Buffy The Vampire Slayer is my favorite show of all time. It has sharp writing, great characters, and isn't willing to enter some really dark and deep themes. However, while I don't hate the first season, it definitely doesn't demonstrate these strengths all that well.
Buffy is about the titular vampire slayer who has to juggle doing well in high school and, well, being a vampire slayer. From the first episode, it's established that underneath her hometown is a Hellmouth, which spawns all kinds of monsters, and there is a centuries-old Master who wants to open said Hellmouth. Buffy is teamed up with her watcher Giles (also the school librarian), her two friends Willow and Xander, and the mysterious Angel who's later revealed to be a vampire. I'm introducing all of these characters because they are this season's greatest strength. Right from the start, Buffy absolutely nails its characters. They all have charming personalities, a great sense of chemistry, and tons of fun and witty banter. The highlight is the school bully Cordelia, who goes through some excellent character development as she warms up to. The dialogue and writing is also really good right from the get-go. Buffy has one of the greatest writer's rooms out of any show ever, and they've been producing some of the best dialogue I've ever heard right from the very first episode, and this applies to all of the future seasons along with Angel and Firefly (more on their impact down below). The writing and Buffy's characters manage to carry the season, even when the main storylines get a bit too cheesy, which is unfortunately frequent.
The first season of Buffy is mostly episodic and seemingly low-budget, so a lot of episodes are pretty cheesy, with goofy special effects and even goofier plot lines. There's a puppet that comes to life, an evil internet demon, and high school jocks that act like hyenas. Don't get me wrong, it can definitely be kind of fun, but it's also fairly hard to take this season seriously a lot of the time, and unfortunately these episodes take up a sizable portion of the season. This also results in the villain of the season, The Master, being incredibly underdeveloped since he only has about four-to-five episodes worth of focus. The second half of the season, however, is definitely an improvement, as there are several plot-heavy episodes, strong moments of character development, and a pretty great finale that manages to bring together all of the season's threads. By the end of the season, you start to get a feeling that Buffy finally knows what it wanted to be. It's just a shame that it took an entire season for that to happen.
Despite the many cheesy standalones, this season does have several high points, especially in the second half:
Angel: This was probably the episode that aged the best out of the entire season. It's far more low-key and character-driven as Buffy learns about Angel being a vampire, and all that entails. It also has the final battle with Darla, which becomes incredibly important once Angel moves onto his own spinoff show.
Nightmares: Out of all the standalones, Nightmares holds up the best because of its excellent concept in which the nightmares of the main cast become reality. In some cases, like for Buffy, these nightmares add some excellent character depth. In other cases, like for Xander, these nightmares are absolutely hilarious.
Prophecy Girl: Given how light this season is on plot, Prophecy Girl manages to bring everything together and end on a satisfying note. The final battle with The Master is satisfying enough, but my favorite aspect is the more quiet character moments, from Willow and Cordelia walking in on a room of dead bodies, to Buffy revealing how scared she is of dying... only to actually die.
Overall, Buffy's first season shows traces of the show I'd come to love with its strong characters, but most of the season is filled with cheesy standalones that are more ironically funny than anything else.
2/5 Stars
Fun fact: After the one-two-three punch of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, these shows' writers went on to write for, produce, and direct hits like The OC, Gilmore Girls, Battlestar Galactica, Once Upon A Time, Daredevil, The Avengers, Grimm, unREAl, Deadpool 2, Mad Men, Lost, 24, Fringe, Agents Of Shield, Arrow, Smallville, Clone Wars, and so much more. It's genuinely stunning just how many iconic shows and movies these guys worked on and shows just how much of a powerhouse group effort Buffy was.
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