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Welcome to the Hellmouth

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 1, Episode 1
Air date February 7, 1997 (NZ)
March 10, 1997 (USA)
January 3, 1998 (UK)
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Charles Martin Smith
Production Code 4V01
Episode Guide
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The Harvest

"Welcome to the Hellmouth" is episode 1 of season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is the first episode overall. It was written by Joss Whedon and directed by Charles Martin Smith.

Contents

Plot

The series premiere begins at Sunnydale High School, where a boy breaks into the school during the night with a seemingly reluctant girl, promising her mischief and therefore fun. Nervous and on edge, the girl thinks she heard something and fears something is there. The boy calls out but gets no response, during which the girl's face morphs into that of a vampire, and bites the boy. The girl, we will later find out, is Darla.

Buffy has a nightmare the morning her first day of school. Her mother drives her to the school and encourages her to think positive. Inside the building, Principal Flutie tells her she will start with a clean slate. He reconsiders that after realizing that Buffy burned down her previous school's gym because "it was full of vampi—…asbestos."

Buffy exits the office and bumps into another student, spilling the contents of her handbag over the floor. Xander sees that and helps Buffy, introducing himself. She leaves without her stake, which Xander pockets because he called out to her, but she had already walked away. In history class, Buffy is helped by Cordelia, who afterwards tests her "coolness factor," skipping the written as Buffy had just moved to Sunnydale, California from Los Angeles. To Buffy's horror, Cordelia humiliates an awkward Willow at the water fountain. Inside the library, Mr. Giles places a book titled Vampyr in front of Buffy after realizing who she was. A stunned Buffy makes a hasty exit.

Buffy, Willow, Jesse McNally and Xander meet during a break, and Xander returns the stake. Buffy claims it is standard self-defense in Los Angeles. Cordelia appears and tells Buffy that gym is canceled "due to the extreme dead guy" in Aura's locker. Buffy asks whether there were marks on the body, freaking out Cordelia. Buffy forces her way into the locker room, examines the body, and finds the characteristic puncture wounds of a vampire on the neck.

Buffy returns to the library and confronts Giles, who informs her that he is her Watcher. Buffy refuses to accept her calling as a Slayer, since it had gotten her kicked out of her previous school and cost her social life. After they leave the library, Xander emerges from behind the shelves, having overheard the strange conversation.

That night, en route to her first visit to The Bronze, the cool hangout in Sunnydale, Buffy meets a mysterious, handsome stranger, who warns her that she is living on a Hellmouth that is about to open, and that "the Harvest" is coming. He also gives her a large silver cross. It isn't revealed until the next episode that the stranger's name is Angel.

In The Bronze, Buffy meets Willow and encourages her to seize the moment because tomorrow she might be dead. She finds Giles and tells him about Angel. Giles tells her to learn to hone her skills to sense vampires anywhere. Buffy uses her fashion sense to pick out a vampire in the club and is alarmed to see Willow leave with him. She loses them and is surprised by Cordelia, nearly staking her. Cordelia immediately calls her friends to tell them about it. While Buffy looks for Willow, Jesse chats up Darla at The Bronze. Buffy is stopped by Xander, whom she convinces to help search for Willow.

Meanwhile, under the streets of Sunnydale, The Master is woken by lesser vampires from a long sleep to prepare for the Harvest. He sends Luke to fetch young blood.

Willow's new acquaintance takes her to a crypt in a cemetery, where they are joined by Darla and Jesse, whom she has bitten. Buffy and Xander arrive. Buffy kills Willow's vampire. Xander and Willow help Jesse, who has been weakened, flee. Luke takes Darla's place in the fight so she can help catch the kids. Luke throws Buffy in a stone coffin and is about to move in for the kill.

Background Information

Story and Production

  • The script for the episode was written on August 26, 1996. Six revisions were made following this, with the last being January 17, 1997.
  • The high school used for external and some internal scenes in the series is Torrance High, the same school used for the acclaimed series Beverly Hills 90210.[1]
  • The Master's real name was never mentioned on screen but in the shooting script for the episode he was named Heinrich Joseph Nest and was also said to have been six hundred years old. [2]
  • When Buffy is in her room deciding what to wear to the Bronze, the Sprung Monkey’s “Saturated” is played in the background. Incidentally, Sprung Monkey appear on stage at the Bronze. They first perform “Believe,” followed by “Swirl” and “Things Are Changing.” The original score is written by Walter Murphy.
  • The Master was originally supposed to rise from a pool of blood and be covered with the blood for the entire episode, this was abandoned after being discovered to be too difficult to create.
  • Certain scenes, such as the argument between Giles and Buffy in the library, and Buffy's first meeting with Angel, were re-shot eight months after the first episode was recorded. Joss Whedon decided to make Buffy less angry and more vulnerable, much to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s dismay. Whedon jokingly teased her they were going to reshoot the scenes a third time.[3]
  • The scene where Angel warns Buffy about the Harvest was David Boreanaz's audition scene. Accoring to Boreanaz, it was shot at two in the morning in "some god awful street." [4]

Broadcast

  • Creator Joss Whedon hoped to include actor Eric Balfour in the title credits to shock viewers when his character dies. Unfortunately, the show could not afford the extra set of title credits at the time. However, Whedon’s wish was granted in season six (“Seeing Red”) with Amber Benson’s character, Tara Maclay.[3]
  • On the original airing of this episode, The WB provided a teaser briefing the history of past Slayers. It revealed horrific events in towns that were halted when a particular woman arrived. This teaser, however, does not appear in syndication or on DVD.[5]
  • “Welcome to the Hellmouth” received a Nielsen rating of 3.4 upon its original airing. [6]

Other

Continuity

  • Joyce drops Buffy off at school and tells her not to get kicked out, Buffy promises not to, a promise she will later break, see "Becoming, Part Two".

References

  • Cordelia mentions James Spader an American actor best known for his roles in 'Pretty in Pink', 'Sex, Lies and Videotape', 'Mannequin', 'Crash' and 'Stargate'.
  • John Tesh, an American television and radio presenter, is also mentioned.
  • Giles refers to Bovril, a British made beef tea. It is actually a thick, salty meat extract but can be turned into a drink by adding hot water. It is commonly used as flavouring on soups, stews or porridge and can be spread onto bread or toast.
  • Buffy mentions DeBarge, a 1980's pop group.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

  • In the first classroom scene where Buffy shares Cordelia's textbook. The teacher asks them to turn to page 63, but Cordelia turns to somewhere near the beginning of the book.
  • In the scene where Buffy and Willow first talk, Buffy's hair moves back and forth behind and in front of her ear.
  • The spines on the stack of books change from showing to not showing as Buffy and Giles hand them to each other in the library.
  • Angel speaks with Buffy as if he's never seen her before, however the events of "Becoming, Part One" contradict this.
  • Buffy breaks a stool leg while looking for Willow in The Bronze, in the next shot it has magically become a stake.

Cast

Regular Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Recurring Cast

David Boreanaz as Angel
Mark Metcalf as The Master
Ken Lerner as Principal Flutie
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Julie Benz as Darla

Guest Cast

Brian Thompson as Luke
J Patrick Lawlor as Thomas
Eric Balfour as Jesse
Natalie Strauss as Teacher
Amy Chance as Girl #1
Tupelo Jereme as Girl #2
Persia White as Girl #3
Carmine D Giovinazzo as Boy

Appearances

Characters

Organizations and Titles

Species

Events

Locations

Weapons and objects

References

  1. ↑ Golden, Christopher, and Nancy Holder. The Watcher's Guide, Vol. 1. New York: Pocket Books, 1998.
  2. ↑ Buffy and Angel: The Ultimate DVD Collection Magazine, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Joss Whedon's audio commentary for the episode "Welcome to the Hellmouth", The Complete First Season Region 1 DVD.
  4. ↑ The Complete Slayer by Keith Topping, 2004
  5. ↑ Strafford, Nikki. Bite Me! Toronto: ECW P, 2002.
  6. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's First Season." <http://home.insightbb.com/~wahoskem/buffy1.html>
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