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watcherscouncil2024-01-23 08:35 am
wearing_tearing) wrote in watcherscouncil2024-01-23 08:35 am
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BtVS - 1.02: The Harvest
Original Air Date: March 10, 1997
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: John T. Kretchmer
The episode picks up exactly where Welcome to the Hellmouth left off and Luke is stopped from snacking on Buffy by... the silver crucifix Angel gave her! Don't we love useful gifts?
The fight choreography during the cemetery scene is just okay? There are only a few kicks and punches. I do love Buffy making improvised stakes out of whatever sharp thing she can get her hands on--like the tree branch. It shows the Slayer has to think on her feet and work with what she has available.
Here, we get an explanation from Giles about what exactly are vampires in this universe: a human form possessed, infected by a demon's soul, waiting for the Old Ones to return. Now that we have more of an understanding of what they are and what they want, this establishes a good and direction connection to the Scoobies and what's at stake (no pun intended) in this dangerous situation: the life of their friend.
Then we have a little bit of meat added to Willow and Xander's characters, but in different ways. Willow turns out to be really good with computers, which is something that will be developed further as the series progress aaaaand... we have Xander with his insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, which will turn into a pattern throughout the season/series. And we see Buffy use her powers again in a non-slaying setting when she jumps over the school fence!
And we're 2/2 in Angel appearing and being mysterious. He does give a bit of extra information about things again, though, like the fact that he stands apart from other vampires and has no friends. There's also a lot of staring between him and Buffy and we all know that, in romance terms, that means they're gonna fall in loooooove.
More world-building information! This time on all of the possible ways to kill vampires. So during this second episode, we already know what they are, what they want at the moment, how vampires make other vampires, and how to kill them. We also see how sunlight affects them a bit later on.
Poor Jesse. Him turning does move Willow and Xander further into the slaying business, though, since now it's even more personal. Later in the episode, Giles does remind Xander that Jesse isn't their friend anymore, but the "thing that killed him."
I'm going to make a tally for how many times Giles takes his glasses off and then puts them on again, for my own personal amusement. And more information about the Master and the first use of the word "Hellmouth" in-episode to refer to Sunnydale and what that means! We're learning so many things in this episode in such organic ways, like little pieces of a big puzzle slowly coming together.
There's also the first bit of direct conflict between Buffy and Joyce due to Buffy being the Slayer. We know that's going to be a point that's brought up over and over again throughout the series, in many different forms, but I want it registered here because Joyce outright says that she knows everything for a 16-year-old is a matter of life or death. Ah, if only she knew!
Shoutout to Dashboard Prophets by bringing on the music for this episode during The Bronze scenes.
Luke is such a little drama vampire. He has to walk the stage, have his own light, give a little speech... all before he starts on gathering souls for the Master. We do get a good Luke vs Buffy fight, though! And we have Giles, Xander, and Willow showing they're also capable of joining the fight.
Jess does get slayed by accident, but I am going to count him for the vampire tally.
The ol' sunrise trick first used (maybe, I have no data on this) by Max Denninson against the Sanderson witches in Hocus Pocus. It works every time!
Angel hiding in an alley while everything goes down is truly a choice. At least he's impressed by Buffy and what she can do when she puts her mind to it.
I do love that the final few minutes of this episode involve: 1) Xander says things will never be the same and then the scene immediately cuts to Sunnydale High, where everything is the same and Cordelia is promptly spreading the official "everything is normal here" excuse about what happened at The Bronze: not vampires, but ugly gang members fighting! And 2) Giles adding that there will be a "next time" in regard to them stopping the end of the world and that they might face not only vampires, but other threats, is also such a good way to open the series for several different possibilities--something we know the writers jumped on!
Vampires Slayed: 5.
Series Total: 6.
Giles Taking Off/Putting On Glasses: 2.
Series Total: 2.
Episode Quote:
Buffy: So Giles, got anything that could make this day any worse?
Giles: How about the end of the world?
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: John T. Kretchmer
Buffy and her friends encounter a powerful vampire bent on opening a portal to a dimension inhabited by demons.Second part of the series premiere! First part thoughts can be found here.
The episode picks up exactly where Welcome to the Hellmouth left off and Luke is stopped from snacking on Buffy by... the silver crucifix Angel gave her! Don't we love useful gifts?
The fight choreography during the cemetery scene is just okay? There are only a few kicks and punches. I do love Buffy making improvised stakes out of whatever sharp thing she can get her hands on--like the tree branch. It shows the Slayer has to think on her feet and work with what she has available.
Here, we get an explanation from Giles about what exactly are vampires in this universe: a human form possessed, infected by a demon's soul, waiting for the Old Ones to return. Now that we have more of an understanding of what they are and what they want, this establishes a good and direction connection to the Scoobies and what's at stake (no pun intended) in this dangerous situation: the life of their friend.
Then we have a little bit of meat added to Willow and Xander's characters, but in different ways. Willow turns out to be really good with computers, which is something that will be developed further as the series progress aaaaand... we have Xander with his insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, which will turn into a pattern throughout the season/series. And we see Buffy use her powers again in a non-slaying setting when she jumps over the school fence!
And we're 2/2 in Angel appearing and being mysterious. He does give a bit of extra information about things again, though, like the fact that he stands apart from other vampires and has no friends. There's also a lot of staring between him and Buffy and we all know that, in romance terms, that means they're gonna fall in loooooove.
More world-building information! This time on all of the possible ways to kill vampires. So during this second episode, we already know what they are, what they want at the moment, how vampires make other vampires, and how to kill them. We also see how sunlight affects them a bit later on.
Poor Jesse. Him turning does move Willow and Xander further into the slaying business, though, since now it's even more personal. Later in the episode, Giles does remind Xander that Jesse isn't their friend anymore, but the "thing that killed him."
I'm going to make a tally for how many times Giles takes his glasses off and then puts them on again, for my own personal amusement. And more information about the Master and the first use of the word "Hellmouth" in-episode to refer to Sunnydale and what that means! We're learning so many things in this episode in such organic ways, like little pieces of a big puzzle slowly coming together.
There's also the first bit of direct conflict between Buffy and Joyce due to Buffy being the Slayer. We know that's going to be a point that's brought up over and over again throughout the series, in many different forms, but I want it registered here because Joyce outright says that she knows everything for a 16-year-old is a matter of life or death. Ah, if only she knew!
Shoutout to Dashboard Prophets by bringing on the music for this episode during The Bronze scenes.
Luke is such a little drama vampire. He has to walk the stage, have his own light, give a little speech... all before he starts on gathering souls for the Master. We do get a good Luke vs Buffy fight, though! And we have Giles, Xander, and Willow showing they're also capable of joining the fight.
Jess does get slayed by accident, but I am going to count him for the vampire tally.
The ol' sunrise trick first used (maybe, I have no data on this) by Max Denninson against the Sanderson witches in Hocus Pocus. It works every time!
Angel hiding in an alley while everything goes down is truly a choice. At least he's impressed by Buffy and what she can do when she puts her mind to it.
I do love that the final few minutes of this episode involve: 1) Xander says things will never be the same and then the scene immediately cuts to Sunnydale High, where everything is the same and Cordelia is promptly spreading the official "everything is normal here" excuse about what happened at The Bronze: not vampires, but ugly gang members fighting! And 2) Giles adding that there will be a "next time" in regard to them stopping the end of the world and that they might face not only vampires, but other threats, is also such a good way to open the series for several different possibilities--something we know the writers jumped on!
Vampires Slayed: 5.
Series Total: 6.
Giles Taking Off/Putting On Glasses: 2.
Series Total: 2.
Episode Quote:
Buffy: So Giles, got anything that could make this day any worse?
Giles: How about the end of the world?