Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 — a review

I like Season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer a lot. Using my extremely biased rating system, the only subpar episode was “I, Robot . . . You Jane.” Most of the remaining episodes were at least “okay” to “good.” Truthfully, the Moloch robot episode didn’t bother me near as much this time around. Season […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 12: “Prophecy Girl” (airdate: Monday, June 2, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End Previously on the \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ … The prophecy contained in the Pergamum Codex seems to be coming true. The Master is gaining strength and is about to break free of whatever it is that is confining him to his underground lair. This action will result in the Hellmouth opening and the […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 12: “Prophecy Girl” (airdate: Monday, June 2, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on the \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ … Because this is the final episode of the season, we had to ramp up the action pretty quickly. Rupert Giles discovers an unsettling prophecy about Buffy in the Pergamum Codex, an ancient volume of prophecy that Angel brought to the librarian in a previous episode. At […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 10: “Nightmares” (airdate: Monday, May 12, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End Previously on \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ . . . Twelve-year-old Billy Palmer is in a coma, but he’s somehow causing everyone’s nightmares to manifest in Sunnydale. Rupert Giles suggests that Billy is somehow experiencing astral projection. We’ve seen nightmares such as spiders pouring forth from a textbook, students showing up unprepared for a […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 10: “Nightmares” (airdate: Monday, May 12, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 It’s not unusual in Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the teaser and first act of an episode to conclude at about at the fifteen-minute mark. It is rare for Act I to end at exactly the fifteen-minute mark, though, and that’s what it did this time. This is apropos of nothing. Just […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 10: “Nightmares” (airdate: Monday, May 12, 1997): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 Welcome back to the Sunnydale High library, my fellow Scoobies. Rupert Giles, the librarian who pulls double duty as Buffy Summers’ Watcher, is over there in his book cage, looking for some dusty ancient text probably bound in human skin. Willow Rosenberg, likely the smartest student at Sunnydale since that ventriloquist student […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 9: “The Puppet Show” (airdate: Monday, May 5, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End We were still in Act II of “The Puppet Show” the last time our little club met here in the Sunnydale High School library. This means the entirety of Acts III and IV are squeezed into Part 3. The set up of the story has been leisurely, and a bit confusing. […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 9: “The Puppet Show” (airdate: Monday, May 5, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 During Part 1 of our 15-Minute Hellmouth exploration of first season episode, “The Puppet Show,” we were introduced to the new principal of Sunnydale High School, the very Ferengi-like Mr. Snyder, who has positioned himself as the Anti-Flutie, a man placed in charge of children who seems to, in fact, hate children. […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 9: “The Puppet Show” (airdate: Monday, May 5, 1997): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 On May 1, 1997, a mere four days prior to this episode’s first appearance, Tony Blair took over John Major’s spot as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. For the first time in eighteen years, the Labour Party is in control of UK government. The day after this episode—Tuesday, May 6, 1997—the […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 8: “I, Robot . . . You Jane” (airdate: Monday, April 28, 1997): Part 3 of 3**

30:01 – The End Previously on 15-Minute Hellmouth . . . Moloch the Corrupter had been trapped inside a book since the Dark Ages. Willow Rosenberg scanned the book into the computer at the Sunnydale High School library, which released the demon into the computer system. Moloch has since spent his time attempting to catfish […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 8: “I, Robot . . . You Jane” (airdate: Monday, April 28, 1997): Part 2 of 3**

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on 15-Minute Hellmouth . . . Moloch was a demon who, in the year 1418, was trapped in a book by a group of Italian priests who formed something known as a Circle of Kayless. Don’t know what that is? It doesn’t matter. Because I am an unrepentant nerd, this made […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 8: “I, Robot . . . You Jane” (airdate: Monday, April 28, 1997): Part 1 of 3**

00:00 – 15:00 It has been two weeks since the mythically important episode “Angel” aired. We both liked that one a lot, you and me. Any episode that followed would suffer in the comparison. Case in point: “I, Robot . . . You Jane.” I mean, my issues with this episode begin with the title, […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 7: “Angel” (airdate: Monday, April 14, 1997): Part 3 of 3**

30:01 – The End You remember what happened last time, don’t you? After Buffy Summers and Angel share their first kiss, Angel involuntarily goes all wrinkly faced and Buffy learns that he’s a vampire. The consensus among the Scooby Gang is that Buffy’s role as the Slayer means that she is obligated to kill him. […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 7: “Angel” (airdate: Monday, April 14, 1997): Part 2 of 3**

15:01 – 30:00 In Part 1 of this BTVS DeepWatch, Buffy Summers and the mysterious guy known as Angel finally spend the night together in Buffy’s bedroom. No, not like that. It’s more of a chaste, mostly-innocent sleepover. Buffy takes Angel to her home, inviting him inside, which is important because he’s a—you know—vampire, a […]

**\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 7: “Angel” (airdate: Monday, April 14, 1997): Part 1 of 3**

00:00 – 15:00 Before this episode begins, we get a “Previously on Buffy…” segment. I believe this was the first, but I could be mistaken. The title of this episode is “Angel,” and this “Previously on…” segment seems to be about Angel, in part. Go figure. The rest is about the Master and the Anointed […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 6: “The Pack” (airdate: Monday, April 7, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End The library at Sunnydale High School is the perfect place for us to meet to talk about these episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, I know this is one of our main sets for only the first three seasons. But, I liked the library, with all of its musty old […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 6: “The Pack” (airdate: Monday, April 7, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 The last time you and I got together to talk about this episode of BTVS, I mentioned that it wasn’t one of my favorite episodes. And, it’s not. But, as I watched it this time, with what I think is more clinical detachment, I began to wonder why this was the case. […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 6: “The Pack” (airdate: Monday, April 7, 1997): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 On this date in history, Georgi Shonin, a Russian cosmonaut who flew on Soyuz 6, passed away. As did Tomoyuki Tanaka, the Japanese movie producer and creator of the Godzilla franchise. Puff Daddy remains at the top of the US recording charts, with “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” which is just bad […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 5: “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” (airdate: Monday, March 31, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End Previously on 15-Minute Hellmouth . . . Buffy meets and likes the sensitive Owen Thurman, who likes Emily Dickinson poetry because of her fascination with the morbid. Buffy attempts to go on a date with Owen, but issues concerning the Master, a vampire club known as the Order of Aurelius, and […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 5: “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” (airdate: Monday, March 31, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 In case you missed the part where I explained the premise of this \m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/ project, I am writing an annotated synopsis/review of every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (commonly known in the fandom as BTVS) in fifteen-minute increments. This was inspired, in part, by podcasts such as Star Wars Minute, […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 5: “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” (airdate: Monday, March 31, 1997): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 When this episode of Buffy aired in 1997, Puff Daddy (with Mase) was still #1 on the US top-ten charts with “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” while the Wallflowers’s “One Headlight” ruled the alternative charts. Around this time is when I realized my musical tastes were considered more “alternative” than “mainstream.” Over […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 4: “Teacher’s Pet” (airdate: Monday, March 24, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End Previously, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we discovered that attractive substitute teacher Natalie French is actually a giant praying-mantis monster. Sunnydale, California, is built on a Hellmouth. Get used to it. In the scene we were experiencing as we reached the 30-minute mark and the end of Part 2, Miss French […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 4: “Teacher’s Pet” (airdate: Monday, March 24, 1997): Part 2 of 3

15:01 – 30:00 Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Gregory, a Sunnydale High School science teacher who seemed like he would become another positive adult role model in Buffy’s life, was viciously murdered by a giant praying mantis monster, and his headless corpse was discovered in a school cafeteria refrigerator. Coincidentally, Dr. Gregory had […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 4: “Teacher’s Pet” (airdate: Monday, March 24, 1997): Part 1 of 3

00:00 – 15:00 On this Monday in 1997, Puff Daddy (with Mase) still topped the US charts with “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” which didn’t make the English teachers happy. Spice Girls still reigned in the UK with “Mama.” This same Monday night, Billy Crystal hosted the 69th Academy Awards. The English Patient won Best […]

\m/15-Minute Hellmouth\m/: Buffy the Vampire Slayer DeepWatch: Season 1, Episode 3: “Witch” (airdate: Monday, March 17, 1997): Part 3 of 3

30:01 – The End The last time we were with our favorite students at Sunnydale High School, Buffy Summers had been stricken with a bloodstone vengeance spell that is going to kill her in two or three hours (according to Giles). Amy Madison, an old friend of Willow’s who wanted to get on the cheerleading […]

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1