So, I've decided to do some reviews of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show I didn't watch as a teenager and am now watching for the first time. Probably one a season.
Anyway, let's set the scene. For one thing, I've not covered this in previous post. Second, not everyone will have heard of this show. Thirdly, I'm neurodivergent and I find this sort of stuff amusing.
Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a 16-year-old high school student. Blonde, pretty, fashionable, likes boys etc. She's also, to all intents and purposes, a superhero. She is the Slayer, gifted with super strength, agility and resilience, her destiny to be the girl who keeps the forces of evil, including but by no means limited to vampires, from destroying human life as we know it.
This is kind of a problem when you're a schoolgirl and when dealing with a bunch of vampires in LA, she burnt down the school gym, resulting in her expulsion. To get a fresh start, her mother Joyce moved her to the small Californian town of Sunnydale.
Unfortunately for everyone concerned, the town is on a "Hellmouth", a gateway to the world of demons and there is a lot of strange activity going on, including but by no means limited to vampires. This is frequently a source of considerable discomfort, even death, to the students and teachers of Sunnydale High School. Who seem to take this whole thing in their considerable stride, like Londoners dealing with alien invasions in Doctor Who. There's more denial than Egypt and Sudan combined.
Also, Buffy managed to get on the wrong side of the most popular girl at school, Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) in the first episode, when she mistakenly threatened her with a stake through the heart. Although some might debate whether she even has one considering how self-absorbed and mean she is. Cordelia's also been at the receiving end of some of the strange activity, so there might be a certain schadenfreude there. However, it also seems there might be a bit more to Cordelia than just a mean girl who loves fashion.
Anyway, despite what the opening narration tells us, Buffy is not actually alone in fighting against evil. She's managed to acquire a few allies along the way.
Firstly, there's Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). The school librarian, who is British, posh and her "Watcher", whose job is to train her so she can fight the vampires etc. as well as be the main source of exposition via the huge array of occult-related books held in the library. I spent five years as a pupil librarian at my school and I never encountered a big book called Vampyr. He would be the brains of the outfit, but there's also....
Willow, played by Alyson Hannigan. A shy but cute redhead with a mean set of hacking skills and a penchant for getting herself into danger, she's basically the female Doctor Who companion of this show. Does a good scream as well.
The male companion role is filled by Xander (Nicholas Brendon), who is basically the Adric of this piece, a nerdy teenage boy who has a strong interest in women, including Buffy, limited social skills and is generally just a bit of a jerk.
Rounding off the group and not really a regular member, is Angel (David Boreanaz), who happens to be a vampire who got his soul back after a Romani curse. He also happens to be tall, dark-haired and handsome, which is why Buffy has a thing for him. They can't really have a relationship though, because there's a danger he might give her a hickey she'd never forget.
So, onto the episode.
"Prophecy Girl", the first season finale, was intended to serve as a show ender had the show not gone beyond the initial twelve-episode order it got - indeed, the entire run was filmed ahead of initial transmission in March 1997.
While the episodes have been largely standalone - apart from the opening story, which became a two-parter on reruns - a recurring theme throughout the first season is an ancient vampire trapped under Sunnydale called "The Master". This guy lacks a beard and a wife, indeed no longer looking human at all. He wants to get out, open the Hellmouth and destroy the world.
Which would be pretty rubbish.
This story concludes the arc and revolves around a prophecy, of course. We open with the Master making a scenery-chewing speech as an earthquake he caused rocks Sunnydale, damaging the library... and then turning to the Anointed One - a kid who got turned into a vampire after a bus crash - with the comment.
“What do you think? 5.1?”
This is a reference to the Richter scale, the fact that California deals with many quakes (LA had a big one in 1994 that caused a lot of damage) and the last moment of pure levity before we go to the opening credits and start getting really serious.
In the previous episode, Angel obtained a codex which didn't exactly have much in the way of army rules but did have a lot of prophecies around the Slayer. Including one about her imminent death... which understandably Giles does not want to share with Buffy. Who knows something is up due to the increased vampire activity.
Meanwhile, the Spring Fling aka the prom is coming up. Xander asks Buffy to be his date... but she friendzones him. He then asks Willow... who while having a thing for Xander, has enough self-respect to not be the rebound girl. Willow is then asked by Cordelia to help set up the sound system for the dance at local nightclub The Bronze, because Cordelia knows when she needs help.
Buffy is at the school late that evening, because that's what Slayers do and discovers blood running from a bathroom tap. She goes to tell Giles... then overhears him talking with Angel about the prophecy.
Buffy hasn't been the most willing of Slayers and hearing that she has probably less than 24 hours to live goes down about as well as you'd expect; she ends up in tears, throws books and then rips off her metal cross, quitting as the Slayer in the hope it circumvents the prophecy.
Sarah Michelle Gellar acts her heart out here, demonstrating how she got an Emmy at 15 - and she was 19 when filming this season.
She then goes home and fails to convince her mother to go away on a vacation... but does get to see the prom dress she bought.
Unfortunately, it's not enough.
Willow and Cordelia find the people who were going to help with the sound system dead by vampire bite in a scene that ups the horror level considerably. Willow's been through a fair bit already, but this freaks her out. Buffy realises that she's going to have to take the TARDIS to the Game Station, to speak.
(I am very much reminded of "The Parting of the Ways")
Giles and his recently acquired female teacher buddy, "techno pagan" Jenny Calendar are discussing the prophecy. Giles decides he will face the Master himself, so Buffy doesn't have to. At which point, Buffy arrives and makes clear she's going... by punching Giles in the jaw. As she leaves, she tells Jenny to think of something cool and tell her Watcher she thought of it when he wakes up. It's serious when Buffy stops quipping.
Now I've seen the image before, but it strikes much better when you watch it. Buffy's choice of outfit to face the Master is her white prom dress, Angel's black leather jacket... and a crossbow. It's iconic, simply put. Gellar kept the dress.
Meanwhile, Xander hears about Buffy heading into danger and decides he, along with Angel, are going in after her. It's one of the few non-jerky things he's done in this show.
Buffy meets up with the Anointed One, who escorts her down to the underground lair of the Master. Buffy makes a rather Doctor-esque quip about the place needing a contractor due to the water damage. She fires her crossbow at the Master - and he catches the bolt.
Meanwhile, Jenny and Willow decide to warn the people at the prom about the vampires... only to discover that vampires are instead coming to the school. A lot of them. They wanted sixty, but the budget didn't stretch that far.
Buffy pursues the Master, but he manages to overpower her, hypnotises her into place and then tells her the part of the prophecy that wasn't mentioned... he needs her blood to break free. The tears flow down Buffy's cheeks as he removes her jacket, feeds on her and then chucks her unconscious body into a pool of water to drown. After complimenting her dress, he leaves. He is now free. Having been somewhat of a rubbish baddy for most of this season, he demonstrates his true power and Gellar more of her acting skills in her death scene. For that is very much what it is.
With vampires coming after them, Jenny and Willow need to get back to the library as quickly as possible. But they can't outrun vampires. Fortunately at that point, Cordelia shows up and drives them there.
Through the school corridors. Cordelia, you have just righted a lot of wrongs.
Xander and Angel find Buffy. Angel declares that she is dead, but Xander decides to try CPR anyway; Angel cannot do that because vampires don't breathe. You can still do chest compressions, mate!
Xander manages to bring Buffy back and spends a creepily long amount of time stroking her hair. Buffy is a bit weak, but recovers quickly. The group march back to the school to the show's theme tune.
In good time as well. Vampires are trying to break their way into the main library area and some multi-headed through with slimy tentacles is trying to come through the floor, while having a go at Willow's ankles. The ladies are screaming more than Victoria Waterfield in a room full of giant rats. Giles is probably doing so internally at least.
Also, Cordelia bites a vampire. I can see why the fandom loves her.
Buffy gets to the roof of the library and confronts the Master. Her wit is back - she says she "flunked the written" in the prophecy and tells him he has "fruit punch mouth". Also, hypnosis doesn't work a second time. After a further, somewhat perfunctory fight, she chucks him through the roof where he lands on a broken bit of wood and his body disintegrates. Weirdly though, his skeleton remains - other vampires turn to dust in this show when staked. This might be important?
The tentacle creature goes away at this point and with the world saved, Buffy decides its time to go party. I'd imagine a bedraggled blonde with claw marks on her chest won't attract comment in Sunnydale...
Roll credits and frankly a round of applause.
Conclusion
Arguably the best episode of the show I've watched so far. Definitely sticking around for Season 2.
9/10
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