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Buffy, a seasoned review 1
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In light of the new movie and my general love of all things Buffy-related, I decided to post a review of the series. However, when I finished my post, I realized how incredibly long it is. So Ive decided to do a season-by-season analysis over the span of the next year or so.
Season one was a short season, sort of a trial run, but it was definitely a good one (with a few obvious exceptions.)
It starts when Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) moves from LA to Sunnydale to find a fresh start after burning down the school gym. (Wait... that sounds familiar... almost like this movie I saw in 1992...) But, as she puts it, 'it was full of vamp-... asbestos.'
She knows about her destiny as a Slayer, but she is trying to leave it behind her and be a normal sixteen year old girl. She proves right away that she's not a shallow 'it' girl anymore in the beginning, when she ruins her chance at popoularity to sit with the 'nerds' such as Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander (Nicholas Brendon).
But her destiny follows her, as it's sometimes wont to do. This time, it's in the form of her new Watcher/librarian Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who tells her that she has to step up and do what she was called to do.
'Into each generation a Slayer is born. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers.'
Buffy, after a casualty or two, decides that she's got to own up, and this season centralizes on finding a niche. There are, of course hits ('The Pack', 'Nightmares', etc) and misses ('I, Robot... You, Jane', that silly scene in 'Prophecy Girl' where the theme song plays over the scene...).
Joss's writing style is amazingly fresh in this season; a mix of valley-girl speak, nerd-speak, and something else altogether for what 'Whedonites' lovingly call 'JossSpeak'.
Other characters introduced include Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Angel (David Boreanaz), Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), Principal Snyder (Armin Shimmerman), and Darla (Julie Benz).
Some things to acknowledge:
- Xander is in love with Buffy, but Willow is in love with Xander.
- Giles gets knocked unconscious. A lot.
- Xander was turned into a hyena... kind of.
- All of our heroes are tragically unlucky with romance. It only gets worse.
- Buffy thinks dolls are creepy.
- Principal Snyder is a rat.
- And you thought you were invisible in high school...
- Carpe Diem.
On a personal level, I love this season. Everything is so fresh and untouched. As opposed to later seasons, which make me dislike particular characters, the only one I can find is Cordy, and you're supposed to hate her. My very favorite episode this season has got to be 'Angel', because I'm apparently an annoying teenager at heart who just wants romance to win out.
