The scene opens on the school from 90210, where a young couple in teen lust breaks into the school late at night to play out a cliche that horror fans (or anyone who's ever seen a movie) will recognize as "dangerous guy leads innocent blonde to her doom." The cliche gets tossed upside-down, though, when Miss Catholic School turns around and buries her big ol' vampire fangs in Unwitting Victim Guy's throat, and we cut to the theme music.

Right away, Joss & Co. set the tone for this new show. From the teaser alone, we can see we're in for chills, humour, and attitude, and that the old rules of the genre weren't gonna apply. Plus, in an odd yet effective display of girl power, I was kinda pumped to see that Miss Catholic School wasn't some naive fool but a clever badass playing on UVG's assumptions about her.

Note to self during the credits:
"Hey, it's that guy from the Taster's Choice ads! He's cute!"

Back from commercial, Buffy's tossing and turning in bed, and we see what she's dreaming about. It's a montage of nightmare images - blood, fire, a book titled "Vampyr", the cast of the Thriller video - Buffy jolts awake, and her mother calls out for her to get ready for school.

In front of said school, Joyce drops Buffy off for her first day with all sorts of supportive, motherly advice about making friends, thinking positive, and not getting kicked out again. Then we meet The Gang. Xander skateboards (this one time ever) and checks out the new girl, wiping out spectacularly when he's too interested in Buffy to look where he's going. Excellent stunt work from Nicholas Brendon. Looked very painful. Pretty funny, too. Willow arrives next, and Xander asks her about the math homework; she suggests he check out "Theories in Trig" from the Library ("where the books live"). Then the two hook up with their buddy Jesse, who joins Xander in his appreciation of the new girl on campus.

New Girl is on her way to Principal Flutie's office to hear all about how her dismal school record from LA won't be held against her at Sunnydale High. He colourfully illustrates this point by ripping up her transcript, but what he sees on it makes him reconsider. Apparently, he hadn't been aware that she'd burned down the gym at her old school. Buffy tries to plead her case, but since she can't exactly tell him it was full of vampires (which she very nearly blurts out anyway), the "full of asbestos" cover story doesn't seem to impress him. Touchy-feely fresh start pep talk turns quickly to a thinly veiled "we'll be watching you" lecture as he tapes the transcript back together to put back in her file, and Buffy takes her leave of him.

Out in the hallway, Buffy digs through her bag for something-or-other. She bumps into somebody, spills her bag, and an eager Xander rushes to assist ("Can I have you? Dyeh... can I help you?"). He makes a stuttering and incredibly tongue-tied introduction, clearly smitten and utterly dorky. Buffy appreciates the friendly gesture but isn't quite as impressed, walking away before she realizes she's dropped a wooden stake. Xander'll just hang onto that for her. He's nice.

Later in class, a girl named Cordelia shares a textbook with Buffy then offers to show her where the Library is after class so Buffy can find a copy for herself. On the way there, Cordy tests Buffy's coolness (with bonus points for being from LA, of course), and the two are on the way to being fast friends. When they pass the water fountain, however, Cordelia takes time to pointedly insult Willow's unpopularity and taste in clothes, and we're not as sure anymore about mean ol' Cordy. I mean, she's incredibly friendly to Buffy and suggests she come to a club called The Bronze that evening, but meyow!

Buffy reaches the empty-looking Library, stopping to look at an article that's been circled about three local boys who are missing, when a hand taps her on the shoulder. A man who seems to know who she is introduces himself as "Mr. Giles... the librarian". Inside that pause you can tell there's a lot more he wants to say, but he decides a better way to connect with her is to hand her a large, leather tome inscribed "Vampyr". Buffy's seriously not excited to see the book and makes a hasty exit from the Library.

In the locker room, some snooty girls are getting ready for gym class, gossiping about the new girl - apparently Buffy's troublesome reputation from Hemery High has proceeded her - but before the discussion can go very far, one of the girls opens her locker, and the body of the dearly departed UVG falls out of it, on top of her. She screams hysterically. Horror! Trauma! Snooty girl gets hers!

Unaware of this turn of events, Buffy finds Willow on the quad and asks her for some help getting caught up with her classes. Willow's thrilled to be asked and suggests they meet in the Library. Buffy's less than thrilled, since she didn't enjoy her last visit there. Willow goes on to talk about the fascinating new librarian who's just come to the school, and Buffy's intrigued/suspicious to hear this. Before she can ask much about him, though, Xander and Jesse join the conversation, pressing Buffy for exciting details about her life. Xander's crush on Buffy is already readily apparent as he returns her stake, which she awkwardly tries to pass of as the latest in LA-style self defense. Jesse, on the other hand, is more interested in Cordelia, who's arrived to tell Buffy that gym's been cancelled "due to the extreme dead guy in the locker." Between Buffy's new friends and her morbid interest in the details of the death, Cordelia seems to have written off her new buddy.

Buffy takes off at this news (the dead guy, not Cordy's attitude), and a little display of Slayer strength gets her into the locked room where she can look at the body. She uncovers the corpse and finds fang marks in his neck. Yep, vampire attack. Lovely.

She goes to the Library to inform Giles of this - not that she cares, of course - and he tries to impress upon her the seriousness of the situation and her Calling. The vampire attacks are increasing, and they're not the only supernatural danger this town faces. He starts the "one girl in all the world" speech, which she dismisses with a "blah, blah, blah" but he continues. He's her Watcher, sent to train her, but she's not having it and walks out. Giles follows, hoping to convince her, and we see Xander walk out of the stacks with the book Willow sent him to look for, looking incredibly befuddled by what he just overheard.

Out in the hallway, Giles continues to try to open Buffy's eyes to the danger around them. Apparently, there have been signs of an imminent mystical upheaval, but Buffy offers some famous last words: "Come on, this is Sunnydale. How bad an evil can there be?" Obligingly, the camera pans underground to a sunken lair where a vampire chants in front of a pool of blood "The sleeper will wake, and the world will bleed. Amen." Gee, Buffy, any other smart questions?

The only question on her mind, though, is what to wear out for the evening. Joyce comes into her room to offer some encouraging comments about how things are going to work out for them in Sunnydale. During the course of this conversation, we learn that Joyce isn't in on the whole Slayer secret identity. Then with an outfit selected, Buffy sets off. As she walks down the street, it's apparent that someone's following her. Cue spooky music and the obligatory "girl ducks into an alley" scene. Of course, on this show, girl ducks into the alley in order to get the drop on her pursuer and send him sprawling. Oh, hey - it's a cute guy! He seems in the know and assures her he doesn't bite. Then he warns her of something called The Harvest and tells her that they're standing at the mouth of hell, which is about to open. Buffy takes an immediate dislike to him, put off by his cryptic stalker act. Then he tosses her a box and leaves all suave and mysterious-like. Inside the box is a silver cross.

And we're at The Bronze. Happening party place for the all-ages crowd. Buffy's happy to see Willow there, who's kind of expecting Xander. Not that they're dating - they broke up when he stole her Barbie. Which is less odd than it sounds since they were 5 years old at the time. Willow's shy about meeting boys, but Buffy encourages her to seize the moment. Then spying Giles on a catwalk above, Buffy excuses herself to go give him a hard time.

She mentions the Harvest that the handsome stranger told her about, and Giles is instantly intrigued. A lot of people are getting intrigued by stuff this episode and rightly so. It's intriguing stuff. Then he finally gets her attention by mentioning her nightmares. Below, Jesse asks Cordy to dance and is abruptly shot down. Then we rejoin Buffy and Giles talking above. She's still trying to beg off of her Slayer duty, and he challenges her to try and feel if there's a vampire in the building. He talks about reaching out with her senses, but it's her fashion sense that spots one - he's clearly still dressing as he did when he was killed, Lionel Richie jacket and all. Giles is less than thrilled by her method. And neither of them is thrilled to see that the vampire has set his sights on Willow. Buffy moves to follow, breaking a leg off a chair as she walks through a back hallway looking for them.

She creeps along, looking for where they might have gone, when a noise behind her has Buffy hoisting her assailant by the throat, stake poised. Oops, it's Cordelia, who's utterly disdainful of the new girl's psycho behaviour. Embarassed and frustrated, Buffy returns to the club. Giles considers coming with her to find Willow and the vampire but decides to return to the Library to research this Harvest. After all, Buffy assures him, she can handle one single vampire. Which is again when the "famous last words" bug rises up to bite Buffy in the butt because Jesse is chatting up Miss Catholic School, who introduces herself as Darla.

Meanwhile, underground, the sleeper emerges from the pool of blood. He's a master vampire called, appropriately enough, The Master, and his servant Luke promises that the upcoming Harvest will free him from the lair, which he's imprisoned in by a sort of mystical barrier. He charges Luke to bring him something to eat - something young - which is when we see that Willow is walking through a very spooky cemetery with her less-than-charming vampire date.

Outside The Bronze, Buffy runs into Xander. She wants to know if he's seen Willow, and Xander mockingly suggests that it'd be a shame if the guy Willow's with were a vampire becaue then Buffy might have to slay him. Buffy's aghast that yet another person in her new town seems to know she's the Slayer, and it dawns on Xander that she's serious.

Willow's not so much enjoying her jaunt with her new guy, who rudely shoves her into a crypt. [Note to Willow: pushy guys who insist on taking shortcuts through graveyards? Not really boyfriend material.] Willow tries to get away, but Darla's blocking the door. Then Jesse staggers in, woozy from the "hickey" she gave him. Darla shifts into scary vampface, and Willow screams, then - phew! - Buffy and Xander are at the door. Ooh, and she's sassy! Here begins the "crowd-pleasing threats and swagger routine" I've come to know and love. While Buffy is promising to make short work of Darla, the Stuck-In-the-80's vampire guy tries to sneak up behind her, gets a stake through the heart for his trouble, and explodes into a cloud of dust. Excellent effect. I never get tired of it. This freaks out pretty much everybody in the room, Darla included. Then at Buffy's signal, Xander, Willow and Jesse run from the crypt. Buffy's getting cocky, but then Luke appears behind her and gives the Slayer a grade-A thrashing. The gang makes a good run for it but find themselves surrounded by more vampires. And inside the crypt, Luke gives Buffy a preview of what the Harvest will be. He flings her easily into an open sarcophagus, pouncing on her, fangs flashing wide as he comes in for the kill and... To Be Continued!! Aaagh!!

Thoughts

Excellent cliffhanger! I'm hooked right away and can't wait for part 2. The characters are all nicely introduced, and I already feel like I've known them for years. And there's something likeable about all of them! For instance, Cordelia's capable of some seriously bitchy put-downs, but her self-involved outlook on life is truly hysterical to behold. And The Master... he's all uber-evil guy, but he's got a quirky sense of humour. Plus he's so very over-the-top with his villain-ness and leather getup that I like him instantly.

The obligatory "explain the rules" is done smoothly as possible, even though I wonder at times why people who already know the rules are explaining them to each other. But I know it's for my benefit, so I listen up and take notes.

For an episode with a lot of exposition and introductions to accomplish, it manages to keep a great pace, full of surprises and twists. All in all, it's a fun episode I've watched time and time again and never get tired of. Over halfway through S6 as I write this, it's wonderful to go back and "remember when". It's amazing to see how much everybody's changed, but they're still the same people we met here.

Quirks

Why was no one watching UVG's body in the locker room? Shouldn't there be some sort of crime scene? Or maybe even a cop or two?

While Buffy and Giles discuss his Time/Life series of demonology books, they keep flipping. The bindings face Buffy one moment, Giles the next.

Recycling extras: in one scene in particular (when Buffy spills her bag), a girl in a diagonal-striped miniskirt is walking away in one shot, then in the very next, she's going in the exact opposite direction. [spotted by beautyone]

Body Count

UVG - teaser/locker guy, bitten by Darla
DeBarge - Willow's "date", the first vamp dusted on BtVS, courtesy of Buffy

Haiku

DeBarge on the prowl
Kids all dancing, unaware
Buffy doesn't hone

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