
Luke, a monstrous vampire, shows up and fights with Buffy. While they
are fighting, Darla escapes to get Jesse, Xander and Willow. Luke throws
Buffy into a coffin where he jumps in and leans in to bite.
TRIVIA
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This episode, as well as the next one
The Harvest, originally aired as a
two-hour movie on the WB. On all subsequent showings, as well as its
international airings, the movie is split into two separate episodes.
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On it's original airing this episode had a short
trailer that talked about two other Slayers, one being recurring comic
character Lucy Hannover, who appears in Nancy Holder's novel Book of
Fours. The trailer is as follows: "Virginia, 1866. The disappearance of
local Civil War widows shocked an already devastated community. These
events ended when Lucy Hanover arrived in town. Chicago, May, 1927:
Forty-one bodies were found near Union Station. Shortly after the
arrival of this young woman, the mysterious murders stopped. Now, in
1997, it's starting all over again." This trailer has never been seen
since.
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Armin Shimerman auditioned for the role of
Principal Flutie, but lost out to Ken Lerner. He later got the role of
Principal Snyder in The Puppet Show.
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Joss Whedon wanted to place Eric Balfour on the
opening credits to lull the audience into thinking he was going to
survive. He found it too costly however to create another set of
credits. He planned to do the same to Kristine Sutherland in
The Body, but he was halted then as
well. He eventually did the trick with Amber Benson in
Seeing Red.
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In the unaired pilot presentation to the WB,
actress Riff Regan played Willow, but it was felt that she was wrong for
the part. She was replaced by Alyson Hannigan when the series was
commissioned. The unaired pilot also featured Danny Strong and Mercedes
McNab, who didn't appear until later in the series' run. Stephen
Tobolowsky originally played Principal Flutie, until Ken Lerner took the
part. The unaired pilot also did not feature Angel or the Master.
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Sarah Michelle Gellar auditioned for the roles of
Buffy and Cordelia. She won the role of Cordelia, but then auditioned
seventeen times for the role of Buffy when the part was still uncast.
Charisma Carpenter, Julie Benz, Elizabeth Anne Allen and Mercedes McNab
all auditioned for the role of Buffy, and all received other roles. They
became important characters to the show as a result.
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Bianca Lawson, who would play Kendra in season
two, originally won the role of Cordelia, but left due to a commitment
to another series, Goode Behaviour.
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Sunnydale High School is actually Torrance High
School, which was also the school used in Beverly Hills 90210.
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Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon's Production Company was
the name that Joss gave to his typewriter when he was fifteen. The logo
for the episode was created within twenty minutes of Joss finding out he
needed one. Joss is also the voice of the 'Grrr Arrgh!' monster that
appears over the logo at the end of every episode.
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The band Nerf Herder perform the opening theme to
the series. They got their name from an insult Leia yells at Han Solo in
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
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Although established as a separate continuity from
the 1992 movie, there are several allusions to Buffy burning down the
Hemery High gymnasium, which does not appear in the movie, but does
appear in the original script. Various actors who didn't appear in the
series, but appeared in the film were Kristy Swanson who played Buffy,
Candy Clarke, who played a very different 'Buffy's Mom,' and James
Paradise, who appeared briefly as 'Buffy's Dad.' When asked about the
movie, Joss had this to say: “It wasn’t really my idea. After the
première of the movie, my wife said, “You know, honey, maybe a few years
from now, you’ll get to make it again, the way you want to make it!”
[Broad, condescending voice.] “Ha ha ha, you little naïve fool. It
doesn’t work that way. That’ll never happen.” And then it was three
years later, and Gail Berman actually had the idea. Sandollar Television
had the property, and Gail thought it would make a good TV series. They
called me up out of contractual obligation: “Call the writer, have him
pass.” And I was like, “Well, that sounds cool.” So, to my agent’s
surprise and chagrin, I said, “Yeah, I could do that. I think I get it.
It could be a high-school horror movie. It’d be a metaphor for how lousy
my high-school years were.” So I hadn’t had the original idea, I just
developed it".
CONTINUITY
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The cross that Angel gives Buffy during this
episode can be seen in several further episodes
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The Illuminata, which is the diamond that the Trio
stole from Sunnydale's museum in Smashed,
was on loan from the British Museum, which Willow mentions in this
episode when she says that Giles' could have been the British Museum's
curator.
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Buffy's dream in the first moments of the episode
show clips from the already shot episodes of season one.
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Cordelia tells Buffy that she would 'kill to live
in LA, that close to that many shoes.' Cordelia moves to Los Angeles
after the third season finale.
GOOFS
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When Buffy goes back to the library and she and
Giles are arguing about her being the Slayer, Giles hands her some
books. When he gives them to her the spines of the books are facing one
way and when she gives them back to him they are facing the other way.
They alternate like that a few times before they are finally put down.
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When Xander sees Buffy drop her purse on the
floor, there's a girl in the background walking down the hall. In the
next shot the same girl is walking down the hall but in the opposite
direction.
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When Buffy stakes Thomas, the stake doesn't go
anywhere near his heart.
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In the opening sequence, Darla's top button on her
shirt is done up but when she vamps, the shirt is totally buttoned up.
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When Buffy is looking for Willow in the Bronze,
she snaps off a stool leg to use as a weapon. In the next shot, it has
become a regular stake.
Welcome to the
Hellmouth |
The Harvest |
Witch | Teacher's Pet | Never Kill a Boy on the
First Date
The Pack |
Angel | I Robot, You Jane |
The Puppet Show |
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Out of Mind, Out of Sight |
Prophecy Girl
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