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Review: Welcome to the Hellmouth
by Carl
Lefler
July 23, 2002
Spoiler-free quick review: A
fine episode and an excellent introduction to all the main characters. Everyone
is topnotch in their parts, the writing is great and the direction is just
right. The fight sequences and effects naturally aren't as developed as they
would become in the seasons that follow. I would have preferred to have done
this review from the season one DVD rather than the chopped up FX version but
it's still very enjoyable.
Note: I'll be reviewing the season one and two DVD sets on a disc by disc basis in the coming weeks.
Spoiler- Heavy Point-by-point Review: As with my first experiences with the sci fi TV series Babylon 5 I didn't really get a chance to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer until well into it's third season. The first three episodes I got to see were "Earshot", and then reruns of "Becoming" parts 1 & 2. Unfortunately where I lived there was no WB affiliate and I received Buffy through the local UPN station. And at that time that particular station was moving the show every week making it almost impossible to find. I was really entertained by these first three episodes and wanted to see more but it was too difficult. And so I had to wait until they got around to showing season 4 on a regular schedule until I could get a chance to see the show on a regular basis.
As for the early Buffys, I had to wait for FX to start syndicating before I got to see all the early episodes and finally got the chance to see "Welcome to the Hellmouth". As premieres go this is an exceptionally good one. Written by series creator Joss Whedon and directed by actor Charles Martin Smith of American Graffiti and Untouchables fame, They both do an excellent job, Whedon has all the characters figured out and Smith's directing sets just the right mood.
The episode starts out with two youngsters breaking into Sunnydale High. The direction is is very good, Smith builds the proper mood, The girl and her boyfriend are sneaking through the halls trying to make their way to the roof. Unfortunately for the guy the girl happens to be the vampire hottie Darla, Julie Benz does an alright job here as Darla. I always prefer Darla when she's simple and seductive rather than the crucial villain that they tried to make her out to be in Angel's second season. Also, she seems a bit too old for the whole demure schoolgirl part here, Anyway, Darla chomps the guy and it's off to the opening credits. There's the early version of the theme by Nerf Herders and the opening credits which change subtly every season,
The episode then goes into Buffy dream sequence imagery and we see glimpses of events that happen later in the episodes and a tiny glimpse at some future episodes, Buffy later arrives at school for her first day. Joyce, her mom drops her off, Kristine Sutherland is good as always Joyce, She quietly asks Buffy to try not to get kicked out and we later learn why,
Xander
Harris shows up on
his skateboard and proceeds to quickly cause an accident when first laying eyes on
Buffy. Nicholas Brendon is great in the part as the bumbling jokester and
provides some first class comedy
relief, We quickly meet Willow Rosenberg in her dreadful looking Sears sophomore school wear,
And finally there's Jesse, Poor Eric Balfour plays the clueless loser Jesse. To
be honest, he does almost as good a job as Bredon does with his basically irrelevant character,
I mean we already have Xander, there's no need for this Xander-like clone. Oh well,
he'll be gone by the second episode.
We then find Buffy coming before the befuddled Principal Flutie. It's a humorous little sequence in which he starts to destroy her previous records in order to give her a fresh start and then proceeds to tape them back when he finds her past misconduct includes having burned down her previous school's gym, I liked Flutie as a character but really enjoyed Deep Space Nine's Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder even more. Snyder doesn't show until later in the season.
Buffy then meets Xander who discovers the stake she accidentally dropped from her bag. We find Buffy in history class learning about the Black Plague in a scene reminiscent of the classroom scene in Ferris Beuler, She meets Cordelia Chase who uncharacteristically does something nice for her, Cordy proceeds to test Buffy's coolness factor, And we learn that lusting for James Spader is a sign of coolness in the Buffy universe, How odd! Cordy really begins to show her true colors by being cruel to Willow. And gives Buffy a piece of advice: "know your losers".
Buffy heads for the school library to pick up a history textbook and meets Giles who tries to give her a book marked "Vampyr". This is the book from her vision earlier, Giles knows her name and Buffy becomes thoroughly freaked out from the encounter. Anthony Head is great and has nailed the character precisely arrogant, stuffy and a bit prissy,
The dead guy that Darla bit is later found stuffed in a locker. In the meantime, Buffy meets up with Willow, Sarah Michelle Gellar really does her job well, speaking the lines with great comedic timing that will improve even more over time, Nick Brendon is also great and funny as he shows up to return her stake,
Buffy finally discovers that there are vampires in her new town and confronts
Giles who goes through the whole slayer spiel,
Giles believes that Sunnydale is at the center of mystic activity. He insists on
training her. She goes through an explanation of the downside of being a slayer which Xander
overhears. Giles reiterates that a crucial mystical upheaval is about to occur in
a matter of days.
We then head underground in the tunnels beneath Sunnydale and we're introduced to Luke who is preparing the way for The Master to rise from a pool of bubbling blood.
Back to the Summers' house where Joyce attempts to create a mother-daughter connection with her supposed trouble child. This scene offers some of the most humorous dialog in the episode.
Joyce: Are you going out tonight?
Buffy: Yeah, I'm going to a club.
Joyce: Will there be boys there?
Buffy: No mom, it's a nun club,
Joyce is, as always, the always worried but outwardly optimistic mother, trying so hard to relate to her daughter, But Buffy can't tell her mother that she's really a vampire slayer
As she heads for the
local club, the Bronze, Buffy is being followed, She quickly ducks into the alleyway
and hides, And so she first meets Angel, David Boreanaz does a passable job
here, although I never really cared for his acting ability especially in these
early episodes. Angel warns her that the Harvest is coming and hands her a box with a
crucifix and leaves. One scene I liked was the creepy smile on his face when he
says "kill them all". I won't go into any Boreanaz bashing here but
I'll do a little bit of it when I get around to reviewing "The
Harvest".
Buffy arrives at the Bronze and there's a live band playing, She quickly runs into Willow who is there hoping to meet up with Xander. Will explains to Buffy how she is awkward around men, usually losing her ability to speak coherently, Alyson Hannigan is just great in her part and I'm glad she got the part rather than Riff Regan, who played the part of Willow in the rarely seen pilot, Giles is at the nightclub with the students (but not in a skanky way) and tries again to warn her of the mystical whatchamacallits coming their way in the future. Buffy displays for Giles her original and fashion oriented method of spotting vampires, The vamp in question is over hitting on Willow, they head off and Buffy goes after them to save her new friend,
Buffy follows them out of the club and into the alleyway. While she is searching for the vamp she mistakenly attempts to stake Cordy, By now Cordy is thoroughly convinced Buffy is a dangerous nutcase.
Inside the Bronze Jesse
is trying to pick up Darla,
Underneath the town the Master rises but is weak and trapped within an energy
barrier. He talks to Luke about planning the harvest, Above ground Willow is
being led toward the cemetery by the out of style vampire. Buffy is still
desperately looking for her and runs into Xander. Xander reveals he
knows that she thinks she's a vampire slayer,
Back at the cemetery Willow is getting scared and the vamp throws her into a mausoleum, Soon Darla shows up with slightly drained Jesse. Buffy confronts the two vampires and Darla shows her vamp face. The morph job on Darla vamping out is pretty crude. But that's to be expected since they were obviously working and improving the makeup as the series progressed.
Buffy dusts the boy vamp and then fights Darla, But just at the wrong moment Luke shows up and kicks her ass, While Luke is keeping Buffy preoccupied, Darla goes after Jesse & Willow. Brian Thompson is really good as Luke. He excels at playing creepy villainous roles. As he beats on Buffy, an army of vamps arrives in the graveyard to menace Willow, Xander and Jesse,
Luke talks about the coming Harvest while Giles researches it in his library, The rest of the episode is pretty much a collage of various scenes showing the Master, the army of vamps and Darla as Luke's creepy voiceover monologue continues. His discourse finally ends as he corners Buffy in the crypt,
To be continued.
I'll get to my review of the second episode in the next few days.
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