BtVS season 1: Welcome to the Hellmouth

[shapinglight]

So I've been off work with a cold (as anyone who reads this LJ has been informed ad nauseam over the past week). As a consequence, I watched more telly in one week than I have in ages. First, there were two episodes of City of Vice, then there was Torchwood, then on DVD six episodes of The Wire (will talk about ep 6 in another post, maybe) and, as a complete contrast, inspired by buffy_rewind, my first re-watch in ages of Welcome to the Hellmouth.

More behind cut, though not really a review, more a set of random observations.



I was actually a bit worried about re-watching this episode. I never thought that much of it when it was originally shown on TV in the UK (only kept watching because my kids, who were about 13 and 9 at the time, wanted to carry on watching the show and they wanted me to watch it with them). I've watched it since, of course, and enjoyed it a lot more because I'd become fond of the show and was willing to forgive the original two-parter's clunkiness (enjoyed some of the later season 1 episodes a lot, but the first two episodes, not so much).

So, this time, I was sort of steeling myself to endure the cheesiness, and cheesiness there indeed was, especially whenever one of the vampire characters turned up. However, on the whole, I was pleasantly surprised. Here's just a few trivial things that particularly struck me.

Don't they all look young? And what on earth is Buffy wearing on her first day at school? How could Joyce let her even leave the house dressed like that?

:Is shocked:

Poor old Joyce! She often comes across looking like a neglectful mum, because if she didn't, Buffy wouldn't be able to go out slaying, would she?

Couldn't help noticing also how tiny SMG-P looks next to both Charisma Carpenter and Kristine Sutherland - and the weird thing is, I've stood right next to both those actresses in the last year and they are both delicate little women (CC may not look as if she is in AtS season 4 but she is). SMG-P and AH must be practically midgets!

Xander annoyed me just as much this time as the first time I watched the show, I'm afraid. Joss was good at surprising the viewer right from the start, but some things even he telegraphed. Even back in 1997 (or whenever it was) I could see at once that Xander was supposed to be the nice ordinary boy with whom male viewers were meant to identify and that quite probably, in the long term, his big crush on Buffy would be rewarded. Unfortunately, due to no fault of NB's, this meant that I was predisposed to dislike the character (long story) and I duly did. It took me years and years to learn to do more than just tolerate him, even though Xander got over his crush (that helped actually) and even though some of my favourite standalone episodes are Xander-centric.

I think I just have a stubborn streak/character flaw/call it what you will that ensures I never like the character/relationship you're supposed to like and always invest too much in the problematic ones.

Then there's Angel, who I also found quite annoying to start with, because I could see he was being set up as 'the love interest'. Can remember arguing with my kids about him after this episode and telling them I was sure he'd turn out to be a vampire. IMO Joss did telegraph it when he had Angel go all vehement and tell Buffy he wants what she wants, 'to kill them all.' Obviously some deep family trauma there, I thought, though I suppose we were meant to think that maybe vampires had killed his family. Also noticed that DB's mysterious stranger act is very similar in some ways to his Angelus act. Hmm.

Darla is very un-Darla-like. I suppose you could fanwank it with hindsight that being back with the Master sort of regressed her, but it's pushing it. Luke and the Master and the other vampires are crashing bores (and cheesy - this is where the cheese comes in). Found myself muttering, "Hurry up and get here, Spike and Dru," whenever Luke opened his mouth and said something irritating and portentous.

So yes, there was cheese and some bits of clunky acting, but there was lots of good stuff too, including the dialogue, which sparkled, the opening scene with Darla and the boy in the empty school, which is a very clever role-reversal, and I have to say that SMG-P owned the part of Buffy right from the word go.

Oh and last but definitely not least, ASH looked absolutely gorgeous and wasn't quite as stereotypical stuffy Brit as I remembered.

Looking forward to watching more.

Comments

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Then there's Angel, who I also found quite annoying to start with
I remember that I had to laugh so hard, when he gave Buffy that cross. It looks like the cheapest piece of junk jewelry I've ever seen (at least, till he gave her the ring in season two.... Seriously one day someone has to write a crackfic, about where he buys that stuff). No wonder, he gets depicted as stingy in fanfiction.
But I have to say, I liked the morally ambivalent Angel from the first episodes. And, hell, young DB really was pretty.

Darla is very un-Darla-like.
Oh Yes! Those first images of her are so inconsistent with the rest of the show, it hurts. I like to put it that way, that Darla likes to downplay herself to catch her enemies off guard, but even that can't explain her incompetent behaviour in the first episodes.

[shapinglight]

I remember that I had to laugh so hard, when he gave Buffy that cross. It looks like the cheapest piece of junk jewelry I've ever seen (at least, till he gave her the ring in season two.... Seriously one day someone has to write a crackfic, about where he buys that stuff). No wonder, he gets depicted as stingy in fanfiction.

You know, this probably paints me in a bad light, but I didn't really notice the jewellery Angel gave Buffy looked cheap. I did notice that it wasn't to my taste, which also applies to the heart locket that Xander gives Cordy in BB&B in season 2. Yes, you'd think that Angel being as old as he is would have some nice antique jewellery lying around, wouldn't you? I know that at this stage they probably hadn't thought of his character as being more than occasionally recurring rather than a regular, but it's only a few episodes before we see Angel's apartment, isn't it, and he has some nice looking stuff lying around in it even then.

DB was pretty - very young looking and with a slightly fey air about him that stops him being the average boring Hollywood pretty boy.

I agree Darla is not well-served in these episodes. She comes across a little better in Angel but not much. There's hardly more than a hint of the history between herself and Angel and she's dust. Am so very glad they brought her back later because though Julie Benz always says how much she loves playing Darla, I can't believe she started to feel that way until season 1 of AtS, because apart from these 3 episodes in season 1, there's a brief cameo in Becoming 1 and that's it. Surely not enough to make her love the character.

[thatotherperv.livejournal.com]

fun to hear your reactions to the baby!episodes. that's how I think of s1, I can't help it. they're so damn YOUNG, and lord, what were they dressing buffy in. I would beat the hell out of my kid, and I'm not that much older, haha.

DB's mysterious stranger act is very similar in some ways to his Angelus act
I've thought about this, actually. I concluded in-context (ignoring acting and direction and...well...everything that tells me it's NOT REAL) that Angel probably rationalized that Angelus was charming and got the ladies (before maiming them) and you know, he'd been scritching around in an alley himself, so...that seemed like the winning strategy, of the two. :) as we heard in As5, he's got baggage about his broodiness not winning him any love. which means he clearly doesn't understand half the female species.

[shapinglight]

fun to hear your reactions to the baby!episodes.

Hee! Yes, good way of describing them and they do look young. SMG-P has endearing round chubby cheeks.

as we heard in As5, he's got baggage about his broodiness not winning him any love. which means he clearly doesn't understand half the female species.

Heh! Or even all of them.

[gillo]

I use it with classes most years, so I'm very familiar with it. There's a lot of cheese, I agree, though less than in most brand-new genre shows, I think. In general I don't much like S1 costumes - they have dated badly which, oddly, S2 haven't - more "classic" stuff. There was a pair of pink flowered leggings Buffy wore in one episode in S1 (can't remember which) which were an affront to civilisation.

I did like Angel's line in response to "I thought you were a friend" and one or two of Cordy's lines were memorable, but really, it was only just getting going and trying to appeal to too many markets at once.

Darla was clearly playing a part under instructions from the Master and hating it so much she was in a constant strop which affected her behaviour. That's my reasoning, and it makes as much sense as anything else she does in those episodes.

It sold me the concept the first time I saw it, and it still works with teenagers today - not bad for something eleven years old. And if DB's acting was dire then, he didn't have too much to say or do and he did look pretty in the days when he was the one with the cheekbones.

[shapinglight]

In general I don't much like S1 costumes - they have dated badly which, oddly, S2 haven't - more "classic" stuff. There was a pair of pink flowered leggings Buffy wore in one episode in S1 (can't remember which) which were an affront to civilisation.

Haven't come across those yet. I'll keep an eye out for them. I agree the cheese factor isn't as bad as in, say, season 1 TW, which is the only comparison I can currently come up with. I think that's down to the quality of the writing as much as anything. The teen-slang may possibly be dated now if you're a California teen, but not being one, it still sounds fine to me and what's more, it's witty.

Your explanation of Darla's behaviour works quite well. I also think that when Luke tells her to run away and takes on Buffy himself, it's quite typical Darla to cut and run. She can perfectly well take care of herself but she'd much rather not. She likes having a big strong man to do the dirty work.

DB does indeed look pretty. He also manages to just about avoid boring Hollywood generic hunkness - something about the eyes, which are a little too close together, I think.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I hated it on first viewing, I didn't like how all the mythology was all different from the film (I got over it) and I didn't like Angel on sight (didn't get over that). The second time, coming back to it when I finally got into the series in season 5, I still wasn't keen. Luke is so boring. None of them seemed all that threatening. The Master pontificates like Dr Evil.

[shapinglight]

Luke is indeed very boring. I'm so glad he only lasted two episodes.

I'd never seen the film so I had nothing to compare this with, which, going on what you say, is a good thing.

The Master improves in later episodes but here he's just annoying.

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Then there's Angel, who I also found quite annoying to start with, because I could see he was being set up as 'the love interest'.

I've got the impression that David hadn't been told he played a vampire. He reacts to Buffy's stunts as a regular human.

[shapinglight]

You think so? I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if you're right.

As I said, I think I instantly jumped to the conclusion he must be a vampire because of his vehemence about wanting to kill vampires. It was almost like he was trying too hard.

[madame-meretrix.livejournal.com]

Also noticed that DB's mysterious stranger act is very similar in some ways to his Angelus act. Hmm. Yeah, i noticed that as well, upon repeat viewings. i've tried a lot of retcon/fanwank methods to get his behavior in s1 to line up with the rest of his history, and that's definitely part of my theory - that he's acting a lot like angelus: stalkery, mysterious, etc.

but mannn, he's pretty back then. still, i think so, even with the costumes and the clunkiness. boy was Pretty.

it's hard to watch the first season anymore with anything approaching objectivity, but it is fun to see, as you say, the relationships between darla and the master, darla and angel, angel and everyone, with an eye for what we later learn.

do you think you'll end up watching all seven seasons over again?

[shapinglight]

Ooh, lovely icon! He looks totally debauched.

that he's acting a lot like angelus: stalkery, mysterious, etc.

Yes, I guess basically, having spent 90 years brooding, he doesn't know how else to act. Moscow_watcher above thinks that DB possibly didn't know his character was supposed to be a vampire. What do you think?

Also, you're right that he was pretty. I usually don't go for the jock type but he manages to avoid being generic boring Hollywood hunk because there's something slightly - odd about his appearance. Can't quite work out what it is. Something about the eyes.

It's hard to watch the first season anymore with anything approaching objectivity, but it is fun to see, as you say, the relationships between darla and the master, darla and angel, angel and everyone, with an eye for what we later learn.

I know what you mean, though it's only a problem with the vampire characters. Of course, they were never really part of Joss's game-plan. They were never supposed to be people or anyone the audience could care about. The human characters' emotional arcs are reasonably well thought out right from the start, I think.

I might end up watching all seven seasons, I don't know. If I do, it'll take me a bloody long time. I might not get through more than 1 episode a week.

[madame-meretrix.livejournal.com]

thinks that DB possibly didn't know his character was supposed to be a vampire. What do you think? Oh! That's an interesting take on his character.... I don't know. I thought that they'd always planned Angel out as a vampire and i'd assumed that DB knew... I remember reading somewhere that he'd been given a lot of his own backstory to read before filming. Particularly once Spike and Dru showed up, and a lot of that eventually became canon.

Yeah, I'm surprised, really, that Joss hadn't intended to make the vampires fleshed out at all, originally. It seems to me like such an obvious thing to do, but I suppose it really was a happy accident.

[shapinglight]

I remember reading somewhere that he'd been given a lot of his own backstory to read before filming. Particularly once Spike and Dru showed up, and a lot of that eventually became canon.

I don't remember that. Can you by any chance link me? (Bit of a long-shot, I know).

It would certainly make more sense if DB did know his character was supposed to be a vampire but I keep remembering the way JM wasn't told what was going on with Spike at the end of season 6 and how it ruined the soul-quest story.

[madame-meretrix.livejournal.com]

Well, I found this article in my delicious account: Every time Spike pushes my buttons, I push his buttons. He's all talk. It's like tennis, and Drusilla is in the middle, watching. (http://www.jamesmarsters.com/james/articles/tvguide.html)

You've probably already seen it. as for the other handful of articles i used to have tagged, i don't know where they went. they're in there somewhere, but i'm crap at organization. i'll keep looking, though. *g*

BTW- *drools over your icon*

[shapinglight]

Ooh, that was very interesting! Thanks so much. I have probably read it before but so long ago, I've forgotten.

Odd that the interview seems to have been done just prior to season 3, which Spike was hardly in and Dru not at all. It's not clear from what DB said that he always knew Angel was a vampire or not, but it's great fun to read the three of them having fun together like that, and their attitudes haven't changed at all.

JM is all: Vampires Are Bad. Young people, don't copy them!
JL is all: I'm loopy, but sweet and overidentifies way too much with her character and DB is just having a ball messing around and making fun of people.

[shapinglight]

The icon is by ficbitca_bear if you want to snag it.

[namastenancy.livejournal.com]

I loved the last line in the show when Giles said (After listening to Buffy and her gang's juvenile nonsense) "Earth is doomed!" It still cracks me up.

[shapinglight]

Is that the last line in The Harvest? I haven't re-watched that yet. It's a very funny line, though.

There were some great lines in Welcome to the Hellmouth too. I very much enjoyed the exchange between Buffy and Principal Flutie - very funny indeed.

[kathyh]

the opening scene with Darla and the boy in the empty school, which is a very clever role-reversal

That's what hooked me right from the word go. Watching it again, even though I know what's coming, I still get that little moment of "wow, that wasn't what I expected."

I have to say that SMG-P owned the part of Buffy right from the word go.

She did. If it had SMG as Buffy even Season 8 might work, maybe.

[shapinglight]

Watching it again, even though I know what's coming, I still get that little moment of "wow, that wasn't what I expected."

Yes, me too. I suppose the whole 'girl in peril' scenario being reversed has now become so common that people don't think about it any more or realise what a seminal moment that was or what a seminal program BtVS was.

If it had SMG as Buffy even Season 8 might work, maybe.

Woah there! Let's not get carried away.

[yourlibrarian]

I couldn't figure out what they were dressing Buffy in her entire first season. I've no idea what the wardrobe people were thinking.

Also noticed that DB's mysterious stranger act is very similar in some ways to his Angelus act. Hmm.

Heh. I can't help noticing how completely unconvincing an actor DB is for a considerable time. He definitely improved but it took a while. And yes, Darla too is odd. I'd fanwank it that perhaps she is up to something and wants to keep the Master in the dark about it all, but you'd think he'd know her better.

[shapinglight]

I couldn't figure out what they were dressing Buffy in her entire first season. I've no idea what the wardrobe people were thinking.

Me neither, unless teeny, tiny little skirts were a valley girl must-have at the time - which it doesn't seem they were judging by Cordy's wardrobe.

Maybe they had some idea they'd make Buffy look as ditzy and silly as possible to contrast with all the ass-kicking?

DB can't really act at all, I'm afraid, though I can see how he built up the Angelus character from his performance here, and it's when he gets to go evil in season 2 that his acting begins to come to life.

[ex_peasant441]

You're rewatching!

I'm afraid I can never get past DB's bad acting in this. What really broke my heart was when I read the shooting script and discovered how the character was supposed to have been. Frankly, if they did search for as long as they claim then I dread to think what the other actors were like. Plus I don't find him pretty in the early days, I liked him best looks-wise when he had bulked up a bit but not too much.

But him being Angelusy is a very interesting observation. It would make sense really - he is trying to be confidant after a decade or so of living in the gutter and not talking to anyone, so the easiest thing would be to revert to his old hunting persona. Only gradually would he have worked out what 'Angel' was like rather than Angelus.

Not that I think for a moment that any of that was planned - they presumably didn't even flesh out the idea of Angelus beyond that he was a big bad vamp until S2.

I never spotted that Angel was a vamp. I didn't think he was human but I thought he was exactly what his name said - an angel. So the ep Angel came as a huge and delightful surprise.

I have to disagree about the opening scene because I found it obvious and telegraphed. As soon as I saw the pair of them together I knew it was Darla who would be the vamp. Something about the way they were playing it told me. Plus I am always watching out for the mechanics of 'horror' scenes and it is very rare that something in one can surprise me. But I enjoyed that they were willing to play such a joke.

I think I just have a stubborn streak/character flaw/call it what you will that ensures I never like the character/relationship you're supposed to like and always invest too much in the problematic ones.
But we love you for it. Who needs another conventional shipper?

I hope your cold gets better very soon, but silver-lining-wise it is great that you had time for this :o)

[shapinglight]

Yes, I'm re-watching, though I'm probably going to be getting through the episodes very slowly.

DB isn't terribly good. I think he was chosen mostly for his looks -tall, dark and broody - but I do think that, from what I recall, he gains presence over the course of the season so that by the end, if he's not exactly thrilling them in the galleries, he's very much made his mark. I find him very pretty in this season. I don't like bulky men that much.

Only gradually would he have worked out what 'Angel' was like rather than Angelus.

Yes, Angel doesn't really have much in the way of personality until after the Angelus arc. There are a few exceptions - mostly scenes where he's being all vampy, plus that one where Buffy sees him in the Bronze with Cordy and he's laughing. That's very later season Angel.

Not that I think for a moment that any of that was planned - they presumably didn't even flesh out the idea of Angelus beyond that he was a big bad vamp until S2.

Oh no, I don't think so. I think Joss ever intended any of the vampire characters (for which read Angel and Darla in this context) to become that important, which is why their personalities are the ones that change the most from the way they are in season 1.

Angel's vehemence about killing vampires in the alley scene in WttH is what revealed him as a vampire to me. It just struck me as something that was bound to come up again and him turning out to be a vampire seemed like the obvious 'big shock.'

I agree that in some ways the Darla scene is telegraphed, but I think at the time, it was so much the opposite of what usually happened in horror films that it was still innovative.

[kassto.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, the kids and I are watching season 1 right now, them for the first time. I don't disagree much with what you say though I found Willow much more annoying than Xander. Joss was so in love with AH/Willow, I can tell, and that may explain how she grated on me. The kids like Dr Who better, I think, because preteens can relate to it more. Whereas there's too much adolescent angst/romance in Buffy that goes right over their heads.

[shapinglight]

Joss was so in love with AH/Willow, I can tell, and that may explain how she grated on me.

I didn't notice Joss's AH-love quite so much in this ep as I did in later seasons, but I agree, it gets so obvious it's irritating.

I can perfectly understand why your kids prefer DW. I'm sure I would have too at their age. DW is a much more kid-friendly program in general.

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

I actually like Xander, but thats just me. I agree though that the first episodes are... less then good. :-P

[shapinglight]

I'd like to like Xander but I can never quite manage it, unfortunately. If we weren't supposed to like him, I would probably like him. That's just me. *g*

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

Yay, the rewatch! I'm doing it too, but I must say that the pilot didn't improve on rewatch and seemed as teech-grating as on the 1st time.
But the second half of the season was really good, I was suprised how much more rewarding it was the second time around!
And also, Master improves as the season goes on. He gets some cool moments and lines. I even missed the old geezer when Buffy killed him. :)
Also I realized that episodes 5,6,7 actually form a trilogy on Buffy's relationships and how she needs darkness in her man. It was explored as early as Season 1, and it was such a suprised realization!
Buffy and Giles were the best in Hellmouth, I think. I also, I liked Cordy from the start.

[shapinglight]

I'm doing it too, but I must say that the pilot didn't improve on rewatch and seemed as teech-grating as on the 1st time.

Agreed, though I think it still has promise, if only because the script is so full of witty one-liners, and there are some great little scenes, like Buffy with Principal Flutie and Buffy and Giles at the Bronze (the scene where he tells her she should be able to sense the presence of vampires and she picks one out of the crowd because his clothes are all out of date).

The Master does improve. He gets his own dry sense of humour. It appears his followers take him more seriously than he does himself. Am so, so glad Luke didn't last past episode 2.

[liliaeth]

Xander annoyed me just as much this time as the first time I watched the show, I'm afraid. Joss was good at surprising the viewer right from the start, but some things even he telegraphed. Even back in 1997 (or whenever it was) I could see at once that Xander was supposed to be the nice ordinary boy with whom male viewers were meant to identify and that quite probably, in the long term, his big crush on Buffy would be rewarded. Unfortunately, due to no fault of NB's, this meant that I was predisposed to dislike the character (long story) and I duly did.


I think that this helps explain my almost immediate despise of Willow. And the more Joss loved AH, the less I managed to tollerate Willow.

[shapinglight]

Yes, we like what we like, unfortunately.

I've always felt vaguely guilty for disliking Xander so much, but there it is.