There’s a lot to say about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a lot of it has already been said. There are academic journals, essays, books, conferences, podcasts, songs, comics, blogs, videos, callout posts, and a Prom that have popped up in the 30 years of its existence. If I had discovered the show sooner, I would have loved it longer. Since we’re trapped in a frustratingly linear dimension, all we can do is rewatch it once more, with feeling. I have the unusually lucky opportunity to watch the show with a friend who’s seeing it for the first time, and I am living vicariously through them during each episode. There’s a lot to say about Buffy (season one), and I’m delighted to start talking.
Season one is the shortest of the show, clocking in with only 12 episodes. The show half-acknowledges the 1992 movie as canon with occasional quips and references to Buffy’s previous school. She arrives in Sunnydale after allegedly burning down her previous school’s gym in an eradication move to kill vampires. Buffy is, of course, the Slayer and Sunnydale is, of course, the Hellmouth.
“In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.”
Her whole character was written as an ironic contrast between the seriousness of prophecy and duty and the bubbliness of a teenage girl. Joss Whedon wrote a feminist show that subverted gender roles and explored supportive relationships in such an iconic way it made his downfall loud and even more upsetting. That is the first and only time he’ll be mentioned, I promise.
Buffy is an incredible protagonist. She’s strong, intelligent, feminine, relatable, and flawed. She undergoes a powerful arc as she yearns for an ordinary teenage life but must accept her role in a dark prophecy. Although she starts as a semi-shallow high schooler, her decision to self-sacrifice for her friends to save the world highlights both how alone she feels and how supported she actually is. Buffy subverts the classic “damsel in distress” trope and shows that the damsel can, and must, save the day. She shows you can be physically strong and heroic and still wear cute outfits and go on normal dates. She is nearly all-powerful when she fights vampires then comes home to the relatable insecurities every teenager faces. Her growth despite her vulnerability as she grapples with her powers as the “Chosen One” give her dimension and build her as a protagonist you want to root for, even if she doesn’t root for herself.
“If the apocalypse comes, beep me.”
The Watchers Council serves to study, track, and train the Slayer in her crusade against the forces of evil. Rupert Giles is our resident Watcher responsible for Buffy and more than being her school librarian and mentor, he is her father-figure. He is also the most British person ever put on television, probably. As we will come to see, there are many ways to approach working with a Slayer. Giles takes a gentle, understanding approach to training Buffy; he doesn’t even give her the Handbook. He is smart, kind, adaptive, and cares so much for the whole Scooby gang. In a great show of both their characters, Principal Snyder compares students to animals and heathens to Giles who is genuinely appalled. Even when the gang isn’t around, he is their biggest advocate.
“The earth is doomed.”
Giles mostly exists in the Sunnydale High library, complete with an iron cage and ancient tomes with (almost) every answer a Slayer could need. The library is both its own character and an extension of Giles; it’s well-loved, centered around books, and seemingly exists only for the four students that visit it every day. It houses great occult knowledge, a loaded weapon rack, and probably textbooks for the other, normal, students too. Although we do meet Buffy’s biological father in the season, she frequently comes to Giles with school and boy trouble, something she doesn’t approach her mother about. Giles even granted her permission to go on a date with a normal boy, something Buffy was excited to do.
At the end of the season, Giles is frantically searching for a way to save Buffy from the prophecy; it’s both heartwarming and gutting. He refuses to accept she’s going to die and despite not trusting him, secretly works with Angel to figure out how to save her. Buffy knocks Giles unconscious because he was ready to walk into war for her, but she would rather sacrifice herself than see the people she loves get hurt. Giles loves his kids and they love him, mostly to both of their detriments.
Willow is Buffy’s best friend and the inventor of using Google as a verb, although that doesn’t happen unit 2002. She is quiet and nerdy and filled with drive. Willow and Xander are childhood best friends that adopt Buffy into their friendship and quickly join her vampire-slaying antics. Unfortunately, Willow crushes on Xander who is crushing on Buffy. While annoying, the awkward teenage love triangle is part of the high school experience and a necessary step in discovering one’s sexuality. She is gentle and haunted after seeing her classmates’ bodies before Prom, and a foundational member of the Scoobies. She sticks to the library and helps Giles with research, avoiding combat when she can. We see her get taken advantage of by her classmates, her friends, and demon chat bots, leaving her ripe for character development in the coming seasons. Everyone loves Willow and it’s easy to see why.
The best character in the Buffyverse is Cordelia Chase, and this is her origin. She is vapid and self-centered and so incredibly smart. It’s clear she respects Buffy even if she doesn’t like her yet. She rags on the Scoobies like it’s her job, because it kind of is. She’s playing her role at Sunnydale very well yet has moments of true empathy that bleed through her performance. Cordelia shows true bravery at every opportunity. She’s unapologetic and honest, two refreshing traits to have when every character harbors secrets near constantly. Cordy was tortured by an undead jock, vampires, and an invisible girl and was incredibly strong through it all. She found nearly a dozen bodies throughout her sophomore year, most of which were friends or boyfriends. Despite the literal horrors she’s often at the center of, she puts on her cheerleading outfit and continues on, making sure the entire school knows it was Buffy who attacked her at the Bronze, and that she is a victim too.
“What is your childhood trauma?”
Cordelia was written as the stereotypical mean-girl cheerleader whose character mirrors Buffy. Unlike Buffy, Cordy has free will and the ability to live her life as a normal teen girl, creating a juicy early season foil. I’m going to get ahead of myself and say that she has the best arc in the entire series, maybe tied with Westley, but otherwise my number one. This is her origin, and Cordy has so many places to go from here.
Xander on the other hand is an obvious self-insert character. He is annoying, abrasive, sexist, and annoying. Yeah, I said it twice. He has the occasional moment that makes me laugh, but overall, he is unfunny and insecure to the point of confidence. Something that has never sat right with me is how quickly moved on from Jesse’s death. Jesse was another fellow dude and childhood best friend. Xander wrestles with the guilt of staking Jesse for two minutes before accepting Giles’ advice about vampires and moving on entirely. But his actions generally have an edge, which is nice. He physically saves Buffy a couple of times and doesn’t hesitate to perform CPR on her, making his clear role in the Scoobies muscle and immediacy. He occasionally does research when prompted but mostly operates out of his hatred for vampires. And Angel. Angel is a threat because he is both a vampire and a hot boy.
Angel is the perfect angsty teen romantic interest in a leather jacket (until he gives it to Buffy). His brooding bad boy vibe drew Buffy, and audiences, in so intensely he eventually runs off on his own spinoff, but this isn’t about that. The obvious metaphor of a guilt-ridden, soul-restored vampire named Angel who’s burned by the crucifix Buffy wears as they kiss in a graveyard is so incredibly good I’m still thinking about it. David Boreanz has good bones if you know what I mean, and so does his character. Giles has it recorded in official Watcher lore that his name is “Angelus, the one with the angelic face,” establishing him as a canonical hottie. Angel introduces a needed nuance and mystery into the good/evil dichotomy that is vampirism. Does feeling guilt from having a soul pardon you from an immortal lifetime of murder? Buffy and the Gang aren’t sure, but they do agree it makes you hot.
“When you become a vampire, the demon takes your body, but it doesn’t get your soul. That’s gone. No conscience, no remorse… It’s an easy way to live. You have no idea what it’s like to have done the things I’ve done… and to care.”
Buffy as a show is stronger due to Angel as a character. His backstory introduces so many plot points it’s hard to count them all. His connection to Darla (and a couple other characters I can’t mention here) are major, major pillars of the Buffyverse. I was genuinely shocked when he staked Darla so early in the show, there remains a lot to explore between the two. In a similar way, I didn’t remember Principal Flutie at all, much less that he was eaten by students. I’m looking forward to remembering everything else I forgot on this rewatch journey. Angel exists mostly to deliver exposition in season one, which is fine. Giles mentions an important Slayer lore book lost in the 15th century, and Angel said it was just “misplaced” and delivers it the next day. This is never explained and that’s also fine. Angel is so much fun and I love to see him, but I’m glad he’s about to get more time to develop as a character.
As far as Buffy villains go, The Master is a strong one. The reason he works as a compelling Big Bad, albeit a corny one, is because he’s the opposite of Buffy in nearly every way except one key motivation: escape. The Master spends most of season one trapped in his lair, probing at the forcefield that keeps him in his prison. While his motivation is a literal escape, Buffy yearns to escape her role, and ultimately her fate. Besides trying out for the Sunnydale High cheer team, Buffy walks into The Master’s lair wearing her Prom dress bridging the normal high school experience she wishes she could have with the role she’s prophesized to fulfill. She knowingly walks toward her inevitable death in the best outfit she has and looks good doing it. Although it’s a shallow observation, it’s important to note that The Master is old and ugly, and so is his outfit.
It goes beyond aesthetics for both; where Buffy is the only Slayer and feels like she must fight alone, The Master has a seemingly endless supply of villains to call on. Notably the Anointed One (or Annoying One) is a major player in the prophecy whose only role seems to be walking Buffy to the Master’s Lair. The importance The Master places on the Anointed One is an example of his strict adherence to prophecy, ritual, and tradition. In this regard, Buffy is the exact opposite. Every episode has her turning to the books for research, or Giles schooling her on what to expect. She’s very much a “punch first, know later” character aligning perfectly with being an impulsive teenager. The entire season centers around the Scoobies working against fate and trying to alter prophecy, hoping it’ll be enough to save Buffy (it’s not). The two differ down to their physical location in the series: Buffy is new to Sunnydale and working to establish herself as best she can while The Master was raised from the Hellmouth by Bad Guys who wanted him around. Buffy has dreams of being a normal teenage girl, and to quote The Master, “a dream is a wish your heart makes.”
Watching Buffy starts off as nerd homework, undoubtedly. Somewhere along the line, the show becomes compulsive and one of the best things you’ve ever seen. What starts off as campy and goofy becomes profound and artistic in ways you’d never expect. I’m so excited to tag along on that journey with someone watching it with new eyes. There are many hardships we have to face, and Riley we must encounter, but we’ll soon have Spike and Anya to get us through. And maybe with some faith along the way, the Hellmouth won’t be so bad.
(Yeah right)